Read on to learn how to glean the necessary information from LinkedIn profiles to find more clients.
How to Navigate LinkedIn Profiles to Find More Clients
LinkedIn profiles have an Experience section that lends itself well to researching people and businesses who’ve worked with other candidates with your skills. This might take a little time and effort, but you can learn how to use LinkedIn more effectively to improve your job search and create a list of potential clients you can pitch your services to. Here’s how:
Step 1: Find Profiles Similar to Yours
There are many ways you can look up profiles similar to yours. The easiest way is to search for job titles like Freelance Writer or Web Designer. Alternatively, you can use a skill-related hashtag to bring up more profiles that wouldn’t turn up in the job titles list. #writing and #sketching are two examples.
If you have an extensive network of contacts, navigate their networks to find more candidates working in your field and offering services similar to yours.
Step 2: Explore Work History
Once you have a list of profiles, go through their Experience sections with a fine tooth comb. Make a note of all the agencies, businesses, and people they’ve worked for. Only make a note of companies and people who’ve hired them for the services you offer.
Sometimes, people also list one-off projects in the Featured section on their LinkedIn profiles. Click on these project links and see if you can figure out who they collaborated with. Make a note of these businesses and individuals as well.
Step 3: Find the Business Pages of Companies and Hiring Manager Profiles
Now you have a list of potential businesses and people looking to hire. If it’s a business, find their LinkedIn Business Page or company. If you find an active page, try to find the hiring managers working for the company. Look up the Jobs section and see if they’re actively hiring. Explore the company websites and careers pages to learn about hiring practices and prerequisites.
If it’s an individual, look up their LinkedIn profile and work history. If you can find their other social media profiles like Twitter or Facebook, you can figure out if they’re working on more projects or hiring people like you.
Step 4: Create a Short List of Businesses to Pitch Your Services To
Step 3 will give you a good idea of who’s looking to hire, who could be a potential client, and which businesses to avoid. Based on your learnings, create a spreadsheet with all the valuable information you’ve gathered to track your progress and make the process easier.
You can sort the list by criteria like project scope, company size, work availability, email status, company information, etc. This will help you shorten the list to the most likely candidates to pitch to.
Step 5: Send Custom Pitches to Shortlisted Profiles
If you’re a LinkedIn Premium member, you can share your pitch via the InMail feature. Finding a personal email handle is even better as you’ll not be restricted to a character limit, although you should always keep your cold pitches brief.
Regular members, however, will have to make the most of the Connection Request message with the 300 characters limit. Writing an effective email is the key to utilizing this word limit wisely. Here’s a sample to get you started:
As you can see from the above example, you’re starting the message by talking about them instead of yourself. Alternatively, you can use a hook, like a common interest, to begin the message.
I see you work extensively with freelance [web designers/writers/…]. I am a [Job Title] looking for new opportunities and would love to work with you on your next project. I have [X] years of experience in [your field] and have previously worked with [relevant business(s)].
Looking forward to hearing from you.
[Your Name]
Once you have their attention, you can segue into why you’re contacting them. Stating your case clearly and concisely is a good way of establishing forthrightness and professionalism.
If necessary, you can shorten the ending salutation to “Let’s Connect!” and skip your educational qualifications to conform to the characters limit.
Post-pitching Best Practices
Once you’ve learned how to cold pitch for better career prospects, remember the following points to guide you through the post-pitching process:
Do not spam: Don’t send endless follow-up emails if you do not get a response. A good rule of thumb is to send a gentle reminder after five days and wait for the other party to respond. If they don’t, close the lead. Do not undermine your rates: You’ve spent considerable time and effort to find new clients this way. Do not undermine your efforts by lowballing your rates once you get a response. Most Hiring Managers and industry professionals know the value of professional services. If they respond to your pitch, they’re already interested in your work. Be thorough with Follow-Up Emails: After you get a positive response, ensure your subsequent communication stays clear and concise. Address all their questions and concerns and bring up yours in a single message. Just because you’re now in contact doesn’t mean you can start spamming them with random queries as and when they occur to you.
Tips for Better Conversion Rates
Your initial research and the criteria for shortlisting businesses and people to pitch will decide your conversion rate. Here are a few tips to improve your chances of getting positive responses:
Avoid pitching to businesses or profiles that have been inactive for a long time, as the chances of eliciting a response are very low. If your education or experience doesn’t match a business’s hiring standards, you shouldn’t include them in your shortlist. Explore profiles closest to yours in terms of experience, education, skills, and services to zero in on the right set of potential clients. Starting with industry experts might not be the best way to go.
Start Looking For Potential Clients on LinkedIn
This is just one of the many ways LinkedIn acts as a repository of helpful information to find potential clients. You can explore it further and learn more about its various marketing tools to take your career to the next level.
