LinkedIn Inmails or Invitations? What works best for you?

So I have been trying an experiment. You try it. I haven't sent an inmail in 2 months. I have only sent invitations to connect with a brief explanation of why. It seems to be working well. It could possibly be working better. Maybe it is more personal? I don't know. I wanted to see if anyone else had tried this. Someone with not much $$ to spend on LI Recruiter- this could be your answer.

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Permalink Reply by Will Thomson on August 7, 2013 at 1:19pm

Hi Irina,

I had no idea about the 3k invitations. Can you tell me more about that? Is that for the lifetime of Linkedin?

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Permalink Reply by Irina Shamaeva on August 7, 2013 at 5:46pm

Yes, it is for the lifetime.

After you have reached it you can still ask the customer support to raise your limit.

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Permalink Reply by Will Thomson on August 7, 2013 at 11:45pm

Good to know. I had no idea. I also didn't know until recently that you had so many twitter followers you could follow. Think it is a bit crazy.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on August 8, 2013 at 9:20am

I use invitations and have never run into a problem. In fact - in the beginning I use to always fret over the choices to connect - friend, colleague, school, etc. I've finally realized - none of that matters. I've never seen any of that info mentioned when receiving an invitation. In fact - I'm not sure why they even have that option. A nice note explaining why I'm inviting them to connect and we're good to go.

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Permalink Reply by Will Thomson on August 8, 2013 at 10:06am

@ Jerry- "In the beginning I use to always fret over the choices to connect - friend, colleague, school, etc. I've finally realized - none of that matters"- I think Linkedin has evolved. I used to think the same thing Jerry. Now it easier to connect with people and find people if you have a 2nd or 3rd degree connection, so I figured what is the harm. I have had more success with invitations lately, but the 3k thing was news to me.

@Steve- You are correct by saying it can be more personal to have a linkedin inmail- with a lot more detail. It really depends on what skill set you are recruiting. Sales people for example may respond quicker than a Java developer- since they get bombarded with inmail requests. Would you agree?

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Klein on February 5, 2014 at 7:58am

Will

By sending invites, aren't you taking a risk that the respondent will check that he doesn't know you? And if you get a few of those, then you will need email addresses to send invitations. Has that happned to you or anyone else reading this?

Chuck

Will Thomson said:

If you are a smaller firm, to my point- I think all you really need is Talent Finder. I am paying for Recruiter Lite, but I don't really use any of the inmails. I have just been sending invitations which works in my opinion , better.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on February 6, 2014 at 8:56am

I've always said I wasn't going to pay LI any more than an upgraded membership, but I wonder if Talent Finder would be worth the fee. Does that give me access to more than 100 candidates with last names? What's the difference between Talent Finder and just a regular LI upgrade? I don't need their tracking services, just candidate info.

Any thoughts?

I sent my first two LI Inmails yesterday. I usually send a note with an invite, which almost always works. I personalize the message with specific information as to why I am trying to connect. Haven't had any problems, and no one has reported me, that I know of anyway.....

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Permalink Reply by Amber on February 6, 2014 at 11:03am

Linda, a couple of us here have the Talent Finder plan, has 25 InMails and you can see 700 full name profiles, I think. Basically, LI has Talent Finder (99.00/mo) which I think is the only first level option for any of the upgraded accounts.

Recruiter Lite (120.00/mo) same 25 InMails, not sure how many full name profiles, they advertise it as 35x the full name profiles, some tracking/managing tools and mobile stuff

Recruiter Corp (900.00/mo) 50 InMails and a bunch of collaboration, "branding" tools, etc. for companies

I never use all my InMails. And I have not seen any difference in response rates to InMail vs. regular invitation, etc.

Oh, yeah - the upgraded accounts also have additional introductions, but I have never used one so no info on that.

What kind of account do you have now?

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Permalink Reply by Irina Shamaeva on February 6, 2014 at 11:05am

Linda,

You do not need to pay to find candidates' info. Just follow Step 1, Step 2 described on my blog and you will find out everyone's names for sure.

Irina

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on February 6, 2014 at 11:09am

I think we have the LI Premium. I can view 100 names before it tells me to upgrade the account. I don't want/need the tracking portion, I just wanted access to more completed profiles. Talent Finder still seems expensive for the upgrade, since I don't actually use it that often.

I think we pay $19.99 or something like that for the Premium account. I haven't found much value in that, either, though. Bottom line, I think I'm just completely on the fence on this!

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on February 6, 2014 at 11:17am

Irina, that is FANTASTIC! If I then 'remove' them as a contact later, does that mean if I DO connect with them, they can send me a connect request?

I think I'm over thinking this......LI gets tricky sometimes and I never know when it's going to come back and bite me! :)

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Permalink Reply by Amber on February 6, 2014 at 11:18am

They change the types of accounts all the time, so if you cancel or change yours it probably won't be an option if you go back. Like Irina said, you can find a lot of stuff yourself. I'm not sure we're keeping ours, but like you - on the fence.