The other day, I got my wrist slapped.  LinkedIn restricted my account.  In this post, I'll discuss several things:   
--1) What happens when your account is restricted?
-- 2) How did this happen and why?
--3) What do you do if LinkedIn decides to restrict your  account? 


--What happens when your account is Restricted?
LinkedIn is disciplining you.  They Don't want people annoying others by sending invitations to everybody on the planet.  When the account is restricted, you can't send someone an invitation unless you have their email address.  Obviously, this is a huge impediment to reaching out to connect with others.

How did this happen?
In an effort to grow my network, I sent a bunch of emails to people from a list provided by one of my LinkedIn  LIOn's groups (for those who Don't know, LION stands for LinkedIn Open Networkers.  LIOn's are people who want very large networks and are willing to connect with nearly anyone).  Though these were people I Don't know, they supposedly were open to connecting with anyone from the group. I had used this approach in the past to add to my network.  While performing this operation, I accidentally clicked the button that sent invitations out to my address book.  I looked over the list of people who had gotten invitations, and I was horrified.  LOTS of people got invitations from me:  people I hadn't talked to in YEARS, people I Don't remember, and even a couple people that.....let's just say, I would not choose to be in touch with.  From those two actions, someone (or someones) who received these invites flagged me as a spammer.  My account got restricted. 

While LinkedIn SAYS they only want you to connect with people you know, what LinkedIn DOES is provide many incentives to grow our networks with total strangers.  One man in my network has over 26,000 connections on several continents--I'm quite sure he doesn't know all those people.

Just one example of how LinkedIn rewards those with large networks is LinkedIn Signal. It allows you to search the status updates of people in your network to find employment opportunities--and more.  The bigger your network, the greater the reach. (By the way, I invite you to attend our free webinar on LinkedIn where I explain Signal and other ways to tap into the power of LinkedIn). 
FREE WEBINARS

If your account has been restricted, what do you do now??
Many thanks to Kimberly Callahan from my LinkedIn Strategies Group who told me what to do. She said to go to the LinkedIn Help Center, and search for restricted accounts.  There are instructions for how to lift a restriction.  

But you only get to do this once.  After that, you are permanently restricted.  So be careful when sending out invitations.  The full text from the LinkedIn Help section appears below.  ###

BTW, if your job search is going nowhere or you're not sure what's next for you, call us today,  Our CAREER ACTION PLAN MEETING gets to the root of the problem.  847-673-0339

END OF MY POST; BEGINNING OF LINKEDIn's HELP SECTION TEXT

The LinkedIn User Agreement states that we have the right to restrict, suspend or close your account if warranted. Customer Service can often lift a restriction after you acknowledge you've read some educational information on proper site use.

The most common reason for a restriction is sending too many invitations to people you Don't know.

A restriction is automatically triggered if too many invitations are:

• Declined with the I Don't know response.
• Flagged as Spam.

Tips to prevent restrictions:

• Invite only people that you personally know.
• Invite only those you'd recommend to others.
• Personalize your invitation message. Explain how you know them or why you want to connect.
• Add a current head-shot photo to your profile so people recognize you.
• Use an InMail or Introduction if you Don't know someone's email address.
• Use the Ignore button for invitations from someone you know but choose not to connect with.
• Only use the I Don't Know option when you truly Don't know the member.

If this is your first restriction, try to unrestrict yourself.

If your account has been restricted and you Don't understand why, contact us for an explanation.