Why you dread sending LinkedIn messages (even though you want to send them!)

If the thought of sending direct messages on LinkedIn makes you cringe, you're not alone. I talk with small business owners day in and day out, and I constantly hear this frustration.

Sending direct messages can be intimidating. You’re unsure about what to say or who to message. But here’s the thing: with the right strategy, direct messaging can be one of the most powerful tools for growing your business. That's because direct messaging can help you get more and better leads, quicker.

In this post, I will break down why you might be avoiding direct messages and show you how to make them work for you.

Before we jump in, you might be thinking, "direct messages are salesy".

Many small business owners avoid sending direct messages because they hate receiving them. That's because most of the direct messages they receive are salesy and leave a lot to be desired (in fact, around 80% of the messages I receive fit in this category!).

When you approach direct messages by cold pitching prospects, you aren't leveraging any pre-built trust. No wonder you feel the messages are salesy. They are salesy!

When done right, direct messages are about starting a conversation and building relationships, not pushing a product or service. Instead of thinking about the sale, focus on how to add value to the person you’re contacting. It's a completely different mindset and it makes your conversations flow much more freely.

My Leads on LinkedIn coaching program teaches you exactly how to make these connections feel authentic through my signature messaging framework and direct message templates. You can learn more about how this program gets you 30 leads in 30 days in this blog post.

When you lead with curiosity and genuine interest, you will build relationships through your direct messages and stop dreading sending them.

Reason 1) You'd rather rely on inbound marketing than direct messaging.

A lot of small business owners prefer to rely on inbound marketing, believing that leads will come to them if they deliver a great service and post enough content. I am a huge fan of inbound marketing. I use it for my own business by posting regularly on LinkedIn, writing emails to my email list, and sharing blog posts like this one.

However, inbound marketing doesn’t give you full control over your client pipeline. While it does work, especially when given time, it's more passive and leaves you waiting and hoping for the right people to show up.

On the other hand, direct messages, give you the power to reach out and create opportunities today instead of waiting for them to happen.

Within my coaching program, you’ll learn how to leverage both inbound (content) and outbound (messaging) marketing so you’re in control of your lead flow without feeling like you’re waiting around for — or chasing — clients.

Reason 2) You don't think you have anyone to message.

If you think you don’t have anyone to send messages to, think again!

Most business owners have a plethora of folks they could contact but just need to figure out how to find and track their followup with them.

This starts with understanding what a "lead" means. I recommend adopting a broad definition of a lead, including not just those who have already expressed interest in your services, but also those who you think are a great candidate for your services (even if, for example, they don't yet know you exist!).

My two-month coaching program teaches you how to track leads and helps you identify those hidden leads in your existing network. You'll quickly see that there are plenty of people worth reaching out to — folks who would benefit from and enjoy working with you.

I also provide a lead tracking template so you can get off to the races tracking leads. And, through my plug-and-play message templates, you'll know exactly how to start and continue the conversation with your prospects.

Reason 3) Sending direct messages takes too much time.

If you don’t have a system in place, direct messaging can be a time suck, and feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall. Without a system, you're stuck testing a variety of messages, none of which consistently work. Furthermore, you feel overwhelmed deciding who to message and when to follow up. There's a lot of different information you're storing in your memory, which feels heavy.

However, with the right strategy and system, it’s actually quite manageable. In my Leads on LinkedIn program, we streamline the process with my messaging templates, on-demand messaging critiques, and ongoing email access so you’re never left guessing what to do next.

Instead of spending hours crafting the perfect message, you can follow a simple, effective plan. Sending DMs won’t feel like a time drain—it’ll feel like an efficient, strategic part of your lead generation strategy.

(If you're sending messages and not getting as many replies as you'd like, don't miss this article about how to get more replies.)

Let's take the stress out of direct messaging on LinkedIn.

I want you to learn how to direct message in a way that feels good and gets you booked discovery calls. Here's how I can help you with that:

Step 1: When I start working with a small business owner, we always start with a Profile Optimization so that you clearly explain your credibility, who you serve, how you serve them, and what action the profile viewer should take.

This process takes about 3 weeks from start to finish, and provides you a profile that captures the attention of your ideal clients and gets them to take action.

Step 2: Once your profile is optimized, we then create your LinkedIn strategy so you can get visible to the right audience and attract more interest in your offerings through my coaching program Leads on LinkedIn.

This program takes two months. We focus on two main skills - LinkedIn posting and direct messaging. These skills bring the right clients into your orbit so you can consistently grow your business without relying on time-consuming strategies like video and expensive strategies like ads. 

Within just a month, you'll have identified and contacted 30 prospects for your business. You'll have the skills and systems to do it again whenever you want an influx of leads. And, this rinse-and-repeat process gets more effective every time you do it!

Step 3: Then, we create a habit of LinkedIn marketing through my coaching program so that you can count on ongoing leads for your business. We integrate LinkedIn with your other marketing strategies (e.g. email and in-person networking) to prevent duplicate work and create a marketing ecosystem that gets you leads and clients.

Learn more and get started here.