What Makes a Good LinkedIn Message?
I used to send LinkedIn messages that made people quietly disappear.
No I wasn’t being rude, I just sounded like everyone else.
“Hi [First Name], I help businesses like yours [insert benefit]. Thought we might connect?”
That kind of message which was intended to start conversations, did the exact opposite, it ended them.
It took me a while to realise that I was treating LinkedIn like a numbers game. The more messages I sent, the more chances I had. Right?
I stopped writing like a marketer and started writing like someone who cares and is genuinely curious and here’s what happened:
→ I learnt valuable lessons from interactions with people I genuinely respected
→ I realised how important it is to align tone and intention, even when I’m not selling anything
→ I became much more aware of how I communicate and how I want to present myself
I stopped selling what I do, and said things like:
- “I noticed you worked with [person or company]. I’m always keen to learn from people with experience in that space, would love to hear what that was like for you.”
- “Your post on client onboarding really hit home. Curious how you manage expectations without overcommitting, something I’ve messed up more than once.”
- “You’re the second person this week I’ve seen talk about [topic]. Clearly I’m behind. Mind if I ask how you’re approaching it?”
I showed real interest with no pitch or CTA included, and that’s when people started replying. Not all of them, but the ones who did turned into real conversations and lasting relationships.
One client a kitchen design company in London said it was the only message that didn’t feel like bait.
They’d had a bad experience with automated outreach and had almost stopped checking their inbox altogether.
This really isn’t complicated. If you’re sending messages that feel off, or you are getting no response, it could be your tone.
Try writing like the person you’d want to talk to if the roles were reversed.
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