Why would people want to connect you?

I've noticed an interesting trend in the Who Do You Know Who Club on Ecademy recently. The Club is set up for people to ask for connections and fellow members to offer the relevant introductions.

There have been a number of requests that have been very specific in terms of who people want to speak to (which is excellent) but which have had little to no response.

If you ask people for a connection, you need to say why. And not why you want the connection but why that person would want to be introduced to you.

Put yourself in the shoes of the people you are asking. They may have good routes through to the person you want to meet but if they don't know why you want to be connected, how likely would they be to take the next steps? Particularly if, as in a social networking forum, they might not know you well.

Make the introduction easy for people to make by giving them a compelling reason to speak to their contacts and the confidence that their contact would appreciate the effort and the connection.