3 Simple LinkedIn Conversation Starters
What do you actually say when you want to connect with someone new on LinkedIn? That first sentence or two can either make or break a potential business relationship.
Here's how a lot of my new students and clients describe the feelings they have around sending connection invitations. Any of these sound familiar?
Awkard - feel like I'm fumbling for the right words
Salesy - does this intro sound too much like an elevator pitch?
Fearful - afraid to even send a connection because they might ignore it
Worried - that I cannot lead the conversation in the right direction
Spammy - will this person actually see the value in connecting?
Who doesn't love a great conversation starter when you're trying to find your stride in building your LinkedIn network? Count me in!
In this next episode of Mondays with Mindi, we're going to talk about how to take the *awkward* out of connecting on LinkedIn, so that you will feel confident the next time you want to say "hey, let's connect!"
And, if you want to share the ONE word that sums up how you feel when connecting with someone new on LinkedIn - feel free to share below 👇🏽
If you’re like many of us on LinkedIn, you’re not here to waste time. You want to use LinkedIn to actually start conversations with people in your industry, build your business, grow your network, and get connected with the right people.
It’s just that knowing exactly what to say in a LinkedIn conversation can feel very different than other channels - people are “professional” here, right?
Conversations are the key to unlocking the power of your LinkedIn network, and this cannot be completely automated.
Although I’ve heard some experts claim that automation can do this for you, it’s not the answer.
Automation was always an option for those with higher risk tolerance and who didn’t mind hiring something to create some really complex sequences. Using this type of automation has always been a bit risky because LinkedIn is on the hunt for them, often leading to restricted LinkedIn accounts.
Since LinkedIn recently started limiting the number of connections you can send in one week (right around 100 as best we can tell), you can no longer use the “spray and pray” approach in sending your connection invitations.
If you’re only using connection invitations to start a conversation on LinkedIn, you’ll be missing out on opportunities like…
Engaging in the comments on your LinkedIn post that caught people’s eye
A LinkedIn notification that you’re connection just landed a job at a company that’s on your target accounts list (boom!)
Keeping up with those who are actually active on LinkedIn in the comments of other people’s posts on LinkedIn
Tagging people in your posts to give them credit and a shout-out for an amazing piece of content they created
Relying heavily on InMails to get the attention of your ideal customers
...but not to worry, we’re going to get to the bottom of starting conversations on LinkedIn and figure out how to get a conversation going that actually resonates with the person on the other end.
That conversation starter sets the tone for your business, brand, or expertise - it’s worth paying a little attention to what you say there.
How important is LinkedIn network size?
One common mistake I see a number of people make is an obsession with their LinkedIn connections.
They ONLY pay attention to the size of their network and how they can get MORE.
Wanting to know exactly how to build that network and going straight for the throat with a LinkedIn connection invitation is not always the best approach.
Does your audience need a little bit more “warming up” to the idea of connecting with you?
Maybe you need to start a conversation on LinkedIn first before sending them a connection.
If your connection acceptance rate is lower than 20% - then you might need to try another approach.
When I’m helping my students who are newer to LinkedIn to troubleshoot, it’s not just the connection invitation that needs a bit of work - rather it’s figuring out if they should LEAD with a connection invitation or FOLLOW with a connection invitation.
For example, one of my students wanted to reach out to people to get them onto their podcast as a guest. Their target audience is pretty high-level in the organization, but they are also VERY active on LinkedIn.
How can you tell? We looked at the LinkedIn profile activity sections of a sampling of their audience. Lots of commenting and some sharing.
So, instead of starting with the connection invitation, why not lead with a conversation starter that’s a bit more public.
Try commenting on their post on LinkedIn OR engaging with one of their comments on someone else’s post.
Then, follow up with a connection invitation after “the conversation” has been started.
The key is to pay attention to how you start that conversation because that’s what people will remember.
Seems like common sense, but this is critical!
The "warming up" phase matters more than you think
Your conversation starter is all about you “warming them up” before sending that full-fledged connection request.
There is someone on the other end of that connection invitation.
What they may not even know they want is for you to pay attention to them.
When you actually follow their activity on LinkedIn, they will notice if they’re at all active on the platform.
Think about it, don’t you check to see who’s engaged with your posts?
Unless they’re a mega-influencer (even some of them pay attention!) they recognize familiar faces of people who tend to engage with their posts.
As I advocate for every single LinkedIn interaction, pay attention to every LinkedIn comment you make or conversation you start publicly.
You never know what door it might open or what opportunities you could completely miss… because your comment felt automated, spammy, or irrelevant.
If you’re like many of my students and clients who are using LinkedIn for Business, you value every single conversation starter and where that might lead.
You want to do it right, but you need your efforts to be somewhat scalable.
There is a way to craft conversation starters that feel good to the recipient without you having to go back to the drawing board every single time, trying to think up something clever to write.
You have only 100 opportunities every single week on LinkedIn to send a connection invitation BUT you have unlimited opportunities to comment or engage publicly on LinkedIn.
How are you going to start that next conversation?
I don’t know about you, but I look at each new week as an opportunity to meet new people, collaborate and share ideas, and look for synergy.
I value my connection invitations that I send -- if you’ve received one from me, know that I care and specifically chose to send that message TO YOU.
And, there’s likely some “warming up” or something we share in common that I referenced in the connection invitation -- some type of conversation starter.
Because I approach LinkedIn with this mindset, the results I get from investing in LinkedIn have become the main driver of my sales pipeline.
I’m not there to sell anyone - I am there to be a resource, to help where I can, and to connect with good people.
I challenge you to approach LinkedIn with this mindset - even though we are going to talk about tactics today, it’s the mindset behind the tactics that is the magic.
All right, pep talk done. Let’s hop into 3 great conversation starters!
3 Simple Conversation Starters to Try Next
How you approach starting a conversation is key. If you’re in it to get through as many as possible in a short period of time, that will come across in what you say.
Think about each conversation starter as your reaching out to virtually shake someone’s hand and give them something positive.
I have this subconscious line running through my head whenever I’m in “conversation starter” mode…
How can I inspire, motivate, or help this person today? What do they need from what I can see publicly?
Because I approach the conversation from that mindset, I’ve noticed much more willingness for people to respond positively (and with a bit of curiosity) to me.
Okay, so now that we’re in the right mindset… what are some ideas for starting a conversation?
#1 - Comment on their posts.
This one is only applicable to those who are publicly active on LinkedIn, but if they are commenting anywhere, you should pay attention to what they’re saying.
The goal here is to follow up their comment with a question or something you want them to expound on further.
For example, if they wrote a post that had an insight that made you go “aha!” share that with them and ask them what you should consider moving forward to put it into action.
The goal here is to make sure they know you are paying attention to them, care about what they’re saying, and find their insights valuable.
If you can get that across in a simple sentence or two - you’re golden.
It takes practice, but I’d recommend starting with one comment per day on a post. That’s it.
Once you do this for 30 days straight, you’ll be a master at starting conversations this way.
#2 - Follow them on LinkedIn.
This literally is just a push of a button where you follow the person on LinkedIn. They will get a LinkedIn notification that lets them know you followed them.
This is a softer way to ask for a connection than sending an invitation, so if you’re looking for subtlety - this is it.
Once you follow them, you can comment on a post of theirs or follow up a few days later with a connection invitation that gets across that you’ve done your homework.
Tip: If they’re not publicly active on LinkedIn, look them up on their website, social channel, or elsewhere and follow them there, too. This is likely to get their attention and let them know you’re truly interested in connecting.
#3 - Ask for permission to message them.
If you want to be incredibly thoughtful and deferential, you can ask for permission to message them either in a LinkedIn comment to follow up on something you’re discussing OR by sending them an InMail.
You could also simply do this in a connection invitation by wording it appropriately. You always want to reference something that is a similarity, or that you know they’re interested in -- otherwise, you’re likely to get ignored.
Thing is, we’re all receiving fewer inbound LinkedIn connections these days due to the limit LinkedIn has put into effect.
So, if you’re tactful, you can get on their radar + start a conversation with your connection invitation!
Before you start actively growing your LinkedIn network, make sure to optimize your LinkedIn profile to increase your chances of getting that connection invitation accepted.
I just released a free three-part mini-training How to Reboot Your LinkedIn Profile to Grow Your Online Business to help!
It’s jam-packed with templates and examples and a step-by-step approach to optimizing your headline, the two most important parts of your About section to get more inbound connections and build your list, along with what to do with your Experience sections!
Click HERE to get instant access!
