The first message has one job: prove you are a person who read the thing. Everything else can wait.
The structure
- Why you are writing, tied to something they actually said. One sentence.
- The useful thing. Specific enough that it could not be copy-pasted to anyone else.
- One line of context about you, only if it makes the useful thing credible.
- No ask. Genuinely none.
What to cut
- Anything beginning "I hope this finds you well."
- Your company boilerplate.
- A calendar link.
- The phrase "quick call".
Length
A connection note is capped at three hundred characters, which is a useful constraint even when you are sending a full message. If it does not fit in a screen without scrolling, it will not be read on a phone, which is where it will be read.
In Leadhabit: templates fill in their name, headline, and the post that started it, and the character count tells you whether it still fits an invite note.
Start the habit this week.
Install it, run one search, and save five people. That is the whole first session.