LinkedIn has never been a bigger opportunity for sellers, and most people are still not using it properly.

In this episode of the True Conversations podcast, Tom Happé talks to Mandy McEwen, founder of Mod Girl Marketing and Luminetics, who has been teaching social selling on LinkedIn since 2017, long before most people had a name for it.

Social selling before it had a name

Mandy started by showing agency owners how to start real conversations on LinkedIn: visit the profile, send a connection request, ask how you can help. Back then she called it B2B lead generation. In 2021 she launched Luminetics to focus entirely on LinkedIn training, and her clients now range well beyond B2B tech, from trucking and lumber to cash logistics and real estate.

Why sellers hold back

Most people overthink it. They don’t know what to say, they worry how they will come across to colleagues and prospects, and they don’t have a system. Experienced sellers with 25 years of phone and email habits often resist the most. Mandy’s advice to reps who feel nervous about posting:

• Check what your company allows you to post.
• Start with what marketing already produces: blogs, webinars, company posts. It is a gold mine most sellers ignore.
• Use AI as a brainstorming partner, not a copy-and-paste machine.

Your profile is a mini landing page

Your profile should not read like a CV. The headline should be value-driven, the About section should say what you do and who you help, featured links should be filled in, and the whole page should pre-sell before you ever send a message.

The “friendly leader” approach to messaging

• Find prospects who are active, ideally posting content, and engage first with a like or a thoughtful comment.
• Then connect, referencing the post or something specific on their profile. If you have nothing genuine to say, send a blank request rather than a robotic one.
• Never pitch in the connection request.
• When they accept, introduce yourself and ask a casual, open question based on your research.
• Save voice notes and video for after they reply, when you can be more direct without sounding salesy.

Target people who are actually active

Your target account list and your LinkedIn target list are not always the same. If the CMO hasn’t posted in three years but the marketing director is active, start with the director. If nobody at an account uses LinkedIn, use other channels for that account. Sales Navigator is the tool for this: it shows who is active and gives you a focused feed of only your lead lists.

Content: credibility, not inbound

LinkedIn’s algorithm is now interest-based rather than network-based, which is a big opportunity for newer voices. A few posts a week on what is happening in your industry is enough. But Mandy is clear that content is not the lead engine. Even with over 50,000 followers, her pipeline comes from proactive work: comments, connection requests and conversations. Content makes you look credible when prospects check you out, and many of the people who reach out are “lurkers” who have never liked or commented.

AI without the slop

Use AI for strategy, profile copy, content ideas and message drafts, but not for comments, and never lose your own point of view. Personal stories and experience are what perform, and LinkedIn has said it is reducing the reach of posts that are blatantly AI-written. Looking human, through video, voice notes and real stories, is becoming the advantage.

The time investment

Mandy recommends 30–60 minutes a day; her clients follow a 45-minute daily rhythm. Some people see leads within days, but give it three months to see results and six months to build an established personal brand.

Your first 90 days

• Optimise your profile.
• Build Sales Navigator lists of the people you want to reach.
• Use your weekly connection requests consistently.
• Comment on prospects’ and industry leaders’ posts daily.
• Post a couple of times a week.
• Time-block it so it becomes a daily habit, not an afterthought.