becoming annoying! We are NOT robots. We are people.

Some digital marketing “experts” believe that you should just keep on bombarding people with your sales message and request a call-to-action, until the target complies. Maybe inject some personalization to make it look a bit friendlier.

Maybe you should simply stop and ask yourself if that is how you want to be targeted.

Are you tired of the tactics that some people are using to connect with you on LinkedIn?

You give them the benefit of the doubt by accepting their flattering invitation to connect, but they immediately respond with a blatant template sales pitch that includes a calendar link to book a call. WTH!

Why would anyone spend any time with you out of the gate? People have many things on their minds and I will bet that you are not even on their long list.

Look folks, it is not about how many connections or followers you have, it’s about who are your connections and how well you interact with them. Build your network right by doing the right things. At best, you will reach success. At worst, you will not offend anyone.

Here is a suggestion to all those who are trying to leverage LinkedIn to generate sales leads:

We all understand the need to sell stuff. Connecting is a privilege, not a right! Before you ask for anything else, at least earn a little trust and credibility.

I only ask people to connect with me if I actually believe that they could benefit from what I do. And, if they do not accept, that’s okay and I respect that. I simply move on. We have a lot of subscribers to our news media eChannelNEWS because they get real value from the content.

Making a pitch to anyone is a right that needs to be earned. 

If you really want to use blunt force marketing, then just pay for advertising and bombard your target audience with ads every day. That’s what advertising is for! It can be expensive, but if you are clever-enough to navigate digital advertising, then it can work!

For all others, just take time! Remember the saying “I will serve no fries before it’s time”.

Here are 10 social selling tips that may help you:

  1. Start by following AKA “LISTEN”. It’s FREE and requires NO effort from the contact.
  2. Like, share and comment when appropriate and relevant. AKA “ONLY WHEN YOU MEAN IT”
  3. Demonstrate why you matter. AKA “WHAT IS THE PROBLEM YOU SOLVE AND WHY YOU”
  4. Remember you are not important to anyone until they say so. AKA “GET OUT OF THE ME ME ME ATTITUDE”
  5. Be honest. AKA “BUILD TRUST AND CREDIBILITY”
  6. Reach out softly with valuable insights and offer call-to-actions that cost nothing to explore. AKA “ HELP FIRST, SELL LATER”
  7. Do not give up as it takes time and you cannot force outcomes. AKA “BE PATIENT AND CONSISTENT”
  8. Find your lane and double down to become the best you can be. AKA “AIM TO BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER OR INFLUENCER ON YOUR TOPIC”
  9. If your efforts end in a dead-end, then that is OK. AKA “A WINNER IS A LOSER THAT NEVER GIVES UP”
  10. Ditch your brute force social media tactics. AKA “SPEND MONEY ON ADVERTISING IF YOU WANT TO HAMMER”

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