I first started blogging and hosting online videos for Fast Company in the spring of 2011. However, like many social networkers, I’ve been slow to update my LinkedIn professional profile in a timely manner (perhaps that’s no-no number one).

In an effort to practice what I preach about building and maintaining an online brand, I spent some time last week tweaking my current work positions, accepting invitations, and even going so far as uploading a video clip on my profile page, which can be done with the SlideShare app.

Within a few short hours of adding my not-so-new Fast Company role, my LinkedIn inbox piled up with messages that included the same enthusiastic subject line, “Congratulations on your new position!” The note inside each correspondence looked strangely familiar, “I saw you’re now Blogger/TV Host at Fast Company and wanted to say congratulations!” Wow. Either my contacts were struck by grammatical lightning that supercharged these identical messages, or they broke a few of the most important LinkedIn rules for good etiquette.

1. Stop using LinkedIn’s auto-generated templates.

Whether it’s congratulating someone on a new role or requesting a connection with someone, avoid generic messages. While LinkedIn does often pre-populate message fields, you will get a whole lot further with your networking efforts if you take some time to personalize your correspondence. Within a few seconds you can include a custom note to a contact (instead of “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn) and add a little context. For example, if you’re connecting with someone you just met at a conference, remind her about this meeting by including some details about your chat (including the date and any other relevant info). Using auto-generated templates time and time again is a sign of laziness, which is probably not the impression you want to leave with potential colleagues on the largest professional online network in the world.

2. Stop pushing your social updates to your LinkedIn status.