LinkedIn can be an excellent resource for B2B writers. We talk about it a lot on B2B Writing Success, yet not every person who reaches out to you on the LinkedIn platform is a legitimate freelance writing lead.
Some requests are from other freelancers who are networking and want to share ideas. Some are from recruiters looking for freelancers for their clients. Toss in a few legitimate prospective clients and a dozen spam messages, and you’re spending a lot of time sorting through all the requests.
What your LinkedIn marketing strategy needs is a connection request screening checklist. It can help you weed out the bad prospects and save you time in qualifying the ones you do connect with.
How a Screening Checklist Helps
An optimized LinkedIn profile attracts a lot of people, which is good. That means your marketing is effective. That’s half the battle for working freelance B2B writers. Because you’re working, however, you’ve got to protect your time to ensure you finish all the work you’re booking. You can’t do that if you’re always dealing with multiple LinkedIn messages every day.
By using the screening checklist, you’ll:
- Save time dealing with the requests by sorting them quickly.
- Zero in on the people you want to work with.
- See who’s serious about working with you.
- Find out if they have the budget to pay you.
The LinkedIn Screening Checklist
You can run through this three-step checklist quickly with each request or message you get through LinkedIn.
- Does the request have a message or an InMail message?
- If Yes, move to the next step.
- If No, you can let the request sit for a while and decide what to do with it later.
- Does the message explain why they’re reaching out? For instance, is it from a marketing manager explaining they’ve got an upcoming project you could help with?
- If Yes, continue to the next step.
- If it’s a fellow copywriter, accepting may be helpful in building your professional network. Many leads come from peers referring work they don’t do, but you may do.
- If you can’t understand what they’re asking or explaining, you may want to stop the conversation.
- Ask these three quick questions to see if the lead is serious about working with you:
- What’s the timeline or deadline for the project?
- Is this work part of a larger project or ongoing marketing strategy?
- What’s your budget?
And that’s it!
Three simple steps that’ll quickly and efficiently help you sort through LinkedIn requests and messages to weed out and eliminate the bad prospects. Those that are left are the ones you can spend your valuable time on and build your business.
Sorting through LinkedIn messages and connection requests is an essential part of your marketing strategy. You need to stay on top of them as your freelance B2B writing business grows and evolves.
Of course, if you’re just starting out, this checklist might remove too many prospects and undermine your efforts to build your business. But if you’re already established or are looking to power up your client roster, it can be just the thing to do it.
For more help using LinkedIn to grow your B2B writing business, check out this post on the six LinkedIn strategies that get you more copywriting clients.
