First off, a little note on LinkedIn.

Unless you’re using a premium subscription (which gives you access to InMail and the ability to shoot anyone a message), you might not be able to make contact everybody there. There are workarounds (like using the app or going through a group you’re both in, which we’ll cover next week), but sometimes you have to hit up a search engine to find an email, especially if they’re a particularly juicy lead that you don’t want to let go.

That said, making first contact doesn’t have to be intimidating, a complete gamble, or a ton of work each and every time. Before I make contact, I make sure to have four points ready.

Your subject line is possibly the most important part of your message. People need incentive to click open. That’s why it’s so important to develop a bank of subjects that get people to read what you have to say. You don’t have to start from scratch though, so  Here's a list of some that work well for me to get you going.

Templates are something you’ll build and refine over time until you have your own bank that you can use to quickly get letters out. To get started though, remember that you have access to the template bank as an Academy member.

What I’ve found to be crucial, is mentioning something specific about their business to let them know you took some time to understand their business problems. I’ll use a reference to a product or service, or something going I found on their website to prove that I did some research and understand things like…

Most importantly though, offer them a chance to take action and call you to talk about their problems or to set up some time to talk where you can ask them a couple of questions about the problem they’re having, what they’ve tried to do to address it before, and what they’re hoping to achieve. (Side note: This probably isn’t the best place to lean on email. If you’re like me, you might want to go back and forth forever, but I’ve found that it’s rare that anyone on LinkedIn prefers email over phone.)

Like I said before, this part is a process you’ll do over and over, so don’t feel disheartened if you don’t hear back from people immediately, or if you get a rejection (which is honestly not a bad thing…any response is a win and new information!) Keep at it, and each time you’ll get more comfortable and even better at finding the best opportunities for your business.

Next week we’re going to go over some other ways you can use LinkedIn to build connections and drive new business. Talk to you soon!


Megan