Leveraging LinkedIn for Prospecting, Relationship Building, and Business Growth with Adam Packard

Freddy D: 00:00:00

Adam Packard, founder of ninja marketing has 20 plus years

2

: 00:00:03

of sales and networking experience.

3

: 00:00:06

Raised in Maine with an

entrepreneurial background,

4

: 00:00:08

initially pursued a career in golf.

5

: 00:00:11

However, his journey led to

sales training under Tom Hopkins.

6

: 00:00:14

And various ventures.

7

: 00:00:15

Leveraging has networking cold

messaging and copywriting skills.

8

: 00:00:20

Adam founded ninja prospecting.

9

: 00:00:22

His formula for LinkedIn success

involved consistently genuine

10

: 00:00:25

engagement and tailored approaches to

build relationships and a pipeline of

11

: 00:00:29

opportunities and his free time he enjoys

golf and spending time with his wife,

12

: 00:00:34

Sarah of 10 years and playing soccer

with his eight year old son, Hudson.

13

: 00:00:38

Good morning, Adam.

14

: 00:00:39

Welcome to the Business

Superfan Podcast show.

15

: 00:00:42

How are you this morning?

16

: 00:00:43

Adam Packard: I'm doing great.

17

: 00:00:44

Thanks for having me.

18

: 00:00:45

Freddy D: It's been a hot minute

since you and I had talked.

19

: 00:00:48

We go back, geez, at least 15 years.

20

: 00:00:51

Adam Packard: Yeah, I know.

21

: 00:00:52

I'm glad we kept in touch and

cool to see what you're doing.

22

: 00:00:54

So yeah, excited to be on and

hopefully share some nuggets here.

23

: 00:00:58

Freddy D: Yeah.

24

: 00:00:59

So tell me a little bit about, your

background, how you got started

25

: 00:01:02

and what led you to being linked in

and being a master on leveraging.

26

: 00:01:09

Adam Packard: Yeah, it's an interesting

career path that obviously you and

27

: 00:01:11

I have a background and kind of work

together in the network marketing space.

28

: 00:01:15

I've always been in networking and

sales and, got recruited to work

29

: 00:01:19

on the corporate side of a network

marketing company about seven years ago.

30

: 00:01:22

So I did that and got

laid off out of the blue.

31

: 00:01:24

And yeah, I had to find something else.

32

: 00:01:26

I had a friend that came to me

and said, Hey, I know you're

33

: 00:01:29

good at networking and sales.

34

: 00:01:30

Can you help me generate some leads

for this new startup that we have?

35

: 00:01:33

It was all around trying to

find leads for advertising.

36

: 00:01:36

I had no idea how to sell

advertising, so I literally

37

: 00:01:38

Googled how to sell advertising.

38

: 00:01:40

I realized the only place I could

find those people was on LinkedIn.

39

: 00:01:44

I had a LinkedIn account, hadn't

logged in probably 10 years,

40

: 00:01:47

so I dusted it off, logged in.

41

: 00:01:48

Trial and error, just tried to figure

out how to start conversations,

42

: 00:01:51

use my networking skills to pique

people's interest and get them

43

: 00:01:55

interested and got pretty good at it.

44

: 00:01:57

We landed some national

clients for him and my wife.

45

: 00:02:00

Encourage me to do this for other people.

46

: 00:02:02

She's like, you're good at this.

47

: 00:02:03

You should help others.

48

: 00:02:04

They don't know what they're doing.

49

: 00:02:05

So come to find out there's thousands

in this space that do something similar.

50

: 00:02:10

So we immediately had to figure

out how to differentiate.

51

: 00:02:13

But yeah, it's been a fun and interesting

journey to help people have success

52

: 00:02:16

on LinkedIn, but it's always changing.

53

: 00:02:18

So you got to stay up with it.

54

: 00:02:19

Freddy D: Right, right.

55

: 00:02:20

Yeah, I've never really leveraged LinkedIn

myself yet from a business perspective.

56

: 00:02:25

I have close to 2000 connections on

LinkedIn, but I've not had the time

57

: 00:02:29

or really the understanding of how

to turn that into a revenue stream.

58

: 00:02:36

Adam Packard: Yeah.

59

: 00:02:37

It's a challenge for a lot.

60

: 00:02:37

Cause most people rely on referrals, word

of mouth, warm market venturing into.

61

: 00:02:43

Cold prospecting and cold messaging

just has to be done the right way.

62

: 00:02:46

But you said the key word

there is build relationships.

63

: 00:02:49

And I think at the end of the day,

that's what you're trying to do.

64

: 00:02:51

It doesn't matter what you're selling.

65

: 00:02:52

People are going to buy from people.

66

: 00:02:53

They like know and trust, and you have

to start the relationship somehow,

67

: 00:02:57

other than just connecting and trying

to pitch someone in a message, which

68

: 00:03:00

unfortunately it was what most people do.

69

: 00:03:02

Freddy D: Right.

70

: 00:03:02

So let's talk about, prospecting.

71

: 00:03:04

How important is really prospecting

in this because in my book, creating

72

: 00:03:08

business superfans, that's really

my first chapter is prospecting.

73

: 00:03:12

So I'd like to get your

narrative on that aspect.

74

: 00:03:16

Adam Packard: Always

be prospecting, right?

75

: 00:03:18

Yeah, it's just, it's the

lifeblood of the business.

76

: 00:03:21

I think everybody comes from

a different place though.

77

: 00:03:22

I mean, if you're, if your business

is at the point where, you rely on

78

: 00:03:26

referrals and you don't want to scale,

then prospecting is not nearly as

79

: 00:03:30

important, but most of the people I

talk to bring in maybe one, two clients

80

: 00:03:35

a month and they need other avenues.

81

: 00:03:37

I mean, when I was in my network marketing

days, I used to write down 20 different

82

: 00:03:41

ways that I could meet people because

I knew that building a pipeline of warm

83

: 00:03:45

and interested people was the only way

that I could have more conversations than

84

: 00:03:48

anybody else and generate more business.

85

: 00:03:50

So, depending on where you are in your

business and what you're looking to do,

86

: 00:03:54

80 percent of your time should be spent

having conversations and prospecting.

87

: 00:03:57

If you're too much in the business

and not working on the business,

88

: 00:04:00

then it's never going to grow.

89

: 00:04:02

So, yeah, prospecting is the

lifeblood of business, but it

90

: 00:04:05

has to be done the right way.

91

: 00:04:06

There's so many cold messages and

spam and email that you get that

92

: 00:04:11

you have to rise above the noise.

93

: 00:04:13

And that's what we help people

do is cut through the noise

94

: 00:04:16

and stand out and be different.

95

: 00:04:17

And at the end of the day, build

relationships, build a pipeline

96

: 00:04:20

and have endless conversations

with the right people.

97

: 00:04:22

Freddy D: Right, and of course, follow up

is the next part of the equation is now

98

: 00:04:26

that you've got made that connection and

had the conversation, you've got to engage

99

: 00:04:30

and follow up is everything in my mind.

100

: 00:04:33

And that's actually my second chapter in

a book is follow up because once you've

101

: 00:04:36

got the prospect, you've got to follow up

and you got to keep reaching out to them.

102

: 00:04:40

Adam Packard: It's one thing

that just gets overlooked, which

103

: 00:04:43

is just so mind boggling to me.

104

: 00:04:46

I mean, when I was in the network

marketing business, my only

105

: 00:04:49

goal was to not have anybody

slip through the cracks, right?

106

: 00:04:52

If I had a conversation with someone,

even if the timing wasn't right,

107

: 00:04:55

they would hear from me consistently

until they either told me yes, or

108

: 00:04:59

told me to go pound sand and not

reach out to them again, right?

109

: 00:05:02

Tom Hopkins used to say,

follow up till they buy or die.

110

: 00:05:05

A little extreme, but you'd be shocked.

111

: 00:05:08

Maybe you wouldn't how many people,

I send leads to on a daily basis

112

: 00:05:12

and they reach out to them once and

the person doesn't show up on a zoom

113

: 00:05:16

credit card in hand ready to buy and

they're like, Oh, this doesn't work.

114

: 00:05:19

The work begins when we hand

someone off that says, tell me

115

: 00:05:22

more, Frederick, I'm interested.

116

: 00:05:24

That's where the followup comes in

place and you have to have a system on

117

: 00:05:26

the back end to be able to handle it.

118

: 00:05:28

I mean, I use a simple CRM that

just gives me a list of people I

119

: 00:05:31

need to follow up with every day.

120

: 00:05:33

And I.

121

: 00:05:33

And meticulous and I don't miss it.

122

: 00:05:35

And I've had people that I've talked to

two, three years ago with it, because

123

: 00:05:38

I was the only one that kept in touch

when the time is right, they come

124

: 00:05:42

back to me because I was that guy.

125

: 00:05:44

So I always tell people when you're

prospecting, it's always the right message

126

: 00:05:48

to the right person at the right time.

127

: 00:05:50

You can control the first two parts.

128

: 00:05:51

You can't always control the timing.

129

: 00:05:53

And so that's where the followup is key.

130

: 00:05:55

Freddy D: Oh, absolutely.

131

: 00:05:56

With the interpreting and translation

company, I close more sales because I'm

132

: 00:06:01

the first one and the fastest one, and

that's the key right there, is being the

133

: 00:06:05

fastest one to respond back to an inquiry.

134

: 00:06:09

Because one, they're

overwhelmed that, wow.

135

: 00:06:13

You actually responded and you responded

within 15 minutes of me submitting

136

: 00:06:17

a message through your website.

137

: 00:06:20

And then I, basically, I eliminated any

chance of competition because I engaged

138

: 00:06:24

talking to them right off the bat.

139

: 00:06:26

Adam Packard: Yeah.

140

: 00:06:26

Freddy D: And yeah, we can take

care of this and next thing poof,

141

: 00:06:29

I got a contract done and my sales

cycle was probably 30 minutes, max.

142

: 00:06:35

And we're talking, some decent

money with language interpreting,

143

: 00:06:40

Adam Packard: yeah.

144

: 00:06:41

Freddy D: so.

145

: 00:06:41

It's critical.

146

: 00:06:42

So let's go back to LinkedIn a little

bit and let's talk about those people

147

: 00:06:47

that send you a message out of the clear

blue, you have no idea who they are and

148

: 00:06:54

you think that they're genuinely looking

to connect and you accept the connection.

149

: 00:06:59

And next thing you know, as

you get the sales pitch, what's

150

: 00:07:02

your thought about that crap?

151

: 00:07:04

Adam Packard: There's a

time and a place for it.

152

: 00:07:05

I think.

153

: 00:07:06

Yeah, it's a little too much.

154

: 00:07:07

I think it depends on the audience.

155

: 00:07:09

So I think everybody that we work with

has a different audience that they

156

: 00:07:12

serve and different offers, right?

157

: 00:07:14

If you're targeting higher up people

in business owners, founders, C

158

: 00:07:20

suite individuals, they get hit up

probably more so than anybody, right?

159

: 00:07:25

So you cannot come out and connect

and immediately pitch them on your

160

: 00:07:29

services, back in the day when

linkedin allowed you to have 100 150

161

: 00:07:34

connection requests go out per day.

162

: 00:07:36

You could throw enough

stuff against the wall.

163

: 00:07:38

Some of it's bound to stick, right?

164

: 00:07:39

So you didn't have to be very good.

165

: 00:07:40

So you could do that and still get

results when they limited the number of

166

: 00:07:43

connections you could make and limited

the number of messages you can send.

167

: 00:07:46

You immediately have to change your

kind of focus and priority to be more

168

: 00:07:50

efficient, more effective with those.

169

: 00:07:52

And so the approach has to change.

170

: 00:07:53

So when we work with clients.

171

: 00:07:56

We try to come up with outside the

box ideas because if you look at the

172

: 00:07:59

last 10 messages you got on LinkedIn,

9 out of 10 of them are probably

173

: 00:08:02

connecting and pitching you on something.

174

: 00:08:04

Freddy D: Oh, absolutely.

175

: 00:08:05

Adam Packard: Most links have most link or

most messages have links in them, right?

176

: 00:08:09

Say, hey, let's schedule a

discovery call or a strategy call.

177

: 00:08:12

And if that's your only way that you

reach out to people, you've got to

178

: 00:08:16

think of something else because you

cannot sell someone a multi thousand

179

: 00:08:19

dollar package and in a message, right?

180

: 00:08:23

So what we look to do is.

181

: 00:08:26

Create conversation and engagement.

182

: 00:08:27

That's the only goal on LinkedIn

is to get a conversation started.

183

: 00:08:30

Everything we do is permission based, so

you will never find links in any messages.

184

: 00:08:34

So if I sent you a message and said,

Hey, We'd love to have you on my podcast.

185

: 00:08:38

If you're interested, shoot me a message

back and we can talk through details,

186

: 00:08:41

you would automatically respond to that.

187

: 00:08:43

Now, if I pitched it this way and I

say, Hey, Frederick, we have a podcast.

188

: 00:08:46

Here's a link to the show.

189

: 00:08:47

Here's my calendar to book time to

learn more that comes across as spam.

190

: 00:08:51

So when you're looking at LinkedIn,

use it as a tool to create

191

: 00:08:54

engagement, curiosity, and interest.

192

: 00:08:57

Look at it as a tool where you can

add value and build relationships.

193

: 00:09:01

Yes, you can probably find some

opportunities quickly, but you also

194

: 00:09:04

don't want to cut yourself off from

any future opportunity by burning

195

: 00:09:07

through connections and just burning

through relationship capital.

196

: 00:09:10

Because if you have a great

conversation with someone, they might

197

: 00:09:13

not be a perfect client for you.

198

: 00:09:15

But because of the way you

approach them the right way,

199

: 00:09:18

now your foot's in the door.

200

: 00:09:19

They might keep you in mind for the future

and now their network is open to you.

201

: 00:09:23

So it's almost like when, we would go

to BNI meetings in the day, back in

202

: 00:09:26

the day, it just felt like everybody

would go to the meeting and try to

203

: 00:09:29

sell each other their services, right?

204

: 00:09:31

It wasn't like we were getting into

each other's network and actually

205

: 00:09:34

leveraging people's networks.

206

: 00:09:36

So it's almost the same way now with

LinkedIn is nine out of 10 people.

207

: 00:09:39

Go to LinkedIn to try to sell people.

208

: 00:09:41

They don't know services

that they don't need.

209

: 00:09:44

When in fact they should look at it as a

tool to whose network can you get into?

210

: 00:09:47

How can you add value to a certain person?

211

: 00:09:50

Yes, you might pique their interest

and they might have interest in

212

: 00:09:52

what you do, but you also need

to approach it the right way.

213

: 00:09:55

So you don't just.

214

: 00:09:56

Burn through that connection

and lose any future opportunity.

215

: 00:09:59

So our approach is a little bit

different in terms of it might be a

216

: 00:10:02

longer term nurturing, sales cycle

where you build a bigger pipeline.

217

: 00:10:06

Unfortunately we live in this instant

gratification society where people want

218

: 00:10:10

sales and want prospects now, but when

you're looking at LinkedIn, you have to

219

: 00:10:14

look at it as a networking tool first, and

then a way to add value and potentially

220

: 00:10:19

share your services with the right people.

221

: 00:10:20

Freddy D: You said a big thing right

there is building that relationships

222

: 00:10:23

and nurturing it over a period of time,

because the other aspect of that is,

223

: 00:10:27

as you also mentioned, Adam, was that,

they may not be ready for your service

224

: 00:10:31

now, but they have a network of people.

225

: 00:10:35

And if you built that relationship with

them and you're not pitching them, you're

226

: 00:10:40

just having conversation, building a

relationship, they may not be ready, but

227

: 00:10:45

they may turn around and says, Hey, you

know what, My friend Susie she'd be an

228

: 00:10:50

ideal person for your podcast or your

product or your service or whatever it is.

229

: 00:10:57

And they start becoming your superfan

in a sense, because they're out

230

: 00:11:02

promoting you to their network.

231

: 00:11:05

You can't buy that kind of PR.

232

: 00:11:07

That's why, I wrote the book

Creating Business Superfans.

233

: 00:11:10

It's people that believe in you

are trust you and want to promote

234

: 00:11:15

you because they like you and

they want you to be successful.

235

: 00:11:18

Adam Packard: A hundred percent.

236

: 00:11:19

Yep.

237

: 00:11:20

It's so true.

238

: 00:11:21

I mean, it's I'm in a very

competitive space, right?

239

: 00:11:24

And most people that are on LinkedIn

probably have lots of competition.

240

: 00:11:27

So if you just look at what your

competition is doing and do the opposite

241

: 00:11:30

we basically branded ourselves as the

opposite of every LinkedIn marketing

242

: 00:11:33

company because we do things differently.

243

: 00:11:36

We take a manual approach.

244

: 00:11:37

We're not using software.

245

: 00:11:38

We're not using bots.

246

: 00:11:39

We're using real people.

247

: 00:11:40

We take time to really put together a plan

that actually will help you strategically

248

: 00:11:45

connect with the right people.

249

: 00:11:46

But yeah, if you look at your inbox,

just look at the last 10 messages and

250

: 00:11:49

say, okay, this didn't resonate with me.

251

: 00:11:52

What type of message

would resonate with me?

252

: 00:11:54

If I were to receive it called

from a prospect, it would

253

: 00:11:56

probably be one that it's.

254

: 00:11:57

Focuses on you and not the other

person selling their stuff.

255

: 00:12:00

It'd probably be one that adds value to

you and maybe gives you some insights

256

: 00:12:03

and tips that, you didn't have before.

257

: 00:12:05

So yeah, value add, build relationships.

258

: 00:12:08

That's the key.

259

: 00:12:08

Freddy D: Absolutely.

260

: 00:12:09

So, how do you leverage LinkedIn

for, to, make connections?

261

: 00:12:13

How do you find the connections

and how do you leverage that?

262

: 00:12:16

I mean, you don't have to give

away all your secrets, give some

263

: 00:12:18

tips here on what people can do.

264

: 00:12:20

Adam Packard: Yeah, there's

a lot that you can do.

265

: 00:12:22

I think the first thing you have

to really do is get very clear

266

: 00:12:24

on who your audience is, right?

267

: 00:12:26

That's, if you tell me your audience is

the avatar, it goes back to the avatar.

268

: 00:12:29

I mean, if you say your audience is

business owners and you do leadership

269

: 00:12:32

development coaching, I'm probably

going to throw up a little bit in my

270

: 00:12:35

mouth because it's just so general.

271

: 00:12:37

It's just going to be white noise.

272

: 00:12:39

There's nothing I can create.

273

: 00:12:39

I can't market that.

274

: 00:12:41

But if you say I work with tech startup

founders that have less than 500 employees

275

: 00:12:46

that are based in Silicon Valley.

276

: 00:12:48

That are series a, or, just

getting funding, that's a

277

: 00:12:51

specific audience, right?

278

: 00:12:52

Or I work with service

based industries, right?

279

: 00:12:55

You just have to be super specific.

280

: 00:12:57

Now that's the first part.

281

: 00:12:59

The second part is identifying again

if your audience is that higher

282

: 00:13:02

tier person, that's the CEO or the

founders or the business owners.

283

: 00:13:06

Your approach is going to have to

be a little bit more indirect and

284

: 00:13:08

a little bit more value added.

285

: 00:13:10

Whereas if you're targeting maybe

entrepreneurs or middle managers,

286

: 00:13:14

you can be a little bit more direct.

287

: 00:13:15

So that's where the

strategy comes into play.

288

: 00:13:17

But from a, what can you do?

289

: 00:13:19

We leverage sales navigator for LinkedIn.

290

: 00:13:22

It's a necessary tool to be

able to find the right people.

291

: 00:13:25

If you do a basic search on LinkedIn,

you can find people, but you're also.

292

: 00:13:29

Probably burning through connections.

293

: 00:13:31

Cause you know, half the people

on LinkedIn are not active, right?

294

: 00:13:34

So with sales navigator, you can identify

people who are active on the platform.

295

: 00:13:38

You can find people who are premium

users, which means they're more

296

: 00:13:40

likely to respond and engage.

297

: 00:13:42

And you can just, do the right parameters

from industry to title, to years

298

: 00:13:47

experience, to geography, to keywords.

299

: 00:13:49

So you can make a much

more targeted search.

300

: 00:13:52

And then from there, there's

lots of tools and systems and

301

: 00:13:54

agencies that can help you.

302

: 00:13:55

But, if you're just starting out.

303

: 00:13:57

You can make 20, 25 connections

a day to your target audience,

304

: 00:14:00

engage in conversations that way.

305

: 00:14:02

That's what we do is we take that two

or three hours a day of prospecting off

306

: 00:14:05

people's plates so they can just handle

the warm conversations that we hand over.

307

: 00:14:10

And the new trend right now, I'm

not sure if you're seeing this

308

: 00:14:12

right now is let us place an

appointment center in your business.

309

: 00:14:15

And we'll take over all your DMS

and generate appointments for you.

310

: 00:14:19

The challenge is you're probably going to

be spending a thousand, 2, 000 a month.

311

: 00:14:23

You're probably going to have people on

your calendar that aren't a fit because

312

: 00:14:25

their goal is just to book people,

whether or not they're qualified or not.

313

: 00:14:29

Our approach is a little bit different.

314

: 00:14:30

I've tested this multiple ways.

315

: 00:14:31

What we do is we help you

get the conversation started.

316

: 00:14:34

So I create the copy and the targeting to

help you, generate the interest, right?

317

: 00:14:39

So someone who reaches back out and

says, Hey, Frederick, I'm interested.

318

: 00:14:42

At that point, we hand it off

to you because you know your

319

: 00:14:44

business a lot better than I do.

320

: 00:14:46

You can customize a reply back and get

the conversation started from there.

321

: 00:14:49

But yeah, LinkedIn, you can

send, 100 messages a day easy.

322

: 00:14:53

I mean, build up your existing network.

323

: 00:14:55

Obviously, you want to try to connect

with people first because then they

324

: 00:14:57

see your posts and your feed and then

you can message them anytime, right?

325

: 00:15:01

So I just created A campaign to

go back to some of my existing

326

: 00:15:05

connections to reengage some of them.

327

: 00:15:07

Whether you have a promo or a holiday

special you're doing building those

328

: 00:15:11

connections is key, but you have to

find a way to consistently do it.

329

: 00:15:15

That's the one thing I see a

lot of people miss is they'll

330

: 00:15:17

send five, 10 messages a day.

331

: 00:15:19

They don't get too many results.

332

: 00:15:20

You've got to increase that.

333

: 00:15:21

Do 60, messages a day.

334

: 00:15:24

Find a way to do that.

335

: 00:15:24

Whether you hire someone or

whether you do it yourself.

336

: 00:15:28

You kind of have to do it,

look at LinkedIn as almost

337

: 00:15:30

like a speed networking tool.

338

: 00:15:31

The more connections you can make,

the more conversations you have, the

339

: 00:15:34

bigger your pipeline is going to get.

340

: 00:15:36

But there are tons of tools and resources

out there to help you leverage it.

341

: 00:15:39

Freddy D: Do you have a resource for those

tools and stuff off of your business?

342

: 00:15:43

Adam Packard: I just have calls.

343

: 00:15:44

Honestly I'm the anti

hard sell kind of guy.

344

: 00:15:47

My goal is to educate

and give people ideas.

345

: 00:15:49

I had a call yesterday with a

someone that, was looking to

346

: 00:15:52

come on our podcast as a guest.

347

: 00:15:54

And I gave her some ideas on, Hey,

if you're going to leverage LinkedIn,

348

: 00:15:57

here's an idea that I would use.

349

: 00:15:58

And the idea was.

350

: 00:16:00

take a chapter from one of her books

every month, do an event around

351

: 00:16:04

that, that topic, invite her target

audience to come check it out.

352

: 00:16:07

You add a ton of value.

353

: 00:16:09

And then, at the end you can share, Hey,

if you're interested in having a separate

354

: 00:16:12

conversation, let's have a one on one.

355

: 00:16:14

So it's an easy way to promote

yourself, add value without pitching

356

: 00:16:18

and get more conversations started.

357

: 00:16:20

So yeah, I always encourage people to

just, check us out at Ninja prospecting.

358

: 00:16:23

com schedule a call.

359

: 00:16:25

Like I said, I'm the

opposite of the hard sell.

360

: 00:16:27

It's more of educating and adding

value and giving you some ideas.

361

: 00:16:30

And if you want to see how we

partner with you to, leverage

362

: 00:16:33

your time it works really well.

363

: 00:16:35

Freddy D: Right.

364

: 00:16:36

So what's the advantage

of LinkedIn premium.

365

: 00:16:40

Cause I'm not on it.

366

: 00:16:41

I know because I'm not on LinkedIn enough.

367

: 00:16:43

For what I'm doing at the moment.

368

: 00:16:45

Adam Packard: And you will

be we'll get you there.

369

: 00:16:46

Yeah., you definitely gotta leverage it.

370

: 00:16:47

Yeah.

371

: 00:16:48

So there's different versions

of premium for LinkedIn.

372

: 00:16:50

The only one I recommend, a sales

navigator, but unless you're gonna

373

: 00:16:54

be sending 50 to a hundred messages

a day, it's probably overkill.

374

: 00:16:58

Right?

375

: 00:16:58

Unless you're gonna actually

start leveraging it and

376

: 00:17:01

messaging a lot more people.

377

: 00:17:03

Most people don't take

advantage of Sales Navigator.

378

: 00:17:05

One of the advantages of having Sales

Navigator, number one, you get the little

379

: 00:17:08

gold logo next to your name so people can

recognize you as, you actually, think that

380

: 00:17:13

LinkedIn is valuable enough to pay for it.

381

: 00:17:15

But it's a, premium there are other

versions of premium that I think

382

: 00:17:20

allow you to just to see people

that are viewing your profile.

383

: 00:17:23

That to me didn't really

move the needle at all.

384

: 00:17:25

So sales navigator is the tool

that, that I would recommend, but

385

: 00:17:28

yeah, you can send with in mails to

people don't realize in mail is a

386

: 00:17:31

great way to reach out to people.

387

: 00:17:33

And they, they see this when they

sign up for sales navigator, you

388

: 00:17:36

get like 50 in mail credits, right?

389

: 00:17:37

Which basically allows me to message

you directly without being connected.

390

: 00:17:42

However, most people don't realize this.

391

: 00:17:43

If you look at a search on LinkedIn

and try to message someone, if you have

392

: 00:17:47

sales navigator, there's about 70 percent

of profiles that are marked as open.

393

: 00:17:52

Meaning I can send you an in mail

without using one of my 50 credits.

394

: 00:17:57

And they let me do that 40 times a day.

395

: 00:18:00

So I can send 40 in mails a day, open

profile to start conversations in addition

396

: 00:18:05

to the connecting that you can do.

397

: 00:18:06

That's the advantage of sales navigators.

398

: 00:18:08

It opens you up to being able

to do more messaging and just

399

: 00:18:10

find more of the right people.

400

: 00:18:12

Freddy D: Interesting.

401

: 00:18:13

I never knew that.

402

: 00:18:14

That's a great nugget for everybody.

403

: 00:18:16

How do you build superfans within

LinkedIn that, become your promoters

404

: 00:18:21

for the services that you guys provide?

405

: 00:18:23

Adam Packard: Yeah there's a couple ways.

406

: 00:18:25

So if you look at LinkedIn, as

you have passive strategies and

407

: 00:18:28

you have active strategies, right?

408

: 00:18:29

Your passive strategies are.

409

: 00:18:31

posting content that is not

necessarily going to generate leads.

410

: 00:18:35

It's really good for brand awareness,

thought leadership, credibility,

411

: 00:18:39

visibility, social proof.

412

: 00:18:41

But rarely do I post something and

somebody messages me saying, tell

413

: 00:18:44

me more about your services, right?

414

: 00:18:46

I'm really just doing it to show that

I'm active and to add some value.

415

: 00:18:49

It's almost like you, you're the guy

in the back of the room at the seminar.

416

: 00:18:52

That has the booth and

you're selling product.

417

: 00:18:54

You're hoping people come

up and see your stuff.

418

: 00:18:56

That's the passive strategy.

419

: 00:18:57

Still really important.

420

: 00:18:58

But it's not going to generate

immediate conversations.

421

: 00:19:02

The active strategies are basically

getting out there, shaking hands, meeting

422

: 00:19:05

people, starting conversations, almost

like going to a seminar instead of being

423

: 00:19:09

the guy in the back of the room, trying

to sell a product you're out there in the

424

: 00:19:12

crowd, shaking hands and meeting people.

425

: 00:19:14

And so that two prong approach of.

426

: 00:19:16

posting the content and

doing the reach outs.

427

: 00:19:19

The content is where you start

to develop that fan base, right?

428

: 00:19:22

But it takes consistency over time.

429

: 00:19:25

Sadly, most people, will automate

their content or they'll outsource it.

430

: 00:19:28

Or they'll just use AI

to generate content.

431

: 00:19:31

It doesn't, AI for me doesn't

really reflect personality.

432

: 00:19:34

It can create some great things,

but I, at the end of the day.

433

: 00:19:37

You've got to share your voice

and share your wisdom naturally.

434

: 00:19:41

So find a way to consistently do that

two, three times a week on LinkedIn

435

: 00:19:44

post content that way, but you have

to add in the other piece that drives

436

: 00:19:47

people to your content, that, that

builds more connections that build your

437

: 00:19:50

network and starts more conversations.

438

: 00:19:52

So you have to have

both working in tandem.

439

: 00:19:54

Freddy D: It makes sense.

440

: 00:19:56

It goes back to, sales, follow up.

441

: 00:19:58

And this usually happens not

at the 1st, 2nd or 3rd connect.

442

: 00:20:02

It usually is at the 8th,

9th, 12th, 14th conversation.

443

: 00:20:08

And all of a sudden, boom, it happens.

444

: 00:20:10

Adam Packard: Yeah.

445

: 00:20:11

Yeah.

446

: 00:20:11

So I had a conversation yesterday with a

guy that I talked to you back in March.

447

: 00:20:14

And then luckily, because I have

the CRM and everything set up

448

: 00:20:16

the right way, I could, I knew

exactly what we talked about.

449

: 00:20:19

I knew where his business

was, what he was looking for.

450

: 00:20:22

Even though it was eight months ago,

it was an easy kind of transition

451

: 00:20:25

into the conversation yesterday.

452

: 00:20:27

So yeah that's one of the Secrets.

453

: 00:20:30

I don't think it's a secret, but just

most people don't actually do it.

454

: 00:20:34

Freddy D: So can you share a story

of how you helped somebody that was

455

: 00:20:39

struggling and how you turned around

their business, leveraging LinkedIn

456

: 00:20:44

and the services that you provide?

457

: 00:20:46

Adam Packard: Yeah, we've got

a lot of great success stories.

458

: 00:20:48

I've had a, our goal is to

not be a service provider.

459

: 00:20:51

Our goal is to come in

more as a growth partner.

460

: 00:20:53

We want to partner with you, right?

461

: 00:20:54

So we're a little bit

different in that regards.

462

: 00:20:56

And our model is a little bit different.

463

: 00:20:59

A couple of our long term clients,

I remember she came to me, she's

464

: 00:21:02

a coach for product managers.

465

: 00:21:04

We actually did a case study

and it's on our website.

466

: 00:21:07

But.

467

: 00:21:08

We basically created a a copy and a

campaign to drive people to a little mini

468

: 00:21:13

funnel that she had a little training.

469

: 00:21:15

So she would invite people and

add value with this kind of

470

: 00:21:18

free training that she did.

471

: 00:21:19

And I've the very first day we generated

17 leads for her, which was just insane.

472

: 00:21:25

I think over the course of the last

three or four years, we've averaged

473

: 00:21:29

a couple of thousand leads per year

for her that funnels directly into

474

: 00:21:33

her calendar turns into clients.

475

: 00:21:34

She generates four to seven clients a

month which is higher than our average.

476

: 00:21:40

But yeah, she leverages LinkedIn.

477

: 00:21:42

She's, found her voice.

478

: 00:21:43

She's got the authority.

479

: 00:21:45

And it works.

480

: 00:21:47

She adds value first, right?

481

: 00:21:48

She leads with that.

482

: 00:21:49

She builds a huge pipeline.

483

: 00:21:51

That was one of our great success stories.

484

: 00:21:52

And I have another one that

started a coaching business and.

485

: 00:21:56

When she started with us, she was probably

making between five and 10, 000 a month.

486

: 00:22:01

And her note to me was if I'm going to

have someone working my LinkedIn account,

487

: 00:22:05

I want to make sure that it represents

my brand, my voice, and is a reflection

488

: 00:22:09

of our brand and adds value to our brand.

489

: 00:22:12

Detracting from our brand

and giving it a bad name.

490

: 00:22:15

So we put together a plan for her

something similar to what we did

491

: 00:22:18

for the project manager coach.

492

: 00:22:20

And immediately she started seeing results

and she has been with us for years.

493

: 00:22:25

She's grown her coaching practice

now to over 200, 000 a month.

494

: 00:22:29

has multiple coaches and it's

just scaling to the moon.

495

: 00:22:33

So, and again, not everybody's looking

to go from five grand to 200 grand.

496

: 00:22:37

Maybe you aren't, but if you're not

leveraging cold outreach as part

497

: 00:22:41

of your plan to grow your business.

498

: 00:22:44

You're leaving money on the table.

499

: 00:22:45

You're not having any predictability

unless you've been in business 20 years

500

: 00:22:49

and your business is 95 percent referral.

501

: 00:22:51

It's just the lifeblood of any business.

502

: 00:22:53

And it's fun.

503

: 00:22:54

You get to meet people from all over

the world and have great conversations.

504

: 00:22:56

But yeah, those are probably

two of our best success stories.

505

: 00:22:59

They had success right out of the gate.

506

: 00:23:01

Freddy D: Yeah, that's amazing going

from 5 to 10 grand to 200 grand a month.

507

: 00:23:05

Adam Packard: Yeah.

508

: 00:23:06

Freddy D: That doesn't suck.

509

: 00:23:07

Adam Packard: Yeah.

510

: 00:23:07

Now we're not the entire, reason for the

success, but we're a piece of it for sure.

511

: 00:23:11

Freddy D: Right.

512

: 00:23:11

Adam Packard: She knew

that it was reliable.

513

: 00:23:12

She knew that every month she was

going to have a predictable number

514

: 00:23:15

of people looking at her stuff.

515

: 00:23:17

And that's what we do.

516

: 00:23:19

Freddy D: Excellent.

517

: 00:23:20

So, aside from that, how do

you make connections outside

518

: 00:23:26

of LinkedIn for your business?

519

: 00:23:29

Adam Packard: That's a good question.

520

: 00:23:30

Most of my business is

done through LinkedIn.

521

: 00:23:33

I do a little bit on Facebook.

522

: 00:23:34

We do a little bit with

cold email as well.

523

: 00:23:36

But at the end of the

day the goal is the same.

524

: 00:23:38

It's to create engagement,

create conversation.

525

: 00:23:41

I do a little bit of

networking face to face.

526

: 00:23:43

It's, it's one of those things

where I could talk to five people

527

: 00:23:46

in an hour, via zoom, or I could

meet one person for lunch, right?

528

: 00:23:50

So I have to balance that.

529

: 00:23:51

And the same thing when I was building

my network marketing business was, I

530

: 00:23:54

want to get as, squeeze as much into

the time that I have as possible.

531

: 00:23:58

So I'm trying to leverage my time.

532

: 00:23:59

So most of what we do is done through

LinkedIn, but again, the goal is

533

: 00:24:03

to humanize it as much as possible.

534

: 00:24:05

And almost, even though

it's not face to face.

535

: 00:24:08

It's a great way to just have way more

conversations than you could have been if

536

: 00:24:13

you were to go to a networking event, but

I still I'm almost of the camp that you

537

: 00:24:19

have to sprinkle in some of the old school

things that worked 20 years ago because

538

: 00:24:23

they're probably more effective now.

539

: 00:24:25

So finding the right group to belong to.

540

: 00:24:28

Locally, a networking group, getting

out and meeting people make friends.

541

: 00:24:32

I mean, at the end of the day, you're

just trying to make friends with people.

542

: 00:24:34

So when I'm playing pickleball

with my buddies, right, I'll,

543

: 00:24:37

they asked me what I do.

544

: 00:24:37

We have conversations.

545

: 00:24:38

They're all business owners, right?

546

: 00:24:39

So.

547

: 00:24:40

Yeah, there's, you have to have

multiple ways that you prospect and

548

: 00:24:44

LinkedIn is one of them, but you

should have five or 10 different

549

: 00:24:46

sources that you pull people from.

550

: 00:24:48

Freddy D: And, going back to LinkedIn

and Facebook and, Instagram and all those

551

: 00:24:53

platforms, how often should somebody

be posting so they're not obnoxious

552

: 00:25:00

and at the same time it's meaningful.

553

: 00:25:04

Adam Packard: Yeah, it depends.

554

: 00:25:05

Most people will look and do a

lot of promotional posts, right?

555

: 00:25:09

It's like, oh, I can do this and

everything is about business.

556

: 00:25:12

What I found works best, and I would

say pick one platform, get really

557

: 00:25:15

good at one platform to start.

558

: 00:25:16

Don't try to do Twitter, Facebook,

Instagram, LinkedIn, because you're

559

: 00:25:19

going to spread yourself too thin.

560

: 00:25:20

You're going to run out of time.

561

: 00:25:22

So I would pick one or maybe

two platforms to start with and

562

: 00:25:25

get some really good traction.

563

: 00:25:27

So where's your audience

hanging out the most, right?

564

: 00:25:30

So for us, most of our

audience hangs out on LinkedIn.

565

: 00:25:32

So that's where we post

and share our content.

566

: 00:25:34

I would say three times a week

would be the average to do.

567

: 00:25:38

Consistency obviously is key, but

what I found on LinkedIn, it's funny.

568

: 00:25:41

If you look at some of my posts, the

ones where I talk about, business or

569

: 00:25:45

tips or, things that you can do with

LinkedIn, don't get nearly as much

570

: 00:25:48

traction as the ones where I post

maybe a personal story or something

571

: 00:25:52

that's family related, where I can tie

in my business and my life, because.

572

: 00:25:56

People want to get to know the

person behind, the company.

573

: 00:25:58

They want to get to know you personally.

574

: 00:26:00

So anything you can share, if you're

going on a trip, tell us about the trip.

575

: 00:26:05

Tell us about, a lesson you

learned while you're on the trip.

576

: 00:26:07

Share a story.

577

: 00:26:08

Those posts actually tend to do better.

578

: 00:26:11

On LinkedIn.

579

: 00:26:12

But again, the key is the consistency

of it and not looking at it and

580

: 00:26:14

saying, Oh, I need to get so

many likes or so many comments.

581

: 00:26:17

Throw that out the window for six

months and just focus on adding

582

: 00:26:20

value, sharing stuff that, you

have a thought of inspiration.

583

: 00:26:23

You want to share it just right.

584

: 00:26:25

And share it without any attachment

to, I hope people like this.

585

: 00:26:28

So when I post stuff, yeah,

I want people to like it.

586

: 00:26:30

But the day, I'm not shooting for likes.

587

: 00:26:32

I'm shooting for being real

and authentic with my audience.

588

: 00:26:35

And hopefully that comes across.

589

: 00:26:37

Freddy D: And that's an important

tip right there is being real and

590

: 00:26:41

genuine and sharing something.

591

: 00:26:43

Because it's, you're right, I post

some personal stuff and all of

592

: 00:26:47

a sudden, out of nowhere, I get,

two, hundred likes on something.

593

: 00:26:51

And then if I post something

that's pure business.

594

: 00:26:57

It falls flat on its face.

595

: 00:26:59

Adam Packard: Yeah, exactly.

596

: 00:27:02

Freddy D: It's a non starter.

597

: 00:27:03

Adam Packard: That's the

old post and pray, right?

598

: 00:27:05

What most people do is they'll,

they're, Oh, I'm going to post on

599

: 00:27:07

all these platforms and people are

going to, come to me and I'm like,

600

: 00:27:11

it doesn't quite work that way.

601

: 00:27:12

You've got to be a little

bit more proactive.

602

: 00:27:13

Freddy D: You've got to engage

and build those relationships.

603

: 00:27:16

Yeah.

604

: 00:27:16

And cause back to those two

clients, you really help out, I'm

605

: 00:27:20

sure that they're your superfans.

606

: 00:27:22

They love the services that

you've done and they've shared

607

: 00:27:25

your services to other people.

608

: 00:27:28

And that's really, how you build

that fan base that in turn starts

609

: 00:27:32

a snowball, and I'm sure they're

your marketing piece today.

610

: 00:27:36

Adam Packard: And you have to, yeah,

they, yeah, they refer us business

611

: 00:27:40

all the time, which is great.

612

: 00:27:41

It's easy conversations.

613

: 00:27:43

Cause they, they realize

what we did to help them.

614

: 00:27:45

So it makes the conversation easier.

615

: 00:27:47

But yeah, you've got you've got to

create fans in your business and

616

: 00:27:50

you've got to do more than what

you, they're paying you for, right.

617

: 00:27:54

Care more communicate more.

618

: 00:27:57

Try to do as much as

you can to over deliver.

619

: 00:28:00

There's way too much over promising and

under delivering in the market right now.

620

: 00:28:04

And so we try to be the opposite and, we

will, we'll guarantee a certain number

621

: 00:28:07

of leads, but at the end of the day.

622

: 00:28:10

I know that's a low bar.

623

: 00:28:11

I'm shooting for a lot higher

because if I can over promise and

624

: 00:28:13

be the guy that over, if I can over

deliver, we immediately stand out.

625

: 00:28:18

But yeah, creating those superfans

helps you build that fan base, helps you

626

: 00:28:21

develop more of a referral based business.

627

: 00:28:23

But to get there, you've got to

have those cold conversations.

628

: 00:28:26

Yeah.

629

: 00:28:26

That's where I talk about, in

Creating Business Superfans book,

630

: 00:28:29

I call it the unexpected extra.

631

: 00:28:32

And so it's like you just said,

it's going above and beyond and

632

: 00:28:36

that's unexpected in today's world.

633

: 00:28:38

And that's a differentiator and that's

an attraction because now they go, wow.

634

: 00:28:43

Look, that's just

unbelievable what he just did.

635

: 00:28:46

That's helped tremendously and

it didn't charge us for it.

636

: 00:28:49

And they start telling other

people about, and you start

637

: 00:28:52

getting at that superfan base.

638

: 00:28:55

Yeah.

639

: 00:28:55

You have to come with the

right intention, right?

640

: 00:28:57

If you're actually trying to help people,

then you will over deliver it and find

641

: 00:29:00

those little moments where you can.

642

: 00:29:02

Well, whether it's reaching out and just

asking if you can help or whether it's

643

: 00:29:05

sending them a small gift, a thank you

gift there's a lot of little things that

644

: 00:29:09

you can do that add up and just help

you build that relationship even more.

645

: 00:29:13

Freddy D: Yep.

646

: 00:29:13

Absolutely.

647

: 00:29:14

So Adam how can people find you?

648

: 00:29:17

Adam Packard: Yeah.

649

: 00:29:17

Easiest way is just go

to ninja prospecting.

650

: 00:29:19

com.

651

: 00:29:20

All of our info is on there.

652

: 00:29:22

We've got a podcast that's launching soon.

653

: 00:29:23

So check out our podcast.

654

: 00:29:25

It's called I need a coach where we

interview coaches and showcase them

655

: 00:29:28

and get them to share their story.

656

: 00:29:29

So.

657

: 00:29:30

ninjaprospecting.

658

: 00:29:31

com.

659

: 00:29:31

You can learn a little bit more about

our services, about what we do some

660

: 00:29:35

videos on there, some testimonials and

case studies and if you'd be open to

661

: 00:29:39

having a chat and getting some ideas on

what you could do to leverage LinkedIn

662

: 00:29:42

better, I'm always open to meeting

people and seeing how we can help.

663

: 00:29:45

Freddy D: Okay, so you're

offering a free consultation

664

: 00:29:47

Adam Packard: Yeah, every

conversation is different, right?

665

: 00:29:49

So I need to know, tell me who your

audience is, what are you trying to do?

666

: 00:29:52

What's your offer look like?

667

: 00:29:53

What's your price point?

668

: 00:29:54

What are you currently doing?

669

: 00:29:55

How are you generating conversations?

670

: 00:29:57

And then from there, I usually

give people a few ideas.

671

: 00:29:59

Have you tried this?

672

: 00:30:00

Have you done events?

673

: 00:30:01

Have you done podcasting?

674

: 00:30:02

Have you done, interviewing people?

675

: 00:30:04

There's a lot of different outside the

box approaches that we, give you ideas for

676

: 00:30:09

other than the standard connect and pitch.

677

: 00:30:12

And here's my discovery call link,

which is not going to work anymore.

678

: 00:30:15

So if you're looking for some

creative outside the box ideas,

679

: 00:30:18

you're looking to build a pipeline.

680

: 00:30:20

That's what we do on that call is just

give you some ideas, whether or not

681

: 00:30:23

you want to leverage us and use us.

682

: 00:30:25

There's, like I said, there's no

obligation whatsoever, but it gives you

683

: 00:30:28

a chance to really explore what you could

do on LinkedIn because there's a ton of

684

: 00:30:32

opportunity when it's done the right way.

685

: 00:30:34

Freddy D: Appreciate it, Adam.

686

: 00:30:34

Thank you very much for being on

the Business Superfan podcast.

687

: 00:30:37

Great nuggets that you shared, and we'll

look to have you on the show another day.

688

: 00:30:43

Adam Packard: I appreciate it.

689

: 00:30:43

Thanks, Frederick.