Stop selling on LinkedIn, start connecting

What’s happening with networking at conferences is 100% replicated on LinkedIn. People treat people like sales leads.?Who’s going to collect the most business cards to make the boss happy??If you can’t show you can provide value to them within 15 minutes, you’re disqualified as a lead and they move on to the next one.?

Yes, it sucks to be treated like that. Don’t do it to others just because everyone is doing it wrong. And especially don't do that on LinkedIn. If you've been a user for at least a few years then your inbox is probably full of desperate, spam, and sleazy messages that make you want to block people.?

Everyone wants you to buy something from them. But how many people are interested in you? Chances are, if there's one person who randomly chats you up because you have a common interest or work in the same industry, you'd want to reply to this person.

Whenever I go to a conference, I NEVER carry business cards. I don’t even have business cards printed. And yet I always end up connecting with the top people at any event I go to, getting invited to the most exclusive parties and side events.?

I can walk into a room and chat up billionaires. I am the most irreverent person they’d meet at the event. And yet they want to talk to me when 99% of the people approaching them to pitch get bounced. Why?

I have no agenda.

I’m interested in THEM. I am a blank canvas. I ask them to tell me THEIR story. I am not important.?

Connecting on LinkedIn is not that much different than connecting at a conference. It works because 99% of people aren’t doing it. Genuine connections don't always result in sales. They result in?

When you look for business on LinkedIn

You have two options:

1. Do what most people do

Buy a bot and send automated messages to 1,000 to tell them about your business and ask them to "jump on a quick call." You'll probably get 20 leads and close 1-2 clients.?

But how many people will you annoy to a point where even if they need your services, they won't ever buy from you? My guess is more than 900. Remember that your marketing efforts need to go towards building a good reputation for your brand as well as sales.

2. Connect in a meaningful way

Start networking without expectations. You might close 1-2 clients if you do that often enough. And you might also find new partners, mentors, or people who will refer you clients. Maybe you'll get a free conference pass. A speaking gig. Or a new friend. And you won't be annoying.?

Networking is about building a nurturing a network within your preferred ecosystem. It's not about selling, although it can and it does result in sales.?

Perhaps this is not the first time you’ve reflected about your online presence on LinkedIn. Perhaps you’ve already started retreating and rethinking how you should maximise the use of this otherwise powerful platform.

It’s time to take LinkedIn less seriously, less business-y, and more human-ly. You want to connect with "decision makers" and people with important-sounding titles. But in the end we're all just humans doing our jobs.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to do the opposite of what everybody is doing. Stop doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result and then blaming it on LinkedIn for being a useless platform. Lead generation is a marketing term that needs to be redefined.?

We saw a massive shift in behaviour during the past year and a half. People want to connect more. Social media ads don’t deliver the same results as they used to. Influencers are getting less engagement and more unfollows.

Keep your sales strategy but know that your sales templates aren’t suitable for social media. Try something different. Send a message demonstrating interest in another person. Engage in a genuine conversation, remember that you have a human being on the other side of the screen.?

Think about how you are able to see through “salesy” ad copies and how you’re discouraged to purchase their product because you know it’s an ad and you’re there to consume content that interests you.

Be authentic, even if it slows you down. Or better yet, stop thinking about selling. Make a genuine connection. Take your time. It's tedious but it's all worth it in the long run.?