Episode 492: LinkedIn for Local Networking and Business Development

Brynne Tillman 00:00
You can look at events on Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor, Ticketleap, Zeffy, Ticket Source, Eventbrite Luma, Meetup. There’s just an enormous amount, and you can search for free events. There are a couple of reasons why we want to do that. If you don’t have those relationships yet to collaborate with, this is a good place to start—start showing up.

Bob Woods 00:26
Welcome to the Making Sales Social podcast featuring the top voices in sales, marketing, and business. Join Brynne Tillman, Stan Robinson Jr., and me, Bob Woods, as we bring you the best tips and strategies our guests are teaching and using, so you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. Very welcome to the show. Hey there, and thanks for joining us for Making Sales Social Live, coming to you from the Social Sales Link Virtual Studios. I’m Bob Woods. Brynne Tillman and Stan Robinson Jr. are here as well. How y’all doing today?

Brynne Tillman 01:03
We’re happy to have you back.

Stan Robinson Jr. 01:05
Yes, yeah.

Stan Robinson Jr. 01:07
But I’m here, and I definitely wanted to pop in, especially for this one, because this is going to be really good. We were talking about it in the green room a little before we went live, and this one’s going to be a really good one. So enough talking about what we’re going to talk about—let’s start actually talking about it. Today, we’re going to bring you a specific method that will enable you to climb your way to success when it comes to transforming your local networking efforts into a LinkedIn development engine. We’ve put an acronym to this method: CLIMB. Here’s what it stands for: Collaborate, Leverage, Introduce, Move, and Bridge. It’s important, especially nowadays, because we tend to treat networking and LinkedIn as two separate worlds. With CLIMB, you can bring them together.

Brynne Tillman 02:14
Absolutely. I’m really excited to break this down. Ultimately, this came out of teaching LinkedIn and networking. One of our clients asked, “Alright, so now I’m at the networking event. Now what?” That’s where this methodology became a structured approach. It moved from “here’s a great thing to do around networking” to a full methodology and cadence you can run as a campaign. I’m really excited about that.

Bob Woods 02:53
Great. Let’s get underway by talking about the C—Collaboration. This is something most people probably never even think about, but it’s a really good way to maximize this entire effort and get things snowballing for you.

Brynne Tillman 03:16
Snowballing is great. Collaboration starts with people running events. That’s where we would begin. For example, if you are part of a Chamber of Commerce, industry group, or some networking opportunity where you meet regularly—monthly or sometimes weekly—that’s a great place to start.

In preparation for today, I did a little search in Gemini, listing free websites for local events like Eventbrite. I found dozens. If you’re not part of a Chamber right now, that might be the best place to start. You can look at events on Eventbrite, Ticket Tailor, Ticketleap, Zeffy, Ticket Source, Eventbrite Luma, Meetup—there’s an enormous amount. You can search for free events. If you don’t have relationships yet to collaborate with, this is a good place to start.

Why the Chamber of Commerce for Collaboration? The Chamber wants to grow its membership. They often have free tickets for first-time attendees—you can usually attend twice for free. You can also collaborate with Chamber leadership. Say, “I’d like to help you grow your members and bring in people I want to meet.” Even if there’s a small cost, they may donate seats if you bring in the right people. You can also open up your connections to the Chamber leadership and ask, “Who on my list do you want to meet?” You can invite people in your network—even if they’re not your prospects—because it helps the group leader grow their membership. Collaboration is huge.

A decade ago, I was the membership chair at my local Chamber while working at the bank. It was amazing—inviting people I wanted to meet in person was a huge win. Find networking opportunities where you can step in, bring value to the group, and leverage that group to invite people to anything you want to add.

Stan Robinson Jr. 06:50
I think it’s brilliant. As much as we talk about AI, the value of human relationships and meeting people face-to-face is going to keep getting higher.

Brynne Tillman 07:05
Can you elaborate on why relationships are even more important with AI, when most people think AI is taking over relationships?

Stan Robinson Jr. 07:17
It’s about trust. With deepfakes and AI-generated videos being so realistic, you can’t always tell what’s real. Meeting someone face-to-face is real, and trust has always been the foundation of relationships. Combining face-to-face meetings with LinkedIn is just great.

Brynne Tillman 07:47
I agree— in-person interactions are coming back strong. Next, we have Leverage—or Leverage LinkedIn. This is important because we can search for exactly the people we want to meet, who we are already connected to but have been ignoring. You can search by location—even in free LinkedIn—putting in five or six towns around the event. This hones in on the people you want to invite, based on geographic proximity and not just social proximity.

We start with first-degree connections, sending simple messages like:

“Hey Stan, not sure if you’re a big networker, but I’m attending an event in Westfield, New Jersey, which is an outstanding opportunity to meet local businesses. I have a couple of complimentary tickets if you’re interested.”

No pitch—just a genuine invite. By honing in by location and ideal customer profile, we have a tight list of first-degree connections to reengage. Then we can reach second-degree connections through our attendees’ networks.

Bob Woods 12:06
A question came up about ethics: How do you collaborate with groups successfully? Brynne mentioned some good points. It’s about being present, genuinely helping people, and expanding networks—without any slimy agenda. Peer-to-peer support mentality works best.

Brynne Tillman 13:00
I love the servant mentality. This comes down to one of our tenets: detach from what the prospect is worth to you and attach to what you’re worth to the prospect. Ethically, you’re not viewing them as a prospect yet—you’re bringing value first. You earn the right for them to care about you.

Stan Robinson Jr. 13:37
Perfect, I agree.

Brynne Tillman 13:41
Next, the “I” in CLIMB—Introduce. If you invite 30 people and three show, you become a host. You likely know more people in the room than they do. Start by asking who they want to meet, make strategic introductions, and your purpose is to make the event successful for your guests.

Introduce them to each other—they are your guests. Focus on helping them succeed and creating value. People remember how you make them feel, not what you said. Make them feel welcome and connected—introduce them to key people, like the Chamber director.

As Brené Brown says, the opposite of belonging is fitting in. Fitting in means changing yourself to match the situation; belonging means showing up as you are. By introducing someone to people who already belong, you make them feel included and natural.

Stan Robinson Jr. 16:56
I think welcoming people personally makes a huge difference. One of the biggest challenges with networking events is that people are there to meet new contacts, but most aren’t comfortable walking into a room where they know nobody. It’s okay, especially when people are already in groups talking and you don’t want to break in. But if you simply take them by the hand—so to speak—say, “Brynne, this is Bob. I think you two would enjoy getting to know each other.” It creates a whole different atmosphere. It benefits the Chamber, the person you brought, the people you introduced them to, and, in the long run, it benefits you.

Bob Woods 17:45
Yes, and I do think that when it comes to benefiting yourself, there’s something about being seen as a leader or as the person bringing others together. There’s a natural magnetism there. Just by doing that, people want to know, “Who is this person? Why do they seem really great? They know people here—why don’t I find out more about them?” There’s intrinsic value in that.

Brynne Tillman 18:28
That’s awesome. Thank you, Jackie. I’m glad you agree. Jackie says it’s 100% true. Thank you so much! She was my LinkedIn student years ago—international podcast for entrepreneurs, 30 years ago. Welcome back, Jackie. We’re happy to have you here.

Bob Woods 18:54
Things have changed since then, Jackie. Glad to see you back.

Brynne Tillman 19:02
Yes, wonderful. Okay, so we covered Introduce. Next is Move. This is where we go from a fun activity to a real sales campaign—creating the next opportunity. We didn’t just bring value; we want to move people from the networking event to an in-person meeting.

For example:
“Bob, I’m glad you got value from tonight. If you have questions about joining the Chamber, I’ve been part of it for a couple of years and can send information or connect you with the director. It seems you really enjoy networking, and if you’re open, I’d love to continue this collaboration. I can share my LinkedIn connections, review them with you, and make a few strategic introductions. I’m even happy to come to your office.”

That’s a huge opportunity. When you visit their office, you deepen the relationship. First, share the purpose of the one-on-one and how to make the visit effective. You can filter your first-degree LinkedIn connections to find people they want to meet. Go through these with them, and plan introductions strategically. Ask how they want to be introduced—it ensures accuracy and professionalism.

Bob may naturally ask, “How can I help you?” That’s part of building a reciprocal relationship. We also teach how to build a first-degree search in free LinkedIn that generates a unique URL. When they click it, they see a list of first-degree connections meeting your criteria. They can make introductions or let you reach out directly. It keeps control in your hands and makes the process easy for them.

You can take screenshots, copy and paste names, or even print pages if convenient. This allows notes on who to contact or avoid. By doing this, you strengthen the relationship and create opportunities for strategic introductions.

Bob Woods 25:38
That’s a big step, especially because it shifts people from the networking event to a deeper engagement.

Brynne Tillman 25:48
Yes, so Move is getting the appointment to visit their office. Bridge is what you do when you’re there.

Bob Woods 25:55
You also combined both into one.

Brynne Tillman 25:59
Right—Move is getting the appointment. Bridging is executing when you’re there.

Bob Woods 26:10
Yes, awesome.

Brynne Tillman 26:26
Regarding promoting connections at live events, one smart way is creating LinkedIn events in partnership with your Chamber. You can invite up to 1,000 people per week to the event through LinkedIn. Even if there’s an external registration link, the LinkedIn event allows broad promotion.

Stan Robinson Jr. 27:29
This has been fabulous. It’s funny, we talk about moving people off LinkedIn to email or phone calls. The goal isn’t to stay on LinkedIn. Same philosophy here: move people from the networking event to another meeting.

Brynne Tillman 27:47
Get to their office, if possible.

Bob Woods 27:49
Yes, use LinkedIn as a tool, not the primary networking vehicle.

Brynne Tillman 28:04
Exactly. LinkedIn threads throughout the process—at the event for QR code connections, at the office to filter connections, etc. It’s the tool facilitating the full journey.

Bob Woods 28:33
Absolutely. It’s about curating real relationships, not collecting business cards like baseball cards or Pokémon cards. Curate relationships. Go forth and climb your way to success.

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Bob Woods 29:48
Thanks, everyone. Have a great week. Join us again for more guests covering marketing, sales training, and social selling strategies. Hit the subscribe button for the latest episodes, give this video a thumbs up, and comment below with topics you want us to cover. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other platforms. Visit our website, socialsaleslink.com, for more information.