How to Build Your LinkedIn Network In an Hour a Day

Why Build Your LinkedIn Network?

LinkedIn is a business environment that offers benefits for small business owners.

• You can find centers of influence and connect with those people.
• You can prospect for new business.
• You can use it to create credibility and social proof for your business.
• You can build your network of connections in any industry.

How to Build Your LinkedIn Network Step by Step

A business owner in one of the Facebook groups I'm in shared how he has built his connections in LinkedIn by spending about an hour a day working through a specific system. His goal is to gain new customers eventually. He's smart to realize that he can find customers for his business through LinkedIn, and that he needed to set up a system and be consistent in using his system. Here's exactly what he did.

1. He searches for people on LinkedIn who are in his industry, and he sends up to 100 connection requests a day, using a personalized message request. (You can send even more connection requests than 100 per day, but if you do that, you have to complete a Captcha code for each one.)
2. His specific message request is “Hi (name), I see that we have mutual connections. I would like to connect with you so that we can build our networks together. If there is ever anything I could help you with, please ask.” (You might want to fine-tune your connection request specific to your business and personality.)
3. Every day he then visits the profile of anyone who connected with him 2 days prior. This shows that he is looking at their profile. He mentions in a message if that person happens to have had an event like a birthday or anniversary, and he likes and comments on any recent posts these new connections have done.
4. At the 2 week mark after connecting with a new person he sends a personalized message with an opt-in offer. Something like “This is what I do, this is a pain point I see, and this is a freebie that I created.” And he includes a link to the freebie.
5. 2 weeks after that (so we are now at the 4 week, 2 day mark) he sends another message telling the person about his Facebook group, that he goes live weekly in the FB group, and he would love for the person to join in.
6. He checks notifications daily and sends congratulations if appropriate, or he comments on the person's post. He watches for any of his first-level contacts who show up in his LinkedIn feed to do that.
7. He also shares content on LinkedIn every day with a blog post, curated content, or a podcast link. Additionally, he posts an article weekly. (I am not a big fan of LinkedIn articles anymore, they were hot for a while but don't seem to get much juice now.)

Results for this guy are that he has increased his connections on LinkedIn from 240 to 862 in two weeks. Click To Tweet He says that this takes him half an hour to a full hour each day, depending on how many new connections are hitting the 2-day, 2-week, and 4-week marks. About 15 minutes of that time are the new connection requests. 

Do This First

• Create a “what's next” strategy before you ask for a connection. What, in the end, do you want this new connection to do? For this guy, he wants them to connect on LinkedIn, opt-in to his mailing list, and start attending his weekly Facebook live events. It's a total waste of time to connect if you don't have a what's next strategy. Click To Tweet
• Create a way to keep up with who you have connected with, so that you'll be able to peg your 2 day, 2 week, and 4 week marks for each new connection. Here's a sample of a table you could set up to keep track.

• Set up a specific time on your calendar (or your assistant's calendar) to do this. If you can't keep it up for several months don't even bother to get started, because consistency is key.

Final Steps

Do you use LinkedIn in your business? Would you try this strategy? Leave a quick comment below and let me know if you plan to try this. I'd be so interested to know how this works for you.

If you are not connected with me on LinkedIn please hit this link and connect right now. I'll be sure to connect with you and comment on your recent posts.

If you have other questions about LinkedIn leave them here. I also recommend that you take a look at Sarah Santacroce's LinkedIn online course (my own affiliate link). She's a LinkedIn expert and has been teaching how to build connections for a good while. 

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