In the vast world of social networks, LinkedIn is arguably the most professional site. It’s less about casually chit-chatting with friends and more about forging business connections that improve your professional position. So it only makes sense that your LinkedIn profile should position you as a rock star and someone to know!
One way to improve your online profile is to get recommendations from colleagues, supervisors, partners, vendors and other business associates. As a rule of thumb, I suggest that if you’ve been in business for five years or longer you should have at least five recommendations on your profile.
I’m often asked about the best way to ask a connection for a LinkedIn recommendation and while it is relatively straight-forward, I have a few suggestions to improve your success rate. I truly believe more people would be willing to give you a recommendation if they didn’t have to write it. People generally don’t like writing, and they shudder at the thought that their awkward prose will be embarrassing them online for eternity. So here’s what I do…
- Ask for one short sentence or two… make the task sound fast and easy.
- Suggest one or two very specific skills or qualities you want them to endorse.
- Alternately, suggest a single project you want them to praise.
- Finally, let them off the hook. If you give people an out, they feel less pressure and in my experience, are more likely to comply.
Putting it all together, your request might read something like this: Carl, I really enjoyed working with you on the task force and I would be very grateful if you would write a short recommendation for me on LinkedIn. Just a sentence or two about my ability to lead a cross-functional team and communicate effectively would be perfect. If you don’t have bandwidth right now I understand – just let me know. Thanks Carl for considering my request – I really do appreciate it.