Here are 6 reasons why you should never, ever send this default message.

1. It demonstrates to the contact that you don’t really know much about social networking.
2. It is a lazy approach — you should put some thought into it instead of using the default message.
3. It doesn’t give the contact any context at all! You owe people in your network a reminder of how it is you are connected and why you should share your professional world. Tell them WHY you want to add them. You owe them that much.
4. It makes me think that you’re just trying to build your numbers and don’t represent any value to my network whatsoever.
5. It doesn’t give me any detail about you — I’d love to know that I’ll be connecting to you to help you find a job or endorse your work or introduce you to a connection of mine.
6. You’re part of a professional network; act like it. Is a default message a professional invitation?

P.S. The image above is from an actual invitation I received from someone I’ve never met or heard of. I did not accept the invitation.

My name is Jennifer Marley, and I’m the Community Engagement Coordinator for Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Charlottesville Tomorrow is a non-profit, non-partisan community news platform. We cover growth, development, and local political issues facing the Charlottesville-Albemarle area. These stories are published to our site and, through a ground-breaking partnership, printed in The Daily Progress; but after that, what happens to them? That’s where I come in.

I take the content, boil it down so I can understand it (as a newbie to this community, sometimes that takes a while!), then broadcast it to our community in ways that are specific to the issue, the audience, and our strategy. For example, I may take a story that we publish to our site and share it on Twitter by posing a question; post it to Facebook and tag a group that is involved; print up doorhangers and canvas a neighborhood that is affected; and make it the subject of our monthly-ish News n’Brews events. Each tool we use has specific strengths and weaknesses, and so we try to use them to maximize their strengths. I strive for specificity and strategy with everything I share.

One of the most fun parts of my job is sharing who we are. When I was first hired, I launched a reader survey to take a general temperature check on how our community perceived us. Something I heard over and over from readers was that they were interested in the people behind Charlottesville Tomorrow – which makes perfect sense to me. We’re a small community, and while it would be nice to think we can hide behind all our fun tech toys and just broadcast content, people want to connect with other people. For some readers, making that personal connection might be a gateway to our content. So I encourage our reporters to share stories they’ve written across their own social networks; I work on getting them in front of our community at events and as speakers; and we have fun sharing what’s happening around the office across our social media platforms.

We believe this area is special and we cover what we cover because we want it to stay that way. Finding ways to make that content affect people personally is important, and that’s what I work towards every day!

Connect with Jennifer and Charlottesville Tomorrow on Twitter

Got a job interview with _______________ hospital this Wednesday; second interview. It is for a Sr. PR Specialist position. Anyway, wanted to tell you because I had to draw on everything you once taught me at college in my phone interview. So thanks!

Heart; melted.

The student was one of those great students a teacher never forgets; I’ve stayed in touch with a handful of them, and this one has always stood out. His note reminded me how much I loved teaching at the college level. I taught a course in public relations to communications majors at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Mo. I don’t teach college courses any more (although, may return to it one day). But every day I teach; here, on the blog, in client meetings, with colleagues I mentor and in workshops I deliver on behalf of organizations or under my own company umbrella.

I think a really strong education in communications and yes, even public relations is useful for every person in business for themselves. I will continue to teach in and out of classrooms, as long as I’m able — and hopefully now and again, someone will pop by to remind me why I love it so much.

Thanks “Nano,” you made this ol’ PR teacher’s night.

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