My goal for writing this guide is quite simple – To help you get more clients from Linkedin. Period.
I know that there are gazillions of posts in the web from so called gurus talking about how you can market effectively at Linkedin, but as you read through their posts, all you see is fluff and “insider tips” that are so generic and cookie cutter, even your neighbor’s dog knows about them.
It’s really frustrating, isn’t it?
When all you want is to learn the step by step methods to acquire clients from Linkedin, you’re getting the exact opposite.
If you’re sick and tired of all this rubbish, then you’ve come to the right place.
Allow me to share with you these simple and effective, yet highly actionable Linkedin marketing tips. The tips on this guide, together with the Linkedin course that I’ve written on How to Get More Clients Using Linkedin will surely help you grow your business.
1) Do a round-up post using your Linkedin connections
The strategy is pretty straightforward, you’ll have to contact your Linkedin connections telling them that you’d like to feature them on a write-up that you’re currently working on. You’ll tell them that your write-up will showcase experts in the industry and that they definitely fit the description.
Just use Linkedin’s search engine to look for decision makers and people with a good number of followers.
You also need to mention how you’ll add their link on the post so the readers can find them.
At this point, they’ll then reply with their ideas and their links. You then have to add all of these on your article.
Once your article goes live, you’ll contact each of them sharing the url of your live post. On the same email message, you’ll have to ask them to share the post to their community AND ask them about what they do and if there’s an opportunity for the both of you to collaborate. The latter is what will seal the deal and what will make them your client.
The first steps of the process is what you need to establish REAL relationships and to showcase just what you are capable of. On these stages, they tend to lower down their defenses since you’ve done them a huge favor by giving them free publicity without really asking for anything major in return.
Once you start asking them about what they do and if there’s an opportunity for you to collaborate, they’ll be a lot more receptive to the idea since you’ve already established a level of relationship with them.
Here are 2 compelling reasons why this strategy works.
- You’re basically telling them that you see them as experts in the industry without blatantly telling them. They’ll feel appreciated because of that. When your first contact with them starts with a vibe as good as this, getting them to participate becomes very easy.
- You can bet your family jewels that your connections would like to be featured on the same posts together with other industry leaders. By doing that, they’ll come off as one, which then helps them boost their clout. This of course can help them get more leads and customers.
Here’s how my email template looks like.
Subject line – Hi first name! I’d Like To Feature You [1 Minute Read]
Hi first name,
I’m doing a round up post about article’s topic which I know is a topic that you specialize in. I would like to feature you, together with other industry experts (such as yourself) so we can help budding and experienced target audience grow their career/business.
All you need to do is share your thoughts/tips (3 – 4 sentences is fine) about article’s topic, and also the link to where the readers can find you so I can add it on the write-up as well.
Would you like to take part in this round-up of experts?
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards,
Signature
The email I send when the article is live.
Hi first name,
The post is now live. Here’s where you can find it → Link to the article here
I’ll surely appreciate it if you’ll take the time to share the post so we can get more people to read it.
Also, can you tell me more about what you do? I’d love to explore if there’s an opportunity for us to collaborate.
Kind regards,
Signature
Points to remember when using this strategy:
- Don’t just contact someone random from your connections. Look for CEOs, business owners, or managers. You basically need the decision makers so when the time comes when you’ll pitch your services, they can give you a yes or a no.
- Look for someone that has a strong following, that way, more people can find your post and the chances of it becoming viral drastically increases.
Bonus tip – The main hook in this technique is the fact that you want to feature them together with the other experts. That in itself is quite a powerful hook that will make them want to participate. In addition to that, you can also tell them that you’ll spend for paid ads so the post may be viewed by thousands of other readers. Saying this makes the whole idea more enticing to them. Of course, you don’t have to spend thousands upon thousands for ads, just spend for whatever your budget will allow.
Just make sure that you have a catchy title, then pay for impressions instead of clicks. I have found this to have worked quite well for me.
2) Turn your new contacts to leads
Most Linkedin users don’t really know how to capitalize on the new connections that they’ve established. They either just say “Hi”, OR, they just leave their new connections as they are feeling contented that their number of connections have increased.
I hope you aren’t one of them, though.
While saying”Hi” is definitely a good idea, why not take it a step further and ask them if there’s an opportunity for the both of you to collaborate? That way, you can easily uncover opportunities that you can both benefit from.
However, instead of simply saying “Hi” and prospecting for a possible collaboration, I strongly suggest that you ask about what they do first. Or, ask about their expertise. The thing is, there are several users in Linkedin sending unsolicited pitches to their connections whom they don’t even know. That’s really close to what you’d call spamming. And you don’t want to be tagged as one, do you?
Here’s how my message to my new connections look like.
Hello first name,
I’m glad that we’re now connected. I see that you’re a most current job role, can you tell me more about what you do?
I’d love to explore if there’s an opportunity for us to collaborate.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards,
Signature
Of course, you can create your own welcome message. The important thing is that it should be highly customizable, AND you should always ask about what it is that they do. The latter shows how you are interested in them which is quite a crucial element for this technique to work.
After using this technique, I’ve had others telling me straight-up about how they need someone with the same skillset as me, so they ended up becoming my client right then and there. There are also those who will ask what kind of collaboration I had in mind. At this point, I think about an overlap between our interests then strategically pitch my services.
3) Interview your connection (Be very selective of who to interview)
Have you ever been interviewed by someone? Better yet, have you received a pitch from someone asking to interview you?
For those of you who answered in the affirmative, the feeling is quite flattering, right? Not only do you feel important, but you’ll feel that all the hard work that you’ve done in the past is now being acknowledged.
In short, the feeling is awesome!
The question is, what do you think would happen if you get someone else to feel that same exact feeling of importance? Better yet, what do you think would happen if you made someone that’s within your buyer persona feel that way?
Yep, you guessed it right. Getting them to order from you becomes dramatically easy.
Here’s the gist of the process.
- Research – look for someone in your network that has a strong following, a decision maker, or basically someone that’s in your buyer persona.
- Outreach – send them a message saying how you’d like to interview them.
- Send the interview questions
- Publish the interview
- Pitch your service after the interview or within the process for as long as it makes sense and isn’t intrusive.
Here’s how I do my research
- I basically use Linkedin’s search box.
- I first type in the industry that I’m targeting on the search box then click the search button.
- Once the results are shown, I then customize the settings at the left side of the page.
- I make sure the setting would only show “People”, I also ONLY tick the “1st connections” and add the location if needed.
At this point, the results shown are now highly relevant. The only thing left to do is to go through each of the profiles to look for the decision makers and those with a good number of followers. You can outsource this if you’d like since it can be quite time consuming.
How I do my outreach
I just send my interview invitation via Linkedin’s private message tool. If I don’t get any replies, I then look for other contact information like their website or Twitter profile.
Important note – You need to track your outreach. I usually enter all the information via Google spreadsheet and tag my outreach results. If I don’t receive a reply from my first wave of interview pitch, I then proceed to the follow-up pitch using a different contact method.
Here’s how my interview pitch looks like.
Hello first name,
I’m looking to interview someone who specializes in the field of topic. Seeing how you fit the description perfectly, and the ideas you’ve been sharing through your published posts are very insightful, I thought of reaching out to you and see if you’re interested.
I will publish this interview on my personal blog and will promote it through various social media platforms and will also use paid ads to give it as much visibility as possible.
The interview is designed to be short so as not to take up much of your time, YET, the questions we’ll be discussing addresses the critical points of topic to provide massive value to the readers/listeners.
Please get back to me if you’re interested.
Kind regards,
Signature
At this point, they’ll either give you a “yes” or a “no” answer. If they’ll answer with a “yes”, then you can proceed with the interview. You can do the interview two ways, you can either talk to them, OR, you can just send them the questionnaire so they can answer it at their most convenient time. The latter worked best for the people whom I sent the pitches to in the past.
Important note – During the entire process, you need to get to know them better. You need to learn about their business, the challenges they’re facing, or what it is that the need to grow. When you know of these things, you can pitch your services strategically increasing your chances of success.
Related course: How to Get More Clients Using Linkedin
4) Comment on viral posts + Tagging your prospects
The idea is, you’ll look for Linkedin posts with a good number of views, you’ll then reply to other people’s comment on that post, then tag them as you leave a comment on their comment.
Critical points to consider when doing this strategy:
- Make sure that your comment is HIGHLY RELEVANT and of great quality.
- While the word count is by no means directly proportional to your comment’s quality, I still urge you to leave a fairly long comment (minimum of 4 sentences). This tells the other person that you took the time and effort to share your ideas.
- Comment on posts that’s relevant to your buyer persona.
- Make the first sentence (or first few words) of your comment punchy and captivating. That way, you’ll capture your reader’s attention.
- Ask open ended questions on your comments. You can say things like… “Can you share your expert advice about…”, if you phrase your comment that way, it’ll flatter them since you just called them experts without you directly flattering them.
- Be very selective with which comment you’ll comment on and which person you’ll tag. Make sure that they have the potential to becoming your client in the future.
What’s the downside of this strategy:
The sad part is, whenever you tag someone, although they’ll receive a notification about it on their Linkedin profile, when they click the notification, it only takes them to the post that you both commented on and not to the actual comment that they were tagged in.
This is terrible since we’re targeting posts with huge number of views. In posts like these, it isn’t uncommon for them to receive hundreds upon hundreds of comments. That said, it’s a bit of a hassle to look for the actual comment that you are tagged in since you’ll have to scroll the heck out of the post.
What’s the good news?
When you’ll tag someone, they’ll get an email notification about it. What’s even better is the fact that they can see the entire comment that you made on the email notification.
That said, after writing your fairly lengthy comment, you need to add a clear call-to-action at the bottom of it. You can say things like, you’d like to interview them about the topic and that the best way for them to reach you is through your blog’s contact form, Linkedin profile, or perhaps your Skype account.
As much as possible, avoid blatantly adding your email address on the comment since you might end-up getting spammed by others.
Once they’ve connected with you, start to establish a relationship then pitch your services strategically.
5) Use the “Keep in Touch” section
The “Keep in Touch” tool is quite possibly one of the most underutilized feature in Linkedin.
Let’s see what this feature can do for you, a.) It tells you when its the birthday of one of your connections, b.) It tells you if one of your network has gotten a new job, and c.) It tells you if one of your network is having a work anniversary.
Pretty powerful, huh?
If you don’t see the power in that, then you need to put your Linkedin marketing wizard hat on. When you have access to that kind of information, you can connect with your network in a personal level.
The best part is, this information gives you a legit excuse to connect with your network.
Here’s the kind of message I send to my network to capitalize on these events.
My message to someone who has a new job:
Hey first name,
Congratulations on your new job! I’m sending you this message because by good coincidence, I’m looking for someone whose expertise is on overlap between their job role and your article topic.
I’d love to feature you on my blog for the interview. Is this something that you might be interested in?
I’ll be sharing this interview to my community, various social media groups, and spend for ads to give it as much visibility. If you’re looking to grow your influence as an expert in their niche, then this might help.
Let me know if there’s an opportunity for us to collaborate.
Kind regards,
Signature
Critical points to consider when using this technique:
- You need to be selective with whom you contact. Again, you need to make sure that they are within your buyer persona or the potential of them becoming your client isn’t nil. Can you imagine interviewing a nurse when you’re all about construction supply? It doesn’t make much sense for you to do that if you’re looking for clients.
- Once you’ve published the interview, be sure to email your prospect the link and ask for him/her to share the interview to his community. Of course, pitch your services and ask for a referral if needed.
6) Use the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” feature
The fact is, there’s a reason why these users are looking at your profile. They may just be curious about who you are, OR, they’re looking for someone with the same skillset as yours. If it’s the latter, wouldn’t you say that the chances of you closing them as your client is quite huge?
Sure, there may be other reasons why they viewed your profile, but regardless of what it is, the main point is that they are interested about you one way or the other. If you fail to capitalize on this, then you’d be leaving a lot of money on the table.
So the game plan is, go to your “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section, then send them a follow-up message.
Here’s how mine looks like:
Hi first name,
How’s it going? I noticed that you recently viewed my profile and am wondering if there’s anything I can help you with.
*** Talk about your specialty and your best accomplishment. Keep it short. 1 to 3 is the ideal length. ***
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards,
Signature
At this point, you’ll just have to wait for their reply. Remember that you may not be able to close them now, but you need to leave a good impression so when the opportunity arrives, they won’t think twice about contacting you.
That’s what you call building relationships.
Another option is to ask them for referrals. However, before you even do this, you need to make sure that you’ve established a level of trust with them.
7) Thank the people who endorsed your skills
If you’ve been using Linkedin long enough, you’ll realize how people will suddenly endorse you for your skills even if you haven’t really worked with them – let alone know them.
It could be because they saw one of your posts and they were impressed with it, or perhaps they’re using it as a marketing strategy as well. Whatever it is, you need to be able to capitalize on it.
The fact that they took the time to endorse your skills is proof that they are open to networking with you. What’s more is, they were the ones who initiated the engagement. At this point, if you’ll thank them for endorsing you, they won’t feel any kind of intrusion from you even if they don’t know you since you were just reacting to their engagement.
However, instead of simply thanking them, why not go a step further and ask about what it is that they do and if there are projects you both can work on together.
Pretty familiar, huh?
You’ll just have to use the same pattern to build the relationship and pitch your services.
Conclusion
I hope that by now, you have a clear picture of what it is that you need to do to get clients from Linkedin. As you may have noticed, I tried to be as specific as I can be so you’ll know the exact steps that you need to take when marketing in Linkedin to get REAL results – clients.
Once you start using these, your network should start engaging with you. You’ll receive messages, notifications, inquiries, referrals, and even orders from your prospects, which at this point, are now your clients.
Instead of simply just reading the post and experiencing a couple of “AHA!” moments, don’t leave it at that. Reading and learning is one thing, taking the time to apply what you’ve learned is another. Without the latter, you won’t be able to benefit from what you’ve learned at all.
That said, take the time to use these techniques and let me know what kind of results you’ll get. Should you have any questions, or ideas that you’d like to share, please do so in the comments section below.
Did you find the guide helpful? If you want something that’s more comprehensive where I list down all of my tips on how to get more clients using Linkedin, then you can view my course here.