I have a very liberal policy when it comes to connecting with people on LinkedIn. If you give me any indication that we have anything in common, I will connect with you. If you indicate that we have ever spoken or you have read anything I posted or we belong to any of the same groups, I will connect. If I can look you up on LinkedIn and find anything in common (we both went to the same school, worked at the same company, have common interests, worked in the same industry, are in the same line of work…) I will connect with you.
But, if you simply use the standard, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” and do not show me any common interest in your profile, I am only about half inclined to accept your invitation. If it appears that you might benefit me, then I might accept. This is hard to do unless you have some detail in your profile.
If, however, you appear to be a spammer or arrogant or selfish, I am not going to connect with you. I know a lot of people in Asia and am connected with several of them but I find that invitations from China or India from strangers almost always turn out to be spammers who want to sell me their web development services or search engine optimization services. It would be one thing if they sent me a single email but they send me three or four messages a week….that is spam.
If you get caught in that situation, here is how to “unconnect” with them. Simply write down the name of the person you want to unconnect with, then go to your Contacts on LinkedIn and look at the far right hand side (see red arrow in the following image) for the “Remove Connections” option.
You will need to search through your connections to find that person you want to remove, but this will get them off your LinkedIn account.
One more thing to point out. Occasionally I talk about your LinkedIn profile picture. Many people are reluctant to put an image of themselves on LinkedIn but I encourage you to add a professional, friendly picture of yourself. It does not have to be a “coat and tie picture on blue background” but it needs to make a good impression of you as a professional person. About a year ago, I received an invitation from a total stranger who was promoting himself as an “amazing graphic artist that will rock your boring little world.” His profile picture looked like a gang banger. I understand that you need to show confidence but showing arrogance is never a good idea. I did not accept his invitation.
Good luck and Godspeed.
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