What we're going to cover today:
• How To Avoid LinkedIn's well-meaning built-in "Roadblocks" To Automation
• THE THREE STAGES IN LINKEDIN'S SALES PROCESS — And How To Cut Your Selling Time By 60%!
• The 5 Advantages Of Sending Private Messages That Most People Overlook
Okay, let’s talk strategy…
When it comes down to it, there are only 4 ways to get visibility on LinkedIn:
1. Writing posts
2. Commenting on other people’s posts
3. Sending connection requests
4. Sending private messages
Most people are familiar with the first two options because they are the easiest to execute and don’t require any special skills or tools.
But there’s a problem with this approach…
If you want to write posts, they need to be engaging enough for people to want to like and comment on them. That takes a lot of skill and money if you hire someone to do it for you.
And even if you’re able to do this successfully, LinkedIn doesn’t show your posts to your entire network. They only show it to a small percentage of people.
For example, I have around 9,000 connections on my personal LinkedIn account, yet my posts are typically only getting shown to around 1,000 people.
That’s only 11% of my entire network!
The reality is this … getting visibility on LinkedIn from writing posts is hard and unpredictable.
The same applies when commenting on other people’s posts.
When I first started using LinkedIn back in 2016, I didn’t write any posts.
Instead, I would scroll through my newsfeed each day and comment on other people’s posts.
Initially it worked well because there weren’t many people doing this back then. But over time the strategy stopped working as more and more people started doing it.
Today it doesn’t really work at all because everyone is doing it (and most don’t have anything valuable to say either).
So that leaves us with options #3 and #4 (sending connection requests and private messages).
Which do you think gets the most visibility?
If you guessed #4 (sending private messages), you would be correct!
Sending private messages has several advantages that most people overlook:
1. Your message always ends up in front of the right person (i.e., your ideal customer)
2. You can control when they see it (i.e., timing)
3. You can customize what they see (i.e., personalization)
4. You can control how often they see it (i.e., frequency)
5. You can control how long they see it (i.e., duration)
This is why LinkedIn is so powerful when it comes to generating leads and sales.
It allows you to get your marketing message in front of your ideal customer at the exact moment they are thinking about hiring someone like you!
No other platform allows you to do this with such accuracy and precision.
So, LinkedIn is this powerful tool, right?
You can laser-target your ideal customer, craft the perfect message, and land right in their inbox.
Sounds amazing.
But here's the catch:
LinkedIn knows how powerful their platform is.
They know it's a goldmine for connecting with prospects.
And they've built in some serious limitations.
Think of it like a velvet rope policy at an exclusive club.
You can peek in, maybe even chat with a few people near the entrance, but you're not getting past that rope without the right credentials.
LinkedIn wants to keep things "organic", they say.
They want to prevent spam and keep the experience pleasant for everyone.
But what that really means is they're putting a tight cap on how many people you can connect with, how many messages you can send.
It's like they're handing you a megaphone, but then whispering, "Don't be too loud."
Imagine this: You've finally cracked the code. You've figured out how to write compelling messages that get responses. You're seeing real results.
But then, just as you're ready to ramp things up, LinkedIn throws a roadblock in your path. You're stuck sending out a measly 100 connection requests per week, a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of potential clients out there. It's frustrating, isn't it?
Like having your foot on the gas pedal, but the car just won't go any faster.
You're left wondering, "Is this it? Is this the limit of what I can achieve with LinkedIn?"
The frustration simmers.
You see others seemingly navigating LinkedIn with ease, building massive networks and generating leads left and right.
You start to feel like you're missing out on something, like you're on the outside looking in.
I was at a marketing event in San Diego.
It’s the first day — registration day.
The formalities of the event take place on day two, but the event organizers’ job is to hook you in, and get you to stick around for the next 3 days.
And what better way to do that than with an open bar :-)
The free booze is served from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM.
I’m early.
I want to get a good seat.
The bar is a mission-style courtyard. Beautiful. Palm trees. Tiled floor. A fountain in the middle. And a huge open fireplace, with a stack of wood to last all night. (Or until the fire department comes along and ruins the fun.)
I find a table near the bar and grab a seat.
The place is filling up fast. It’s almost at capacity now.
And then I see him.
An old friend.
He’s at the doorway, scanning the room. The moment his eyes spot me, he heads over.
We shake hands, and he joins me at my table.
“This is crazy,” he says, “I’ve never seen so many people at this event.”
I nod.
I’m not a stranger to this event, either.
It’s my third time here.
We chat for a while longer. Small talk. Just catching up on life and business since we saw each other last time, years ago.
Then he spots someone. Stands up. Gives them a wave. And then sits back down.
“What was that all about?” I ask him.
“Oh, that’s Joe. I’m meeting him here for drinks.”
Within a minute or two, Tom arrives at our table.
And behind him, a dozen other people who obviously already know each other.
Hugs and handshakes are exchanged all round.
It’s one big love fest.
Funny thing is … I’m still sitting there in my chair, feeling kinda awkward.
I don’t know these people. And it’s obvious this isn’t a party I was invited to.
I hang around for another 15 minutes or so, listening in on the conversation from time to time, before finally making my excuses and leaving my old friend and his 12 friends behind.
Uninvited to the party.
That’s how some people feel when they see other people using LinkedIn to generate leads, appointments and sales … but they haven’t figured out how to do it themselves yet.
Yeah, sure, you can send out a few connection requests every day, and even strike up a few conversations each week that lead to appointments and sales…
… but what happens when you’re ready to scale?
What happens when you want to be able to send out 1,000 connection requests per day?
What happens when you want to be able to follow-up with thousands of other people every single day?
You can’t do that on LinkedIn because LinkedIn won’t let you.
You’re capped at 100 connection requests per week (and if you’re not careful you could get banned entirely).