Ignore the people who say you can't
A lot of times, the difference between scrappy success and failure is ignoring people who say you can't do something. That's been true for me with founders and CEOs on LinkedIn.
I reach out cold to business leaders to genuinely network, not to pitch. I typically get 20 to 30 percent acceptance on connection requests and reasonably good conversations afterward. I don't have a magic skill. I think anyone using LinkedIn in a real way can do it.
The executives are there
The data backs this up. The 2024 Social in the C Suite report from H/Advisors Abernathy found that 68 percent of Fortune 100 CEOs are on LinkedIn, up 4 percent since 2022, making it the most used social channel among those leaders.
Those are the biggest companies in the country. The founders and CEOs of the smaller businesses most fractionals serve are often even easier to reach.
A recent reminder
I'm helping a client with LinkedIn outreach, and we reached out to a bigger company than I usually target, one with $600 million a year in revenue. The CEO responded and said, you're local, let's get together face to face. It was his suggestion.
Now my client is meeting with the CEO of a $600 million company just because we had the audacity to ask. You can reach leadership. If you want help doing it, see my LinkedIn networking service or book a networking chat.