Social media isn’t about connecting with everyone. Instead, advisors building a network on LinkedIn need to be a little discerning so as to make the most of the social media platform as a marketing tool for their business.

“LinkedIn is a business proposition,” says April Rudin, founder of the The Rudin Group. “It’s not the idea of being nice to people and including them in your connections.” Rudin spoke at the CFA Society Toronto’s 2014 Wealth Management Conference on Wednesday.

While you shouldn’t limit your LinkedIn network strictly to people you know, says Rudin, it’s important to make sure that each connection you make is relevant to your business. For example, for advisors, LinkedIn connections should generally be clients, potential clients and centres of influence.

If you receive a connection invitation from someone who doesn’t seem to fit into one of these categories, Rudin suggests asking for further explanation as to why they wish to be part of your LinkedIn network. “It may not be obvious,” says Rudin, “but the truth is they may end up becoming your best client.”

As well, don’t be afraid to decline invitations from people who have a closer connection to your personal life than to your business, says Rudin. For instance, if your child’s soccer coach or teacher tries to connect explain that you only use LinkedIn for business. You can let the individual know that he or she is free to connect with you through other social media platforms that you use personally.

When it comes to the size of your LinkedIn network it’s better to focus on the quality of the connections over quantity. Having 10,000 connections is not a good idea, says Rudin, as it’s impossible to manage and you can’t actually have a relationship with any of those individuals.

To keep your connections under control, Rudin says advisors need to cull their networks. “There is nothing wrong with deleting connections,” she says. “It’s not a friendly system. It’s not Facebook where you accept someone’s friend [invitation]. They will not be notified that you have [removed] them.”