Building Relationships with Candidates on LinkedIn

When we started HireSweet, I had zero LinkedIn presence. 8 years later and after a lot of testing and iterating, LinkedIn drives ~30-50% of our leads & revenue. Lately, I've been getting a ton of questions about our learnings. So, here it is - the founder-led LinkedIn playbook I've been giving to anyone who asks 👇 1. Start with the lowest hanging fruit: invitations to connect. They work (30-50% conversion rate) and they allow you to control the direction in which your network grows. Start with 2nd degree connections in your target audience, based in your area. Surprisingly no personalized notes will yield +80% more connections! Free users can send ~50 per week. Paid users ~150 per week. Hit that quota every single week, or lose it forever. 2. Optimize your profile. Clear headline, nice picture (I would avoid AI-generated), and a detailed company description. Use the "featured" section, include a nice call to action and illustrations. 3. Enjoy the process, listen to your audience, build relationships. Play the long game. Build a real sense of community. Don't be pushy, nurture people over time with posts, so they come to you when they're ready. 4. When reaching out to cold prospects, add value. Send a guide, white paper, or video that helps your prospects succeed in their job. Personalize. 5. Post 3-5 times per week, high-quality posts. Turn on Creator Mode, get a paid LinkedIn account, and add a "Visit my website" button to your profile. 6. Best times to post: mornings on Monday to Friday, as people are getting to work (8-9AM) or heading to lunch (12PM). 7. Create a process to help you generate posts. Examples: What have you learned recently? What unique industry beliefs do you hold? What do you often find yourself explaining to clients or new hires? 8. Don't come up with 5 new ideas per week. Find 1-2 good ideas and repurpose them as text, images, videos, and polls. 9. Posts perform better in that order: - Polls (+100% vs text) - do one per week - Text + relevant picture (ideally a selfie - I don't really do this myself but it works) (+50% vs text) - Text with no picture - Videos (about the same as text but more time-consuming) - External links --> Avoid them 10. For text posts, open with a strong hook, focus on readability, keep it simple (one key idea per post), and end with a question to make it simple to engage. 11. LinkedIn Live is the most underrated LinkedIn feature. Each attendee can invite up to 1,000 people per week (!!) - as long as they're 1st degree connections. Do more LinkedIn Lives! 12. It's rather easy to get a "Top Industry Voice" badge. Go to the Collaborative Article page, pick a relevant topic, and leave 3 valuable comments per day. This is how I got my badge within a week. Now it's your turn - do you agree/disagree with this recipe? What are your top LinkedIn tips for founders? 👇 (If you made it this far, feel free to bookmark this post to revisit it later!)

I spoke with over 20 software job seekers last month. Here's one of their most common frustrations: "I can never talk to a real person about my skills." Yet, all of them use online applications as their main strategy. Instead, they could be talking to "real people" in less than 2 weeks. Here's how you can do it in 6 steps: 1. Find a job posting that you're a great fit for. → Take note of the company that posted it. 2. On LinkedIn, search for your target role. → Head to "People" and filter by the hiring company. 3. Send 30 connection requests with personalized notes. → Most of them won't connect back. That's fine. 4. Study the profiles of those who connect back. → Look for things in common, or things you admire. 5. Message them a genuine compliment or question. → Don't request anything from them. 6. Ask for a quick conversation for their advice. → Don't ask for a referral, just to get their thoughts. On those conversations: • Be interested in them and listen to what they say. • Relate to them, ask questions, request their advice. • At some point, they'll reciprocate interest. • Now, talk about your job search. At the end, ask for introductions to someone else you can talk to. (NOT a referral.) Now, you're building relationships in the company you want to work at. The opportunities you're looking for are in these conversations. Not in online applications. P.S. Do you mainly apply online or network for interviews?

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗗𝗠 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿. 𝗜 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸. That it was only for extroverts, salespeople, or those who knew the “right” people. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The truth? LinkedIn changed my career more than any job board ever could. From landing internships to publishing research and breaking into power & energy, the biggest opportunities in my career didn’t come from job boards—they came from building the right connections. Yet, so many professionals hesitate to network strategically because they: * Feel awkward reaching out to strangers * Don’t know what to say in a cold DM * Fear getting ignored or rejected I get it—I used to be the same way. But once I started using LinkedIn the right way, I landed mentors, internships, and research opportunities that shaped my entire career. Here’s How You Can Do It Today: ✅ 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 * Look for professionals in your target field (engineers, hiring managers, senior leaders). * Use LinkedIn’s “People Also Viewed” section to find similar profiles. * Join industry groups to see who’s actively sharing insights. ✅ 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 Forget “Hi, can I pick your brain?” That doesn’t work. Instead, try this: 💡 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗠 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲: “Hi [Name], I came across your profile while learning about [topic]. I admire your work on [specific project]. I’d love to hear your thoughts on [question]. Would you be open to a quick chat?” ✅ 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗠 * Like and comment on their posts genuinely * Share their work and add your insights * Make your name familiar before sending a message ✅ 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 People respond better when you bring something to the table: * Share an article or resource relevant to their work * Offer a fresh perspective on one of their posts * Ask a specific, thoughtful question instead of just “Can you help me?” The Outcome: I’ve used this exact strategy to build meaningful relationships that led to: ✔ Internship opportunities before I even applied ✔ Research collaborations that boosted my career ✔ Insights from industry leaders that I couldn’t find anywhere else If you’re not leveraging LinkedIn for strategic networking, you’re leaving opportunities on the table. 💡 Try this today: Pick ONE person you admire, craft a thoughtful DM, and hit send

Last week I spoke with an enterprise AE at F100 company who closed over $5M in 2023 (3x his quota). The surprising part? He generated 90% from Linkedin. Here’s what the enterprise social selling playbook looks like: 1. Community: Successful sales reps are constantly enhancing their community on Linkedin. They invite key prospects, customers and other stakeholders to their network. As an AE or Exec, it helps to stay in the same domain over time so you can engage with the same community but across different employers. The compounding effect of your network is exponential. 2. Content: Engage frequently with your community. Stay ahead of the curve and ensure your content reflects that. Not all content has to be original and unique. Most Linkedin users are looking to consume content that will help them be better at their job today. Share best practices, success stories and recommendations. If you stay in the same domain, the quality of your content will grow as you build trust within your community. 3. Signals: Get a good understanding of the triggers and signals that impact demand in your target segment. Use these signals to focus your attention on select individuals as they become active. 4. Offer Help: Be mindful of any request for assistance within your community. If you are going to stay in the same domain for long, expect your community to do the same. Offer to assist even if it does not directly help your business. Chances are these interactions will lead to deep relationships in the long run. 5. LinkedinOps: This is often an ignored part of social selling. For the same reason that Inbound leads perform so well (because they are warm), somebody that visited your profile also has a relatively high probability to respond in the first 24hr. It’s the job of LinkedinOps to run all active engagers through an ICP filter and then follow up on good fit candidates. 6. Outreach: I have seen some successful reps use personalization tools to find the right messaging or conversation opener for Linkedin outreach. It makes sense to do an outreach with the good-fit engaged audience within 24-48 hrs of the engagement. Don’t hesitate to ask for referrals. 7. Tracking: Track engagements and metrics. Score and rank your audience every week for good fit top engagers. Your top engagers are the ones who will likely take your call. Your LinkedinOps can help you with analytics. 8. Convert: Know when and how to move your conversation outside Linkedin. Linkedin is great for capturing demand signals or for generating trust. Look for the right moment to share a calendar link or an email to move the conversation to a different platform. TAKEAWAY: Your buyers are already on Linkedin. With a little discipline and LinkedinOps, you can close revenues while enhancing your brand and handling objections at scale. I've been helping GTM teams for 15+ years. Never before have they had access to such a powerful platform. Take advantage.