Set up Linkedin outreach

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Install the skill from here.

Before using this workflow, you need a clear understanding of your niche and offer.

This workflow takes a LinkedIn Sales Navigator search URL and runs a full personalization pipeline - scraping profiles, reading what each person posted about recently, and writing a unique connection note for every lead. You end up with a CSV ready to load into LinkedIn Helper, which runs the actual outreach campaign on autopilot.

Why LinkedIn? Over a billion members, the highest quality B2B directory on the planet. And unlike cold email, people actually check LinkedIn. The problem is most outreach sounds robotic. This skill fixes that.

The Five-Step Pipeline

Step 1: LinkedIn Sales Navigator (you do this)

Sales Navigator is your directory. Apply your filters and copy the search URL. That URL is the only input the skill needs.

Key filters to use:

  • Job title (CEO, Founder, Owner, Managing Director)
  • Company headcount (11+ employees)
  • Industry
  • Geography
  • Posted on LinkedIn in the last 30 days - this is the most important filter. Only targets active profiles. People who post regularly are far more likely to respond.

A focused search with good filters gives you 1,000-3,000 leads.

Step 2: Vayne.io Scrapes the Profiles

You pass the Sales Navigator URL to the skill. It sends it to Vayne.io via API, which scrapes every profile from that search and returns a CSV with names, titles, companies, emails, and LinkedIn URLs.

Vayne.io handles up to 2,500 leads per order and automatically splits larger searches into batches. You don't have to manually split by city or state.

Cost: from $29/month for 10,000 leads.

Step 3: Apify Scrapes Recent Posts

For each LinkedIn URL from Vayne, the skill uses Apify to scrape that person's recent posts - the last 4 weeks of activity. This is what makes personalization possible. You know what they've been thinking about, announcing, and talking about.

Cost: ~$1-3 per 1,000 leads for scraping.

Step 4: Claude Writes the Connection Notes

Claude reads each lead's profile data and their recent posts, then writes a personalized connection note under 200 characters (LinkedIn's limit for connection request messages).

Rules baked into the skill:

  • Under 200 characters
  • Reference something specific they posted - a project, an announcement, an insight
  • If no relevant activity exists, skip personalization (don't force it with something generic)
  • Casual tone, sounds like a real person
  • Never say "I came across your profile" or "I saw your post about X" - sounds AI-generated
  • No em dashes
  • If they announced an achievement: "Congrats on [specific thing], I've been following you for a while - would love to connect"

Example outputs:

"Hey Ted, your persistence post really resonated - building my own venture and needed that reminder. Would love to connect."

"Your point about great candidates vs perfect resumes hits hard. See this all the time in staffing. Would love to connect Max."

"Hey Jennifer, love that you're sharing the SYP program - such a great way to get young people into the workforce."

Step 5: LinkedIn Helper Runs the Campaign (you do this)

You upload the CSV into LinkedIn Helper, a Chrome extension that controls your real browser session. It runs the full sequence on your account:

  1. Follow the profile
  2. Like and comment on their posts (makes your face familiar before you connect)
  3. Send connection request with your personalized note
  4. First follow-up if they accept but don't reply
  5. Second follow-up if still no reply
  6. End

LinkedIn Helper handles the timing, delays, and anti-detection automatically. It simulates real browsing behavior - scrolling profiles, natural pauses - not a headless bot.

Cost: $45/month (Pro tier - standard only allows 20 messages/day which isn't enough).

How to Use the Skill

/linkedin-outreach "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?..."

Pass your Sales Navigator URL. The skill will:

  1. Send it to Vayne, wait for scraping to complete
  2. Use Apify to scrape recent posts for each lead
  3. Generate connection notes for every lead
  4. Save a CSV to your output folder with all lead data + a connection_note column

You then upload that CSV to LinkedIn Helper to launch the campaign.

For large searches (1,000+ leads) processing takes several hours. Test with a small batch first (10-50 leads) to verify tone and quality before running the full list.

Before You Start

Two things need to be in place before this works.

1. LinkedIn Profile Optimization

Your profile is your landing page. When someone gets your connection request, the first thing they do is check your profile. A weak profile kills all your outreach, no matter how good your personalization is.

Quick checklist:

  • Professional headshot
  • Compelling headline (not just your job title)
  • About section that speaks to your ICP's problems
  • Recent activity - posts showing up on your profile
  • Featured section with social proof

Shortcut: take a screenshot of your profile and drop it into Claude with context about your business. It will rewrite everything.

2. Your SSI Score

Go to linkedin.com/sales/ssi and check your Social Selling Index. Aim for 70+. Below 60, LinkedIn limits you to 150 connection requests per week.

SSI measures how active and engaging your profile is. Posting consistently and engaging with others' content raises it. Check it daily - it updates in real time.

3. Stay Active

Post at least once every 3 days. LinkedIn deprioritizes inactive accounts. Engage daily - 5-10 posts, leave 2-3 meaningful comments. This can be automated separately.

Your ICP and Offer

Before running a single campaign, define:

Your ideal customer profile - who exactly you're targeting (industry, company size, job title, geography).

Your problem-solution hypothesis - the specific pain you solve and why they have it.

Your offer - a concrete, specific deliverable with a time period and a guarantee. Example: "I'll cut your candidate screening time by 75% in 14 days or you don't pay." Specific, time-bound, risk-free.

The more specific your ICP, the better your Sales Navigator filters, the better the leads, the better the personalization, the higher the reply rate. Everything flows from this.

The Follow-Up Strategy

The connection note is personalized. The follow-ups are static templates.

After they accept your connection request, the sequence is:

Follow-up 1 (if they accept but don't reply):

"Hey [first name], thanks for connecting. I've been going deep into [their industry] - would really appreciate your insights. What's your biggest bottleneck right now - is it [specific problem]? I've been working with a few [company type] on this and curious if you're seeing the same patterns."

Follow-up 2 (if still no reply):

"No worries if you're getting spammed - I can relate. Anyway, if you decide to share insights I'd really appreciate it. Also happy to show what we've been doing with [company type] - we basically [result] with a pretty simple AI setup. Doing it for free until you see real value."

The strategy: don't pitch in the connection note. Don't pitch in the first follow-up. The first message just asks if they have the problem. The second teases the result. If they still don't reply, stop. Anyone who hasn't replied in three touches isn't interested right now.

When someone does reply - take over the conversation yourself. The skill gets you to the first conversation. You close it.

Cost Summary

Vayne.io: from $29/month (10,000 leads). For API usage, you need a higher tier.

Apify scraping: ~$1-3 per 1,000 leads

Claude for notes: ~$0.06 per 10 leads (extremely cheap)

LinkedIn Helper Pro: $45/month

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: $120/month (1 month free trial)

Total for a 1,000-lead campaign: ~$15-20 in API costs plus subscriptions.

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