You can use this process to not only connect with more targeted prospects, but actually get more appointments every month. 

​Complete the Action Plan below to accomplish these goals with the exact playbook (and scripts!) we use for our private agency clients.

Here’s how to get the most out of the content in this Action Plan:

1. Read the entire AP once – Read through this entire AP, watch any videos and download the resources. Don’t execute on the steps until you have finished reading the entire AP. This will help you understand the progression of the steps and put them into context.

2.Complete the steps – This Action Plan is a checklist. Each step builds upon the next. Complete each step in order. Please post all questions in the Linked University VIP Club.

OR

Please bring questions about this Action Plan to the monthly group coaching call. The call takes place at 10 am CST on the last Thursday of the month. To register, please click here.

This is a simple but powerful LinkedIn strategy we’ve been using and teaching at LinkedSelling for a while now, and it’s worked great for us and many of our clients. We call it The Case Study Strategy and it’s super simple to execute.

There are 4 steps, and you’ll only need to invest 10 minutes a day to see results. In fact, after you’ve done it a few times, it may only take you 5 minutes a day.

Commit to this strategy for one full week. Do it every day for 7 days. It doesn’t matter what time of day you do this, so just block off 10 minutes each day for 7 days and follow these 4 simple steps.

• Identify your Ideal Client
• Create a Targeted Case Study
• Write a Great Connection Request
• Follow-Up With Your Case Study

Pretty simple! Enjoy!

There are two ways to approach The Showcase Strategy.

1. By tapping into the followers your already have. Could be your email list, LinkedIn connections, etc.

2. Or, you can get NEW leads from people that don’t already know you. Which is the KEY to a system that consistently generates new leads and clients.

First you need to get super clear on who your ideal client is.

You’re going to do that by creating a short prospect profile “cheat sheet” you can use when you’re searching for prospects on LinkedIn. For those of you have have already completed the 365 Marketing System (which should be everyone), you will have already completed your prospect profile.

And if you haven’t, go back and watch the training on “Creating Your Prospect Profile.” It is such an important resource to have when you are not only prospecting on LinkedIn, but with the rest of your marketing endeavors, as well.

You can include things like geographic location, title, industry, age… anything that fits the kind of prospect you’d most like to work with.

The key is that you get specific and not just start trying this strategy on anyone with a heartbeat. That’s too broad, and it will result in lousy results and wasted time when you find yourself on calls and in meetings with people who aren’t the right fit for you.

Next, you’re going to create a simple case study specifically related to the kind of person you’re targeting. Base it on a common problem in their industry or something else that is specific to them or their situation so it will resonate strongly with them.

Don’t let the idea of writing a case study intimidate you or turn into a big project. It doesn’t have to be that elaborate or difficult. Keep it simple – a page or two at the most.

There are a few steps to keep in mind when creating one for your business, and we are going to go over some key pointers below that will start convincing and converting your website traffic into hotter leads.

​Outline

​Tell them a story.

Throughout human history, we have been hungry for compelling stories. From cavemen grunting and acting out how they killed that night’s dinner to a modern-day comedian spinning a yarn about a recent night-shift visit to Wal-Mart, if a story is being told, someone is willing to listen.

​So to keep your case study from boring your prospects into running away from your site, draw them in with some narrative to go with the impressive numbers and results you are sharing.

​Here are some narrative bullet points to keep in mind:

• ​Introduce your protagonist.

• Explain their problem or obstacle.​

• Describe their original attempt and failure at solving this issue.​

• Detail the odds they overcame and how the solution aided the protagonist in exceeding their goals.​

• Let them explain the success of the campaign in their own words.​

Keep the spotlight on the customer

​This corresponds with the narrative points outlined above. But you must keep the focus of the study on the issues and SUCCESS of the customer. Don’t put all the spotlight on the greatness of your product.

​Your solution armed your client with the opportunity for success. But for the case study keep your audience’s focus on the success of your client.

​Also, explain why the customer was originally looking for a new solution and how/why they decided to go with yours. Let the reader connect their struggles with what your client was up against.

​Pitch your solution and implementation

​This is your big chance in the case study to sing the praises of what you do. Let your audience know how bad ass your solution can be without toning it down.

​You should be enthusiastic and promotional in this section. Nothing to fear, because you’re going to back up your claims in your next section.

​Share the mind-blowing results

​Go into the story of how your solution solved the customer’s problem with some narrative and load this section with all of the specifics of your client’s success.

​Give the readers all the numbers you can – sales growth, ROI, revenue, company growth, etc. Your audience will be convinced only if they can see the hard numbers of what they can expect from going with your service. Many readers will jump straight to the section of what they can expect to get from your business.

Don’t forget to include the client’s testimonial and photograph, so your audience can further relate and trust the results of their campaign.​

Format​

Catch the skimmers

​As the person writing this, it seems absolutely crazy to think that there are people out there who won’t read every single word in this post. Right?

​But sadly, those are the facts. The Nielsen Norman Group released some research that found online users read – at most – 28% of the words on a web page with 20% being more likely. And that same research found that scanning was extremely common for higher-literacy users.

​The majority of people actually making the decisions at the companies you are targeting will likely not read all of your content, so you’ll need to cater to them. Catch the attention of those looking for the highlights of what you are really saying.

You may have seen these skimmer-friendly suggestions a million times before, but I’m hoping the millionth and first time will get you to actually use them.

Headlines

Subheads

Pull quotes

Infographics (a couple free sites that I recommend you create these in: Easel.ly and Infogr.am)

Make readers stop scrolling and say, “Wow! Where do I sign-up???”

Yea, that subhead is a little sensational. But if you stopped to read this section it worked, right?

A couple pointers to keep in mind when crafting effective headlines:

• Make it unique and overly specific.

• Make it useful to your customer.

• Make it urgent.

• Tell the truth – back up your claims because no one enjoys reading copy completely unrelated to a misleading title.

Grow Your Business

​There are a number of ways to go about capturing leads from those who have read your case study. But I’ll go over a couple that have been working well for us.

​a. Have prospects opt-in with their email address for the full study. This process will lose you some potential readers by adding a barrier to entry. But you’ll be able to start an email marketing campaign and score these leads much higher since they have demonstrated interest in your services.

b. Advertise your product/services with the readily available study. At the end of your study, include a section with a special offer only available to those who click that link. Or just make an offer to set-up a phone call if this sounds like it makes sense for the reader’s business. Check out Leadboxes for help creating opt-in boxes.​

So, now you have a few tips to keep in mind when creating a case study for your business that will start convincing and converting into hotter leads.​

Now it’s time to start reaching out to new prospects.

Block out 10 minutes on your calendar every day, at whatever time is convenient for you to find 6 (can be more if you want!) new prospects. 

Once you’ve identified 6 prospects that fit your profile using LinkedIn’s search function, you’re going to send them a connection request.

The key in this step is to use the right kind of messaging. That means your connection request isn’t just that stock LinkedIn default message, and it’s not a big, elaborate pitch either.

The right kind of connection request is simple, personalized, and sincere. Here’s an example…

Personalizing your connection request is crucial. This may sound crazy, but we’ve seen time and time again that just by personalizing your connection request in this way, you’re going to get a 50% to 70% acceptance rate.

​That means in the first 7 days, you should wind up with 21 to 29 new targeted leads!

But let’s keep it conservative for our purposes here and just say you’re generating 21 new prospects in your first week.

Your last step is to send a personalized “Thank you” note to each of your new leads and attach the case study you tailored to them earlier. Again, you want the messaging to be personalized, friendly, and on-point.

You can see an example of good messaging in the screenshot below…

When you approach your new prospect in this way, you’re accomplishing 3 important things…

First, you’re being polite by following up after connecting and thanking them – which most people don’t take the time to do.

Second, you’re sending a highly targeted case study to them which is going to get them thinking about a problem they’re facing – and their need for a solution.

And third, you’re offering to set aside some time to talk to them. How you phrase this is important.​

Look at the message again and you’ll see that it’s casual, friendly, and makes it sound like you’re doing them the favor. The word probably indicates you’re busy too, and while you’re not desperate to talk to them, you’ll make time if they’d like to.

The Results Speak For Themselves. 

On average, we find that 15% to 22% of prospects who are approached with this strategy agree to meet. So out of your 21 new leads, you should wind up with 3 to 5 of them on the phone in a relatively short period of time.

3 to 5 highly targeted, qualified prospects who have read your case study, were intrigued by it, and have now committed to talking about how you can help them.

If you’re one of those folks who’s just a selling machine and can close 50% to 70% of those new prospects… awesome! You’re going to kill it with this strategy.

But even if you close only 10% of those people… you’ve still created an effective and free method of generating brand new clients whenever you want to.

If you follow this plan and its 4 simple steps every day for just 10 minutes a day, you’ll find yourself with a consistent flow of new clients.

And if you find that you have time to do more, bump up the number of requests you send, and multiply your results even more.​

Here’s what you wanna do: 

1. 1. Identify your top prospect by creating a Prospect Profile
2. 2. Create a simple case study specifically related to the kind of person you are targeting. 
3. 3. Reach out to 6 new prospects per day with a personalized connection request. 
4. 4. Follow-up with your case study. 

Find us in the Linked U VIP Club and start a new discussion thread to talk shop, get feedback on scripts, or help with any step in this system.