How I Got Started LinkedIn Training

Have you ever 'accidentally' fallen into your area of brilliance? It wasn't something you were looking for? It just all kinda happened?

Well, that's how I fell into LinkedIn training. That's how all my businesses happened. I was in the right place at the right time to not just recognize the opportunity when everything aligned perfectly, but to take action, as well.

Yep, becoming a LinkedIn trainer was purely a lovely accident of the 'stars' aligning.

My Early Years On LinkedIn

Back when I jumped onto the LinkedIn platform in mid to late 2017, I was looking for a new place to find leads for my content writing business. Facebook was nothing but drama, Twitter even worse, and Instagram had taken a massive dive into boring sameness.

I seriously didn't have high hopes for LinkedIn. Having been a member since 2011, my experience with the platform was that it was corporate hell - stuffy, dry, boring, and only suitable for job hunting. So, it was a pleasant surprise to find out that LinkedIn had TRANSFORMED into a fun, social platform for business peeps and not just the corporate ones. I immediately fell in L.O.V.E., and eight months later signed my first client found on the platform.

Remember those stars I was talking about aligning? Yep, in September 2019, they aligned, and an opportunity presented itself that soon had me building my first LinkedIn course.

The Opportunity

A business coach in my network was looking for someone to speak to her group about LinkedIn visibility and organic lead gen. Since it was an unpaid gig, no one I knew was interested, so I figured why not? I was already spending two to three hours a day answering questions on how I had gotten so visible on LinkedIn and was signing clients over the previous two years.

There were two catches:

1. She didn't want anyone to speak in her group without a directly related product to advertise (her way of paying for the gig by allowing you to promote your product shamelessly).
2. She wanted the speaker to speak to her group by the end of October.

So, she challenged me to not only build a LinkedIn course to promote and but also to do it in time to launch right around or before I spoke to her group. Challenge accepted.

Why I Took the Challenge and Became a LinkedIn Trainer

In complete honesty, when the opportunity and Challenge first presented, I laughed and said, 'no, fucking way.' I had several friends doing plenty of LinkedIn coaching and training; I usually pointed peeps to when they asked me about doing it.

But for some reason this time, it felt right - remember those aligning stars and recognizing opportunity? I was feeling a bit burnt out on content writing for others, and I found helping others with LinkedIn F.U.N. Yep, I had been missing the fun in my work for a bit. And other factors were playing into the decision:

1. Amount of Time I was Spending Helping Others Learn How to Use LinkedIn

Already spending two to three hours a day helping others learn how to successfully use LinkedIn, let me know there was a direct need for my knowledge and skills. I wasn't spending near as much time answering questions about content writing. So, why not get paid to do it instead of giving it away for free?

2. Bad Experience With Another LinkedIn Course

In the late spring of 2019, I signed up for a LinkedIn course that I thought would advance my LinkedIn marketing skills. 60% through the course, I realized the coach and course didn't align with my values and lacked the depth and knowledge I was seeking. I was already AHEAD of both. But I did learn A LOT about what I didn't want in a course or coach.

3. I Love LinkedIn and KNOW How to Use the Platform Successfully

When you love what you do and have fun while doing it, it's less like work and more a calling. I love LinkedIn and enjoy helping others find the same joy and success I have on the platform, and I've put effort into learning what works on the platform.

4. My Framework is Flexible and Adaptable to Any Business

Yep, my course and coaching methods are NOT cookie-cutter, nor take the forced approach. Nope, I KNOW that one size does NOT fit all.

Instead, my goal is to offer people a framework strategy that is flexible and adaptable to any business. Plus is F.U.N.! If it isn't fun, you won't keep showing up, which is why you don't succeed. And becoming visible and landing clients using organic marketing methods takes not only time but consistency.

How It All Worked Out

Once I accepted the Challenge to create a course, my hubby and I spent the next month rushing around like mad people. We recorded videos, created content for both a LinkedIn course and a 5-Day LinkedIn Visibility Challenge with a planned launch date of mid-October.

The first Challenge ran the second week of October while David's parents were visiting us. And three weeks later the 4-Week LinkedIn 101 course launched with three PAID students - one purchased during my Challenge and the other two during the talk I agreed to do.

I not only had successfully created and launched a 5-day challenge and a 4-week course, but I had sold it and proven my concept. A definite score for something that wasn't even on the radar five weeks before.

Today, my LinkedIn coaching program looks quite a bit different than that initial launch, and the 5-day Challenge has been tweaked and reworked. But I'm fully booked and have a regular stream of clients flowing in the door - even during a pandemic. AND I've even got a Linkedin group where chicken puns are told regularly now!

So, if you're ready to get visible and learn how to turn your connections into clients, send me a D.M.