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title: Prospecting via LinkedIn description: [AFW S.8.7] Securities Prospecting Method #7 published: true date: 2026-06-30T08:11:52.204Z tags: editor: markdown dateCreated: 2021-10-22T00:03:29.290Z

Watch Prospecting via LinkedIn VIDEO

Read LinkedIn Marketing Crash Course For Financial Advisors PDF

Read How Financial Advisors Can Use LinkedIn for Prospecting. ARTICLE

Read 3 Step Formula: How to Get Better Results From LinkedIn ARTICLE

Read These LinkedIn mistakes are making you look desperate and valueless – STOP! ARTICLE


Intro

  • LinkedIn is a 100% professional network. This presents a tremendous opportunity for you as a Financial Advisor to connect, engage and build relationships with potential clients on a “strictly business” note without worrying about any distractions that come with personal type of profiles.

  • A survey published by Hinge Research Institute revealed that 70% of buyers listed LinkedIn as the social media platform they are most likely to turn to when gathering information on service providers.

  • According to Financial-Planning. com, there are about 5 million “affluent investors” with $100,000 or more in investable assets and 73% of them use LinkedIn to research investment decisions. 62% of Financial Advisors actively prospecting on LinkedIn converted new clients from that process over the past year.

  • It also helps you get found by prospects and existing clients.

  • Get your LinkedIn profile filled out and complete. Include work history, summary, school, etc. Get it approved by the home office. Make sure you have a high-quality, professional profile photo.

  • Connect to everyone you know. Clients, friends, neighbors, wholesalers etc.


Tips


No Profile Photo!?

I received an email from an upset financial advisor. He was following my advice on how to get clients with LinkedIn and was getting abysmal results. People weren’t connecting with him, and they weren’t responding to his messages. Long story short, he wasn’t getting any traction.

So, I checked out his profile. And do you know what I saw?

He wasn’t posting at all, even though my training has provided numerous template ideas that should have been enough to get him started.

But even worse… he had no profile photo!

If you want to grow on LinkedIn, you should probably have a profile photo. That way, people can put a face to your name and visualize who you are when they read your content, accept your connection requests, and receive your messages.

Research directly from LinkedIn found that people with profile photos receive:

  • Up to 21X more profile views…
  • Up to 36X more messages, and…
  • Up to 9X more connection requests.

I told this advisor not to make things any more difficult than they need to be and to upload a profile photo ASAP. His results will almost certainly improve.


Remember, They're Real Human Beings

So, I’d like to sum up - as simply as I can - how financial advisors can grow on LinkedIn.

First, ignore all the B.S. out there about vanity metrics. Because while likes, comments, and followers are cool to have, they do NOT translate into clients.

The most important thing is to know your market and ENGAGE WITH THAT MARKET. Plant your roots deep in your niche and build real connections with real people. This could take months. Even years. Each profile represents a real human being, and it is up to you to get to know that person behind the profile. Don't connect under the guise of 'expanding your network'. Before you connect make a thoughtful commend on two or three of their posts. Get them curious about who you are and what you do.

It is also up to you to get other people to know YOU. So, share content about yourself. This content should make people in your niche feel more comfortable with you. They should feel as if they are getting to know you.

It should also be obvious that you are a financial advisor and that you sell financial services for a living. The reason this is critical is because it makes it easier for people to become clients.


LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Premium and Ads

Question from an Advisor: "If I want to get clients by sending LinkedIn messages, should I just get Sales Navigator and go hit a bunch of people up, daily?"

HECK NO. RUN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION FROM LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR. It will make you look like spamming LinkedIn sales schmuck.


What about LinkedIn premium? Should I get that?

Heck no. Nobody reads InMails.


What about LinkedIn paid ads? Should I use those?

Heck no. Everyone thinks ads are annoying. Stop paying for things people hate on LinkedIn.


Instead go find some people who will love you.

  • Love your posts.
  • Love your mission.
  • Love talking to you on a daily basis.
  • Love whatever you will give them.

There's a gazillion people on the platform. If you're getting crickets you haven't tried hard enough to find them.


Prospecting


401k Rollovers

  • Start using the advanced search feature. Search for “retired” “new opportunity” or “in transition” in your first and second connections within a specified geographical area. Be sure to use the quotation marks to search for the specific phrase found together. Ask for an introduction to this person to discuss 401k rollover.

  • Find a business that has sold and search within your network for first and second connections.


SEP-IRA

  • Search for self-employed 1099 people, such as Real Estate agent, life insurance agents, sales people etc.


401ks, Simple Plans

  • Search for small business owners.