T1.2 - Find like-minded people on LinkedIn and set up Zoom Discovery calls

Find like-minded people on LinkedIn and set up Zoom Discovery calls.

Before reaching out to anyone on LinkedIn, it’s a good idea to align your profile so that others are likely to want to connect with you beyond LinkedIn. This is covered in the next topic of this workshop.

Your First level LinkedIn Connections.

If you already have a significant number of connections on LinkedIn, an excellent place to start is to reach out to a filtered list of first-level connections suggesting that you increase your relationship beyond LinkedIn, beginning with a short face-to-face meeting on Zoom.

Your message could go something like this:

“Hi Mary,

We've been connected on LinkedIn for a while, so I thought of reaching out to you.

This year I'm looking to build a community of like-minded professionals so that we can all advocate for each other.

My experience is that this is by far the most effective use of our time in producing Tangible results.

It's not about pitches, sales, offers or deals - and for me, it's definitely NOT about immediate transactions - it really is about building genuine pro-actively advocating relationships.

I reviewed your profile and realised I have a number of close associates in my network who could also be good connections for you if you are like-minded.

We all know that recent events have significantly impacted business.
However, on a positive note, I think it's made us all realise that we all do better by working together.
So, my motto is: Build trust by "giving first".

If this resonates with you, just click the following link and book a time for a quick Zoom call in the next few weeks so we can see how we may be able to help each other.

Click the following link to choose a time that works for you.

You would then include your Calendly link.

There’s no point in just being connected on LinkedIn - let's take it further!

I am looking forward to getting to know you better and seeing how I may best help.

Cheers
Fred”

Your Second Level LinkedIn Connections.

When you reach out to second level connections, LinkedIn limits you to a message which is 300 characters long.

We recommend your connection request message is structured as follows:

(1) A positive message about what you have seen on their profile.

This is the reason you want to connect with them.

For example:

Hi Fred,

It looks like you have a great deal to offer that may interest some of my contacts.

The more you can personalise this part of the message to what they have on their profile, the better.

(2) You would follow this with a standard message written in your own style.

For example:

Hopefully (like me), you also value stronger connections outside LinkedIn?
If so, let's connect with a view to meeting on Zoom or equivalent.
Cheers
Brooke

Be aware that roughly only 30% of the people you reach out to will accept your connection request. So anything above a 30% connection rate is cause for celebration!

When someone does respond, it is becoming common for them to send you a Calendly (or equivalent) link to book a time in their calendar.

If, however, someone connects and indicates some times they are free for a Zoom, you can instead send them your Calendly link.

In this case, your message could go something like:

Great, Brooke,

I’m looking forward to having a quick Zoom to meet you face-toface.

To make it easy and save juggling diaries, it would be great if you could choose a time that works for you using the following link.

Really looking forward to meeting you and seeing how I can best help.

Cheers
Fred

The next step is to have a Discovery Zoom with your new contact at the agreed time.

There are some great hints and tips about having a successful Discovery call in another topic in this workshop.

It is vital that you only reach out to people on LinkedIn that look like a good fit.

Bearing in mind that you are looking for partners to join your team, it is vital that you glance at LinkedIn profiles and be prepared to quickly move to the next profile if they have scant information or you just don’t feel they’d be a great part of your team.

Examining and selecting profiles to send an invitation to connect can be pretty time-consuming. However, it is critical to remember that you are only looking for a few leaders who will become great team-builders. When this happens, your team of team building advocates will rapidly expand.

In other words, it’s worth putting in a small, consistent effort every day selecting only potentially great candidates. In other words, eat the elephant bite by bite!

There are 2 things that can significantly speed up this process:

(1) Becoming good at Boolean searches to help you find like-minded candidates.

We have another workshop devoted to getting better with Boolean searches.

(2) Using Arnie the Analyser

Arnie is an advanced tool that works on a point system. You specify the number of points a profile gets (positive or negative) depending on whether the words you define are present or absent.

As an example, you could say that if the Summary section of a LinkedIn profile does not contain any of the following words:

I
My
Me

You would allocate minus 3 points.

This would screen out profiles that are written in the 3rd person.
In other words, where someone has written their profile like an online CV.

For Example: Fred, has a demonstrated history of; whatever.

Typically, Arnie can reduce the number of profiles you need to examine to about 25% of the initial results produced by your Boolean search.

Although Arnie is a fantastic, tedium-saving, productivity tool, it is complicated to set up. In other words, you will need someone to help you to set up Arnie.

We recommend you become thoroughly familiar with MyMostTrusted and how to do Boolean searches before you transition to Arnie.