LinkedIn is a great platform to stay connected to our professional network, but I have to say I’m usually picky about who I accept into my circle of connections.

Why?

I often find that people I don’t know who want to “connect” with me on LinkedIn often send a sales pitch just moments after I accept them into my network.

And this is when selling winds up smelling like a rotten sandwich that nobody wants to be near.

Nobody likes to be sold, not even the people doing the hardcore selling — but their quest for more business has got them blind to the fact that they are essentially walking up to a complete stranger and proposing marriage — not even knowing their name.

No thank you.

Did you know that adding an “m” to selling literally spells smelling?

Avoid it, just as you would an expired container of milk.

Instead, use LinkedIn to offer value, insights and growth tips — that’s a fine way to develop relationships, because at the end of the day, the goal is not to sell but to develop relationships. And these relationships can lead to many things … friends, colleagues, mentors, and yes, even clients.

If you’re wondering how to shift your LinkedIn posts to this value-driven philosophy, here are three “magic questions” you can apply to every social media post (not to mention every web page, blog post, video, white paper, etc.) you create …

Three “Magic” Questions
To ensure your copy packs the most value possible, always do your best to CLEARLY and SUCCINCTLY answer these three “magic” questions on every web page:

1. What is it?
2. What does it do?
3. How does it help me (benefits)?

I call them magic questions because they get to the heart of what your content needs to contain. It’s something I talk about in my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, becasue it’s a critical component to successful content creation.

Just remember, even though you see hard-core selling often, that doesn’t mean it’s a good tactic. Slamming someone with a sales pitch — when you know nothing about them or their needs — is just bad form.

Yes, relationship building is more work, but it can also garner more benefits.

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