YES, I went there. 

As I scan my LinkedIn messages every morning, I can't help but go there. 

The classic, overused scenario of a guy walking into a bar with one thing on his mind... 

...to get laid. 

His mission is not only to get laid, but he also wants it to happen RIGHT NOW. 

He doesn't care where you work or what you do for fun on weekends. 

Hell, he probably won't even remember your name an hour from now. 

Wham, bam, thank you 'mam. 

He works his magic on every woman in the bar because he doesn't have a second to waste. 

His belief is "If you don't ask..." 

The daily barrage of LinkedIn solicitations makes me feel like I'm on a dating site with creepy people stalking me. 

I've heard from more than one woman that some creeps are using LinkedIn as a dating site. 

If that isn't bad enough, men are trying to entice women with pictures of their private parts. 

Come on guys. 

You can do better than that! 

But that's a topic for another day. 

Is LinkedIn Messaging the new cold calling platform? 

"If you don't ask for the sale..." 

Why do people START LinkedIn conversations by asking for the sale first instead of finding out what you need? 

How often do you open emails in your Spam folder and pull out your credit card to take advantage of the unbelievable deal they're offering? 

When was the last time you answered a robocall and renewed your auto warranty on the spot? 

My latest round of robocalls is that my Dun and Bradstreet score qualifies me for a $1 million business loan. 

Sign me up right now! 

If you've been following me for a while, you may be sick and tired of me ranting about LinkedIn Message spam but it's a serious problem. 

LinkedIn is concerned the spam is degrading the user experience. 

The user experience is LinkedIn's top priority. 

Who wants to log into the largest professional network to be pummeled with sales pitches every today? 

What if LinkedIn charged you to send messages? 

LinkedIn InMail is their premium messaging service but what if you had to pay for EVERY LinkedIn message you send? 

In the early days of the internet, people were kicking this idea around. 

You can send as many messages as you want but you would pay for each message, like a penny or a nickel. 

Each message would be guaranteed to be delivered to the recipient's Inbox. 

If the message wasn't delivered to the Inbox, you wouldn't pay. 

Sounds like a great idea as email is getting harder and harder to get delivered these days. 

Think about it. 

You send 1000 email messages, and you are guaranteed that all 1000 emails would be delivered to the recipient's inbox, not to the Promotions folder or the Spam folder. 

Getting your messages delivered is only half the battle. 

If the recipient doesn't open your message, it doesn't matter that you paid to ensure delivery. 

How do you get people to open your messages? 

99% of the LinkedIn messages and Spam messages I receive are focused on the product or service they're offering. 

Features, features, features. 

Not one benefit in their message. 

I don't care if your product has a ton of bells and whistles. 

I don't care if you are the best of the best. 

I only care if your product solves a problem for me and makes my life easier. 

Here's the beginning of an InMail message I received today:  We are the Mobile App, Website and Gaming App Development leading Company with the great portfolio to showcase to you. 

I'll ignore the bad grammar for now. 

As my copywriting mentor John Carlton would say "So what?". 

Tell me why a mobile app would make my life easier or make me more money. 

In yesterday's Mastermind Book Club meeting we were discussing topics like this. 

Our book of the month was How to Win Friends & Influence People. 

We spend most of our time online trying to get people to notice us. 

How much time do you spend every week creating content you HOPE people will find online? 

Dale Carnegie says we should focus on being interested in other people instead of trying to get them to notice us. 

Our heads are buried in our smart phones skimming through Instagram or watching Tik Tok videos. 

I'm not going to see your article or video on LinkedIn or your blog. 

When you write emails or LinkedIn messages, focus on the reader, not your product or service. 

Be curious. 

Ask questions. 

Get to know them. 

Show genuine interest. 

The mobile app developer could have sent me a message like: 

According to a study by Harvard Business Review, mobile apps can increase customer satisfaction by 48% and reduce customer service costs by at least 33%. 

Of course, you don't want to make up stats like I just did. 

Referencing reputable research sources gives you credibility even if their study didn't include your company. 

I'd be interested in having you develop a mobile app for my company to increase customer satisfaction and reduce customer support costs, but you buried the lead. 

This is what we talk about in our Mastermind Book Club.

Join now so you can watch the replay of our discussion of How to Win Friends & Influence People. 

This month's book is DEXTOX, DECLUTTER, DOMINATE: How to Excel by Elimination by Perry Marshall and Robert Skrob

>>> Join the Mastermind Book Club, (it's free!)

www.mastermindbook.club 

About the author 

Ted Prodromou

Would you like me to help you?

I'm the #1 best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business and Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business. People call me America's Leading LinkedIn Coach.

I'm the founder of Search Marketing Simplified, LLC, a full service online marketing agency. The SMS team designs and implements advanced LinkedIn and social media lead-generation strategies for small to medium-sized businesses. SMS will set up and manage your marketing funnels using organic, social and paid traffic.

Did you know I've been working with the internet since 1991, long before Al Gore invented it?

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