How to Thoughtfully Target LinkedIn Connections to Generate New Business

March 21, 2023

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="row-content stack" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;color:#343446;background-color:#fff;width:500px" width="500"><tbody><tr><td class="column column-1" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;font-weight:400;text-align:left;padding-bottom:5px;padding-top:5px;vertical-align:top;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0" width="100%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="divider_block block-1" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad"><div align="center" class="alignment"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="divider_inner" style="font-size:1px;line-height:1px;border-top:1px solid #bbb"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" class="text_block block-2" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;word-break:break-word" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad"><div style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><div class="" style="font-size:14px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;mso-line-height-alt:16.8px;color:#000;line-height:1.2">Thoughtfully Target LinkedIn Connections to Generate New Business</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="text_block block-3" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;word-break:break-word" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad" style="padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px"><div style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><div class="" style="font-size:12px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;mso-line-height-alt:18px;color:#000;line-height:1.5"> 👋   You recently joined the Pollen waitlist and now have access to our newsletter, where we share in depth tactics and best practices for your freelancing business. Pollen is a professional development network for freelancers, and will be launching publicly soon! </div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" class="button_block block-4" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad"><div align="center" class="alignment"> <a href="http://email.runpollen.com/e/c/eyJlIjoxMjU2ODEsImVtYWlsX2lkIjoiZXhhbXBsZSIsImhyZWYiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5ydW5wb2xsZW4uY29tLz91dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249MyUyRjIxK1dhaXRsaXN0K05ld3NsZXR0ZXJcdTAwMjZ1dG1fY29udGVudD0zJTJGMTQrTWVtYmVyK25ld3NsZXR0ZXJcdTAwMjZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsX2FjdGlvblx1MDAyNnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9Y3VzdG9tZXIuaW8iLCJ0IjoxNzA4NTMyNjkzfQ/449b98d2c9e019e1b1ddfe4d41c6634f5b7dd76d4b3718fcb562057d385930f1" style="text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;color:#ffffff;background-color:#000000;border-radius:9px;width:auto;border-top:0px solid transparent;font-weight:400;border-right:0px solid transparent;border-bottom:0px solid transparent;border-left:0px solid transparent;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;text-align:center;mso-border-alt:none;word-break:keep-all;" target="_blank">Visit Pollen</a> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="text_block block-5" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;word-break:break-word" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad" style="padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;padding-top:10px"><div style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><div class="" style="font-size:12px;mso-line-height-alt:18px;color:#000;line-height:1.5;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">We’re going to walk you through the steps of how to thoughtfully engage your LinkedIn connections.  You worked hard to build your existing network, and it's important to keep that network healthy. Which is why we aren’t going to tell you to blast your entire LinkedIn contacts list. Every interaction you have with your connections can be positive or negative, and we want it to be the former. A little thoughtfulness can go a long way in generating mutual goodwill.  So, what’s the first thing you’ll do? 1. Set your strategy First, identify the goal you’d like to achieve from the outreach you will be doing. There are plenty of reasons why you would want to reach out to your connections. To maintain focus, we recommend taking it one goal at a time. Answer these questions to identify your goal <ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:27px;font-size:16px"><li>Are you trying to pitch new business to potential clients?</li><li>Do you need introductions to people at certain businesses?</li><li>Are you trying to partner with another company or service provider?</li><li> Are you seeking advice on a specific area of expertise?</li><li>Are you trying to network with someone who could recommend your service?</li><li>Is it something else?</li></ul> For example, imagine a freelancer who has a program for tech companies to educate their employees on inclusion in the workplace. They might narrow down their first goal to pitch their new business to potential tech company clients or simply ask for informational interviews.  2. Identify keywords that will find your targetOnce you have your goal clear, you can better identify who is the type of person who can help you reach your goal. On LinkedIn, you’ll use keywords to make your search more efficient. Here are some starting places to consider based on your goal:‍<ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:24px;font-size:16px"><li>To pitch a new business, you want to search for points of contact who fit your target client archetype.</li><li> If you need advice on a specific area, identify the title of the person who has that area of expertise.</li><li>If you're looking for someone to collaborate with, think of what their LinkedIn headline might say.‍</li></ul> Don’t just read through these points and take mental notes — write some keywords down. To continue our example of the freelancer, they might use keywords from their target client archetype (founder, industry disruptor) and the kinds of tech businesses they want to connect with (startup, innovation lab).‍  3. Start searching your connectionsTo look at all of your connections, go to your profile and the connections link under your profile picture.   Once you’re there, you’ll see different filters you can search by. This allows you to find people you are directly connected to, in specific areas, at certain companies and more. Use the list of keywords you came up with in Step 1 to refine your filters, such as the kind of company or another identifying factor. ‍ Here are a few examples: <ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:24px;font-size:16px"><li>For someone with expertise in public speaking, you might search for “lecturer”</li><li> For someone who might have writing opportunities for their firm, you might search for the title of the manager, “SEO manager” or “Editorial Director”</li><li>If you’re finding someone to partner with for a specific project, search for keywords that align with their areas of expertise.</li></ul> Add them to your listCrafting an outreach list can help you hone in on the right kind of people. As you identify people, add them to a simple list that includes:<ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:24px;font-size:16px"><li>Their name</li><li> Contact information</li><li>Purpose: In 1-2 sentences, what is the reason to connect with them?</li><li>Priority: How valuable will a conversation be to you? Rank it as 1, 2 or 3. </li></ul> The purpose of this exercise is not to just create a list. It’s a starting point for targeting specific people in your network who can serve unique purposes to help you meet your goal. Aim for 10-15 people on the list to start. We’re going to take the people on this list and craft custom messages for them.</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" class="image_block block-6" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad"><div align="center" class="alignment" style="line-height:10px"><img class="big" src="https://userimg-assets.customeriomail.com/images/client-env-125681/1679364370717_Screenshot%202023-03-20%20at%2010.05.23%20PM_01GW0YNCC00BAGRPZZZANKA81D.png" style="display:block;height:auto;border:0;width:460px;max-width:100%" width="460"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="text_block block-7" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;word-break:break-word" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="pad" style="padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:20px;padding-right:20px;padding-top:10px"><div style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><div class="" style="font-size:12px;mso-line-height-alt:18px;color:#000;line-height:1.5;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> 4. Craft your messages It's important that you craft relevant messages for each of the contacts you identified. If you send a generic, vague message to a contact you run the risk of damaging the connection; people can spot a mass correspondence template pretty intuitively. What people feel compelled to respond to is authenticity and recognition of their unique insights, so incorporate those aspects in their message.  Here are a few principles to write by:<ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:24px;font-size:16px"><li>Keep it concise and authentic to your relationship. </li><li> Make it personal. Incorporate something from a previous conversation you had or an article that reminded you of them.</li><li>Include the purpose of your outreach and why you want to speak with them specifically. When people feel seen, they know you have done your homework and they will feel more inclined to help you.</li><li> If you want to set a meeting time, suggest a few options so they don’t have to. Make it as easy as possible for them to say yes.</li></ul>People’s LinkedIn inboxes are pretty noisy with recruiters, requests, and introductions, so if you have their email, we recommend reaching out that way to stand out. Here’s an example of an outreach email geared toward asking someone for advice. Use it as a template or structure you can adapt for your own email.  Hi {name},  I hope you’ve been well — I just read this article {link article}, which reminded me of our conversation last year at the {event that you were at together}. How are things going with that project?  I know you have experience in {x topic}, which is relevant to a project I’m working on. Are you available for a brief chat? I’d love to share some things I’ve learned recently that you might find of interest.   If you’re available over the next few weeks, here are some times that work on my end (and I’m happy to provide alternatives if none of these options work!).   Time option 1 Time option 2 Time option 3   Let me know and I can shoot over a calendar invite to you. Hope to hear from you soon! - {Your Name}  Tactfully follow upOnce you’ve crafted your messages and properly proofread them, send them off. Be prepared that not everyone will respond. Sometimes that’s due to a person’s current bandwidth, or glancing at your message but forgetting to respond, or just not being interested.  If they haven’t responded, follow up about a week later with a short note. Something along the lines of:  “I know your inbox is probably crazy, but do let me know if you’re available to meet or if your schedule clears up in the future. Happy to reconnect any time!”   At the end of the day, some people just won’t reply. And that’s ok! The important thing is to keep it moving. Even one response will lead you to more opportunities and potential connections, and that is what’s important to keep in sight.  We recommend keeping track of your interactions and conversations with people through a CRM of your own. Some popular tools that we’ve seen are:‍<ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:24px;font-size:14px"><li>Notion</li><li>ConvertKit </li><li>Harlow</li><li> Hubspot</li><li>Honeybook</li><li>Airtable</li></ul>Congratulations! Some key takeaways to remember:<ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:24px;font-size:14px"><li> Identify the kind of person you want to reach.</li><li>Search for keywords that would be in their bios.</li><li>Have a clear purpose for your outreach.</li><li>Leverage LinkedIn search.</li><li>Try to email them, but DM is fine too.</li><li>Make custom messages to improve your response rate.</li><li>A hard-earned connection can be ruined by one bad interaction.</li><li>Some people just won’t reply, and that’s to be expected.</li><li>Keep track of your interactions, conversations, and new connections that come up.</li></ul>What did you think of this newsletter? Reply and let us know!</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

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How to Thoughtfully Target LinkedIn Connections to Generate New Business

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