500+ LinkedIn Connections in 30 Days

[lovecharm]

Alright, I will chip in, as I have been using Linkedin a lot and I have got my products to a major national chain stores in US via Linkedin.

I became the premium member, yes it costs $90 a month, but totally worth it, you can pin point the people that you want to connect, without premium membership you won't see those people.

Also, you get 30 inmail, use them carefully. Your opening email needs to be a bit like the elevator pitch, you convince them in 60 sec why they should work with you or buy your products, if you can do that then Linkedin is definitely a gold mine.

If your elevator pitch or your opening mail is not strong enough then you won't get much reply or interest, so practice that and then things will fall in to its place.

Don't forget, you will need to follow up with people that you spoke before after every 1-2 weeks.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Fox]

Up to 509 this morning, thanks Andy!

Took 4 days to do starting at 150 roughly.

 

[Ubermensch]

View attachment 12428
Up to 509 this morning, thanks Andy!

Took 4 days to do starting at 150 roughly.

Lol @Andy Black single-handedly made this thread GOLD quality.

 

[Fox]

Lol @Andy Black single-handedly made this thread GOLD quality.

Plus I am not actively looking for work but it wouldn't be too hard either using the tactics he shared. Epic advice. Im still getting more connections and I have stopped sending out requests. Basically did the goal of this thread in 3 days (10 times less then the time OP needed). OP have you got your 500?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Thought you might be interested in this short video (bear with it):

 

[Andy Black]

Plus I am not actively looking for work but it wouldn't be too hard either using the tactics he shared. Epic advice. Im still getting more connections and I have stopped sending out requests. Basically did the goal of this thread in 3 days (10 times less then the time OP needed). OP have you got your 500?

View attachment 12429

I've landed a few contracts via LinkedIn.

Some came from people who had already heard of me and checked out my profile.

Others came from when I sent a connection request and they checked out my profile before connecting.

Definitely over €60k of work, possibly €100k+ over the years.

And this is without posting any content on the platform, just from connecting with people.

 

[GerTranslator]

I really need to up my LinkedIn game as well. Still relying mostly on agencies for getting translation work and they are leeching all the money out of the industry. (Yeah, I know, I should just start my own agency)
Thanks for that method, I hope I will be able to connect to more direct clients with this method in the future.
First connection actually was some company head I emailed a few months back about translating his e-commerce website to German or something and he never answered haha.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ubermensch]

"You are now connected with Andy Black"

I'm in the Fastlane LinkedIn boat now! Thanks for all this advice Andy

Are you in sales?

Go through those connections and see if any of them make good strategic partners.

Make it rain.

 

[GerTranslator]

One problem I see right now for me is, that due to having added 1-2 teachers from my university back then most of my recommended connections on LinkedIn right now are teachers, teaching volunteers, etc. etc. If I add all of those now as well, wouldn't I basically only get recommended people in those fields in the future as well? I know it is mainly about numbers at the start, but I am not sure, those connections will lead to anything.

 

[Andy Black]

One problem I see right now for me is, that due to having added 1-2 teachers from my university back then most of my recommended connections on LinkedIn right now are teachers, teaching volunteers, etc. etc. If I add all of those now as well, wouldn't I basically only get recommended people in those fields in the future as well? I know it is mainly about numbers at the start, but I am not sure, those connections will lead to anything.

Get to 500+ with any connections.

Even after 500, continue adding any connections. You never know who knows someone that might have work for you, now or in the future.



To get more targeted connections, use the process I showed above to see all your current connections.

Then select a connection more like those you want to target, and click "Similar" just under their name.

You'll be given another list of people who you can "Connect" or "In mail". Connect with the ones LinkedIn suggests and you won't need to send an inmail.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Hey @axiom

How are you progressing towards 500+ connections?

How many do you have now?

 

[axiom]

Hey @axiom

How are you progressing towards 500+ connections?

How many do you have now?

Andy, first of all thanks for providing a huge amount of value to this thread. I've been employing the tactics you've outlined thoroughly and am now just shy of 500 connections.

I've begun the process of messaging many of these contacts and opening up a dialogue to try and figure out ways we can help each other in the present and future. After all, this is the main goal on LinkedIn: to create opportunities in a modern, globalized world.

I'd caution anyone not to write off LinkedIn as a waste of time. It most certainly is not. This is coming from someone who has little patience for most social media. Building and maintaining a fully fleshed out LinkedIn account is just one very important piece to the business puzzle in the modern age.

 

[Roli]

I got the best client I ever had in my last business, they took me to 5 different countries and had about 20 jobs with them in the UK, I got to 500 connections very quickly, probably less than 30 days, by joining groups and then adding people from that group, I had about an 80% success rate using this tactic.

I find it interesting what people here say about Linkedin paid accounts, as apart from that great client, I have had nothing since and can't see the benefit of a paid account, but think I'll use my free trial and see what it's all about.

Any advice on what I should be doing with my paid account would be greatly appreciated.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Edvin]

Lately I've realized what an incredible professional tool LinkedIn is. Before this point, I've been very inactive on traditional social media as I find it to be an empty time-suck.

LinkedIn is different, though. If you are involved in big deal-type business, a fully fleshed out LinkedIn profile and 500+ connects can lend a huge plus sign in your favor. Its time for me to take advantage of the positives involved with the new internet age.

Especially in sales, I'm confident LinkedIn will provide a huge boost to my credibility, which is vital. So this thread's purpose will be to document my brand new account's progress from 0 connects to 500+ connects.

Already filled out my profile completely. Time to start online networking.

Well done man! I believe Linkedin is for people who truly want to market THEMSELVES and not just hide behind a website and think that's the way to build a business LOL. Great job!

 

[Andy Black]

I got the best client I ever had in my last business, they took me to 5 different countries and had about 20 jobs with them in the UK, I got to 500 connections very quickly, probably less than 30 days, by joining groups and then adding people from that group, I had about an 80% success rate using this tactic.

I find it interesting what people here say about Linkedin paid accounts, as apart from that great client, I have had nothing since and can't see the benefit of a paid account, but think I'll use my free trial and see what it's all about.

Any advice on what I should be doing with my paid account would be greatly appreciated.

That's a clever use of Groups.

I'm not fully using the power of Groups, but starting to get my head round them now. It's much like being in the forum really. Help people. Have manners. Give thanks. It's amazing how far those three can take us...

 

[Roli]

That's a clever use of Groups.

I'm not fully using the power of Groups, but starting to get my head round them now. It's much like being in the forum really. Help people. Have manners. Give thanks. It's amazing how far those three can take us...

Yeah some groups are better than others, but it's a definite chicken dinner winner

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Fox]

@Andy Black @Ubermensch Whats your opinion on doing portfolio style posts -

"Just finished X Project with Y client and really happy with Z Results (complete with cool info-graphics/pics etc). "

Network is coming up on 1000 and want to start getting some content on there for job leads.

 

[TonyStark]

Fact, all the most driven guys I know have the loudest laughs. Looking at Andys page I really need to step up my LinkedIn game. I definitely need a new pic, improved content and also work on getting some great personal endorsements. This will be a main goal for the next few weeks.

Ha!

 

[eliquid]

I've landed a few contracts via LinkedIn.

Some came from people who had already heard of me and checked out my profile.

Others came from when I sent a connection request and they checked out my profile before connecting.

Definitely over €60k of work, possibly €100k+ over the years.

And this is without posting any content on the platform, just from connecting with people.

Not sure how I feel about all the talk about Linkedin and how useful it is. Not saying what you guys are saying isnt true, but my experience has been 180 degrees.

• I was one of the first groups of people on Linkedin. Not sure how many people Im connected to, but it is way over that 500+
  
• Been active in lots of groups. I even changed the groups out from time to time to hit others and try to connect to more people as a group connection.
• Reached out to thousands of people with Inmail, custom connection intros, etc
• Posted on Linked for my status to get into the newsfeed
• Even built a custom "viewer bot" so I could be on the "whos viewed your profile"
• Been both paid and free member

After all these years of being on the site, changing up my bio and trying everything possible with copywriters rewriting my stuff, I've landed 1 client in many years of being on the site. The client I landed was pretty much broke too.

So when people say they go on there and don't do anything and land contracts and get traction out of it, Im curious how that's happening because I have had a lot of time invested in LinkedIn with no gain.

This thread is sort of timely too... I just went in and starting removing tons of people from my network the last few days because my feed is cluttered with everyone's post and I felt that since I wasn't getting anything out of it, that Im going to remove a ton of people and groups and posts.

I feel something is missing. However, I'm man enough to know maybe all these years I've done it wrong too, but I tried everything I can think of and it's done jack shit for me.

BTW, I kept my connections to @Andy Black and @MJ

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black @Ubermensch Whats your opinion on doing portfolio style posts -

"Just finished X Project with Y client and really happy with Z Results (complete with cool info-graphics/pics etc). "

Network is coming up on 1000 and want to start getting some content on there for job leads.

It could work a treat. The best way is to test different styles of content.

I've not done much posting on LinkedIn yet.

I posted a few of my little videos, and it was interesting that it was mostly people I physically knew who commented, and passed onto others.

Personally, I'm going to try videos and articles first (articles such as my AdWords posts). These are more "educational" than a portfolio style post. I can imagine a viewer/reader seeing an immediate ROI on their time if they learn something they can use.

I'd put a nice image into the post to increase CTR... probably with some shareable nugget/quote to encourage sharing.



I'm also reluctant to mention who my clients are (as might happen with portfolio posts). I don't see why that should be out there in public.

This is also why I haven't actively persued testimonials other than from team members when I was an employee in different businesses. I think my testimonials are fine as is. Mostly, they're well thought out, and obviously genuine.



TL;DR - Test it?

I really think most content posted on LinkedIn comes across quite spammy. It's the usual "content marketing" headline templates and thinly veiled opt-in stuff that should be easy to beat if you go native on LinkedIn.

 

[Andy Black]

Not sure how I feel about all the talk about Linkedin and how useful it is. Not saying what you guys are saying isnt true, but my experience has been 180 degrees.

• I was one of the first groups of people on Linkedin. Not sure how many people Im connected to, but it is way over that 500+
  
• Been active in lots of groups. I even changed the groups out from time to time to hit others and try to connect to more people as a group connection.
• Reached out to thousands of people with Inmail, custom connection intros, etc
• Posted on Linked for my status to get into the newsfeed
• Even built a custom "viewer bot" so I could be on the "whos viewed your profile"
• Been both paid and free member

After all these years of being on the site, changing up my bio and trying everything possible with copywriters rewriting my stuff, I've landed 1 client in many years of being on the site. The client I landed was pretty much broke too.

So when people say they go on there and don't do anything and land contracts and get traction out of it, Im curious how that's happening because I have had a lot of time invested in LinkedIn with no gain.

This thread is sort of timely too... I just went in and starting removing tons of people from my network the last few days because my feed is cluttered with everyone's post and I felt that since I wasn't getting anything out of it, that Im going to remove a ton of people and groups and posts.

I feel something is missing. However, I'm man enough to know maybe all these years I've done it wrong too, but I tried everything I can think of and it's done jack shit for me.

BTW, I kept my connections to @Andy Black and @MJ

Gosh, I'm in exalted company! Thanks for that @eliquid.


You really have me thinking now...

Why has it worked for me when I've done very very little on LinkedIn?

What would I do more/differently when I decide to focus on LinkedIn?




I'll just brain dump and see what pops out...




1) What I've done to date


# Background on LinkedIn

I've probably been a member for over 10 years.

LinkedIn was invaluable when I was an IT Contractor, because it was my resume online. Recruiters, agencies, and end-clients would invariably check my profile on Linkedin after I'd spoken to them, met them, or been interviewed.

That's how I started using LinkedIn... like my official online bio for people to check when they want to know more about me. I figure it carries more weight than a website I've created, because the people providing testimonials are real and can be contacted, and it's easy to find out if I've not worked at the sites I've said I did.

(BTW, that €60k-€100k+ I can attribute to LinkedIn mentioned earlier - was for AdWords consulting/contracting, not for the earlier IT contracting.)



# Thousands of connections

Over the years, my connections just organically ended up in the thousands. I accepted every connection request.

A few months ago I started connecting with people via the strategy I outlined in a post above.

I don't worry about how "good" each connection is.

I've learned that we typically don't get work from our first degree network, but from THEIR network. This has certainly been the case in this forum. I've had waaay more work from fellow forum members referring me to people they know, than from fellow forum members.

I'm also considering a "content marketing" strategy on LinkedIn, and figure that a bigger reach is going to help when I start.



# Get people to raise their hand

I don't worry about my news feed getting clogged up due to having so many connections.

It's like Twitter... initially you read everything in your feed, then you get over-loaded and stop reading it.

Instead, read your notifications/alerts and respond to those only.

Spend the time on the people who've liked/followed/commented/shared something you've written, rather than those that haven't.

These people have raised their hand to show they're interested, one way or another.



# Manners <- Hugely important!

Now that I get many new connections a day/week, I no longer do something I did a few years ago - which was to thank each person for "connecting with me" (or "reaching out" if they initiated the connection).

I'd just send a quick message with a subject line "Thanks for connecting/reaching out", and then in the body I'd put something quick like "How's business going?", or "How's business at XYZ Ltd going?".

This takes hardly any time, is manners anyway, and a few people respond.

I don't try and sell to them, but have a little conversation and let it be. They then know better what I do, and I know better what they do.

I try and help them any way I can, such as recommend a book, suggest they contact someone, or give a quick bit of marketing advice.

When I joined TFLF, I did this exact same thing. When someone follows me or sends me rep, I send them a PM. It reminds me that there's real people out there - behind the avatars and bio pictures.

Manners is my primary intention. I've been brought up a certain way. I think giving thanks is the most under-rated but powerful way to "give first".

It often has people checking out my profile and/posts though, which can only be a good thing if I'm positioned as "The XYZ Guy" ... which leads me to the next thought...



# Positioning

I've positioned myself as "The AdWords Guy". I'm not "The Marketing Guy" as that's just too broad. People don't go looking for a marketing guy, and if they did, then they aren't specific enough and are going to be a PITA to work with.

I want to be known as "The AdWords Guy". It's part of what makes me referrable.

The other part of what makes me referrable is that I have manners. I say Please and Thank You. I also turn up on time (aka do what I say I'll do).

People won't refer a plumber that's going to be rude and not turn up on time.


A quick aside: A few years ago I hired a marketing consultant to help me try to position myself away from being an "AdWords Guy". The reason being that clients wouldn't listen when I then started talking about their landing pages, and general business and marketing.

I need them to listen and act on my advice for the AdWords campaigns to run properly.

I've since thrown in the towel. They want an AdWords Guy. So I sell them what they want, and give them what they need. It's up to me to be more authoritative, which has come naturally from all the content I've churned out, and from my process of onboarding clients (whereby I don't just talk about AdWords technicalities).



# Write like you don't need a job or work

Each role I've had is just written as the job-title. I don't fill out what I did in that role. I figure that's what a job-seeker or junior writes.

I'm in the position of power... I don't need or want to waste my time going into all that detail. I also figure that someone who wants to hire me isn't going to go through all that with a fine tooth comb... and if they do, then they're going to be a PITA client anyway.




2) What I plan on doing next


# Keep growing my network

I'm concentrating on Ireland, where I have 5,000 connections.


# Start posting useful content

I've been doing little videos to see how they go. I've dropped a few into LinkedIn.

I've got a brief-case of written content that I can drop in as well.

I'll tighten them up a bit, and post them with an image to increase the likelihood they're clicked on.



# Pre-requisites

Create a landing page for my company website in case someone looks for that instead of my blog. (You'll laugh... there's nothing there, and the business has been running 10 years!)

 

[Fox]

Just using 20% of the advice @Andy Black has been dropping here my profile views have been skyrocketing. Got a job inquiry this morning from an international app/business leader. Might not be anything but the fact it happened shows me the advice on here is pure gold. I have set a goal for the next three weeks to really get my social media game and personal website on point. I have been too busy actually working to set up the pipeline for later work, referrals keeping coming in!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Roli]

Not sure how I feel about all the talk about Linkedin and how useful it is. Not saying what you guys are saying isnt true, but my experience has been 180 degrees.

• I was one of the first groups of people on Linkedin. Not sure how many people Im connected to, but it is way over that 500+
  
• Been active in lots of groups. I even changed the groups out from time to time to hit others and try to connect to more people as a group connection.
• Reached out to thousands of people with Inmail, custom connection intros, etc
• Posted on Linked for my status to get into the newsfeed
• Even built a custom "viewer bot" so I could be on the "whos viewed your profile"
• Been both paid and free member

After all these years of being on the site, changing up my bio and trying everything possible with copywriters rewriting my stuff, I've landed 1 client in many years of being on the site. The client I landed was pretty much broke too.

So when people say they go on there and don't do anything and land contracts and get traction out of it, Im curious how that's happening because I have had a lot of time invested in LinkedIn with no gain.

This thread is sort of timely too... I just went in and starting removing tons of people from my network the last few days because my feed is cluttered with everyone's post and I felt that since I wasn't getting anything out of it, that Im going to remove a ton of people and groups and posts.

I feel something is missing. However, I'm man enough to know maybe all these years I've done it wrong too, but I tried everything I can think of and it's done jack shit for me.

BTW, I kept my connections to @Andy Black and @MJ

I am definitely no Linkedin expert, but as I said above I got one of the best clients I've ever had via Linkedin.

It's hard to comment exactly on what you've been doing, but my guess would be that you're doing the right thing at the moment by trimming those contacts. My advice would be to take the 80/20 approach. Go through all your groups with the thought in mind that 20% of the people will be contributing 80% of the group content.

So see who you have in your contacts that are in the 20% and get rid of everyone else, go through each group like this. If people aren't contributing regularly then there's every chance they hardly use Linkedin, so what's the point of wasting energy on them?

Once you've finished look at the remaining contacts with the thought in mind that 20% of the ones you're left with are going to be worth talking to, in order to work out which 20%, you need to, as Perry Marshall says in 80/20 Sales & Marketing, "rack that shotgun". Come up with a prize draw/competition/whatever (preferably related to your business and preferably related to a purchase) and see who responds.

Do it as a blanket mail, but I would also suggest posting the prize/competition/whatever in some of your groups as well, maybe tweak it a bit for each different group, in fact definitely tweak it, personalise the message.

After that, about 20% of the people will have given you some kind of response, get rid of the remaining 80% and concentrate on finding out which 20% within your 20% are going to be your best customers and go for it.

That will probably take a long time from the sounds of it you have a whole lot of contacts on there, but I reckon it's worth it, especially if you're pruning at the moment anyway.

Right, I'm going off now to follow my own advice

 

[Roli]

It could work a treat. The best way is to test different styles of content.

I've not done much posting on LinkedIn yet.

I posted a few of my little videos, and it was interesting that it was mostly people I physically knew who commented, and passed onto others.

Personally, I'm going to try videos and articles first (articles such as my AdWords posts). These are more "educational" than a portfolio style post. I can imagine a viewer/reader seeing an immediate ROI on their time if they learn something they can use.

I'd put a nice image into the post to increase CTR... probably with some shareable nugget/quote to encourage sharing.



I'm also reluctant to mention who my clients are (as might happen with portfolio posts). I don't see why that should be out there in public.

This is also why I haven't actively persued testimonials other than from team members when I was an employee in different businesses. I think my testimonials are fine as is. Mostly, they're well thought out, and obviously genuine.



TL;DR - Test it?

I really think most content posted on LinkedIn comes across quite spammy. It's the usual "content marketing" headline templates and thinly veiled opt-in stuff that should be easy to beat if you go native on LinkedIn.

When I grow up, I want to be just like Andy Black

 

[Andy Black]

When I grow up, I want to be just like Andy Black

This made me smile. You just started my day off on a great footing. Thanks @Roli, and thanks for the rep.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Roli]

This made me smile. You just started my day off on a great footing. Thanks @Roli, and thanks for the rep.

Glad to be of service

 

[JokerCrazyBeatz]

I've had LI for a long time but never used it because i didnt know how to or knew anyone else using it lol. So you guys are saying its actually a worthwhile site ? I might have to open it back up later today and check it out.

 

[Fox]

The numbers are good at the moment. Next step is really polish off my profile with professional pics and description. Then I am going to move into content that shows off my companies results and products. LinkedIn has certain style of content that gets shared a lot (that I am usually not a fan off) so I will try tap into that but in my own way. I think one quality post a week will see some solid results - "5 quick changes to boost daily traffic by 43%" .

Plan for the next few weeks/months is to have a good sales funnel using FB ads, LinkedIn content and personal referrals. Also increase my sales team to someone in Europe and also another guy in the States.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Blimey. I logged in to accept all connections yesterday (about 97 I think).

Logging back in today I see this:




I posted the contents of this thread onto LinkedIn as an experiment last night.
Here's the stats for that post this morning:

 

[Andy Black]

Just bumping this thread to say I totally forgot to log into LinkedIn in the last few weeks.

Logged in, accepted over 300 connection requests, and now have over 10,000 connections.

I still haven’t figured out LinkedIn. It seems a spamfest, although a friend is using some tools to send personal connection requests to CEOs of companies of over 500 employees.

He’s fast approaching the personal limit of 30,000 connections so it will be interesting to see how he purges those connections.


One notable change for me is that I’m not pushing the AdWords freelancer angle as much. I no longer class myself as a freelancer, and I’m no longer a gun-for-hire.