From Zero to Booked Calls on LinkedIn (in 7 Days): A Playbook for AI, OpEx, and CI Consultants

You don’t need months of daily posts to get traction on LinkedIn—especially if you sell expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Operational Excellence (OpEx), or Continuous Improvement (CI). You need crisp positioning, a credible profile, and a smart way to “borrow” audiences before you have your own.

Below is a 7-day, do-this-now plan tailored to consultants like you.

Day 1: Position Around a “Monday Morning Problem”

People don’t buy your title; they buy outcomes that fix their week. Reframe your headline and About section to a single, tangible business pain your ideal buyer actually wakes up to on Monday.

Pick a buyer & problem:

• Plant Manager: Scrap spiking on Line 3 → misses weekly throughput target

• COO / VP Ops: OEE stalled at 62% despite multiple kaizens

• Supply Chain Director: Expedites + stockouts destroying OTIF

• IT/OT Director: Data everywhere, no trusted ops dashboard

• CFO: Cost to serve is opaque; margin erosion hidden in variance

• CX/Service Leader: AHT down but NPS slipping; broken handoffs

Headline formula (fill in):
I help [role] achieve [measurable outcome] by [your method] — without [common hassle]

Examples

• AI Consultant: “I help COOs cut unplanned downtime 15–25% with AI vision—without rewriting your MES.”

• OpEx Leader: “I help Plant Managers lift OEE +8–12 pts in 90 days using a focused improvement sprint.”

• CI Coach: “I help Service Ops reduce rework 30% with A3 problem-solving—without hiring.”

Day 2: Make Your Profile “Decide in 5 Seconds” Ready

Visuals are processed faster than text. Make your photo look like someone a VP would trust and your headline read like a crisp promise.

• Upload a clean, well-lit headshot; simple background.

• Banner: one metric + one proof (“OEE +9.4 pts in 12 weeks | 3 plants”).

• About: 3 parts—Problem → Proof → Path (your steps).

• Call to action: “Message me ‘OEE’ for a 2-page playbook.”

Day 3: Build a Warm List with “Trust Stacking”

Skip brute-force cold DMs. Instead, map affinity groups you already share with buyers.

On paper (yes, really): Draw a life timeline; add vertical lines for…

• Employers, clients, vendors, and partners

• Universities, certifications (Six Sigma, TPM, AWS, MBB, etc.)

• Cities/regions you’ve worked in (plants, DCs)

• Associations & communities (SME, ASQ, APICS, MHI, ISA)

Now search LinkedIn for each bucket and connect with decision-makers through those overlaps. Expect very high acceptance when your note references the specific commonality.

Connection note (12–18 words):
“Fellow [ASQ Black Belt / ex-CEMEX] here—noticed your work on throughput. Happy to connect.”

Day 4: Send the “Non-Needy” First Message

Set a high-status frame by not asking for anything.

First DM (keep it one line):
“Great to connect, [Name]—looking forward to learning more about [their plant/initiative].”

No pitch. No link. No calendar. This earns you the second message.

Day 5: Pin Social Proof Before You Scale Reach

When new people check your profile, show proof they can’t miss.

• Turn on Creator Mode and Featured.

• Pin two carousel listicles that deliver fast value.

Carousel ideas (steal these):

1. “10 Hidden Causes of OEE Loss You Can Fix in Two Weeks”

2. “7 AI Automations That Pay Back in 60 Days (Manufacturing & Logistics)”

3. “The A3 Checklist: 9 Errors That Kill Root Cause”

4. “Cost Deployment on a Page: Where Your Margin Is Leaking”

Each slide = 1 idea + 1 line of “how to” + 1 metric to watch.

Day 6: Borrow Audiences with Comments (Not Posts)

LinkedIn primarily shows content to first-degree networks. If you’re new, posting daily is yelling into an empty room. Comment to get seen by thousands fast.

Who to comment on (two lanes):

1. Big voices (>100k followers) in ops/AI/leadership that your buyers already follow. Turn on notifications; be early.

2. Rising executives (1k–5k followers)—CEOs/VPs starting personal brands. Your thoughtful support gets noticed and often turns into DMs → discovery calls.

Two comment styles that work:

• Motivational (short, additive):
  “Love this. We lifted changeover success 18% just by making ‘first piece good’ a metric the team saw hourly.”

• Mini-advice (client-level):
  “If you’re stuck at 60–65% OEE, try mapping micro-stoppages separately from speed loss. In one mill, micro-stops were 48% of total loss. Fix was a 20-min SMED preflight.”

Aim for 5–10 meaningful comments/day. Treat them like micro-posts.

Day 7: Convert Attention into Conversations

New profile views and replies will appear. Now earn permission to diagnose.

Second DM (value first):
“Saw you’re rolling out more changeovers next quarter. If helpful, I can send our 1-pager on ‘First-Piece-Good in 15 min’—no opt-in.”

If they say yes, send the asset. Third DM (soft CTA):
“If you want, we can spend 15 min mapping your top two loss buckets—happy to share what we see elsewhere.”

Assets You Can Prep in One Afternoon

• 1-page teardown: “Why your A3s stall at ‘analysis’ (and how to move to countermeasures).”

• Before/after sheet: 3 client snapshots (metric → intervention → result).

• ROI calculator: Simple model for OEE/OTIF or rework reduction.

• Playbook PDF: “90-Day Focused Improvement Sprint (8 steps).”

Guardrails (Stuff to Avoid)

• Linking your content in the first DM

• Long “war stories” about your career (save for Featured)

• Generic claims without numbers

• Asking for a call before they’ve accepted any value

Your 45-Minute Daily Checklist

• 10 min: Send 10 affinity-based connection requests

• 20 min: Leave 5 substantive comments + 3 short motivational ones

• 10 min: Reply to DMs/profile views; offer one relevant asset

• 5 min: Track metrics (see below)

Metrics That Matter (Week 1 Targets)

• Connection acceptance rate: 45–70% (affinity-based)

• Meaningful comments/day: 5–10

• Profile views/day: 20–50 by Day 7

• Inbound replies: 3–7/week

• Booked chats: 2–4/week (from helpful assets, not hard pitches)

Templates You Can Copy

Headline:
“I help [role] achieve [metric outcome] in [timeframe] with [method]—without [hassle].”

About (Problem → Proof → Path → CTA):
“Most plants plateau at 60–65% OEE because micro-stoppages hide in averages. We’ve helped 14 sites add 6–12 pts in a quarter. Our 8-step sprint isolates top loss buckets in 10 days, fixes the constraint, then locks the gain with visual controls. Message me ‘OEE’ for the 2-page playbook.”

Connection Note:
“Fellow [shared affinity]—noticed your [initiative]. Would love to connect.”

First DM:
“Great to connect, [Name]—keen to follow your [initiative].”

Second DM (value offer):
“If useful, I can send a 1-pager on [problem]—no opt-in.”

Third DM (soft CTA):
“Happy to map your top two loss buckets in 15 min and share benchmarks.”

Final Word

For AI/OpEx/CI consultants, momentum on LinkedIn isn’t about posting more—it’s about positioning tightly, signaling credibility, and entering rooms where buyers already are. Do that for a week, and you’ll stop being invisible.