How to Prospect on LinkedIn

Stop thinking of LinkedIn prospecting as sending hundreds of cold, templated messages hoping someone replies. That method is broken, and it turns you into the person everyone ignores. Effective prospecting on LinkedIn is about playing the long game by becoming a valuable member of your target audience's professional circle. This guide will walk you through a practical system for finding the right people, building genuine rapport, and starting conversations that actually lead somewhere - all without the spammy tactics.

First Things First: Turn Your Profile into a Resource

Before you send a single message or connection request, your LinkedIn profile has to do its job. It's your professional landing page, and if it's confusing or self-serving, every outreach effort you make will fall flat. A well-optimized profile works for you 24/7, making people want to connect with you.

Why a Strong Profile Matters

When you comment on someone's post or send a connection request, the first thing they do is click on your profile. What will they find? A resume that lists your job history, or a resource that shows them how you can help? Your profile needs to quickly answer one question for the visitor: "What's in it for me?" If it doesn’t, you've already lost their attention.

Key Profile Optimizations

Headline: More Than Just a Job Title

Your headline is the most visible piece of text on your profile. Don't waste it with something generic like "Sales Manager at Company Inc." Instead, transform it into a value proposition that tells people who you help and what outcome you provide.

• Instead of: "Content Strategist at Acme Corp"
• Try: "Helping B2B SaaS Companies Turn Their Blog into a Demo-Generating Machine"

This simple switch repositions you from someone looking for something to someone offering something of value.

About Section: Ditch the Resume-Speak

No one wants to read a third-person list of your "core competencies." Your About section is a chance to tell a story and connect with your audience. Write in the first person and focus on the problems you solve for your clients or customers. Frame your experience through the lens of their challenges. Answer questions like:

• What common pain point do you address?
• What does a successful outcome look like for those you help?
• Who is your ideal customer or collaborator?

Make it easy to read with short paragraphs and bullet points. End it with a clear call to action, like inviting them to check out your website or connect.

Featured Section: Your Professional Highlight Reel

The Featured section sits right below your "About" summary and is the perfect place to showcase social proof. Don't let it sit empty. Add links to your most valuable content:

• A powerful case study or client testimonial.
• A link to your recent podcast interview or webinar.
• Your most popular article on LinkedIn or your blog.
• A lead magnet like a free guide or checklist.

This gives profile visitors an immediate way to get value from you without having to ask.

How to Find Your Ideal Prospects Without Paying a Cent

Before you consider paying for Sales Navigator, you should master LinkedIn's free search tools. It's surprisingly powerful if you know how to leverage it. The goal isn’t to find thousands of people but to home in on the *right* people.

Mastering LinkedIn Search Filters

Using filters helps you wade through the noise and get to the people you actually want to talk to. Here’s a simple process to follow:

1. Start with a broad industry or job title keyword in the main search bar (e.g., "Founder").
2. On the results page, click the "People" button to narrow the results to individuals.
3. Now, click the "All filters" button. This is where you get really specific.

Focus on these core filters:

• Connections: Start with 2nd-degree connections. These are the sweet spot, as you have a mutual connection in common, which immediately provides a small dose of credibility.
• Locations: If you serve a specific geographic area, this is indispensable. Be as broad as "United States" or as narrow as "Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area."
• Industry: Use this to filter for the specific industries you serve. For instance, "Computer Software" or "Marketing and Advertising."
• Title Keyword: You can get very precise here. If you're looking for decision-makers, you might search for titles containing words like "Director," "VP," or "Head of."

For example, if you sell marketing software to tech startups, your search might look like this:

Keywords: Marketing | Connections: 2nd | Locations: San Francisco Bay Area | Industry: Computer Software | Title: Director.

This search will give you a targeted, manageable list of people who are likely a good fit. Save your search results by bookmarking the URL so you can come back to it later.

The Golden Rule: Give Value Before You Ask for Anything

This is the most important part of the entire process, and it’s the one most people skip. Don't just send a connection request to a stranger. Warm them up first. The objective is to shift from being a "stranger" to being a "familiar face" before you ever try to enter their inbox. People are far more likely to accept a request from someone whose name and face they recognize, even slightly.

How to Engage Authentically

Once you’ve built a list of 15-20 target prospects, follow this simple warm-up sequence for a week or two for each person:

1. Follow, Don't Connect (Yet): Find your prospect on your list and hit the "Follow" button. This adds their content to your feed without the pressure of a formal connection.
2. Turn On the Bell: On their profile, click the bell icon. This will notify you every time they post something new, giving you the first mover's advantage to comment.
3. Leave Thoughtful Comments: The key word here is thoughtful. Your goal is to contribute to the conversation, not just acknowledge it.

What does a good comment look like?

• BAD comment: "Great post!" or "I agree."
• GOOD comment: "This is such an interesting point. It reminds me of a similar challenge we faced with client onboarding. Have you found this approach also helps with reducing churn in the first 90 days?"

A good comment asks a smart question, shares a relevant personal insight, or builds on the original point. Do this consistently for a couple of weeks, and your name will move from the "stranger" column to the "that person who always has smart things to say" column in their mind.

Crafting a Connection Request a Normal Person Would Actually Accept

After you’ve successfully warmed up a prospect by engaging with their content, it's time to send the connection request. By now, they'll likely recognize your name and picture, which dramatically increases your chances of acceptance.

Always, Always Add a Personal Note

The difference between an accepted request and an ignored one often comes down to the 300 characters in the personalized note. Never send a blank request. Here are a few simple, non-salesy templates you can adapt:

• The Content Follower: "Hi [Name], I've really been enjoying your content on [topic]. I especially liked your recent post about [specific thing]. Would love to connect and keep following your work."
• The Mutual Colleague: "Hi [Name], I see we're both connected with [Mutual Connection's Name]. I’m also in the [your industry] space and have been impressed with the work of [Prospect's Company]. Would be great to connect."
• The Mutual Interest: "Hi [Name], I noticed from your profile that you're also passionate about [shared interest, e.g., sustainable tech]. I've been doing some work in this area too and would love to connect."

Notice that none of these ask for anything. There's no hint of a sales pitch. It’s light, personal, and respectful.

After They Accept: Don't Pitch, Converse

Congratulations, they accepted! Now, whatever you do, do not immediately follow up with a sales pitch. You've spent weeks building rapport, don't light it all on fire for a quick sale. The first DM you send after connecting should be just as low-key as your connection request:

"Thanks for connecting, [Name]. Glad to be in your network and looking forward to your posts!"

That's it. Let the connection breathe. Continue to engage with their posts. If a natural opportunity to start a conversation in the DMs arises (e.g., they share a company win or are hiring), then take it. Relationship building is a process, not a one-step action.

Putting it All Together: Your Weekly LinkedIn Prospecting Workflow

To make prospecting a habit, it has to be simple and repeatable. Block off a little bit of time each day or a few times a week rather than trying to do it all in one long, exhausting session. Here’s a sample weekly schedule:

• Monday (30 minutes): Research &, List Building. Use LinkedIn's filtered search to identify 20 new high-quality prospects. Add them to a simple spreadsheet or your CRM. Follow them and turn on their post notifications.
• Tuesday to Thursday (15 minutes daily): Engagement. Spend 15 minutes scrolling your feed specifically to comment on posts from people on your prospect list. The goal is 3-5 thoughtful comments per day.
• Friday (30 minutes): Connection &, Follow-Up. Send 5-10 personalized connection requests to the prospects you’ve engaged with the most this week. For anyone who accepted your request this week, send the simple "Thanks for connecting" follow-up message.

This system, done consistently, will build a powerful pipeline of warm leads who know who you are and respect what you have to say before you ever ask for a meeting.

Final Thoughts

Effective LinkedIn prospecting is an exercise in patience and generosity. It’s about building a positive reputation as a helpful, insightful person in your industry, showing up consistently, and putting professional relationships ahead of short-term conversions. By optimizing your profile, finding the right people, and engaging in a human way, you can turn LinkedIn from a noisy room into a place full of real opportunities.

As you're getting serious about building your personal brand on LinkedIn to support this prospecting, you'll need a consistent content strategy. We built Postbase to make that part easier. Our visual content calendar helps you plan your posts so you always have valuable content to share, which is the foundation of turning connections into conversations. It's designed to keep you organized and consistent without the frustration of wrestling with outdated tools.