Jacquelyn Lyn Shares How NOT To Find Clients on LinkedIn

Welcome to my guest blogger Jacquelyn Lynn! I found her awhile ago on Amazon where she is a Vine reviewer. She is a woman of many talents and a real boon to the publishing industry at large (keep scrolling to see her bio and some links you won't want to miss!). I fell in love with this article because at its heart it's about the way to approach anyone you would like to join you in your marketing efforts--and she does it with humor and aplomb.  ~ Carolyn

How NOT to Connect and Market on LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a great tool, but please don’t waste my time.

Image created by Jacquelyn Lynn using MockupShots

By Jacquelyn Lynn originally for her Shareable Saturday Newsletter

LinkedIn is a great business networking tool. I’ve found great resources through it, and some of my best clients discovered me on LinkedIn.

But recently, in the span of fewer than two days, I had two people who offer book marketing services send me requests to connect on LinkedIn.

That’s fine.

After all, I write books, and I help my clients write and publish books, and we have mutual connections.

But immediately after I accepted their requests to connect, both of these people sent me private messages asking me what I write.

One wrote this:

Hello 👋 It’s Awesome connecting with you How are you doing today?

I can see you are an author, what’s genre do you write?

The other wrote this:

Hello Jacquelyn How are you doing?

Are you a published author?

Excuse me? Did either of them read my LinkedIn profile? That would be the profile that clearly describes what I do and lists the books I’ve written.

Apparently not.

I ignored their messages.

I understand people use LinkedIn to prospect for clients — that’s a big part of the purpose of the platform. But if your prospecting irritates your targets and makes you look incompetent, you might want to rethink your approach.

A message that essentially says, “I would like you to buy my services, but first take your valuable time to engage in trivial chitchat and tell me everything about your business” isn’t likely to get much of a response — especially if it includes errors.

A better approach is to read my profile, check out and engage with some of my posts, and then tell me why what you offer might be a match with my needs.

Does that take more time? Yes.

Is it more likely to produce positive results? I’m not a sales and marketing expert, so I don’t have any proof, but I think the answer is yes.

Why not give it a try?

And if we’re not connected on LinkedIn, here’s the link to my profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynlynn/

ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER

Jacquelyn Lynn is an inspirational author, ghostwriter, and self-publishing consultant. Her more than 45 books include The Simple Facts About Self-Publishing: What indie publishers need to know to produce a great book and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by a Publisher. Learn more at CreateTeachInspire.com. Get 10 seconds of inspiration delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning: Join Jacquelyn’s Shareable Saturday community at CreateTeachInspire.com/ss. 

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 ABOUT THE  #SHARINGWITHWRITERS BLOGGER

 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the multi award-winning "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), now offered in its third edition by Modern History Press. She is also the author of" How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically." 

Carolyn  has two booklets in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series, both in their second editions from Modern History Press. "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "The Great First Impression Book Proposal" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor" (https://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), recently released in its third edition, is the winningest book in the series.

 Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it help them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). 

 In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow for news on her new releases direct from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.