If you thought that LinkedIn InMail was just a clever pun on the time-old Email then…you would be right. Pun aside, InMail is an extremely helpful tool on LinkedIn if you are trying to grow your connections and build your network. Some of you may not be familiar with InMail or think it is just another name for the messaging service LinkedIn provides. This is where you would be wrong.
Regular LinkedIn messaging only allows you to send messages to your 1st-degree, direct connections. InMail is a premium feature that gives you the opportunity to send messages to people you are not yet connected with. You aren’t able to message people if they have elected to not receive InMail messages but we can’t get greedy now. The feature gives you the reach to connect and get in contact with people outside of your immediate network.
Depending on the type of subscription you have, you will be given a certain amount of InMail credits to send these messages. You can keep track of how many credits you have used and how many you have left by going to your ‘My Premium Page’.
Sending an InMail message is simple enough. Just:
- Search for the profile of the person you want to message.
- Go to the introduction section on their profile and click ‘More…’
- From the dropdown, select ‘Message’
- Type your subject (optional) and then the message you want to send.
- Click send and voila!
The subject line has a limit of 200 characters but the main body of the message can be up to 2000.
Every month (on the date that you originally signed up) you will receive a new number of credits. If you ever forget when the date is, it can also be found on ‘My Premium Page’. If you decide to cancel your account or upgrade to a new one then your credit allowance will be changed to zero.
