Last month I challenged myself to learn German through a digital path (you can read more about it in this post) and break free from the daily treadmill. At the beginning of October, I decided that I want to propel my personal brand on LinkedIn and find new contacts around the world to increase my knowledge in digital marketing and digital transformation. But, and this factor is the key, I wanted to do based on a massive scale.
FIRST STEP: Strategy and goals definition
What was the aim of this process? It is known that LinkedIn is the bandwagon for building strong B2B relations. Not only for working opportunities but also for personal growth or to know how other people around the world deal with the same as yours. Now that I have reached a good level of English and have started to speak a little German, I want to share my expertise in digital transformation and digital marketing. So, to conclude this first stage: find out your reasons to start this process.
SECOND STEP: Could I use tools to pursue my goals?
The answer is easy and downright. yes, you can. As far as I am concerned, I work with two basic tools: LinkedIn Sales and Octopus. The former may be quite expensive but you have the opportunity to get a free subscription the first month and, to be honest, it would be enough to increase your personal brand. What strikes me the most about LinkedIn Sales is that you can define through different variables the target you want to reach accurately. For example profiles of people who are working in digital marketing companies, as a manager or director, and they are living in the USA.
Now that you have a list of, at least, 100 potential candidates, add your data and connect them. Here is when Octopus comes in to play. This app allows you to send personalized invitations to your contacts with just one or two clicks. Therefore, if you find the right target of your strategy, your network will start snowballing. Unfortunately, Octopus is not free but they have fair fees, from 9€ per month and you will stick to your budget.
THIRD STEP. Engage with your new contacts
Do not be a robot or a spammer. Show your contacts that if you decided to send them an invitation, it was for a good reason. I know that it can seem difficult to talk with everyone (if the number gets out of hand) but, in all fairness, not everyone to whom you send the invitation has an active profile on LinkedIn, so the final number of the invitations will be reduced.
In other words: follow their posts, comment on their contributions, send them a message if you are interested in taking your relationship to the next level, and feed your LinkedIn profile altogether. Cath their attention. You will have more audience and they will want to know more about you.