Link in with Louise Louise Brogan

I would like to reset the room for you today.
How do you currently view LinkedIn?
Somewhere people are constantly selling to you?
Does this sound familiar?

People are sending you spam messages. A lot of people seem to be using AI to write their posts You are tempted to download one of those third party plug in things others talk about - you know - they send automatic messages for you, find people and then all you have to do is get them on a call? You don't really have time to do this stuff so you just scroll through the feed and click the like button a few times  
What if it could be different? What if you looked forward to checking your LinkedIn? Catching up with your network, reading some interesting posts and maybe even attending a LinkedIn audio once a week?
We don't need to run before we can walk. I am not suggesting you start broadcasting a weekly live show yourself. But I would love you to feel comfortable posting once or twice a week. And every time you open the app on your phone, you recognise the person in the newsfeed and enjoy commenting on their content.
Shall we do this? I am going to write a series of newsletters aimed at helping you. The individual.  And record these accompanying podcasts.  

These newsletters are going to be based on a theme - how to approach LinkedIn as though it were your next in-person industry event.
We are not eating the whole elephant today - let's just start with the first step - preparation.
 
To subscribe to the newsletter - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/louisebrogan_linkedinwriting-newsletter-linkedinforrealpeople-activity-7162379067667795968-fFNl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
 
www.louisebrogan.com 

Gus Bhandal, the founder of M Guru, a digital marketing agency in central England, shares his journey from studying marketing in 1996, through various roles and experiences, to starting his agency in 2017.
 
His unique approach to leveraging social media for business growth, especially LinkedIn, has positioned him as a go-to expert in the field (in Birmingham ;)) Gus discusses his pivot from running a popular pub to focusing on digital marketing, emphasizing the importance of social media in attracting customers. As the pandemic increased reliance on digital platforms, Gus's expertise in LinkedIn became highly sought after, marking his deep dive into the platform around 2020.
 
Throughout the conversation, Gus shares valuable insights on LinkedIn's power in building communities, personal branding, and the significance of attending industry events for networking.
He also touches on Uplift Live, an upcoming LinkedIn-focused conference he's co-organizing, designed to delve deep into effective LinkedIn strategies with top experts in the field.
 
**Key Takeaways:** - Gus Bhandal's rich background in marketing and his transition from hospitality to digital marketing.
The impact of the pandemic on the surge in demand for LinkedIn training. - The essence of LinkedIn for professional networking and community building. - The significance of attending industry events for personal and business growth. - A preview of Uplift Live, the must-attend LinkedIn conference for deep strategic insights.  
 **For More Information:**
To learn more about Gus Bhandal and his work, find him on LinkedIn or visit the M Guru website. 
 
For those interested in attending Uplift Live and possibly securing a discount, visit [uplift-live.com](http://uplift-live.com) and mention being a friend of Louise. Join us in Birmingham on March 21st for Uplift Live for an immersive day of learning and networking with LinkedIn aficionados.

Join Louise Brogan and Mark Williams in a discussion on how to use LInkedIn in 2024
 
Mark Williams (commonly known as ‘Mr LinkedIn) is widely regarded as one of the world’s
top LinkedIn experts.
Following a career spanning 20 years in the recruitment industry Mark set up ETN
LinkedIn training in 2008. Since then he has trained thousands of LinkedIn users from a
diverse range of industries and roles.
He is also an accomplished keynote speaker, author and award winning podcaster with his
popular weekly show ‘LinkedInformed’.
Mark’s passion for his niche subject shines through as he enthusiastically demonstrates
why LinkedIn is such a key business tool.
Mark shares his journey from a 20-year career in recruitment to becoming a leading voice on leveraging LinkedIn for business development and networking. He debunks common misconceptions about the platform and emphasizes its value beyond just recruitment. Join us as we explore Mark's insights on the evolution of LinkedIn, its untapped potential for professional growth, and the importance of understanding its nuances for effective use today.
 
we dive into the challenges younger professionals face when engaging on LinkedIn. Mark highlights a common concern: the apprehension among the youth about what to contribute, stemming from a perceived lack of experience. He debunks this myth by emphasizing the value of opinions and curiosity over experience. Mark encourages younger users to initiate conversations, ask questions, and be visible on the platform, illustrating that engagement is not as daunting as it seems. Furthermore, the discussion touches on the psychological hurdle of posting for the first time, sharing personal anecdotes to reassure listeners that taking the first step is the key to overcoming fear. This episode offers practical advice for younger LinkedIn users to become more active and confident in navigating professional networking online.

LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/mrlinkedin
Email – mark@linkedinformed.com
 
Join our free webinar on March 5th, 2024 at www.louisebrogan.com/webinar 

Are you a professional looking to make the most of LinkedIn? In this episode, LinkedIn trainer and marketer Melanie Goodman joins me to talk about the world of LinkedIn and how to maximise your LinkedIn presence as a busy professional. We explore the benefits of Sales Navigator, the process for obtaining community Top Voice badges, and expert advice on professional posting strategies. Whether you’re a seasoned LinkedIn user or just getting started, this episode is full of valuable insights to boost your professional presence on the platform.

Encourage Your Professional Teams to Post on LinkedIn
Have a document or list in place that your team can refer to with posting guidelines Make posting and spending time a regular event in their schedule Explain that posting on LinkedIn is similar to in-person networking events

About Melanie Goodman
Melanie Goodman’s original career path involved practising law before emigrating to Switzerland in 2005. For the subsequent eight years, she worked in business development and social media marketing for both a large international law firm and a financial services company. This experience gave her the impetus to start her own LinkedIn marketing and training company, Trevisan. Trevisan assists businesses to achieve their goals by providing bespoke LinkedIn growth and visibility strategies.

How to Get The Badge
Melanie joins me to talk about how to use LinkedIn as someone in professional services. Solicitors, accountants, engineers, and anyone else working for large corporations – this episode is full of great tips relevant to your LinkedIn presence.

Before we dive into that conversation, we chat about the many benefits of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator platform. It has so many uses, including creating targeted marketing ads and helping you find the exact audience you want to speak to.

We also talk about the process for obtaining community Top Voice badges on LinkedIn and why they’re of benefit. They stay on your profile for 60 days… then it’s time to work towards another badge. Unfortunately, we can’t help you get LinkedIn’s blue verified badge as we don’t know the criteria for that – it’s a huge mystery!

LinkedIn Presence for Professionals
Okay, back to professionals! It can be tricky to navigate and decide what to post on LinkedIn. There is a balance between writing what’s on your mind, what your professional company approves of, and how to properly network on the platform. Melanie gives some great advice on what professionals can post, and she has a great resource linked below that can help.

In fact, getting employees to post on LinkedIn can be a marketing manager’s worst nightmare. However, scheduling time to network on the platform and providing a set guideline can be very helpful. Another tip is to explain that optimising and posting can increase the company's LinkedIn presence and lead to more overall company sales.

Finally, we discuss some of our predictions for what features will come on LinkedIn. One of the features we’d most love to see is an option to toggle on a sponsored or affiliate collaboration, much like you’d see on Instagram.

Professionals, what do you struggle with when it comes to posting consistently on LinkedIn? Please let me know in the comments!


In This Episode
How LinkedIn Sales Navigator can help create targeted marketing campaigns [4:30] What you need to know about Community Top Voices badges [8:45] What the blue badges on LinkedIn are [15:30] What professionals should post on LinkedIn [21:00] How marketing managers can get their teams to post on LinkedIn [25:30] Why companies who post on LinkedIn rank higher on search engines [28:45] Some predictions for the features LinkedIn will introduce in 2024 [30:15]
Links & Resources
The LinkTank
Trevisan (LinkedIn Training & Marketing - CPD Accredited) on LinkedIn

Find Melanie Goodman Online
Follow Melanie Goodman

Do you want to write better for your LinkedIn audience? This is the episode for you. I’m joined by professional writer and LinkedIn writing coach, Lynnaire Johnston, to discuss writing for LinkedIn. From the dangers of using AI to write for you to Lynnaire’s personal tips for writing better, we dive into all things writing. It’s time to make personal connections on LinkedIn through the written word.

Tips to Start Writing for LinkedIn
Start writing whatever’s on your mind, and you will eventually end up talking about what you want to talk about. Use short, simple words and sentences. Don’t use jargon or marketing terms. Have one idea per paragraph and one main idea per post. Have white space and multiple paragraphs. Don’t use hashtags in your post; it is confusing.

About Lynnaire Johnston
Lynnaire is considered to be a top 20 international LinkedIn expert and works with clients globally to help them leverage the power of LinkedIn to achieve professional success. She is the author of 2 books about LinkedIn, one a best-seller, the other listed by BookAuthority as a top LinkedIn book of all time. She is a regular guest on podcasts worldwide and hosts her own events – masterclasses, LinkedIn lives and LinkedIn audio rooms. 

Lynnaire is the founder of the Link∙Ability members site for those wanting to be successful on LinkedIn. Lynnaire and her team provide done-for-you and coaching/training services to individuals and companies globally.

Coming from a journalism and broadcasting background, Lynnaire has been a reporter, feature writer, magazine editor and copywriter for the majority of her career. She has written for industries as diverse as automotive, beauty, local authorities and not-for-profit. She founded her copywriting business, Word Wizard, in 2000 and began specialising in LinkedIn in 2016.

The Dangers of AI Writing
Lynnaire Johnston joins me to talk about how to write for LinkedIn. Especially with the rise in AI writing technologies, it’s important for people to understand the importance of human writers. While useful in some situations, AI writing is full of long sentences and far too much jargon. As Lynnaire says – reading it just makes her eyes glaze over.

The rising use of and reliance on AI writing will inevitably make people worse writers. But, especially on LinkedIn, using AI to write your posts and comments defeats the purpose of the platform. “We’re here on LinkedIn to develop relationships, get to know people, and build the know, like, and trust factor. So, how is AI going to help us do that if we are not communicating directly with our audience?”

Tips to Write for LinkedIn
If you’ve been turning to AI to help you write because you don’t know what to say, Lynnaire offers some great advice. Get your inspiration from your life and some of the things that happen to you; even carry a notebook around to take notes about your day. Then, just start to write. Even if you don’t know exactly what you want to write about, by writing about anything, you’ll eventually come to the point you want to make.

Lynnaire also shares the importance of consistent posting on LinkedIn. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what schedule you stick to. What matters is that you show up regularly. And, if you’re wondering how to become a better writer, Lynnaire says the best way to improve your writing is to read more.

How often do you post on LinkedIn? If you’re not consistent, what’s stopping you from posting regularly? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.



In This Episode
The dangers of AI writing [7:30] How AI is going to make people worse writers [10:15] How to get started writing [14:00] Where to get the inspiration to write for LinkedIn [21:30] The importance of being consistent on LinkedIn [27:00] How to improve your writing [30:45]

Links & Resources
Linkability the Book
Business Gold

Find Lynnaire John

LinkedIn is a powerful tool to find a new career – if you’re using it right. By updating and optimising your LinkedIn profile, utilising the ‘Open to Work’ option, connecting with the right people, and even investing in career coaching, you can really make LinkedIn work for you. In this episode, I’m joined by LinkedIn Career Coach, Sarah Burgess, to discuss the reality of LinkedIn recruitment, how companies can attract candidates, and why universities should promote LinkedIn.

The Top Three LinkedIn Mistakes from a Career Coach
Not having a clear profile picture. Having an unclear/misleading headline. Not having enough experience listed.

About Sarah Burgess
Sarah Burgess started Koru, a LinkedIn career coaching company, in 2003 after a restructure left her facing redundancy. She is a self-confessed ‘LinkedIn geek’ and loves talking to people about how they can work towards finding that role they’ve always wanted. When she’s not coaching others, you can find Sarah on a paddleboard or otherwise being active outside.

Career Coaching and Open To Work
Your LinkedIn profile picture and headline are two of the most important things you can optimise on your profile. These, along with your experience section, are what LinkedIn recruiters look at when actively seeking candidates for potential job openings. Sarah recommends optimising these three sections of your profile if you’re looking for new career opportunities.

Sarah also recommends using the ‘Open to Work’ option if you’re actively seeking a new role. Not only does this signify to recruiters that you’re a potential candidate, you can also write a message about the type of role you’re interested in and why you’re leaving your current role. You can also use the #OpenToWork hashtag, which will increase your posts’s reach and show it to more people in their news feeds. Sarah also recommends tweaking your profile regularly.

How Companies Can Attract Top Talent
Companies can also optimise their company pages to become more attractive to potential candidates. Writing a compelling about section helps give a good company overview. It really is about selling yourself as a company, too – posting as your company page and generally being active. If you’re posting jobs, Sarah says to be transparent. List the salary and provide a contact at the company for candidates to speak to.

Finally, we talk about the use of AI on LinkedIn. From the built-in AI features to how AI is becoming more useful in career coaching and recruitment, the use of AI is not going away. It will only get more prominent, especially since LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. We ended our discussion with how and why universities and students need to use LinkedIn in their career search.

Have you used a career coach to help you find new opportunities on LinkedIn? How do you make sure your profile is optimised and updated regularly? If you’re a company, how do you make sure you stand out to potential candidates? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.


In This Episode
Why your LinkedIn headline should reflect your job title [13:00] When to use the ‘Open to Work’ option on LinkedIn [13:30] Why your Experience section is more important to career coaches and recruiters [17:00] The benefits of using the ‘Open to Work’ option [18:30] How companies can use their company page to attract talent [21:00] The role of AI in recruitment on LinkedIn [24:45] How universities and students can use LinkedIn for career opportunities [30:00]
Links & Resources
Find Sarah Burgess Online
Follow Sarah Burgess on LinkedIn

Find Louise Brogan Online
Follow Louise Brogan on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube