My 24-step recipe to get more sales using LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool that's leaving cold emailing in the dust - if your clients are active there. We're talking 3-4X the reply rate if done well. But most people aren't using it to its full potential or worse - looking down on it.

Not only is LinkedIn one of our main go-to-market channel with Botdog (quite naturally), but I've also helped a lot of entrepreneurs scale up their acquisition on LinkedIn via our product and I often get asked for advice on where to start.

So much so that I've decided to compile a list of my best LinkedIn tips to help you generate more leads. Whether you're a small business owner, freelancer, VC-backed bootstrap company - I believe all of this should be helpful! Buckle up 👇

Step 1: Optimize your profile

• Clear headline, nice picture (not AI-generated), detailed company description. Don't look too salesy, think of it more as a portfolio - show your expertise.
• Get a paid LinkedIn account (Premium/Sales Navigator/Recruiter) and turn on Creator Mode so you can add a "Visit my website" button. Do it!
• Get a LinkedIn "Top Industry Voice" badge. Go to linkedin.com/pulse/topics/home, pick a relevant topic, leave 3 comments every day. Make them interesting, add value. You'll get a badge within a week - and that will help increase your conversion across the board.

Step 2: Grow your network before you need it

• Start with the lowest hanging fruit: invitations to connect. You can send ~50 per week as a free user, ~150 per week as a paid user. Hit that quota every week, or lose it forever.
• Send invitations to people in your target audience, 2nd degree connections, based in your area, with no invitation note (+80% more connections vs using a personalized note).
• Automate invites using tools like Phantombuster ($69/month), Expandi ($99/month), or our very own www.botdog.co ($29/month).
• Don't be too pushy. Connect but don't engage right away. Nobody likes being sold to, so be smart about it. Try and first build a genuine personal connection, make it about them, send them freebies, good content, etc.

Step 3: Casually engage with your connections

• If you do engage immediately, add value. Give first. Send a guide, a white paper, a YouTube video - whatever makes them more successful in their job (and that is connected to your expertise).
• Avoid generic messages. Good clients are busy, they won't make time for you. Give them value, give them time.
• Best performing contact sequence: 1/ invitation to connect without a note 2/ if accepted, wait 5 days and send a casual message 3/ if no reply, wait 10 days and follow up. Expect a 30%+ reply rate!
• Don't bother with profile visits, liking posts, or sending recommendations before connecting. Virtually no effect on reply rates.

Step 4: Create valuable, engaging content

• Post 3-5 times per week to nurture your new connections. You'll get a few views first, but it'll grow.
• Best time to post: Monday to Friday, 8AM to 12AM your local time. 90% of LinkedIn activity happens between these hours.
• Create a process to generate post ideas and in particular a list of questions. Here are mine: what did you learn recently? What do you believe that others in the industry would disagree with? What do you find yourself explaining again and again to your clients/new hires?
• Repurpose 1-2 good ideas into text, images, videos, polls.
• Best performing content: 1/ polls (+100% views vs text post), 2/ text post + relevant picture (ideally selfie) (+50% views vs text post) 3/ text posts 4/ videos 5/ external links.
• Overtly promotional content (specifically when you mention your company name) tends to get about 75% less reach. It's okay to do it occasionally, but don't expect too much from it.
• About polls:You can also add value there. Poll people on a controversial opinion, or use the post to add value (for example explaining a technique and asking people if they already use said technique). Encourage people to engage in comments (e.g., add a 4th option "other, see comments").
• Text posts: Ideal size is 1,800-2,100 characters. Open with a strong hook, focus on readability, keep it simple, end with a question (+20-40% views).
• Text + images: Ideal size is 900-1,200 characters + selfie with a group of people. Don't overuse this.
• Never post external links - LinkedIn will penalize the views. Add the link in comments, and tell people to check the comments.
• The first 60 minutes will determine the entire trajectory of your post. To boost visibility: interact with other posts + reply to your own commenters. Stay active, create engagement. Come back to engage every 6-12 hours.
• If you're talking to people over messages, they're 70% more likely to see your next post. Use www.botdog.co or a similar automation tool to make sure you're always engaging with new connections.
• LinkedIn Lives are the most underrated LinkedIn feature. Each attendee can invite up to 1,000 people per week. The only trick: these 1,000 people need to be in your first-degree connections.

What do you think of this recipe? What should I add or remove? Very curious to know what has worked for you 👇