Most small business owners want to add connections on LinkedIn. However, more connections often doesn’t mean more clients.
In fact, having irrelevant connections can hurt your reach, crowd your feed with irrelevant content, and confuse your messaging. If you want to find clients on LinkedIn, consider removing (in addition to adding!) connections. This likely comes across as counterintuitive, so I'll explain why in this blog post.
Who should remove connections
If your network is filled with people who feel random — such as those from past jobs, high school classmates, or those in countries and professions you don’t serve — consider removing connections. You'll know someone is random because when you look at their name, you'll know you immediately want to scroll onto your next contact.
(If you don't have 500 connections yet, don't worry about removing connections!)
One sign that you should remove connections is that despite posting consistently — and despite that content feeling high quality — your engagement is lower than you think it should be.
Why you should remove connections
When you have a refined network, your content will be sent to relevant people. When your content is sent to relevant people, they engage with it, so the algorithm sends it to more relevant people.
On the flip side, when your network isn't refined, your content is sent to irrelevant people. Since hte content is irrelevant, they don't engage with it, telling the algorihtm not to send it to more people.
As a side benefit, you'll write better content because you'll know exactly who you're writing it for. As a result, your ideal clients will resonate more with your content, making it easier to attract and secure client contracts.
And lastly, your feed will become more relevant, making it easier to engage with relevant folks, helping you build strong relationships. And as we all know, good relationships result in referrals which results in clients.
(If you feel irritated every time you log into LinkedIn, try these 5 game-changing tips.)
How to remove connections without getting blocked
As of the writing of this blog post, you can remove up to 250 connections a day, but I recommend playing it safe and capping it at 100 per day to avoid any issues with LinkedIn or changing rules of the platform.
When you're ready to get started, use LinkedIn’s search feature in your connections list to spot irrelevant connections. This does NOT require a premium LinkedIn subscription!
Here are a few examples of how you can search out these connections to remove:
🔍 Search for job titles that aren’t relevant to you (e.g., “engineer” if you never work with engineers, or "student" if you never work with students).
🔍 Search by location if you’re only targeting people in specific areas.
🔍 Search for profiles that are clearly inactive (i.e. no profile picture, no recent engagement, no work experience listed).
Your Next Steps to Get Leads on LinkedIn
Getting leads on LinkedIn always starts with an optimized LinkedIn profile. In my service LinkedIn Profile Refresh, I review more than 30 sections of your profile to make sure it clearly communicates your expertise, showcases real results you’ve achieved, and guides potential clients toward the next step in working with you.
You'll fill out a questionnaire, which I'll then take to provide word-for-word copy changes. Then, you'll watch my short tutorial videos (1-3 minutes each) and implement the changes to your profile. No more staring at your profile wondering what’s missing—I’ll take care of it so you can start seeing real results from the work you're already putting into posting and messaging LinkedIn.
After we optimize your profile, you'll then join my monthly coaching program Leads on LinkedIn. You'll learn and implement strategies to generate leads for your business.
The program includes the following:
Actionable curriculum: learn step by step how to identify leads, craft effective posts, and manage your direct message conversations
Time-saving templates: instead of staring at a blank screen, start with inspiration for every direct message and post you write.
Direct message feedback: get feedback leads on the messages you are sending on LinkedIn to improve your response rates and book calls
Post critiques: get critiques on the posts you write to ensure your messaging is clear so you build trust with your ideal clients and referral partners .
Ongoing email access: get personalized guidance any time a question arises so you keep making progress.
Instead of the uncomfortable, salesy outreach and posts you might be picturing, this program teaches you how to connect with potential clients and build genuine relatinships.
I know that you don’t have hours to spend on LinkedIn. I’ll never suggest you post five times a week or spend your entire day online. Instead, you’ll focus on high-ROI activities that get results without overwhelming your schedule. You’ll learn specific, actionable strategies that streamline your lead generation process, so you can take control of your pipeline without cold messaging strangers.
Learn more and get started here.
Comments