li-dm

# li-dm The invite note is 200 characters. The first DM decides whether there is a second one. Neither is a pitch. ## Before writing, get the specifics Ask for, in one batched question: 1. **Who** - name, role, company. 2. **The hook** - the actual reason to reach out now. A post they wrote, a thing their company shipped, a mutual connection, a talk they gave. Not "they fit my ICP". 3. **What the user wants** - a conversation, a referral, a job, a sale. Be honest internally, even if the message does not lead with it. If there is no specific reason to message this person today, say so. A message with no reason is what everyone else sends, and it is why their reply rate is 2%. ## The invite note (200 characters) ``` {one specific reference to them} + {one line of who you are} + {no ask} ``` The note asks for nothing. It exists to make the accept obvious. Under 200 characters including spaces - count them and show the count. ``` Saw your post on killing the discovery call - we did the same thing in March and it worked. I run ops at a 12-person studio. Would like to follow along. [187/200] ``` ## The first message, after they accept Wait a day. Then: - **Two to four sentences.** A screen of text is a delete. - **Reference the specific thing** from the note - continuity is the whole reason the note was specific. - **Give something before asking.** A number, a template, a name, an answer. - **One ask, and make it small.** "Worth a 15-minute call?" beats "let me walk you through our platform". - **No calendar link in message one.** It reads as a funnel, because it is. ## Follow-ups Two. That is the number. - **+4 days** - add something new. Never "just bumping this" or "following up on my last message". If you have nothing new, you have no follow-up. - **+10 days** - the close-the-loop message. Say you will stop, and mean it. This one gets a surprising share of the total replies, because it removes the pressure. Then stop. A third follow-up converts nobody and costs the relationship. ## Never - Never send an automated connection or message sequence. Automated outreach tools violate LinkedIn's User Agreement and get accounts restricted. - Never fabricate a mutual connection, a shared school, or having read something the user has not read. - Never write the message that opens "I hope this message finds you well". - Never send more than 20 invites a day. Beyond that, LinkedIn throttles the account, and a throttled account is a dead one. ## Output The invite note with its character count, the first message, and both follow-ups with the day they go out. All humanized through `/li-human`. The user sends every one of them by hand.