Stef Curcio

Growth Marketing Manager

LinkedIn client acquisition in <​15 mins/day | Trusted by the top 1% of LinkedIn’s Creators

“We don't have time to send DMs and create content”

This is the #1 LinkedIn lead generation problem for founders and teams.

- Some companies we’ve worked with have seen revenue boosts of up to 327% in <90 days -

⭐Some people who trust our services:
- Jasmin Alic (290k+ followers)
- Richard Van Der Blom (220k+ followers)
- Okoye Chinelo (150k+ followers)

… and many others.

Most businesses know they should have a DM strategy in place…

But let’s be real...

most people do not have time for this!

(And everyone hates DMs)

But LinkedIn lead generation comes hard for many for mainly 3 reasons:

1) Don’t know how to start a conversation
2) You are used to annoying pitch slaps
3) Have better things to do

We simply do this for you.

**Scale Acqusition**:

A system of AI agents that generates clients on autopilot

*Including*

✅Content Agent
✅Lead validator Agent
✅DMs Generator Agent
✅Appointment setter Agent

🔒**Safe:**
Avoid annoying account restrictions.

👬**Don’t burn through leads:**
Avoid the pray and spray approach.

⏱️**Timeline from start to results:**
Start to see 20%-50% reply rate in 14-21 days.


📈Case studies:

- Trevor Longino, Founder - Crowd Tamers, GTM agency: +$44k in revenue in 30 days
- Gal Agadi, Founder - Gravity, Content agency: +$90k in sales in 40 days
- Beatrice Vladut, Founder - B Branded, Branding: Doubled sales calls in 30 days
- Justin Fowler-Lindner, Founder - The Rose Garden, Lead generation agency: +12 clients in 90 days


✍️How to start:

Copy and paste the URL below to get and learn how to generate clients in <15 minutes a day:

https://bit.ly/15-min-acqusition

Founder

The FREE community for entrepreneurs that want to master Elegant Lead Generation

Join at: 

stefcurcio.com

A lead went quiet after our call 6 months ago.

What I did not do: I did not panic.

I didn't send three follow-ups asking:
"Did you see my message?"

I didn't assume they forgot about me.

Instead, I did something different.

( I use 2 tools for this: Extrovert and Kondo: Superhuman for LinkedIn DMs)

I added them to a nurturing track in Extrovert.

Every other month, I comment on their content.

Nothing pushy.

Just genuine observations.

Then, six months later, I started a reactivation sequence.

(You can do it after 60-90 days)

Four thoughtful comments on their posts.

Then a personalized message referencing something real:

A previous conversation, a commonality, a trigger that made sense.

(Extrovert suggests DMs from previous DM conversations)

The message wasn't about my offer.

It was about them.

Simple. Conversational. Human.

AI-generated, edited by me.

Here's what happened.

They replied.

They said things were going well, but timing still wasn't right.

That honest feedback was worth more than a forced follow-up.

Because I didn't push.

I stayed present.

I added value.

I found natural connection points.

And the relationship developed at its own pace.

Most people chase quiet leads.

They send aggressive follow-ups.

They assume silence means disinterest.

But silence usually means timing, interest level, or something that didn't click.

Not that they forgot you.

So here's my philosophy.

Stay consistent.

Add value.

Find natural connection points.

Let the relationship develop.

That's the conversation you want.

Not a forced yes.

Just honest, direct communication.

Build your follow-up system around respect, not pressure.

I periodically go to Kondo...

And I see who the leads are, I tagged as "Meeting scheduled" that did not convert...

And add them to my reactivation sequence.

That is how I like to reactivate dormant leads without pressure.

P.S. How do you resume conversations with dormant leads?

There is a misconception in outreach.

It's that you can convert ANY lead.

A common question I get in Link Up is:

"How do I get this lead on a call?"

(followed by a screenshot of the convo)

And most of the time, my answer is:

"You can't".

❌Typically, it's because they either:

- Lost the lead at some point in the conversation
- The lead was never interested

You cannot get any leads to become interested...

And get them on a call.

✅But you can:

- Get an interested lead on a call
- Activate dormant interest and get the lead on a call

But at some point during the conversation...

The lead has to show some level of interest.

Outreach is not black magic.

You do not pronounce a secret combination of words...

And people magically buy.

It's about talking to the right people to diagnose a level of interest...

And if it's there, you move the conversation forward.

Otherwise, you move on to the next lead.

P.S. I you want to get started with outreach, get my training by clicking here - for free: https://lnkd.in/g75c3ypS

You do not need AI to grow on LinkedIn.

I say this against my "financial" interest.

You can run a very profitable business...

With no AI involved.

And who says the opposite simply:

- Does not know how to grow a biz without AI
- Is trying to get you to buy their products

My business involves AI fairly heavily nowadays.

(I share how to run client acquisition in 15 mins/d here: https://lnkd.in/g75c3ypS)

But I got 47 clients in year one with no AI involved.

(each paying anywhere between €600 to €6k)

Here is where I see AI as the biggest opportunity for LinkedIn:

- Validation of leads
- Getting 24/7 consulting and support
- Saving a bunch of time for various tasks

That you can use when needed.

It's handy to have a bunch of agents and GPTs...

Created by some experts that can help you move forward when you get stuck at 7 pm on a Friday night.

(They do not replace the experts, but can be a good approximation)

Now, my biz proposition is to get client acquisition down to 15 min/d...

But most of my clients do not aim for that.

Although that being possible...

They prefer to automate some tasks...

While running others manually or with the support of AI...

But ultimately, having the ultimate "editing power" themselves.

And that is why in my programs, I accommodate both kinds of customers.

What I ultimately say is this:

If AI sounds like a fun opportunity, dive into it.

If it's not, keep things manual.

Either way, it can work for you as long as it resonates :)

P.S. Unrelated pic of some tonkatsu I had for dinner a couple of nights ago, because why not hehe :)

One thing AI can help ANY creator with:

Expand your network.

It's very simple:

1) Get AI to qualify leads to fit your ICP.
2) Get a list of qualified leads.
3) Send blank connections.

Now, you have 7-12 new connections that fit your ICP.

You can do it with 0 automations on your profile.

P.S. Make the validation process OUTSIDE of your profile, so it's safe.

P.S.S. Yes, I uploaded an unrelated pic of me eating an ice cream at the SPA in Japan, because why not hehe

I have doubts that the current AI will ever reach human intelligence.

I have used AI for 2+ years now.

And prompting agents for 9 months.

- I do not see AI getting closer to human intelligence.

Yes, the general quality of output has increased.

And it understands my instructions a little better...

However, to maximize it, you still need:

- Expertise in the subject
- Prompting skills

And that has not changed since I first used it.

Now, I am an AI user and not an expert.

My legitimate question is:

"What if all the AI will replace humans is another story to scare people into buying into it?"

Now, I have a community...

And I use AI to create tools for my clients.

I give them a virtual team of collaborators that...

They would spend $2-5k+ to hire just 2-3 years back.

And that is amazing.

(And real fun to set up for me 😊)

But I still see soft skills and...

Being a decent human being...

Being extremely valuable in business in the foreseeable future.

P.S. Am I crazy?

I used to spend 2 hours in Canva.

For every workshop. 

Hunt for the right icons.
I'd fiddle with fonts. 
Adjust spacing.

And usually I would go back t editing at least 1-2 times.

Back to Canva. 
More tweaking. 
More time invested.

Then I discovered tools like Gamma.

However, it always "felt like AI".

The reason why I like the Relevance AI slide builder is that it is simple.

"Like I used to make it in Google Slides."

Now, I upload my workshop outline...

Gave it one simple prompt: "Create a slide presentation."

And it built the entire deck in minutes.

Not hours. 

Minutes.

It's good.

And it feels human.

Clean. Professional. Visually coherent.

And if I have edits to make...

I ask AI to make edits directly on the slide I want to change.

"Change the title to LinkedIn DM outreach flow."

"Make it more visual."

Done.

No Canva. No design skills. No full-time designer.

Just my brain + the tool.

And suddenly, I had a beautiful presentation ready to deliver.

Click here to test it for free:
https://lnkd.in/gBntkEAy.

Brand partnership • LinkedIn client acquisition in <​15 mins/day | Trusted by the top 1% of LinkedIn’s Creators

How I create slide decks in <10 min

I strongly dislike DMs.

(Would rather do almost anything else 🤣 )

That is why I focused on building a system that removes me from them.

But let's be honest.

DMs are important.

Both to get results in the short and long term.

And are especially important if you are selling high-ticket products...

($2-5k+)

And do not have strong leverage through your brand.

Or a well-polished offer that sells itself.

You need them to generate trust.

But outreach is a fairly complex game...

That revolves around understanding the needs of the people you are talking with.

And getting started can be tricky.

What to write in the content...

What DM angle to use...

Whom should you DM...

How to position your profile...

Might be easy questions to answer for an expert.

But difficult for a beginner.

P.S. That is why I launched the Positioning and Prospecting Blueprint sessions. Grabs yours here: https://lnkd.in/ggtKqKU6

Most teams fight to hit 10% DM reply.

I consistently average 30-40%+.

Most teams are sending cold DMs to people who've never heard of them.

So the message lands in a sea of noise.

But what if they already knew your name before you hit send?

That changes everything.

Building familiarity. 
I started warming up accounts first. 
Making sure my name was familiar before the ask landed.

The reality: reply rates have dropped across the board.

What worked six months ago rarely moves the needle today.

But one strategy continues to outperform:

Increasing recognition and familiarity before the first message ever lands.

Simple in theory. Difficult to operationalize.

This Thursday, I am going to show the exact playbook live.

This workshop shows the full system behind it.

What we are covering:
The warm-up sequence that turns DMs into conversations
How to build lists of people who actually use LinkedIn
5 messaging frameworks with real examples

Who it is for:

Founders running their own outbound and wanting higher reply rates without sounding sales-driven.

Sales leaders looking for a process their reps will actually use.

Agency owners whose clients’ cold campaigns are underperforming>

SDRs/AEs wanting more replies with less manual effort.

Event details:
📅 Thursday, January 22nd
🕓 4pm CET / 10am EST

Register here: https://luma.com/cfnrire5
If you can’t attend live, register and you’ll receive the recording.

Denis Acia

Co-Founder at SaasFluence | B2B Influencer Marketing for SaaS Brands

I’m Denis, Co-Founder of SaasFluence

We’re an influencer marketing agency helping B2B tech brands drive demand and visibility by partnering with LinkedIn influencers.

Currently — with over 200 influencers, we manage influencer marketing programs for B2B sales tech companies like Maildoso, Icypeas, Saleshandy, Fowla, and others.

Why We Started SaasFluence

Before SaasFluence, I ran an outbound agency, Applus Leads. Through that experience, we worked with some incredible B2B tech brands — companies with fantastic products and real value to offer. But despite outbound efforts (cold calls and cold emails), they weren’t getting the traction they deserved.

A big reason?

Their LinkedIn presence and engagement were minimal. Most had only a few hundred page followers and very little visibility in the market.

That lack of recognition made it hard to convert cold leads. Without social proof or brand mentions, prospects were hesitant to engage — especially in the highly competitive sales tech space.
What they really needed was a new approach — one that would:

1. Build credibility
2. Earn trust
3. And drive demand by establishing them as trusted solutions in the market.

That’s where SaasFluence comes in.

Our mission;
To help B2B tech brands leverage influencer marketing to drive demand, increase sales, and grow.

How We Can Help

☑ If you’re a B2B tech founder or business leader with an influencer marketing budget of at least $10K/month,
 ☑ And you don’t have the time to run campaigns or manage influencer partnerships,
We’ll handle it for you.

We’ve launched thousands of LinkedIn-sponsored campaigns, and our clients are seeing exceptional ROI.

If you’re curious, DM me and I’ll share a few of our client case studies so you can learn more about our systems and results.

Or, visit our website to explore further:
 👉 www.saasfluence.co

Lead Generation Partner - Outbound

If my team replies to my Slack messages in 30 seconds I get a little bit worried about our work.

In most agencies everybody feels a pressure to stay active so the boss thinks they are working hard. 

You feel like if you do not answer a DM immediately you might look like you are slacking off. 

But I think that culture is a mistake.

If you are answering me in 30 seconds it means you were not in the zone. You were just waiting to be interrupted. 

A brain cannot do its best work if it is getting interrupted every few minutes.

Tell your team to turn off notifications for a few hours and disappear. Go do hard stuff that requires deep thinking. 

I would much rather wait two hours for a brilliant strategy than get a "On it!" in three seconds.

Remember that you hired adults because you trust them to do the job. You do not need to watch their status bubble to see if they are sitting at their desk.

If your team is answering too fast they might be losing the chance to do their best work.

Fast reply or good work - what matters more to you?

Don't follow up with your prospects today. Trust me on this.

It is the first week of January. Everyone just got back to their desks. I know for a fact their inboxes are a total war zone right now. They have 300 unread emails. Maybe 500. 

They are stressed and they are just trying to survive the morning.

If you send them an email right now saying "just bubbling this up," you are not being a good salesperson. You are just annoyance number 301. 

I like to give people what I call Grace Week. Just give them some room to breathe. Let them delete all the junk and get back to normal life.

I am waiting until next Tuesday. When I reach out, I will tell them I waited because I knew their inbox was probably a mess. 

It shows you have some empathy. It shows you care about their sanity more than your quota.

People appreciate it when you don't act like a robot chasing a number.

Are you sending emails today or are you waiting?

I spent 3 months sending emails to SaaS founders who didn’t have a budget until I found this.

I used to spend a lot of my outbound efforts guessing. I would find a SaaS company through Sales Nav, find the CEO, and send them a pitch for our influencer services. 

Sometimes they replied. Most of the time they didn't. 

Then Matthew from Prospeo.io showed me what they built for their V2 update. It was crazy. 

I finally stopped searching for "companies" and started searching for "signals."

Here is how I use it now for Saasfluence:

→ I set a filter to only show me SaaS companies hiring for marketing roles.
→ I check the "Technographics" to see if they already use tools like HubSpot.
→ I also check "Intent Signals" to see companies that are researching Linkedin marketing.

This changes the whole game for me.

If a company is hiring a marketing leader (or other related roles), I know three things for sure:

1. They have a massive problem they need to solve.
2. They have the budget to pay for a solution.
3. My timing is perfect because they are already thinking about growth.

The data is refreshed every 7 days and 98% of the emails are verified. I don't even scrub the list anymore!

I’m moving almost all our internal searches over to Prospeo.io now because it saves me so much time on cleaning CSV files.

Swipe through the carousel to see how I set this up and the exact email template I use.

I’ll put a link in the comments if you want to try Prospeo.io yourself.

Signal based outreach

Is work-life balance just a lie we tell people so they don’t quit?

I have been looking at my own life lately and I see a pattern that makes me a bit angry. 

Every single time Saasfluence is winning and we are managing MORE clients, my health automatically goes into low priority mode.

I skip the gym and I eat whatever is near me because my brain is always on the next meeting.

Then I get tired of feeling slow and I focus on my fitness. I spend more effort on my health and I eat clean. 

And what happens? My to-do list piles up. I am not pushing the business as hard because my energy is somewhere else.

I'm starting to think you can't have every area of your life in the green at the same moment.

I see these influencers on Linkedin say "My work is my life.” If you spend 14 hours every day building a company, doesn't something else need to die?

Maybe it is your relationship with your kids or your physical health. You only have so much energy in the tank.

Does anybody here have it all figured out? Are you winning at health, money, family, and work at the same time? 

Or are we all just choosing which part of our life we are going to neglect this week?

(Please no AI comments below. I want to hear from humans.)

I used to spend 4 hours a day on LinkedIn trying to grow. Now I use these 4 tools to do it in 45 minutes:

Trigify.io → I use this to find social signals. I don't message random people anymore because that is a waste of time. 

I find people who are leaving comments on my favorite niche thought leaders. These people are already interested in what I'm interested in. Higher chances of converting them.

Extrovert → I used to spend forever thinking of what to say on 20 different posts every day. This tool helps me stay active in the comments. 

It keeps my name visible where my customers are hanging out and I don't lose my mind doing it.

MagicPost → When my brain feels like a dry sponge and I have no ideas, I open this. I don't let it write for me. That is a mistake. 

I use it to kickstart my drafts. I can get a post done in 30 minutes instead of an hour of staring at a blank screen.

Aimfox → This is the heavy lifter for the DMs. Once the other three tools have warmed up my profile and people recognize my name, I use Aimfox. 

It handles outreach at a scale I could never do by hand.

The point is not to use bots to manage my Linkedin. These tools just let me be more human faster. 

I spend less time on boring stuff and more time talking to people who can grow the business.

How much time do you spend on LinkedIn every day?

I have a confession: I am not passionate about B2B influencer marketing.

Do not get me wrong. I love my team and our clients say we do great work…

But I do not wake up every morning dreaming about creator briefs or looking at invoices for software.

I think gurus tell founders a big lie. They say you must be obsessed with your product. 

You must live and breathe your niche every second and I think that’s totally unnecessary.

What I am obsessed with is getting our clients a win. I like when a founder tells me their sales calls are finally converting because of the work we did.

I love the game of building a company. I love finding great people and making a plan and seeing it succeed. The "thing" we sell is just the car we drive to get to the goal.

It is okay to not be in love with the tool. It’s okay to just be in love with the results you get for people.

We shame founders who are not obsessed with their specific niche and it just makes people feel like they are doing it wrong. It’s fine to just love the win.

Are you in love with the product or are you in love with the game?

I found a way to stop the "Day 1" onboarding chaos with one single link.

Do you send an email asking for your client's logo? Then another email with a Google Form? Then another one asking them to book a kickoff call?

The client is already overwhelmed and you haven't even started the work yet.

We stopped doing that. We use a tool called Flowla and we create one "Onboarding Room" for everything.

Here is exactly what we put inside:

→ A 30-second welcome video:

Record it right there in the room. Say "Welcome! Everything you need to get started is right here."

→ A checklist:

They see a list of what they need to do and what we are doing. They know exactly what is happening next so you never have to send "just checking in" emails.

→ An intake form:

We embed a form in the page. No PDFs to download. They fill in their KPIs and their target audience and we get it instantly.

→ A calendar link:

Our Cal(dot)com link is sitting at the bottom. They book the kickoff call as the final step.

→ An upload section:

We ask them to drag and drop everything into the room. It keeps our inbox clean.

We send one link. 

The client feels like they hired a professional team instead of a messy freelancer. It sets the tone for the whole relationship.

Do you have a smooth onboarding process or is it a mess of emails?

fix your onboarding

Why does a lead from a creator close 3x faster than a cold lead?

It’s because of "Distance to Trust."

When you get a cold lead the distance is very long.

Path A:

It starts with a Stranger. Then you send a cold email. They feel scepticism. 

You have to do 3 demo calls to prove you can solve their problem. You earn trust and you close.

That path takes a lot of time.

The distance shrinks when you try to convert a lead from a trusted creator’s post.

Path B:

It starts with a stranger. But then they see a creator's post. The creator hands their trust over to you. 

The prospect comes to you already believing in the product. You do 1 discovery call and you close.

Influence is a shortcut.

Do you want the long path or the shortcut?

I think most of us on LinkedIn are aiming at the wrong target and here’s why…

We look at viral posts and think "I need to post about how to get 10k followers."

Or we post generic advice about "how to be a better leader."

We are fighting for attention at the very top of the pyramid.

It is crowded there and honestly, there is not much money in it.

The "money" is hidden at the bottom of the pyramid.

It is where people are looking for boring solutions to boring business problems.

A post about "How to get 100 likes" might get you a dopamine hit. But a post about "How to fix a messy CRM so your sales team stops quitting" might get you 10 likes.

But 3 of those likes are from CEOs who have that exact problem right now. And they have a budget to fix it.

If you want to be a famous creator, stay at the top. If you want to build a business, go to the bottom and solve a boring problem.

Do you post for likes or for leads?

If you are a SaaS founder, here is how you make one creator post last for months...

I see this all the time. A brand pays a lot of money for a creator to post. The post goes live, it gets some likes for a day, and then it is gone.

This makes the math very hard for your business because you paid a lot for something that only lasted 24 hours.

You need to turn that one post into a content engine. Try using this playbook:

Day 1: 

You do the obvious stuff. The creator answers every comment. You share it to your company page. You make sure everyone sees it.

Day 7: 

Take the main lesson from that post and put it in your email to your users. Tell them a story about why this creator uses your tool. It feels more human than a standard marketing email.

Day 14: 

You take the video or the image from the creator. You run it as a paid ad.

It looks like a friendly recommendation instead of a boring commercial. Usually your cost per click goes down.

Day 30: 

When someone books a demo on your site, show them that creator's video on the thank you page. Tell them "While you wait for our call, see how this person uses us." 

Day 40:

Write a simple blog post on your site. Title it "How [Creator Name] solved this big problem using our tool." You are just telling their story again.

You paid for the post once. But now you are getting value for more time, and you can repeat this playbook for all creator posts.

Are you reusing your creator content?

Creator marketing tactics

Before I started my influencer marketing agency, I did cold emails for SaaS clients.

And I found one framework that worked for pretty much any tool I was selling.

Here is the exact structure I used to book hundreds of meetings:

1. Salutation

"Hey [Name]" is fine. 

2. Relevant Personalization

This is where everyone messes up. Do not just say "I saw you went to X college." That is weird. You need to connect the observation to the problem you solve.

Example: "I noticed you run a pay-per-meeting model at your agency. That means you cannot afford to waste credits on bad data, right?"

See? I am proving I understand their business model.

3. The Offer

Connect it right back to the personalization. Tell them why you are emailing them now.

Example: "Asking because we just launched a new verification feature at [Tool Name]. It helps you find verified emails without burning your credits on the wrong people."

4. Social Proof

Give them a reason to trust you. A number or a name works best.

Example: "We are already helping 50 other lead gen agencies keep their bounce rates under 1%."

5. CTA

Do not ask for marriage. Just ask if the topic is relevant.

Example: "Would this be relevant to you right now?"

That is it. 

What is your go-to cold email framework?

I haven't used this tool yet, but I'm obsessed with the idea behind it.

When one of our creators puts out a post, we see the likes and comments. But we have to spend hours reading through hundreds of comments just to see if people like the price or if they like feature X.

I saw Trigify.io and it looks like it can fix this mess. 

One thing I want to do is sentiment analysis. I want the tool to tell me if everyone is complaining about a specific part of the dashboard. 

Instead of me guessing, I can get a clear report on what the market hates. That is pure gold for a product team.

The other part is even more crazy. They say they can connect social signals to your pipeline. 

If I can show a client that a single comment from a prospect led to a closed deal in their CRM... that is holy grail.

Right now, the link between a LinkedIn comment and a dollar is very blurry. I think this might be the tool that finally makes it clear. 

Do you track the sentiment of your comments or count the likes?

Sending a cold connection request to a stranger is just weird.

If a random person stops you on a dark street you get nervous. Most LinkedIn requests feel like that. 

You get a notification from a face you never saw before and you probably hit delete because you have zero clue who they are.

We use a method I call the Shadow Strategy. We use a tool called Extrovert for it and it has changed everything for our team.

→ I pick 50 people I want to work with.
→ I add their names into Extrovert.
→ Every time they post anything the tool sends me a notification.
→ I leave a helpful comment within the first hour of them posting.

I do this about three times in two weeks. I'm not trying to sell them anything yet. I'm just sharing my thoughts on their ideas.

When I finally send the connection request they already know who I am. 

They see my name and they think 'hey this guy has been leaving some good comments'. It is not a cold request anymore.

Our acceptance rate is about 60 percent (for prospects).

You spend 15 minutes a day doing this and your outreach stops being an intrusion.

Do you message strangers or do you let them get to know you first?

taplio

The Battle

Stef Curcio

Denis Acia

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taplio

The Battle

Stef Curcio

Denis Acia

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Stef Curcio's LinkedIn Performance

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreStef Curcio's LinkedIn Performance