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- Transform Ice Cold LinkedIn Outreach into Red Hot Leads (...with These 5 Pro Tips)
Transform Ice Cold LinkedIn Outreach into Red Hot Leads (...with These 5 Pro Tips)

Read time: 3 minutes
Welcome To The Clever Letter!
Every Saturday, we’ll share an actionable lead generation guide that’ll help get your first (or next) 100 customers so you can take your business to the next level. This newsletter will remain Free forever. We hope you enjoy!
At Cleverly, we’ve helped 7,500+ customers book 153,000+ sales calls with cold outreach. If you are struggling to grow your business, click here to learn more about how we can help.
Tired of sending LinkedIn messages that go ignored?
Keep having your connection requests rejected by prospects?
The problem isn’t you - it’s that you haven’t learned the art of warming up cold outreach.
Without rapport-building, your outreach feels invasive and self-serving to prospects.
But small tweaks to your process can make all the difference.
I’ll show you how to craft thoughtful messages that grab attention and demonstrate you actually care.
Steal these 5 simple but powerful tactics to transform icy cold outreach into strong personal connections.
Say goodbye to wasting hours sending LinkedIn requests into a black hole.
And say hello to a thriving network that can’t wait to do business with you.
Interested in discovering how?
Read on!
Research Prospects Before Reaching Out
Before sending a connection request, take 5 minutes to learn about someone's background from their LinkedIn profile.
See what companies they worked at
What school they attended
What groups they are part of.
Then reference one of these details in your connection request to show you did your homework.
For example:
If you see someone went to the University of Michigan, say "I noticed we're both Wolverines - I also went to Michigan!"
This gives you something personal in common to bond over.
Actively engage with prospects by commenting on their LinkedIn posts, especially if you share professional interests or can provide value.
This interaction can build goodwill before directly pitching services.
For instance:
If someone asks for tips on lead generation, share your perspective.
Or if they post an article on sales tactics, contribute your constructive thoughts.
They'll recognize your name when you eventually connect.
Send An Article or Resource Relevant to Their Industry
Another way to provide value is to share articles, ebooks, or other resources tailored to what you know about a prospect's role or industry challenges.
Include a friendly note on why you thought they'd find it interesting.
So if you see someone works at an edtech startup, send them a guide on leveraging referrals to grow student signups.
This gesture shows you want to help, not just sell to them.
Introduce Yourself with Common Connections
Namedrop any mutual connections when sending an initial outreach message.
Say something like,
“I see we’re both connected with Sandra Smith” before explaining why you’d like to connect.
Pointing out you share connections makes your request feel less out of the blue and encourages prospects to learn more about you.
Personalize Invitation Notes with Specific Questions
When asking to connect, include a line or two on something unique about their background and end with an open-ended question.
This gives them a reason to respond.
For example,
“After seeing your experience at XYZ Company, I’d love to connect and learn more about how you handle onboarding for fast-growing teams like yours. What methods have worked well so far?”
This shows you did research while inviting open dialogue versus a sales pitch.
Both elements are key for warm, effective cold outreach.
Final thoughts
Cold outreach is all about making authentic connections.
Do your research, add value through comments and resources, and personalize your asks.
Build the relationship first, let the sales conversations come second.
Play the long game, persistently nurturing trust and goodwill over time.
Follow these principles of warming up outreach.
Watch your cold contacts transform into happy, loyal customers.
Talk soon,
Nick
Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:
Cold Email Lead Generation - Get booked sales calls with your ideal clients on a pay-per-lead basis. You pay a fixed fee whenever you get a response from your ideal customer. Click here to learn more.
LinkedIn Content Service - Want to build an audience of 10,000 engaged prospects? Get attention-grabbing LinkedIn content done-for-you that scales your personal brand and drives interested prospects to message you. Click here to learn more.
LinkedIn Paid Advertising - Want to get in front of prospects you never thought possible? Our irresistible LinkedIn Ad funnels will help you grow your business rapidly. Click here to learn more.
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