First, let’s address the elephant in the room.
No one really LIKES cold pitching, right? It’s something that fills most entrepreneurs (including this introvert) with dread. It feels like work. It feels spammy, and sometimes it’s hard to see the return on your investment, especially when you’re just getting started.
BUT. Hear me out, reluctant entrepreneur.
In order to grow your business, you need to grow your network. After all, clients can’t hire you and partners can’t work with you if they don’t know your business exists. And the prospecting process—when you approach it in a way that is comfortable and prioritizes relationship-building over sales—can be a terrific strategy for growing your network, pitching ideal clients, and expanding your brand’s reach in the right ways.
Using LinkedIn for cold pitching
LinkedIn provides a unique prospecting experience that’s gotten even stronger over the last year. With 722 million users and 55 million businesses actively engaging on LinkedIn, the likelihood that your target audience is present on the platform is pretty high.
But the platform also saw a 55% increase in engagement in 2020. As the workforce went remote, so did our networking. That means your chances of virtually connecting on LinkedIn just got even better.
Here’s how to set up your profile and use the platform to connect with your ideal clients, potential partners, and sponsorship opportunities.
Step 1: Researching & prep
Before you start anything else, make sure your LinkedIn profile is optimized and up to date. You want to accurately convey both your expertise and your authority in your field, so make sure a person can easily scan your page and understand what you do, who you serve, and what you’re looking for in a connection.
Using the LinkedIn Audit Checklist under “Getting Started” on the AMSE dashboard as a guide, pay close attention to these areas of your profile:
Your profile picture: Be professional but make it relevant to your area of expertise and in line with your brand voice
Headline: This should be our value proposition or mission statement (“I help X do X by Y”)
Top achievements: As much as possible, highlight your past successes, wins, and accolades
Next, start a tracker to house your prospects and start researching. Make a list of your ideal customers or partners and then look at the companies they work with to identify others you want to follow. Look at past sponsors for the events you want to target and jot down those companies. Also, look both locally and nationally; you may have better success rates starting small and local and focusing on building connections in your city or state first.
Start a pipeline so you can track your efforts from cold outreach through nurturing and connections. You’ll want to reference exactly who you’ve talked with and when, especially as your list of prospects grows. You can use a CRM like HubSpot or Dubsado to do this (they offer discounts to AMSE members!), or start small and free with a Gmail add-on like Streak.
Finally, schedule and block off time to work on pitching. Even if you can only carve out an hour or two each week, build that time into your calendar today so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of daily entrepreneurial life.
Step 2: Nurturing leads
So, you’ve got your list of prospects...now what?
At this stage, the most important thing to remember is that you’re here to build relationships, not to spam people in their DMs. Start slowly and build that rapport over time instead of jumping right to the ask:
Follow company pages and engage with their content through likes and comments
Find 2-3 contacts within these companies and begin following their content
Request a connection and include a customized note about who you are and why you’re connecting (read: NOT a pitch).
Continue to actively engage with their content and posts. Share their stories and offer support. Be encouraging and positive
Eventually, you can ask your contact for a meeting, or ask if they’re the right person to talk to about your request
Step 3: Pitching & follow up
Once your meeting is scheduled, it’s your time to shine. Prepare to pitch yourself and your story, and be confident in asking for what you need.
After your meeting, stay consistent with your contact. Send them a thank-you, and continue to check in with them periodically, especially if they were interested but the timing wasn’t quite right.
Finally, ask your prospect for feedback on your pitch and approach. This will help you reflect and modify your process in the future.
And remember: you’re building your network and expanding your reach through new connections. Like you would with a friend, stay in touch, be friendly, and keep the lines of communication open.
This post was inspired by an AMSE Premium Masterclass hosted by Flossie Hall in January 2021. Upgrade to a Premium membership and get access to events like this one and many more! Learn more about Premium membership.
Heather is a fellow military spouse, conversion copywriter, and digital marketing strategist. She helps small businesses and entrepreneurs grow their online presence through persuasive website copy and a solid SEO strategy. She’s currently stationed in Fort Leavenworth, KS, with her spouse and twin boys, who just started Kindergarten. You can learn more about her work at her website, HD Copywriting.
