As a LinkedIn lead generation expert, one of the most important aspects of any companies lead generation funnel is to actually get their target market to connect with them, by accepting their connection request.
You might’ve seen my other article, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-trying-get-me-bed-first-date-allan-fine/ where I spoke about what happens 90% of the time, once someone sends you a connection request and once you accept. The very first thing they do is try to sell you their products or services. (Your thinking WTF? I just met you!)
That is probably the number one mistake I see 99% of all people making on LinkedIn, who are trying to use LinkedIn for lead generation. It just doesn’t work and almost always, the results are just dismal.
About a year ago I decided to formalize my LinkedIn lead generation system,
and during the six years of being a LinkedIn trainer, training individuals and corporations all throughout USA and Canada, these are the main 8 mistakes and things you should do that I have seen, that get results.
- Definitely do not try to sell someone your services or products if they except your connection request. LinkedIn should be about relationship building.
- When clicking on the connect button, ALWAYS include a personal message, that includes the person’s name and spell it correctly. (I can’t tell you how many times people have misspelled my name, BTW it’s Allan not Allen or Alan). I believe that really matters, spelling someone’s name correctly, that shows that you’re actually paying attention to what you’re doing and that you care.
3. Social media marketing has definitely taken a big shift over the last few years. It’s now all about relationship building, and making sure that you when you contact somebody, you propose a win-win situation. Definitely ask them about their business and what they’re up to, as well as any challenges they are facing.
4. The next thing is make sure your profile is 100% rockstar, the first thing they’re going to do if they receive a cold connection request is go to your profile. If your profile has a
crappy picture, and you look like a serial killer (You know what I mean) then no one is going to accept your connection request.
Make sure all the information on your profile is up to date and all the links to websites and emails our working. Nothing says I’m really unprofessional more than someone clicking on the website in your contact information, and the site has been taken down and isn’t even on the Internet anymore.
5. The same thing for your website, if your website hasn’t been updated in years, guess what? People are judging whether to accept your connection request on that as well.
6. Is the message you are sending out congruent with what your profile says and what your website says. What is your call to action? What is your sales funnel?
7. On your profile do you have any endorsements, endorsements are like an testimonials, the more the better.
8. Lastly I only connect with people, and keep them as connections, if they fall into one of three categories:
A) Will they be my client?
B) Will they be a connector and send clients to me?
C) Can I joint venture with them on something else, or can I add value to them?
LinkedIn throttles your account from receiving new connections or building up your network at about 30,000. So while you may not be anywhere near to that, you have to think ahead a few years and if you are using LinkedIn for lead generation, eventually you will probably hit that mark. So I always ask people if they fall into one of those three categories, if after I connect with them and get to know them, they seem kind of wishy-washy, by giving me the thumbs up or not sure, response when I asked them if they want to have a telephone conversation. I disconnect and Block them.
I hope this article brought some value to you and I welcome all your comments and your thoughts on lead generation on LinkedIn and connections on LinkedIn. If I can ever answer any questions for you for free please let me know I would be happy to have a conversation with you.
Allan – https://leadwizard.ca/ – 403-246-7386