Prospecting means sifting through people’s information to qualify them according to your ideal client criteria and then reaching out to them through cold calling, emailing, or, more recently, LinkedIn, the largest global professional network.
Of the 900 million LinkedIn users, you need to find your prospects — the people and companies who satisfy your ideal client criteria. For instance, if you’re a health writer, your prospects manage content marketing at a health organization, health content agency, or health-related publication.
After you’ve set up a LinkedIn profile that clearly communicates what you do and who your ideal clients are, you can start having conversations with prospects to convert them into paying clients.
How to Use LinkedIn for Effective Prospecting
1. Use LinkedIn Search with Filters
Here’s how to use LinkedIn search filters to land a list of qualified prospects:
- Restrict the search to “People” only.
- Choose 2nd-degree connections, meaning people who are connected to your connections.
- Pick a target location, such as “United States.”
- Select your niche industries.
- Choose a Profile language, such as “English.”
- Add keywords like “marketing” to the Title, as your prospects usually have this term in their designation.
If you’re on LinkedIn’s free version, you won’t find some of these filter options.
2. Save LinkedIn Searches
If you’re a free or Premium LinkedIn user, you can’t save your searches natively in LinkedIn like Sales Navigator profiles can. But I have a workaround for you! After you’ve added all filters to your LinkedIn search, bookmark the URL in your browser.
The next time you’re prospecting, open the bookmark to get a new list of prospects. You won’t have to perform the search again.
You can save multiple searches as bookmarks, such as for each geographical location, title/designation, or industry.
3. Connect with Other Similar Profiles for Each Prospect
I used to think of prospecting as a linear activity. Perform a search, qualify prospects, add them to an Excel sheet, and contact them individually. Then, perform the search again.
It turns out I was overlooking a key fact about prospecting — it expands out in all directions like a web. Let me explain.
Once you arrive at a prospect’s profile through your targeted search, look for the “More Profiles to Browse,” “Grow Your Network,” and “People You May Know” sections to connect with similar prospects.
You’ll still need to filter these prospects by your usual criteria, but you’ll find that many of them qualify as your ideal prospects. The fact that LinkedIn is always showing you similar people to connect with when you’re on a profile shows that it’s meant for networking.
4. Press Bells and Interact with Them and Their Network
Quickly sending connection requests and waiting for prospects to accept is one way of prospecting, but it’s exponentially more effective to start interacting with your prospects whether or not they have connected with you.
This way, you build rapport with them and stay top-of-mind. When looking for their next copywriter, odds are they’ll choose one they have already interacted with over a stranger.
Press the bell on the profile of prospects who consistently post on LinkedIn (check their LinkedIn Activity) so you get notified each time they post. Then, leave thoughtful, value-adding comments to their posts.
5. Start with Who You Know
An underutilized way to start prospecting on LinkedIn is to start with people you already know and trust — or people who already know and trust you. These are your current and past clients, employers, colleagues, and acquaintances. Go to their profiles and look for similar profiles to connect with. Remember that each subsequent prospect leads to many similar prospects!
Bonus: Look at Each Prospect’s Past Experiences
People work at similar companies throughout their careers. So, the content manager at your prospect’s last company is also a prospect for you. Look through each prospect’s past experiences and connect with content managers at those companies.
See what I mean when I say prospecting is a non-linear activity stretching out like a web?
Try out these prospecting tips and let me know how they work for you.
