A note on every invite
Every LinkedIn invite Stage 1 sends now carries one line tied to the signal, under LinkedIn's 200-character limit, and you can edit it before it goes.
· 2 min read
A blank invite from a stranger gets ignored. A blank invite from a stranger who sells services gets ignored faster.
Stage 1 now writes a note for every invite it sends. One line, tied to the reason you're reaching out.
What the note says
The note leads with what they did. A post, a new role, a job they opened, a filing. Then it asks to connect. Nothing more.
"Marcus - saw your post about finally getting off Teradata this year. Would be good to be connected."
That's it. No pitch, no calendar link, no company name. The note earns the accept. The first message does the work.
Where you see it
Notes show up in Going out on the Desk, labeled Invite note, next to every other message waiting on you. Read it, change a word, approve it. With review on, an invite with a note waits for your approval like any other message with words in it.
LinkedIn caps invite notes at 200 characters on most accounts. Stage 1 writes under that, and it won't let an edit go over.
When there's no note
Free LinkedIn accounts get only a handful of notes a month, so Stage 1 sends their invites without one. And if there's no signal behind a person, there's nothing honest to say, so the invite goes plain.
You can switch notes off under Settings, Sending.
Why one line
Senior buyers accept invites from people who clearly know why they're asking. A line about their own work tells them you're not a mass campaign. Anything longer reads like the pitch is coming.
For the message that follows the accept, see the four-part first message. For notes that get accepted, see LinkedIn connection notes that get accepted.