115: Cold DM on LinkedIn — Does It Work or Not? A Workshop with Paul Wilson

Welcome to another episode. Today, we’re with Paul Wilson, who is the go-to mindset coach for ambitious business owners. And we’re talking about how cold dm- ing on LinkedIn can work, but it can also kill your reputation.

Career Path

He spent 25 years at the channel tunnel. It’s an undersea connection between the UK and the continent of Europe. On one unfortunate day, he got knocked off his bicycle on the way to work and broke a bone on either side of his right elbow, and being right-handed meant he couldn’t do anything. At first, he couldn’t make up his mind to leave his job, but then he eventually left and did a whole range of new things, including a 12-week stand-up comedy course in London.

He fell back in love with hypnosis and became a hypnotherapist then, which led on to become a coach. He tends to work with high-level consultants, people who can be in the sort of six-figure range who have got a really, really good life. But they’re kind of stuck because they do not have a purpose or a legacy. He still does hypnosis, helps people with phobias, and fears, all that kind of good stuff, and lack of confidence.

Know, Like, and Trust

Individuals conduct business with people they know, like, and trust, according to one of the natural principles of business. We go with people who are as like us as possible or who have things that we like about them. We look, and we want to know about that person’s world, and we want to get to trust them.

Can I trust that person with the secrets I want to share? Or can I trust that person to help me to get to where I want to be?

There’s no such thing as competition because if ten of us all lined up and all ten of us would find clients, we do what we need to do to let people find us. But when you’re all chasing the same person, then that is the challenge, but that’s the wrong view. Chase the same people. There are seven and a half billion in the world.

Don’t do cold DM’s

Cold DM-ing means sending out unsolicited messages to all. If you got a piece of software, you can send millions of messages because of the sheer mass of it. One percent or half percent of people will respond, but the problem is the rest of the people that don’t respond. Because the problem we get with cold DM-ing, is people are so unoriginal. It is so boring.

Cold DM-ing could also mean you haven’t made an effort to research your ideal client or potential client, or not even a client. Don’t ask questions that you could answer by just checking out their profile because it may turn them off and it might make them run away.

If you have to cold DM people, if that’s your strategy, then find people, who are your potential or ideal clients.

Another problem with it is that if you do it for a week or a month or a year, people will remember you because people don’t generally delete their messages. So if you message again after a year or six months ago, people remember you as someone who cold DM them, and then they automatically turn away from you.

So, if you’re looking to work with guys between fifty and a hundred and fifty who’ve got beards and glasses yet, then go through their profiles and look for some commonality and then send a message.