How to Get Your First (or Next) Clients on LinkedIn & Grow to $10K per Month

There're millions of people just waiting to hire you. What are you waiting for?

📌🚀 Free 5-Day Email Class: “How to Grow & Monetize Your LinkedIn in 2024”

I’ve put together a new email class on how to grow your LinkedIn and turn it into a 24/7 sales system. This class will help freelancers, founders, solopreneurs, and coaches grow their brand & business. Join the Email Class Here!

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LinkedIn is a goldmine.

We hear this all the time. Heck, I’ve even said it a couple times.

You might be saying, “Ok if LinkedIn is a goldmine, why can’t I find any gold?” Let me clarify: LinkedIn is a goldmine when you do it right.

After losing my job as a wine shop manager, I jumped head-first into the world of freelancing. I started with the typical freelancing websites, like Upwork and Fiverr. They worked for me and helped me get my start.

However, we all know these sites have their limitations, including low-cost competition and turning yourself into a commodity (with everyone racing to the cheapest bottom line).

My first year of freelancing, I replaced my income from the wine shop. I was ecstatic.

But it was the next 12 months where I scaled to six-figures that really changed my career. I have LinkedIn to thank for that.

LinkedIn allowed me to tap into an endless supply of clients looking for my services.

Was I lucky? Not particularly. Success leaves clues. And, I want to share my clues. No gatekeeping here: I’m going to lay out my blueprint for getting your first clients on LinkedIn. Then, we’ll talk about how to go from $0 to $10K per month in your first 1-2 years.

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(1)    Discover Your Main Offer

You’ll need something to sell. That’s pretty obvious right?

You’d be surprised how many people get tripped up on this first basic step. We live in a world where we have so much information and resources at our fingertips. Just log onto Amazon.com and you’ll see millions of things to buy.

You might have 3-4 different ideas of a service you can offer your potential clients. That’s great, but we want to focus this down to only 1. You can still offer 3-4 things on the backend, but let’s narrow you down to 1 main offer. This is what you’ll be known for and build your reputation on.

Now, you might be thinking, "Sounds great, but how do I even get started?"

Here's a quick win you can implement today to kickstart your freelance journey:

1. Grab a piece of paper and pen (or open a new doc).

2. Set a timer for 5 minutes.

3. Write down EVERY skill you have. Don't hold back! Include work skills, hobbies, things people always ask you for help with – everything.

4. When the timer goes off, circle the top 3 skills you enjoy the most.

5. Go to Upwork or Fiverr and search for these skills. Are people hiring for them? If yes, congratulations! You've just identified your potential freelance niche.

This simple exercise will give you a clear starting point and boost your confidence. Remember, everyone has valuable skills – sometimes we just need to look at them through a "freelance lens.”

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(2)    Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile like a Landing Page

Once you’ve decided on your main offer, we’re going to head to LinkedIn to optimize your profile. Gone are the days of LinkedIn being a boring professional networking platform to only find a new job. Today, LinkedIn is full of creators, coaches, and consultants building a social network around their business.

Your profile is like a business card and your own marketing billboard. The main areas you want to optimize on your profile are:

• Profile picture

• Banner

• Headline

• Custom link

• Featured Section

Focusing on these parts of your profile are what I call the “20-Minute Optimized Profile Strategy.” You don’t need to spend hours and hours getting set up on LinkedIn. Give it a good focused 20 minutes, and you’ll be good to go.

Headline

Your headline might be the most important part of your profile. It’s prime real estate and the first thing people will see when they land on your profile.

Here’s a simple headline formula we can use:

Your Freelancer / Coach / Consultant Title + Who you help / Personal branding statement + Call-to-action (CTA)

Here’s an example:

Professional Interview Coach & Job Search Consultant | Helping clients gain more confidence in their interviews, so they can land the career of their dreams | DM me “interview” to schedule a complimentary 15-minute discovery call

This headline is short, sweet, and to the point. It explains who you are, who you help, and tells someone what they should do to work with you.

Custom Link

The next step is to update the “custom link” found at the top of your profile. LinkedIn gives you a button where you can link to your website, booking page, lead magnet, opt-in form, etc.

Use this custom link to your advantage. Offer a freebie to grow your email list or even link directly to a page on your website that shares your services.

We could go on and on about how to update and customize your profile, but we want to get up and running quickly. Focus on these five main areas to get started optimizing your profile.

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(3)    Create a “Hook”

The “hook” is what connects you and your potential client. When you create a “hook” you’re giving your client a free, bite-sized offer of your main service.

For example, if you optimize people’s website SEO, you could offer a free simple SEO audit. You would review their website and provide 2-3 ideas and tips on how they can improve.

Why should you have a “hook?”

It’s all based in human psychology. Robert Cialdini is an American psychologist who identified six principles of persuasion that can be used to influence others. One of these principles is called “reciprocity,” the idea that people feel obligated to give something back when they receive something from someone.

So, you give a potential client something free; they feel a little obligated to give you something back.

Sometimes people aren’t quite ready to sign the check and hire you right off the bat. Giving them this “hook” allows them to take a step toward your services without a financial obligation.

Your “hook” could be anything from a free audit to a review, discovery call, and assessment. Whatever makes the most sense for your service.

Within this “hook” you’ll provide a few free tips & insights, over deliver by showing your expertise, and give them a quick win. At the end of this “hook” you’ll mention how they can hire you if they’re ready to get started.

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(4)    Use Attraction Marketing

Now that you have your offer, an optimized profile, and a “hook,” you can start leveraging attraction marketing. One of the best ways to do this is through posting simple content on LinkedIn.

If you don’t consider yourself a “creator,” don’t sweat it. You don’t need to be.

One of the best ways to attract clients and increase awareness on LinkedIn is by sharing content that’s already proven to be viral. You can find highly sharable and viral videos, quotes, and images to share on your own feed.

Once you’ve found something you like that’s sharable, simply offer your perspective and take on it. This can be as simple as 4 to 5 lines about how this piece of content applies to your niche and service. Keep it very high level and be sure it makes someone say, “oh wow, I want to share that.”

You’re not trying to educate anyone too much in your content. They need to hire you for that. Use your content to simply increase awareness of your name, profile, and services.

Another great way to leverage attraction marketing is by sharing stories. We all love a good story. It’s human nature to connect with storytelling.

You could share a story about:

• How you got started in your business

• How you got a client a quick win

• How you overcome an obstacle

• How your career has progressed

• How your services helped someone

There’re tons of ideas. Open up a bit and get personal. This will make people want to connect with you and send a DM to ask more about your services.

Each one of your posts should close with a strong call-to-action (CTA). This CTA will tell your audience what next step you want them to take.

For example, you could close your posts by saying:

“Want more help? I’m offering a free audit for the next 3 people who comment or DM me “review.” I’ll audit your website and provide 2-3 tips on how you can improve.”

Remember that “hook” we talked about?” This is where it comes into play. Use this attraction marketing method daily, and you’ll have more leads than you know what to do with.

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(5)    Engagement Strategy

Engagement is the “secret sauce” on LinkedIn. This is the missing piece that most people lack. Creating daily content is great, but when you couple it with engagement, you’ll set things on fire:

Content + Engagement = Growth

After posting your daily content, I’d recommend spending some time surfing the feed to find content to engage with. Specifically, you want to find other people who post on a daily basis. These might be “creators” or just other people in your niche.

All you need to do is “like” the post and leave a quick, thoughtful comment. Try to stay away from the generic “love it” or “great post” comments. Think of 1-2 sentences that contribute to the discussion.

Many of the people you engage with will come back to your content and return the favor. This helps your content gain more awareness and get boosted inside the LinkedIn algorithm.

The way LinkedIn works is through 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd level connections. The more initial engagement your content gets, the more your content gets passed around to your 2^nd and 3^rd level connections.

You can also start searching for your ideal clients on LinkedIn. Begin commenting under their content and boost awareness of your name, headline, and profile. The more consistent you are, the more your potential clients will take notice.

In addition, the comments are a great place to network. Each time you comment, LinkedIn will show the first snippet of your headline. That’s like broadcasting a 24/7 billboard for your business.

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(6)    Close Clients in the DMs

As you begin creating regular content on LinkedIn and start engaging with others, you’ll increase awareness of your name and services. People will find your content and see your CTA. Potential clients will start sending you a DM to inquire about what you offer.

This is where the magic happens. You want to offer these potential clients your “hook” and help take them to the next step. Don’t by shy here. They contacted you for a reason – they’re interested.

Do you and them both a favor by being very clear with the next step they should take. Depending on your hook, that might be hopping on a call, sending you an email, getting a review or audit, etc.

Once you’ve sent this potential client your “hook,” the review should clearly explain how they can hire and begin working with you. The result? More clients.

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(7)    Build Social Proof

The last important piece of this client-getting pie is building social proof. Robert Cialdini (that psychologist we talked about) shares how social proof is a key principle of persuasion, or as he calls it “consensus.”

“Humans are social by nature and generally feel that it’s important to conform to the norms of a social group. This means that when it comes to decision making, we often look around us to see what others are doing, before making our mind up.

A classic example of this that many people will have seen is that of hotel towels. Signage that says “8 out of 10 hotel guests choose to reuse their towels” is far more effective at influencing and persuading than signs that simply say “reusing your towel helps to save the environment”. (from worldofwork.io)

As you begin to close more clients, be sure to overdeliver and ask for a review. You can ask them to leave you a 5-star Google review on your business page or a recommendation on your LinkedIn profile.

Begin gathering these reviews and use them to your advantage. You can also add these reviews throughout the content of your LinkedIn profile and on your website.

The more positive reviews you have, the more your potential clients will feel comfortable hiring you. I’d even recommend sending a link to these reviews in your “hook” to brag a bit.

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Bonus: Scale it to $10K

Running a service-based business is one of the fastest ways to start working for yourself and building “your own thing.” However, there are limitations. You’re trading time for money, which can be taxing over time.

It’s important to think long-term and consider about how you can earn more income, while working less hours. Let’s break down what $10K per month in service-based income can look like:

• 4 Clients at $2500

• 10 Clients at $1000 each

• 20 Clients at $500 each

Depending on the type of service you’re offering, the price range will vary. Taking on long-term coaching clients might yield you a few thousand dollars per month. Or, if you are hired on retainer for your services, you may be able to secure repeat monthly business.

Or, you might be offering a one-off service like a resume rewrite, one-time coaching, website update, SEO writing project, etc. These will be at a lower cost and require more clients.

There are two ways to scale your services to $10K per month:

• Take on more clients

• Increase your pricing

You can only take on so many clients, so increasing your pricing over time is the best way to scale to $10K. I’d recommend revisiting your pricing every 6 months and increase by 5% to 10%.

If people begin pushing back after your price increase, you might be too high. If nobody pushes back as you increase pricing, you’re probably too low.

It’s important to test the market and adjust your pricing as needed, so you can make as much money as possible per client.

It’s time to grow

LinkedIn is one of the best places to “escape the cubicle” and build your own thing. There’re literally millions of potential clients just waiting to hire you. It’s up to you to clearly communicate your message and grow that business to six-figures. It can be done, and I’m rooting for you.

Question – What’s your service and who do you help? Let’s network in the comments. Share your “pitch” and let’s grow together.

Question 2 – What’s your biggest question or obstacle in getting your first (or next) clients? Drop it in the comments, and I’ll help as much as I can.

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📌🚀 Free 5-Day Email Class: “How to Grow & Monetize Your LinkedIn in 2024”

I’ve put together a new email class on how to grow your LinkedIn and turn it into a 24/7 sales system. This class will help freelancers, founders, solopreneurs, and coaches grow their brand & business. Join the Email Class Here!