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Write a Cold LinkedIn Connection Message

Write a personalized LinkedIn connection request and a concise, specific follow-up message.

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§ When to use this

This prompt writes a matched pair of LinkedIn messages — a sub-300-character connection request and a follow-up under 150 words with one low-friction ask — both personalized to a specific prospect and your goal. It's for job seekers, founders, and networkers who know that generic 'I'd love to connect' notes get ignored. The two-stage structure mirrors how LinkedIn actually works: a tight request that earns the accept, then a short follow-up that makes a single, easy-to-say-yes-to request rather than dumping your whole pitch up front.

§ The Prompt— fill in the fields, then copy or open in a tool

§ Customize0/4 fields filled

Prospect name[PROSPECT NAME]The person you're reaching out to, by name — e.g. 'Priya Sharma'.

Title[TITLE]Their current role, which gives the message a relevant hook — e.g. 'Director of Product Marketing'.

Company[COMPANY]Where they work now — e.g. 'Figma'.

Goal: e.g. informational interview, partnership, job referral[GOAL: e.g. informational interview, partnership, job referral]What you actually want from the relationship, stated plainly — e.g. 'a 15-minute informational interview about breaking into product marketing.'

your prompt — fill the fields above

You are an expert networker. Write a personalized LinkedIn connection request and a follow-up message for [PROSPECT NAME], who is a [TITLE] at [COMPANY]. My goal: [GOAL: e.g. informational interview, partnership, job referral]. Connection request: under 300 characters (LinkedIn limit). Follow-up (if they accept): under 150 words with a single, low-friction ask. No generic 'I'd love to connect' openers.

Open with your prompt →ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Sends your filled-in prompt straight into a new chat.

§ Example Output

What you can expect back

CONNECTION REQUEST (288 chars):
Hi Priya — I've been following Figma's product marketing closely, especially how you frame features around real workflows rather than specs. I'm trying to move into PMM from a design background and would value learning from people doing it well. Would be glad to connect.

FOLLOW-UP (after they accept):
Thanks for connecting, Priya. I won't take much of your time — I'm a designer making the jump into product marketing, and your path from [their prior role] to leading PMM at Figma is close to the move I'm trying to make.

Would you be open to a 15-minute call in the next couple of weeks? I'd keep it to two or three specific questions about what made the transition work for you. Totally understand if your plate is full — even a quick pointer to a resource you'd recommend would mean a lot.

Illustrative example — your results will vary by tool and inputs.

§ Pro Tips

Get sharper results

01Reference something real and specific you noticed about their work or company — a recent post, talk, or launch — because that concrete detail is what separates this from a template they've seen a hundred times.
02Keep the follow-up ask genuinely low-friction: 15 minutes or a single question converts far better than 'can I pick your brain' or 'grab coffee.'
03Don't pitch your full goal in the connection request itself; its only job is to earn the accept, so save the ask for the follow-up.
04Give the model a true detail about your own background so the message has a credible 'why you, why them' link rather than flattery.
05Ask for two or three tone variants (warm, brief, peer-to-peer) and pick the one that matches how you'd actually speak, then edit so it sounds like you.

§ Variations

Adapt it for your case

Job referral ask

Set the goal to a referral for a specific open role and ask the follow-up to name the role and why you're a fit in one sentence.

Re-engaging a dormant contact

Tell it this is someone you've met before and ask for a warm reconnect message that references your prior interaction.

Founder-to-investor

Reframe the goal as a partnership or investor intro and ask for a credibility-led opener with one metric and a single clear ask.

Best For — Roles

Use For — Tasks

Writing Cold Emails

Tags#linkedin#networking#outreach

§ FAQ

Common questions

Why split it into two messages?

A short connection request gets accepted far more often than a long pitch, and once you're connected the follow-up can make a real ask without the character limit — sending everything at once usually gets ignored.

How personalized does it really need to be?

Very — the single biggest factor in a reply is one specific, accurate detail about the person; the model can draft the structure, but you should verify that detail is true before sending.

What if they don't reply to the follow-up?

One brief, polite nudge after a week or two is fine; beyond that, move on gracefully, since persistent messaging damages your reputation more than a missed connection helps.

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