I've send 25 Linkedin DM's Every Day for a Year: Here's what actually works — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:0099% of sales professionals I speak to
2. 0:02book close to zero meetings a month from
3. 0:05LinkedIn DMs. I send 25 LinkedIn DMs
4. 0:09every single day in 2025. And it became
5. 0:12my number one source of qualified
6. 0:14meetings with prospects. And after
7. 0:17sending thousands of videos and booking
8. 0:19over 100 meetings last year, I
9. 0:22discovered 10 patterns that consistently
10. 0:25get me a 20 to 30% reply rate on my
11. 0:29LinkedIn DMs. Here's the reality of
12. 0:31outbound in 2026. Cold email
13. 0:34deliverability is dying. 80% of cold
14. 0:36emails either end up in spam or don't
15. 0:39even get open by your prospects. And
16. 0:42cold calling is a grind. Pickup rates
17. 0:44are so low that you have to dial for
18. 0:47hours and hours every single day to book
19. 0:50enough meetings and to generate enough
20. 0:51pipeline. What makes LinkedIn unique as
21. 0:54an outbound channel is number one, there
22. 0:57is no spam filter once you are connected
23. 0:59to someone and two, you're meeting
24. 1:01buyers where they already spend their
25. 1:03time. The problem is most people are
26. 1:05doing LinkedIn DMs completely wrong.
27. 1:08They're generic, they're pushy, they
28. 1:10scream, "I'm here to sell you
29. 1:12something." So, I ran an experiment last
30. 1:15year. 25 LinkedIn DMs every single day,
31. 1:18Monday through Friday over months. I
32. 1:20tracked everything. Response rates,
33. 1:22meeting conversion, which message
34. 1:24templates worked and which flopped. Real
35. 1:26pipeline, real conversations, real
36. 1:28revenue. Here are the 10 rules for
37. 1:31LinkedIn DMs that changed the game
38. 1:33completely for me. Rule number one,
39. 1:35forget about inmails. For context,
40. 1:38inmails are paid messaging credits on
41. 1:40LinkedIn. If you are a LinkedIn Premium
42. 1:42member, you get five inmail credits a
43. 1:45month. If you have Sales Navigator, you
44. 1:48get 50 inmail credits every single
45. 1:50month. And if you have LinkedIn
46. 1:51Recruiter, you get up to 150 inmail
47. 1:55credits per month. The problem with
48. 1:57inmails is that anyone can buy these
49. 1:59credits to spam people. And that's
50. 2:01exactly what most sales people have done
51. 2:04on LinkedIn over the last 5 years, which
52. 2:06is why nobody responds to inmails
53. 2:09anymore. Emails feel like sales
54. 2:11messages. They look differently in your
55. 2:13LinkedIn inbox. They have sales spam
56. 2:16written all over them. So, what's a
57. 2:18better way to reach out to prospects?
58. 2:20Direct messages. In short, DMs. You can
59. 2:23only send DMs to people you are already
60. 2:25connected with on LinkedIn. So, in a
61. 2:27way, you have to earn the right to send
62. 2:30them a DM by sending them a connection
63. 2:32request first. And they have to accept.
64. 2:35When prospects accept your connection
65. 2:36requests, it's an invitation to DM them.
66. 2:40So, make sure every connection request
67. 2:42counts. Rule number two, voice notes
68. 2:45build rapport. Sending voice notes in
69. 2:47your LinkedIn DMs gets a higher reply
70. 2:49rate than just text. Why does this work?
71. 2:51Your voice adds a human touch. It's
72. 2:53harder to ignore a human voice than just
73. 2:56text because that could be automated.
74. 2:58Your voice note also signals effort.
75. 3:01Recording a voice note takes more time
76. 3:03than typing. that effort is noticed and
77. 3:06appreciated by your prospects. And
78. 3:08lastly, voice creates trust faster.
79. 3:10Hearing someone's tone, energy, and
80. 3:13personality establishes trust faster
81. 3:16than just words on the screen. Here's
82. 3:17how I use voice notes. I don't send them
83. 3:19to everyone. That's not scalable. I use
84. 3:21voice notes in my LinkedIn DMs
85. 3:23strategically as a follow-up to
86. 3:25non-responders. Hey Sarah, sent you a
87. 3:27message last week regarding XYZ. Not
88. 3:29sure if you had the time to read it. Or
89. 3:31to re-engage cold leads. Hey Tom, it's
90. 3:34been three months since we last
91. 3:35connected. Wanted to quickly share
92. 3:37something I thought you might find
93. 3:39valuable and also for high propensity
94. 3:41prospects. When I see they're actively
95. 3:43posting and engaging on LinkedIn, I'll
96. 3:46drop them a voice note in the first
97. 3:47message. Rule number three, video DMs
98. 3:50build trust. Video DMs are the most
99. 3:53powerful tool in your entire LinkedIn
100. 3:55outreach arsenal. Here's why video
101. 3:57works. Number one, it's a pattern
102. 3:59interrupt. 99% of sales reps don't
103. 4:02prospect via video because it's outside
104. 4:04of their comfort zone. So, as a result,
105. 4:06there's very little competition out
106. 4:08there. Video truly cuts through the
107. 4:10noise. Number two, it's personal. Video
108. 4:12is the fastest trust builder because 87%
109. 4:16of human communication is non-verbal.
110. 4:18It's your body language, your
111. 4:20environment, how you dress
112. 4:21professionally, all of these things are
113. 4:23signals. And number three, it shows that
114. 4:26you care. Video DMs are not scalable.
115. 4:28Your prospects really appreciate the
116. 4:30effort and they will feel like they owe
117. 4:32you a response. Here's how I use video
118. 4:35DMs. I reserve them for three specific
119. 4:37situations. Number one, high priority
120. 4:40leads that didn't respond to my text or
121. 4:42voice message. Number two, warm leads
122. 4:45that went dark after a good initial
123. 4:47conversation. I bumped them up with a
124. 4:49video. Or number three, re-engagement
125. 4:51with prospects I met at events or
126. 4:53through referrals. Rule number four,
127. 4:56Sales Navigator is a non-negotiable.
128. 4:58Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's premium
129. 5:00product for sales. I use Sales Navigator
130. 5:03lead lists to stay organized. Let me be
131. 5:05clear, you cannot send 25 DMs every
132. 5:08single day on LinkedIn without a system.
133. 5:10Sales Navigator isn't just a prospecting
134. 5:13tool for me. It's a pipeline
135. 5:15organization system. It's almost like a
136. 5:17CRM for social sell. Here's my workflow.
137. 5:19I create separate lead lists for every
138. 5:22stage in my funnel. Cold white space
139. 5:24leads I have connected with but never
140. 5:26messaged. DM sent those are leads I need
141. 5:29to follow up with to get a respond.
142. 5:31Responded. Those are warm high priority
143. 5:34leads that I try to book a meeting with
144. 5:36because they responded to my message.
145. 5:37Meetings scheduled. These are my next
146. 5:39sales opportunities in the pipeline. I
147. 5:41need to prepare for those meetings but
148. 5:43also ideally identify more stakeholders
149. 5:45and actively multi- thread. I have my
150. 5:48nurture list. Those are potential buyers
151. 5:50that aren't ready yet and I keep them
152. 5:52warm by touching them at least once a
153. 5:55month. Closed lost, those are lost sales
154. 5:58opportunities in the past that I
155. 5:59typically revisit every 3 to 6 months.
156. 6:02With this system, you will never lose
157. 6:04track of all of your most important DMs
158. 6:07and leads on LinkedIn. With this system,
159. 6:09it takes me less than 1 hour a day to
160. 6:11send 25 high quality personalized DMs.
161. 6:15Rule number five, give value before you
162. 6:18pitch. This is the single biggest
163. 6:20mistake that I see in LinkedIn DMs.
164. 6:22Here's an example of a bad DM. Hey John,
165. 6:25I help sales teams book more meetings
166. 6:27through LinkedIn. Would love to chat
167. 6:29about how I could help your team. Are
168. 6:31you available this week? This message is
169. 6:33100% about me, my service, my calendar,
170. 6:37my agenda. Prospects don't care what you
171. 6:39do. They only care about what you can do
172. 6:42for them. Now, watch this. Let's get a
173. 6:44good look at a DM. John was looking at
174. 6:46your team's LinkedIn presence. Your AES
175. 6:48have strong profiles, but only two of
176. 6:51them posted content in the last 30 days.
177. 6:53That's leaving 15 to 20 qualified
178. 6:55meetings per month on the table. I built
179. 6:57a framework that fixes that in 90 days.
180. 7:00Happy to share it with you. No strings
181. 7:02attached. Did you notice the difference?
182. 7:03I led with an insight about his
183. 7:06business. I diagnosed the problem he
184. 7:09might not have noticed. I offered value
185. 7:11before asking for anything in return.
186. 7:14Here's the DM formula. Number one,
187. 7:16observation. something specific about
188. 7:19their business. Number two, implication,
189. 7:21why it matters, cost, opportunity, risk.
190. 7:24Number three, a value offer. Offer them
191. 7:26something for free, a useful resource.
192. 7:29Number four, a low friction ask. Make it
193. 7:32easy for them to say yes. People don't
194. 7:33buy solutions to problems they don't
195. 7:35even know they have. You have to show
196. 7:37them the problem first. Show me, you
197. 7:40know me is the motto here. LinkedIn DM
198. 7:42rule number six, be specific. You have
199. 7:45to be super specific with your
200. 7:47personalization. Generic compliments and
201. 7:49observations backfire. They show that
202. 7:51you didn't really care and you didn't
203. 7:54really do your homework before making
204. 7:55the outreach. Here's an example. Hey
205. 7:57Emma, congrats on your new role. Would
206. 7:59love to connect. This could be sent to
207. 8:0210,000 different people and Emma knows
208. 8:03it. Here's a hyperspecific example. Hi
209. 8:06Emma. really enjoyed your last post
210. 8:09about reverse selling in discovery
211. 8:11calls. Especially the line about asking
212. 8:13prospects what would disqualify you is
213. 8:16something I tried to do in most of my
214. 8:17discovery calls. Do you train your team
215. 8:19on that framework? The difference is I
216. 8:21referenced the exact post from last
217. 8:24week. I quoted a specific line from that
218. 8:27post. I showed how I apply it in my own
219. 8:30work. That's not generic flattery.
220. 8:31That's specific proof that I paid
221. 8:33attention. Here's where you can find
222. 8:35details for a specific personalization.
223. 8:37Number one, their recent LinkedIn posts
224. 8:39from the last one or two weeks, any
225. 8:41recent job changes or promotions,
226. 8:43company news such as funding, product
227. 8:45launches or hiring, their profile page,
228. 8:47the about section, the experience
229. 8:49section, etc. I spend about 30 to 60
230. 8:52seconds on a prospect's LinkedIn profile
231. 8:54before sending them a DM. That's enough
232. 8:56time to find one specific relevant
233. 8:59detail about them. LinkedIn DM rule
234. 9:01number seven, only ask one question per
235. 9:04message. Every additional question you
236. 9:06ask reduces your response rate
237. 9:08dramatically. Here's a bad DM. Hey
238. 9:10Sarah, are you using Sales Navigator?
239. 9:12How's your outbound performance? What's
240. 9:14your team's biggest challenge right now?
241. 9:16When can we schedule a call? That's four
242. 9:18question and one message. Way too much
243. 9:19friction. Way too much cognitive load to
244. 9:22respond. Remember that your prospects
245. 9:24have super short attention spans. If
246. 9:27they have to think too hard to respond
247. 9:28to your message, they simply won't
248. 9:30respond. Here's a good DM. Sarah, quick
249. 9:32question. Are you currently using
250. 9:34LinkedIn for outbound prospecting? One
251. 9:36question, binary. Simple to answer. The
252. 9:38best questions for LinkedIn DMs are
253. 9:41either binary, so they're yes, no
254. 9:43question. Are you using X? For example,
255. 9:46they're clarifying. What's your current
256. 9:47approach to Y? Or they're permission
257. 9:49based. Open to learning more. The worst
258. 9:51questions are open-ended. What are your
259. 9:53biggest challenges right now? Or
260. 9:54multiple choice. Are you doing A, B, or
261. 9:57C? Or questions that compound. How are
262. 9:59you handling X? And when can we chat
263. 10:01about Y? The follow-up strategy, start
264. 10:03with one simple question. When they
265. 10:05answer, ask the next question. Build the
266. 10:08conversation step by step. LinkedIn DM
267. 10:10rule number eight. Make it 100% about
268. 10:13them. Here's a simple test for every DM
269. 10:15you write. Count how many times you use
270. 10:17I, we, our, or my, and then count how
271. 10:22many times you use you or your. If the
272. 10:25first list is longer than the second
273. 10:27list, delete the message and start over.
274. 10:29Here's an example of a self-centered DM.
275. 10:32Hey Tom, we're a sales consultancy
276. 10:34specializing in LinkedIn outbound. I've
277. 10:36worked with companies like X, Y, and Z.
278. 10:38I'd love to show you what I can do for
279. 10:40your team. Are you available for a call?
280. 10:42This message is a self-centered message.
281. 10:44It's all about me. Here's an example of
282. 10:46a customer ccentric DM. Hey Tom, your
283. 10:48team is hiring five AES this quarter
284. 10:51according to your LinkedIn job posts. If
285. 10:53each one of them takes 90 days to ramp,
286. 10:55you're looking at 450 days of lost
287. 10:57productivity. I have a framework that
288. 10:59cuts RAM time in half. Open to take a
289. 11:02look. This message is about Tom's
290. 11:04problem, his team, his timeline, and his
291. 11:06return on investment. People care about
292. 11:08their own problems, not your solutions.
293. 11:11So, lead with their world. LinkedIn DM
294. 11:13rule number nine, mirror their
295. 11:15communication style. Match their pace.
296. 11:17If they message fast, respond fast. This
297. 11:20lesson took me months to figure out, but
298. 11:22it's incredibly powerful. Pay attention
299. 11:24to how your prospects communicate. Are
300. 11:26they a fast responder who replies within
301. 11:28minutes, uses short sentences, uses very
302. 11:31casual language, no punctuation or
303. 11:33capital letters, something like, "Yeah,
304. 11:34sounds good. Let's do 2 p.m. on
305. 11:36Thursday." Your response could be,
306. 11:38"Perfect. Locked in. See you then." But
307. 11:40some prospects are slow responders.
308. 11:42Their replies might take 24 to 48 hours.
309. 11:45They write longer, thoughtful messages.
310. 11:47They use proper grammar and punctuation
311. 11:50or they use a form of tone as well. For
312. 11:52example, thank you for reaching out. I
313. 11:54appreciate your message and I would like
314. 11:55to learn more about your framework.
315. 11:57Would next Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern
316. 12:00Standard Time work for you? Your
317. 12:01response could be absolutely. Tuesday at
318. 12:043 p.m. works. I'll send a calendar
319. 12:06invite. Looking forward to the
320. 12:08conversation. Here's a rule of thumb.
321. 12:09Match their response time within reason
322. 12:11and only within your normal business
323. 12:13hours. Match their message length. also
324. 12:15the tone formal or casual as well as
325. 12:17their energy whether they use a lot of
326. 12:19emojis or none. Human psychology tells
327. 12:21us mirroring builds trust subconsciously
328. 12:24and people trust other people who
329. 12:26communicate just like them. A common
330. 12:28mistake is forcing your communication
331. 12:32style on everyone. The goal is to make
332. 12:34the prospect comfortable, not you. And
333. 12:36finally, LinkedIn DM rule number 10.
334. 12:39Always end with a clear next step. You
335. 12:41should end every LinkedIn DM with a low
336. 12:43friction question or ask. Never let a
337. 12:46conversation die because the next step
338. 12:48is unclear. Don't say, "Great, let's
339. 12:51stay in touch. What does that mean, who
340. 12:53follows up with who when?" Ambiguity
341. 12:56kills momentum. Say this instead.
342. 12:58Perfect. I'll send you that case study
343. 13:00by Friday. Let's reconnect on Monday to
344. 13:02see if it is a fit. Does 10 a.m. work
345. 13:04for you? Notice the specificity, the
346. 13:06deliverable, the case study. When? By
347. 13:08Friday. A clear deadline. Next step,
348. 13:11reconnect on Monday. Specific time,
349. 13:1310:00 a.m. That's not a maybe, that's a
350. 13:15commitment. The best low friction asks
351. 13:17are open to learn more, worth a chat.
352. 13:19Want me to send you the framework? Mind
353. 13:21if I share an example? Is this relevant?
354. 13:23These are all binary questions. Easy to
355. 13:25answer, low risk, easy to say yes. The
356. 13:28calendar close. When the conversation is
357. 13:30ready, never send a calendar link.
358. 13:33That's lazy and it forces the prospect
359. 13:35to do work of aligning calendars. Simply
360. 13:38suggest two options. How's Thursday at
361. 13:403? Alternatively, Friday at 9:00. So,
362. 13:42what's the difference between a 5%
363. 13:44response rate and a 25% response rate on
364. 13:47LinkedIn? Let me distill that into three
365. 13:50core principles. Number one is
366. 13:53relevance. Your message must be about
367. 13:55them, not you, their challenges, their
368. 13:58goals, their business. If you can't
369. 14:01answer why does this matter to them
370. 14:03before hitting send, don't hit send.
371. 14:05Number two is specificity. Generic
372. 14:08messages get generic results. Reference
373. 14:11something real. Post they wrote, a hire
374. 14:13they made, a specific problem in their
375. 14:16industry, a change in their market.
376. 14:18Being specific is proof that you did
377. 14:20your homework. And number three is
378. 14:22having a system. 25 DMs per day doesn't
379. 14:26sound like a lot, but it's 125 a week,
380. 14:29500 a month, and 6,000 in a year. Most
381. 14:32reps send 20 great messages and then
382. 14:35they quit because they don't see instant
383. 14:37results. I send close to 10,000 LinkedIn
384. 14:39DMs and I learned what actually works.
385. 14:42Consistency beats intensity every single
386. 14:44time. That's the power of a system.
387. 14:46Here's what I want you to do next. Pick
388. 14:49three of these lessons that I shared
389. 14:51with you today. Apply them to 25
390. 14:53LinkedIn DMs this week. Track your
391. 14:56response rate and let me know how it
392. 14:58goes for you in the comments. If you
393. 15:00want more tips around LinkedIn
394. 15:02prospecting, AI powered outbound, and
395. 15:04how to generate more pipeline and
396. 15:06revenue, make sure to hit the subscribe
397. 15:09button on this channel. Now, stop
398. 15:11watching YouTube and go send some DMs on
399. 15:13LinkedIn.