How I Got 16,359 LinkedIn Connections With a Free Gift and a Simple, 41-Word Invite
By: Don Sevcik
Tags: LinkedIn, Marketing, Psychology, Networking, Connection

Psychological Breakdown of the Invite

Let’s review this invite in detail. First I use the word “you” three times. I do this to get the user’s attention. And while we’re on that subject, do you know the most popular radio station on the planet?

W.I.I.F.M.

What’s In It For Me?

The reason why this invite works is personalization, an immediate benefit, and a ‘try before you buy’ option.

Personalization

To personalize, I reference the connection name and their company name. This shows I’ve done the research and taken the time to learn about them.

The gift strategy

I offer the free, no-strings-attached PDF eBook as a gift. The invite tells them upfront about how the gift will help them grow their company’s traffic. Now here’s why this invite works. The connection gets to read the book without being obligated to connect with me. They get the book free, upfront, without having to reply or connect. In sales, we call this risk removal.

You see, in every sales transaction, one party takes on more risk — either the buyer or the seller. And since a LinkedIn connection invite is a sale where you sell yourself to the other connection, you introduce risk. You could be a bad connection. You could be a scammer. By offering the book, the connection gets to see who you are and what you’re about without having to connect.

Just like artists give portfolio samples upfront, the LinkedIn digital gift follows the same strategy. It’s a ‘try before you buy.’

‘Done for you’ aspect of a gift

First, I’m giving a gift. And in the last two years of LinkedIn use, I haven’t seen anybody using a gift as an invite strategy. So you have a unique factor by doing this. You don’t have to use a book as your a gift. I recommend giving something valuable your audience can consume.

Also, notice in my invite, I use the word blueprint. People love ‘done for you’ type products or gifts. The word blueprint implies a step-by-step paint by numbers offering. So they immediately get a benefit with an easy to follow system. I also reference the word free so they know there’s no cost.

The Power of ‘oh, by the way’

I first learned the power of this from legendary marketer Frank Kern. If you’ve ever seen Frank present or pitch, it doesn’t feel like sales at all. He finds a way to help you, and then he casually offers an option to have him work with you to do more. It’s seamless, almost like an invisible sales process. The pitch usually goes like this: “If you like what we’ve done so far, and you’d like more help on this, then click here to see how we can help you more.” It’s an, “Oh, by the way, you can also buy this product for additional help.” It’s brilliant.

Following this structure, my invite has this: “If you like what you read, let’s connect after.” The connection gets to read, then judge me upfront, and then decide yes or no. And no matter what they choose, they get the free book.

The chat message linger factor

Suppose some of the people who get this invite don’t connect right away. They may consume your gift. They may ignore it for some time. When they come back to their pending invites, they click chat, and guess what they see? A link to your gift. So this helps you stand out.

Oh, I almost forgot. No matter what digital gift you give, make sure you have a call to action at the end to connect with you on LinkedIn. Make this brain dead simple. Provide the link for them to click, and invite them to connect.