Listed here are the teachings I realized.
This isn’t an exaggeration, this actually occurred. Let me provide you with some context: The $1.3 million was an funding examine. The submit was a picture. The funding got here from somebody I’d by no means spoken to earlier than and had seen the submit and despatched me a DM. Since this occurred, I’ve had time to replicate on what made this doable, and there are some distinct classes, which I’ll share on this story.
However first, somewhat background. I run a startup (Stakester), we’re two years previous, we’re in e-sports, so it’s a cool sector, and we’re experiencing some nice person development. I’ve simply over 7k connections on LinkedIn.
I wasn’t aiming to lift any cash at this stage; we’d simply closed a funding spherical. However we’re a startup, and the reality is we’re all the time elevating, simply possibly not formally. We’d dried up somewhat on the eye so I wished to get observed.
I’d realized a worthwhile lesson throughout our final funding spherical: that in terms of getting cash, the chance for buyers to make a large return is all the things, so I wanted to seize their consideration with one thing that confirmed this.
With that in thoughts, right here had been the priorities;
- Present development.
- Present it’s taking place rapidly.
- Get plenty of individuals to see it.
- Get plenty of the proper individuals to see it.
Right here’s how I did it:
- Decide a metric. Doesn’t actually matter which, so long as it’s significant and rising. Make this the spotlight of the submit. I made the picture a easy graph exhibiting a steep curve.
- Point out a timeframe within the submit that appears brief. The trick right here is to make use of a bigger time interval so it has a decrease quantity. So as a substitute of 4 weeks, 1 month. Half a 12 months, as a substitute of 6 months. It is because the reader will see the quantity, not the interval.
- Hold all the information on LinkedIn — in case you want a hyperlink, put it within the feedback. LinkedIn prioritizes posts that maintain individuals on the positioning. Additionally, add a related hashtag. TOP TIP: the image is prime actual property, however so is your first line, so make it attention-grabbing. Mine, “WARNING. HUGE BRAG BELOW,” was an invite to click on “learn extra.”
- That is the magic: For those who add somebody right into a submit, as persons are usually well mannered, they are going to nearly actually Prefer it. This implies it is going to present up on their feed. Due to this fact, tag people who find themselves both within the sector you need to attain, or related to individuals which can be. I tagged everybody who since beginning the enterprise has invested, or has raised funding themselves. As a result of all of them may have related networks.
Lesson 1 — Shapes Promote
It doesn’t matter what the graph exhibits, simply the form of it. It offers an immediate emotional response. We see the Covid stats going up, we panic, we see them taking place, we calm down. Will we have a look at the numbers and what they characterize? Hardly ever. It’s the identical right here, present an attractive curve, persons are going to get excited.
Lesson 2 — Don’t Ask
The second you ask for cash, the tables flip, you lose the facility. As a substitute, make them come to you. Feed that FOMO they usually’ll begin reaching out.
Lesson 3 — Put in The Groundwork
The chance of 1 submit getting $1M is, effectively, one in 1,000,000. I used to be extraordinarily fortunate, I do know this. However I made myself extra prone to be fortunate by placing within the groundwork first. I grew my LinkedIn group, I commented on different individuals’s posts so they’re prone to reciprocate. Your profile might be the making of your online business. Make investments time and vitality into rising it and your possibilities of being fortunate shall be exponentially elevated.
And eventually, right here’s the submit.
Just a few stats (on the level of elevating):
- 99 Likes
- 26 Feedback
- 9,866 Views
However these stats are largely meaningless.
The stats that matter:
- 5 chilly DMs from buyers
- 1 deal closed
- $1.3M raised
The way it began…
The way it completed…
Pen drop.
