How LinkedIn Sales Navigator Became Our Secret Weapon for Solopreneur Lead Gen

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Think LinkedIn is just for job hunting? Think again. In this episode, Carly flips the script and interviews Joe about one of the most underrated lead gen tools for solopreneurs: LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

They pull back the curtain on exactly how they use it to fill their events, build real relationships, and grow their network—without ever sounding salesy. If you've been hesitant about spending money on a tool like this, Joe’s breakdown might just change your mind.

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Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. 

So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, click here to check out LifeStarr Intro!  

Episode Transcript

Carly Ries: What if one $100 tool could change the way you find clients forever? In this episode of the Aspiring Solopreneur, I flipped the script and I interviewed my cohost Joe Rando about his not so secret weapon for lead generation, LinkedIn Sales Navigator. From how to actually use it without being salesy, to how it's helped us pack out events with ideal attendees, Joe walks you through the behind the scenes process that turns cold connections into warm leads, and eventually, into loyal clients. In this episode, you'll learn why your offer isn't what you think it is, the one thing not to do when starting a connection, how Joe gets a 40% plus acceptance rate from our target audience, and creative ways to build trust, not just a contact list. No sponsorships, no fluff, just real tactical insights from the trenches.

If you're ready to stop shouting into the void and start connecting with the right people, this episode is for you. You're listening to the Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Ries, and my cohost Joe Rando and I are your guides navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of one. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work.

And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. So in our expert interviews that we have on Tuesdays for this show, I usually take the lead as like the primary interviewer, and then we have our guest. And I'm gonna take that same approach for today.

And I'm gonna pretend like you're the guest, Joe, on the show because between the two of us, this is your cup of tea that we're gonna dive into. And that is LinkedIn Sales Navigator. We have talked about it with our community. We've talked about it in different events that we've had, and I think we've alluded to it on the show. But we use LinkedIn Sales Navigator, as a big lead gen tool for us, especially for getting people to our events.

And you are the one that, is kinda behind the scenes. So can you walk our listeners through what LinkedIn Sales Navigator is, how we use it, and why it might be beneficial for them?

Joe Rando: Yeah. I mean, if you've used LinkedIn, then you know that in regular LinkedIn, you can kinda find people by doing these searches, and you can search on companies and people and that kind of thing. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is basically that on steroids.

It gives you a lot more ways of kind of filtering down, finding people, saving them on lists, and being able to follow-up with them and getting notified when things happen with them. So it's an incredibly powerful tool for finding people that are in need of your product or service. A lot of solopreneurs say, oh, it's kind of expensive. You know, if it's monthly, you're paying a $100 a month. If you commit annually, I think it's like $80 a month for the basic version, which is all you probably need.

And I just wanna argue that that's peanuts compared to what you can get out of this. I mean, obviously, depending on your business, but if you need either businesses or certain kinds of people that, can be identified, it's definitely worth it. So we're obviously looking for solopreneurs, and it is astonishingly good at identifying solopreneurs. And you can identify people by industries, by companies they work for. There are just so many ways that you can kind of create these filters and get these lists of people, and then interact with them.

So, it's good to maybe test it out, you know, invest a $100 to try it for a month and see if it works for you and finds the people you're looking for. Then well, that's kind of the the beginnings of it. What else would you like to know?

Carly Ries: I feel like we should give, like, a case study of how exactly we use it so that they can kinda see the ins and outs. I mean, it just has done wonders for our lead gen.

Joe Rando: So you need something, an offer. And okay, I want everybody grab a pen and write this down. The offer is not you selling your product or service. Don't do that.

Carly Ries: And so many people do.

Joe Rando: Don't do that. That's not how you start off a relationship. You know? Hi, nice to meet you.

Will you marry me? No. No. No, no. So, what you wanna do is you wanna offer something that they will find valuable.

You want to be helpful. And you want to be helpful without any expectation. Because maybe number one, they don't need what you're doing. Maybe number two, they already have a solution. But you want to basically build a relationship. And there are a couple of ways to do this. Now, there are two ways to do it, I and can only speak to one of them because that's all I've ever used. But the other way, the way I don't do it, is using InMail. So you get this certain number of ability to contact people you're not connected with, and sending them a message inside of LinkedIn, an InMail, they call it. So that's one way to do it, and that's the way a lot of people use Sales Navigator.

I do something different because I am, trying to build up a network of solopreneurs, and I use Sales Navigator, and then send them a connection request. And once I do that, I think the numbers are coming in about 40% of the solopreneurs, it may be a little higher, accept that connection request, and then I'm free to communicate with them on unlimited fashion using the InMails because we're connected. It also builds out my network. I have more people seeing my stuff when I post, And I just wanna be connected to solopreneurs. That's what I'm doing, and it's just really valuable, and I try to add value for them.

But when I send the connection request, I'm inviting them to something that is, I believe, valuable for them or potentially valuable for them and free, which is to basically join one of our online virtual solopreneur events. So we have two a month, and whatever one's upcoming, I invite them to. If they have questions, I answer the questions. A lot of those people then can accept their connection request basically, I start with kind of a little short pitch because it's a connection request, it can't be long. "I have a community of solopreneurs, we have events every month, which I think you'd be a great fit."

Something like that, you know, maybe something about their business. And then if they accept the request, I get notified, and then I can invite them with the details to the event. And a lot of the people accept and show up. It doesn't have to be an event. It could be something else.

I'm a fan of things that would, you know, when you talk about lead magnets, it's nice to have an investment from the participants, so it's not just download my white paper. But, maybe you have a really valuable white paper, a really valuable checklist, or something really valuable to what they do that they'll download and read. Anything like that. But give them something to create that relationship, to start that trust that you're somebody that, number one, knows what you're doing, and number two, isn't just there to try to pitch them. And if you can get them engaged, then eventually, as you interact, you can start to maybe throw a little bit in about what to do, and depending on your business and how you do it, create that relationship, and maybe gain yourself with customers.

But that's the general way that we do it. anything that you think needs clarification on that, Carly?

Carly Ries: No. No. I just sometimes think it's helpful to get a little bit, like, to peel back the curtain for these things, because people can talk about it, but until they hear, how it's actually used, it's not always beneficial. So I think this is really helpful. And before we end this episode, I have to say we are not affiliates of LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

We just genuinely really like this product, so we thought we'd share how we use it with you. But listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. We so appreciate it. As always, leave that five star review, share this episode with a friend, and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, and we will see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone.

In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.