In this instructional video, Nir Zavaro shares a step‑by‑step framework for cold outreach on LinkedIn that moves beyond personal branding and focuses on respectful, value‑driven communication. He stresses the necessity of always attaching a personalized note to a connection request, explaining who you are and why you’re reaching out. He advises respecting the prospect’s time by using a scheduling tool (TidyCal) to set concise 25‑minute intro calls and making the most of that time with a well‑rehearsed three‑minute “trailer” pitch followed by focused Q&A. Zavaro highlights the importance of pre‑call preparation, prompt delivery of requested materials, and offering tangible help (e.g., reviewing a 500‑word story). He also outlines post‑webinar follow‑up tactics: send a thank‑you note, comment on the speaker’s content, and individually thank each new connection. Finally, he proposes a weekly outreach cadence of reviewing ten profiles, engaging with their content, and sending a thoughtful note that states a clear ask while offering something in return. Throughout, he balances practical tools, concrete time allocations, and a mindset of giving more than you ask, warning against vague or pushy messages that damage credibility.
Chapters
If you need to reach someone on LinkedIn that you've never spoken to before, you have to listen to these tips. Trust me, I know. Ready? Let's start. Hello, what's up beautiful people? Welcome back to my channel. My name is Nir Zavaro and today I want to talk to you about something It's been going on for a while. It's about LinkedIn, and it's time we solve this problem. I'm not talking about your personal brand. I don't give an F about your personal brand. It's not about social clout and if you have 200,000 followers or not. I really honestly don't give a damn. What I want to talk to you about is what happens when you reach out to someone and you want something from them on LinkedIn. Here's a list of things I think you should start implementing today. When you reach out to people. It will help you land more deals, get more connections, but more than that, just be better in the way you behave. Ready? We need to talk about this. The first thing I want to talk to you about is cold outreach. Now, if we're talking about cold outreach, I want to talk about something very specific. I'm not talking about you adding people on LinkedIn. Again, not the point. What I want to talk about is you want something from someone. The example is if you want to talk to me and you need my help, if you want to hire me to do something, which is great. But when you do an add, a connect, please, my only ask here, send it with a note. I need to know who you are and the fact that you're gonna ask me for something. The worst thing you can do is we connect, And then a day passes, and then you drop a bomb on me. Hey, we don't know each other, but just so you know, we have an amazing social. I don't care, and don't offer me. There's a guy that asked me if we need to hire top talent for development, and I said, "No, we're good. Thank you." He replied, "Why? Are you okay? You have your own people? Are you developing?" I don't know you. You're not just harassing me. Not cool. So the first thing you need to remember, send a note. State clearly what is the purpose and let us decide if it fits or not. If not, that is completely fine. Side note that you might want to consider, like and comment a little bit so we get the chance to see you. And trust me, we check who's been adding, liking, and commenting. And more than that, be noticeable. That is important because then it means that when you come, I will know who you are, or at least I'll get a chance to take a quick glimpse of who you are. I'll understand most probably why you're reaching out. If you need help, support, partnerships, let's do something mutual, or if you need to hire me for my services. The second thing I want to share with you Is be respectful of people's time. What do I mean by that? You see, I get about 40 requests a week sometimes from people who want to talk to me about different things. And when I agree to go on the calls, I usually send them a link because it saves all the hassle and all the issues, you know what I mean? And I send them my TidyCal. You should check it out, it's really nice. And it's 25 minutes for an intro call. Which, between you and I, is about 10 minutes The problem is that even this week, 3 different people went on the call and the first thing they said that I probably have to be very busy if I only give them 25 minutes, or 25 minutes is not enough, or— hey, I don't know you. I made a clear decision to spend 25 minutes of my life with you, which I don't exactly understand what you're going to ask me for. So— Ah, that's a good point. Be respectful. Don't decide for me if I gave you enough time or not. Not cool. So when you go on the call, take the amount of time you have, make the best out of it, and be respectful. It's important. I don't want to feel like I'm doing someone a favor. I'm literally trying my best to talk and help to as many people as possible. The fact that I'm even talking about this thing is kind of weird. Do me a favor. Come prepared? Wow, mind-blowing! Come prepared? What does that mean? Here goes, guys. Ready? It's important. Be concise with everything. Presenting yourself should be sweet and to the point. Tell me the plan, give me the desired outcome, and have a 3-minute well-prepared trailer pitch. You don't need more. That's all. Leave the rest of the time for the Q&A and exploration. By the way, if you don't know how to do that, check out the book. I wrote the book about it. It's called After Slides, and it will help you understand how to create 3-minute concise trailer pitch presentations. And remember, you are the presentation. Come prepared, okay? If we're talking about time, if 25 minutes is enough, if it's not enough, you should be ready or you shouldn't be ready, is it okay to improvise or not, a great example would be angel investors. They open up their calendars and most of them would give you 15 minutes. And the interesting thing is they'll go on the call, they'll smile, and you get 15 minutes to do whatever you want. The thing is, if you have a 3-minute pitch, you get 12 minutes of a Q&A. If you have 15 minutes of talking, you get nothing. By the way, most probably if you spoke for 12 minutes and they got in one clarifying question, most chances You won't get the investment from them. So this is the most important thing. The amount of time you're giving is enough. How you spend it is on you. If you did get a call, we did discuss something— me, an angel investor, a company, whatever it might be. It's a collaboration, it's a client, it doesn't matter. If they ask you to send something, trust me, go all out. Do whatever it takes. In most of my workshops, I offer the first 5 or the first 8 people this: submit your 500-word story and I'll jump on a call, 25 minutes, and I'll review your stuff and give you my input. Again, my time for free, my experience. I'll do whatever you want. The interesting thing is a lot of people won't do it. That's where you fall short. I just had a workshop 3 or 4 weeks ago, which was interesting. A woman reached out, a designer. She's trying to improve her pitch to get more clients, and I said, hey, sweet, send me what you can and I'll take a look. It took her over 2 and a half weeks instead of taking 24 hours to send it. Now, not good. The funny thing is she sent me the About Us on the website, as if I care. If you get the opportunity to get free stuff from people, grab it by the hands and do it. This is your opportunity. And trust me, if you do it, even if it's not the best, even if you screw up a little bit, they will love you for it. Why? Because you made the effort and you made them feel special. Another important thing, you went on a webinar, you feel like this is your chance now to reach out and connect with the speaker. That's awesome. I just did a webinar last week, 50+ LinkedIn requests. That's great. 42 of them didn't have a note. This is your chance to give a compliment, to say something good, positive. Don't skip that chance. Don't send me an empty connection. Why? Because I won't remember. But for those who did, I feel you like me. You said something, you gave me a compliment. Everybody likes a compliment. Don't skip those chances. They're golden. With some people, I started a conversation. With some people, I'm willing to help. This is a chance, an opportunity that you are missing. You went on a webinar, always afterwards send a thank you to the speaker. It's a great way to build relationships, to build rapport, and who knows, maybe you'll work with them, maybe you'll work for them, maybe you'll work with them, maybe something might happen. Think long term. It will help you a lot in life, but also when discussing LinkedIn connections. Last thing, a lot of people miss this tiny point. You see, after the webinar with 50-something LinkedIn connections, what I did is one by one, I went through all of them and said, hey, thank you for connecting. Happy you enjoyed. I'm sure you took a few things. If you need anything, let me know. How do you feel when the speaker did that? Great, right? Not bad. Do the same when you go on these talks. If you didn't even get the chance to talk to them face to face, online, or whatever, always offer something. What can I do to support you? How can I say thank you? What would make you feel respected? When people say, hey, thank you, I went online, supported, and purchased a copy of your book, it means a lot to me. By the way, money-wise, it means nothing. It's a A few bucks? It's not even a cup of coffee in New York. I don't think it's even 50% of a cup of coffee in New York. Come in, grab and ask something, and leave. Not cool. Always offer something. When people ask me, what can I do for you? Lately, by the way, I'm seeing more people doing this, and I have to say it's been such a great way to connect with people. I went on calls with people. I met people through others, connected with universities, sold books, helped other people, supported communities. Do it. Here's my suggestion to you. Every week you connect with 10 interesting people after you reviewed their profiles. Okay, it's very easy. Go on their profile for a week, like or comment the interesting things they do, then Send a note saying, hey, love what you're doing. If you think they might be relevant for your business, you can even state that before. Don't ask for the friend connection and then jump out of the bushes and hope I will buy your services or your products. These are the rules of the game. The more you give, the more you will get out. The more dodgy you Try to be when you send a message, the less we like you. Be clear about your asks. Be polite, be respectful. And yes, I wish I could say yes to everyone, go on every call. I simply can't. And when I say no, I'm not happy about it. But don't trick me into going on a call. I had that this week and it felt bad. It felt wrong. Not only will I not do business with these people, I will never talk to them again. Guys, if you need anything, feel free to reach out. As always, I'm here for you, and I'll try to do my best. A bit of DMs or stuff is always better, and if I can't talk, I will be honest and tell you. But if you need something and you ask a good question, who knows, maybe I'll record a video like this specifically for you so everyone else can Enjoy it. Love you all. Take care. What? You didn't send this to someone? But then just send this to someone. Okay, I'm waiting. Thank you. See you. Bye. Thank you.
