Want to increase your LinkedIn connections?

Some say to send customized connection requests.

In a small experiment I ran this week, I sent 150 new connection requests without a message and 150 with a message.

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Results are in.
Connections accepted without a message: 53 (35%)
Connections accepted with a message: 57 (38%)

Bottom line: for increasing your network size, writing custom connection requests may not be worth your time.

However, sending custom requests may improve awareness and potential for engagement (e.g. clicking a link).