Is It Safe To Connect With Somebody You Do Not Know Online?

I was asked this question “Could you please answer if it is safe to connect with somebody you do not know online? The immediate answer is absolutely YES! Let’s focus on the social sites with business in mind. On LinkedIn there is a message that you should only connect with people you know.”

Personally to me social media is a massive networking arena and all the social networks out there are virtual networking rooms.  Each one is it’s own database of people.  Once you learn which networks work best for you then you have to learn how to work each one. Networking is building relationships social networking takes time and effort like anything else.

Back to the question if you should connect with somebody you do not know online? Let’s say you are a coach, do you except invitations to connect from other coaches on Linkedin?  If you do, they then have access to your connections.  The thought process here for some is that your connections can now be poached.  Another way to look at it is to ask yourself what are the benefits to you if you except this invitation?

I understand if you don’t feel a need to connect with everybody.  Most people treat it like a numbers game anyway.  How many connections do you have?  I have this many!  At the end of the day you need a strategy that works for you and your business.  Getting numbers is useless unless they convert.

It’s no different then tracking your Google analytics on your website.  So many people are way more concerned about how much traffic lands on their site vs. conversion.  I would rather have 300 hits a month and convert 3% or 9 people than 900 hits and convert 1%.

Yes social media is social but you should still have a plan in place.

What is your response to connecting with people you do not know online?