Random McSomeone has indicated you are a friend - Linkedin requests from strangers

How often have you had emails like this?

Random McSomeone via Linkedin  
Random McSomeone has indicated you are a friend.
"I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn."

Random McSomeone

Now if you are a keen networker chances are that you will meet someone at a breakfast and they will send a connection request a little while later. They might even be someone you have forgotten, however a quick scan of the profile might jog the old grey cells.

But what if they are a complete random? What do you do? 

No,  Mr McSomeone you are not my friend. We have never met or even spoken.
You want to add me to your network but how is a lie a good point to start a relationship?

I was told by an associate that they accept Linkedin requests from anyone and everyone regardless, others tell me they only link with people they have met in person in a business context. 

Where do you stand?

I see linkedin as a bit like 'through the room' - you never know who they know, and who you may be able to work with... so generally I always accept.  

I've only ever had a couple that are definitely 'mr spammer' from outer space, with no profile completed - these I avoid.

Simples

If they are a friend, then I connect, if I have not heard of them before they get a message back to say I do not know them and they should take the time out to get to know me, join groups I am in if they want to connect.  I will not connect with people who say they are a friend!  I will connect if they are in the same group and make a contribution to the group.

4N can be like that at times as well though, you contact people on the strength of their prescence on here and ask for quotes etc...  Only to find you get an initial contact wanting more info and then you hear nothing back.  With one it has been 3 years in waiting for the quote (I think I should give up on that one), another they were just going to take soem time to have a think and get back to me (12 months ish, think I should give up on that as well) the last one was to find a replacement item for my wife, got a phonecall back and they asked a lot of questions of what was wanted, got the can I call you back? (6 months on that one, for something needed, not wanted before xmas)  BTW these 3 instances are from 3 well respected, active (at the times) 4Ners.

Who and why you connect to others is your choice.  On LinkedIn and just about any other connection type networking I will always look to connect (unless it is a blatant lie like you mention with being a friend etc...) with anyone.  If I connect with people and they try selling or all of a sudden I am being hit with their newletters etc... then I disconnect with them straight away.  I get this in 4N as well, people taking my business card and adding to their database, some not even taking a card having been at a meeting, they just got my details off the site.

If I only accepted people who I had already met, I would have missed out on a lot of work via LinkedIn.  I have had 5x as much work from LinkedIn than 4N meetings and online.  For a lot less time invested in LinkedIn compared to 4N as well!  I have done quite a lot of work for people I have not actually met so for me it works very well.

Without assuming too much, I would say your business is better suited than mine to get contracts without having to meet people.

If you are wanting to connect, just make sure you personalise the message as I am unlikely to connect if it is left as the standard message.

Some questions I would ask are;

If you are into networking and you go to a meeting where there are say, 50 people in there.  Are you likely to just walk over to the 2 people you know in the room or get stuck in and meet others?  Is this not the point of online networking, do you only want to talk to people you aready know or would you rather connect to people you don't currently know and get to know them better?

I personally do not see the point of only connecting with people I already know, how does that help me grow?

Ignore and move on.
Would you befriend some random bloke in the street?
I know every one of my contacts on LinkedIn and use/ abuse as appropriate.
It might not be what they tell you to do in the book, but I never read books.

What stinks of 'obviously trawling for connections' is the fact that they couldn't even be bothered to personalise the message.
LION or LYING?

That's what the delete button is for.

Also by accepting you are exposing your existing contacts to Mr. Mc Someone 

My two pence worth..

This was one of the reasons I gave up on Linkedin. Linkedin is worldwide, any random person spams you! Its also a place for people to overinflate their business profile..

 I found once I was known on the Asian network (as I have business in Guangdong) I would receive over 50 requests a day, one day I had something around 300. I analysed these requests over a couple of months. I discovered that one company was requesting me to link under several different aliases. Several of these (companies) were not companies at all, they were individuals looking for information from me on how my business worked.  What they tended to do was send me a profile pic of some pretty girl who usually had a degree in my line of business, together with several linked colleagues who were all suitably qualified and belonging to related businesses.  Ho hum. I have since found that attending networking meetings/business forums personally has a far greater effect on growing my businesses.

These days I tend to look at the person sending me an invite.  If they're based overseas unless they're someone I know I automatically refuse the connection.  If they're UK based I'll see if there is an actual connection if I don't recognise them and take it from there.  I think though that I have got my connections "hidden" in that I only have the number of connections accessible to my contacts rather than my contacts being able to access all of my contacts' details.

I get invites from the Random McSomeones, some of which I accept and some which I don't.  If it is someone from a company that orgnises conferences and exhibitions (and therefore views me as a propsect) then I decline.  On the ohter hand, if it's someone from a recruitment agency, I'm more likely to accept.  I'm a member of lots of technical groups and I also tend to accept invitations from other members of that group, especially if we have been posting in the same online debate.  As with all things caveat emptor, let the buyer beware!

It's mostly Recruitment Consultants who send requests through to me and, as such, I always decline.

I have had a good penny stock tip sent through this morning though . . . :-p

I think the problem with LinkedIn is often there isn't a caegory to tick about how you know someone if you just want to try to link with someone who you maybe have met at a networking breakfast once or they are a second or third degree contact that you'd like to link up with so "FRIEND" becomes the default option to click.

I generally will link with people who I meet, who are clients, who are 4N members or are members of other groups I belong to on Linked In, or if they are connections of my connections.  I'll link with people outside of that if their message is personalised & interests me.

Not true, you can choose if you want contacts to be able to see your contacts!

True, Glenn, but the problem with that is it's all or nothing. If a lot of what you do involves networking it may be you want most of your contacts to see the others...but not the borderline ones.  So it's making me wonder if Google Plus might be worth a try to give more control.

I don't mind if we've not personally met, as long as there is common ground, for example, we belong to the same group.

I never link to people I don't know, have never met and we don't appear to share any interests.

Yes but that was not the reasoning behind it all.  Yes if that is the sort of control you feel you need, then Google+ is the way to go.