A few years into building Nemo Media Group, I got the kind of message every consultant tells themselves they’re hoping for.
“Hey John – I love what you’re doing on LinkedIn. Would you be open to coming out to my office and meeting with me and my team? We’d love to pick your brain about how you’d help us with lead generation.”
Game on.
I showered. I shaved. I put on a collared shirt and a pair of khakis – which, for me, is unusual enough that my sons asked if someone had died. (My standard work uniform is a t-shirt, a baseball hat, and pajama pants. If I wear anything with a collar around the house, my kids ask, “Dad, why are you all dressed up?”)
I drove 45 minutes through traffic. Stressed about being late. Couldn’t find parking. Raced up four flights of stairs sweating through the collared shirt. Sat down across from this guy and his team and proceeded to do what every consultant who hasn’t built a filter does:
I gave them my best stuff. For free. For 45 straight minutes.
Frameworks. Specific tactics. The exact language to use in their LinkedIn outreach. The pitfalls to avoid. Case studies of clients who’d done it before them. Page after page of what I would have charged real money to deliver in any other context.
At the end of the meeting, the guy stood up, shook my hand, and said the line that still rings in my ears years later:
“That was super helpful, John. Really appreciate you coming out. We’ll let you know if we ever decide to do anything with LinkedIn.”
Then I drove 45 minutes home.
In traffic.
In silence.
I’d just spent half a day giving away the kind of value that should have been a paid engagement to a guy who never had any intention of hiring me.
And here’s the worst part: I couldn’t even be mad at him. He’d done exactly what I’d invited him to do. I’d offered free expertise, in person, no commitment – so he’d taken free expertise, in person, with no commitment.
The problem wasn’t him. The problem was me. I didn’t have a filter.
The Pattern Most of Us Are Stuck In
If you’re a consultant or business owner trying to grow on LinkedIn, you’ve probably been on a version of this same call. Maybe not the literal drive across town. Maybe it was a “quick 30 minute Zoom.” Maybe it was a “free strategy session.” Maybe it was a “no pressure exploratory chat.”
Doesn’t matter. The result is the same:
- You spent the time.
- You gave away the value.
- They got educated.
- You got nothing.
The reason we let it happen is that we tell ourselves a comforting story. “It’s a chance to make a connection.” “It’s good practice.” “Maybe they’ll come back to me later.”
They don’t come back. Not the brain-pickers. They got what they came for.
I’d lost dozens of half-days over the years to that same pattern before I finally built a filter. I haven’t taken a meeting like that since.
The System That Replaced It Forever
The fix isn’t complicated. But it requires breaking one habit most of us find very hard to break: saying yes to every “quick chat.”
Here’s the system. I’ll walk you through it the way I built it.
Step 1: One online form stands between every prospect and my calendar.
Every person who wants to talk to me about LinkedIn lead generation – whether they reach out through my LinkedIn DMs, my website, a referral, or any other channel – gets sent the same short Typeform.
It’s about ten questions. Things like:
- What does your business do?
- What’s your current monthly revenue?
- What does a typical client engagement look like for you?
- Are you the decision maker?
- What have you tried already?
- What would a great outcome look like 90 days from now?
That’s it. Three minutes to fill out.
Step 2: I read the form before I book the call.
This is the part most consultants skip. They build the form, get the answers, and then book the call anyway because they’re nervous about losing the lead.
I read every single submission. If the answers don’t match the kind of clients we work with – if the math doesn’t math, if they’re not the decision maker, if they’re not in a position to actually move forward – I let them know that, and I point them to a free resource that’ll be more useful for where they are.
Nobody’s offended. The opposite, actually. Most of them write back and say something like, “Thanks for being honest – really appreciate you not wasting my time.”
Step 3: The people who DO get on my calendar are already 80% closed.
Because by the time someone hits a calendar slot with me, they’ve:
- Filled out the form (which means they’re motivated)
- Self-qualified on revenue, decision-making authority, and timeline (which means the math works)
- Read whatever pre-call content I send them (which means they already know what we do)
It’s not a “discovery call” anymore. It’s a conversation between two people who’ve both done their homework.
Why This Works (And Why It Feels Counter-Intuitive)
The instinct, when you’re trying to grow, is to take every meeting. More calls means more chances means more clients, right?
Wrong. More calls means more time burned on people who were never going to hire you – which means less time for the people who actually would.
Every “free coffee meeting” you take is time NOT spent:
- Talking to a real prospect who’s already raised their hand
- Building content that brings real prospects to you
- Doing the work for the clients you already have
Imagine the math. A half-day with a brain-picker costs you four hours and produces zero. A 30-minute call with a qualified prospect at your normal engagement size, at your normal close rate, produces real revenue. Every brain-picker meeting is real opportunity cost – whether you’ve ever calculated it or not.
You don’t need more meetings.
You need a filter.
Qualifying is not only about budget and timing either. Very often the person simply does not share the belief your offer rests on, which is a worldview problem rather than a lead quality problem.
The Bottom Line
I haven’t taken a “free coffee meeting” in years. Not because I’m too important. Because I respect my time, my prospects’ time, and the actual people who hire us enough to make sure they’re not subsidizing the brain-pickers.
If you’re tired of giving away your best ideas to people who never had any intention of hiring you – build a filter.
A simple form. A few questions. And the discipline to actually read the answers before you say yes.
It’s the single most valuable thing I’ve ever built into our process.
The next time someone asks if you’re “open to a quick coffee,” you’ll know exactly what to send them first.
Want Our Free LinkedIn Playbooks?
Five free LinkedIn playbooks that help you land better clients, book qualified calls, and build a predictable pipeline. Featuring the exact frameworks, strategies, and outreach systems our team uses with our “Done For You” clients every day. Grab your free playbooks here.
Want Done-For-You LinkedIn Lead Generation?
If you’d like to see if we’d be a fit to handle your LinkedIn lead generation for you, take 60 seconds to share a few details below and we’ll be in touch.