November in Review: 3 Insider Insights

??Question worth asking

Don't you wish you could extend the shelf life of your best social media content?

Here’s what I mean…

You spend hours crafting a well thought-out post, designing a nice carousel, or shooting an insightful video.

And after hitting publish, your post is read, liked, and appreciated by your friends and peers.

Fantastic, right? ??

But by the following week, it’s nothing but a faded memory—buried by the algorithm.

And then, the cycle begins again--feed the algorithm, as my friend Katie Lantukh says:

That's great for new content, but what about the content you JUST published last week or last month?

And what about all the NEW people you recently connected with? How do they find all the thoughtful posts you wrote in the past?

Now in a previous newsletter, I talked about creating an Index Post so new followers can easily explore your hand-picked favorites on LinkedIn, see the article for how ?

That works for online, but what about offline, ex: when you meet people at a conference, a business luncheon, or a networking event?

??

Here’s a tip: Showcase your hand-picked favorite posts on the BACK of your business card.

Here’s why you should consider this.

Think about it. A business card is 2-sided.

So, what are you using the 2nd side for?

For example, I did a quick tally of all the business cards I collected in 2024 (46 cards):

• 78% just had a logo (sometimes with a tagline) on the back
• 13% had nothing on the back--completely blank!
• Only 9% showcased something that differentiated the company (all were awards & recognitions)

To me, that seems like a missed opportunity for so many business cards. After all, the space is available, so why not print something that can differentiate you from your competition?

And there's no better way than showcasing your hand-picked, thought leadership posts.

Plus, if you're networking in-person, these are great conversation starters!

Have you ever met so many people at once that after the event, you forgot who said what?

My friend Bruce Rosenthal told me to write notes on each person's business card to capture the highlights of the conversation to help jog my memory later.

Well, that's great advice to help me remember them, but what about helping them remember ME?

That's why having thought-provoking questions on the back of your business card is so handy. Not everybody is a note-taker, so make it easy for people to remember you by having your key insights already there!

And even if they don't remember you, your questions may be compelling enough to generate curiosity on its own.

Which leads me to the last point...

Consider this: If I gave you a business card with only a person's company and contact info, how interested are you in taking a next step (ANY next step, ex: email, call, google the company, etc.) on a scale of 0-10?

Go ahead and pick a number in your head.

Now, compare that to me giving you a business card with the person’s company, contact info, AND 3 thought-provoking questions with links to answers on the back?

How interested are you in taking a next step (ANY next step) on a scale of 0-10?

I bet it’s higher, right? Because, thought-provoking questions make people curious, and curious people will take action if it's quick and easy.

So back to the original question: Don't you wish you could extend the shelf life of your best social media content?

Because the answer is: You can--even offline! And, it's as simple as showcasing your favorite posts on your business card.

?? If you found this newsletter insightful, please give this article a ??or tag your friends in the comments. It really does help feed the algorithm ??.

??Event worth attending

Want to meet business thought leaders who have insightful things to say--not just elevator pitches?

Come to the B2BSalesMagic year-end Open Social (Thu, Dec 12) and meet business owners, fractionals, consultants, and other service providers who are experts in their field.

As a reminder, B2BSalesMagic networking events are curated--not stranger roulette.

That means, we put you into small break-out groups with interesting people we think you should meet for both sales AND co-marketing opportunities.

And to help you make the best first impression with business leaders who are coming, here are the 3 guided prompts that you'll be talking through in the break-out groups:

1. Ice-Breaker (it'll be a surprise) ??
2. What pain-point(s) do you solve? You should know this one like the back of your hand.
3. What’s something you believe will be BIG in the new year that people AREN’T paying enough attention to?

The third question is important because it gives everybody the chance to showcase their UNIQUE expertise and insight.

After all, isn't that the point of networking?

So now that you know the questions, you have time to collect your thoughts and wow somebody! If you need some inspiration on what to say, check out my video post (2mins) on LinkedIn ?

?? And if you haven't registered yet, what are you waiting for? Register on LinkedIn ?

??Thought leader worth following

Sharing strong, consistent thought leadership online will definitely help you stay top-of-mind for those who are active on social media.

But, what about those who AREN'T active online?

One of the best ways to reach those people is through a book.

Why? Consider these stats for published authors:

• More earned media opportunities: 63% were featured in magazines, 43% in newspapers, 33% on radio, 10% on TV, etc. What's earned media? See last month's edition ?
• More speaking opportunities: 72% got speaking opportunities, 33% were paid speakers
• More referral partners: 74% found new referral partners, 26% found partnerships with big brands in their industry

And more opportunities bring more customers.

No one knows that better than my friend Elaine Acker . She has personally been involved in the publication of 23 books, including How Good Humans Sell by our mutual, dear friend Catherine Brown .

Elaine recently interviewed Catherine about how her book helped grow her business and how you could take those same principles to transform your business. Read a quick summary on LinkedIn ?

Now I know, writing a book is hard, but consider this:

• If you've been posting 1 piece of thought leadership per week on LinkedIn, that's 52 pieces of content after 1 year.
• The average LinkedIn post is 250 words, so 52 pieces content = 13,600 words (in 1 year). That's a lot of content!

And, many of you post much more frequently than once a week and have been doing so for longer than just a year.

All that to say, you may have more content than you realize "in-the-can". So, definitely consider following and connecting with Elaine to see how you can extend the shelf life of what you've created.

About Brewing Insights

Brewing Insights is a monthly newsletter for small/medium business owners and executives who want to skip the fluff and get straight to the insights and answers. Subscribe to learn 3 insights every month as John shares what's top of mind for him and distills them into immediately, actionable next steps. Subscribe on LinkedIn here ?

About John Way

John Way is the Founder and Product Owner of Pipelineapp.io , a B2B SaaS platform that removes all the unnecessary steps for your leads to become customers, because even buyers of high-ticket B2B services expect a simpler, self-driven buying process today. Connect with him to learn how to meet their expectations.

John is also a LinkedIn Top Voice for Business Networking, and he shares his expertise as host for B2BSalesMagic , a B2B-only, networking mastermind community. Why? Because selling into the C-Suite becomes easier with strategic, well-timed referrals.

?? Want to see what strategic networking is like? Register for the next B2BSalesMagic open networking event ?