Listed here are the teachings I discovered.
This isn’t an exaggeration, this actually occurred. Let me provide you with some context: The $1.3 million was an funding examine. The put up was a picture. The funding got here from somebody I’d by no means spoken to earlier than and had seen the put up and despatched me a DM. Since this occurred, I’ve had time to replicate on what made this attainable, and there are some distinct classes, which I’ll share on this story.
However first, a bit of 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 boost 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 a bit of on the eye so I needed to get seen.
I’d discovered a worthwhile lesson throughout our final funding spherical: that relating to getting cash, the chance for traders to make a enormous return is the whole lot, 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 shortly.
- Get a lot of individuals to see it.
- Get a lot 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 put up. I made the picture a easy graph displaying a steep curve.
- Point out a timeframe within the put up that appears quick. The trick right here is to make use of a bigger time interval so it has a decrease quantity. So as an alternative of 4 weeks, 1 month. Half a yr, as an alternative of 6 months. It’s because the reader will see the quantity, not the interval.
- Maintain all the info on LinkedIn — in case you want a hyperlink, put it within the feedback. LinkedIn prioritizes posts that hold individuals on the location. 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: Should you add somebody right into a put up, as persons are typically well mannered, they are going to nearly actually Prefer it. This implies it’s going to present up on their feed. Due to this fact, tag people who find themselves both within the sector you wish to attain, or related to individuals which might be. I tagged everybody who since beginning the enterprise has invested, or has raised funding themselves. As a result of all of them can have related networks.
Lesson 1 — Shapes Promote
It doesn’t matter what the graph exhibits, simply the form of it. It provides an instantaneous emotional response. We see the Covid stats going up, we panic, we see them taking place, we loosen up. Will we take a look at the numbers and what they symbolize? 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 likelihood of 1 put up getting $1M is, nicely, one in one million. I used to be extraordinarily fortunate, I do know this. However I made myself extra more likely to be fortunate by placing within the groundwork first. I grew my LinkedIn neighborhood, I commented on different individuals’s posts so they’re more likely to reciprocate. Your profile may be the making of your corporation. Make investments time and vitality into rising it and your probabilities of being fortunate might be exponentially elevated.
And eventually, right here’s the put up.
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 traders
- 1 deal closed
- $1.3M raised
The way it began…
The way it completed…
Pen drop.
