Rathling's Ramblings (Edition 6)

Coming up in this edition and why you will find it useful:

• What's been happening at Linked Inbound? Latest Updates & News
• 3 Practical LinkedIn? & Social Selling tips that you can implement straight away
• New LinkedIn Features coming your way soon (or you may already have!)
• FREE LinkedIn Workshop this week: Friday 7th May (Limited Places)
• My Latest Article: "7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Sellers"
• Losing my Clubhouse Virginity and How You Can Join Me
• #AweSam posts you might have missed!
• Why the Laughter Emoji ?? Should Be Added to LinkedIn
• Spring Offer: My Academy is half price(!!) until the end of May
• About the Author

What's been happening at Linked Inbound?

Wow! April just flew by... what a crazy month. We've onboarded some amazing new clients in our agency, that we will be helping with strategic pipeline building. One marketing campaign will focus on driving webinar registrations for large digital transformation projects, another focused on securing meetings with decision-makers in large financial services companies and a brand new campaign focused on securing clients in the US for a sales training business. In May we will start 8 multi-lingual campaigns across Europe with a targeted approach focused on a hit list of Key Accounts for one of our Corporate Clients.

Personalisation has been the theme of April, with LinkedIn? clamping down on bots, AI, and automation tools, now more than ever it is important to personalise your invitations as much as possible. Our very own social selling superstar Lianne Saxton has seen her acceptance rate go from 60% to 86% since she introduced 3 points of personalisation to every outreach message (and is getting great feedback from people she is prospecting). I have produced a document post on this which you can access in this newsletter.

I'm working on the launch of my brand new podcast "Social Selling with Sam" which will launch 4th June, I will, of course, keep you posted on that, and look forward to interviewing some amazing guests. If you know someone who would be a great guest (ideally brilliant at social selling, and/or is someone you admire/follow here on LinkedIn?) and would like to recommend someone for the podcast, please drop me a message with your nomination and why, or tag them below in the comments.

I'm getting ready to deliver a FREE workshop, this Friday, 7th May at 1pm UK time. Keep reading to grab the link to the event page and book your seat as places are limited. I am also updating my book "Linked Inbound" to keep it up to date to reflect all of the changes on LinkedIn? since it was first published, it now has over 175 reviews! I love getting messages every day from people who are benefiting from my book. I am also working on my new book "Linked Outbound" which is going to be epic! Cannot wait to release this new book to the world.

One last thing, we are HIRING! Yes, we have a number of roles available right now. Click here for the full job description of our Digital Marketing Administrator (Campaign Ninja) role: View Job on Indeed. Delighted to be growing and creating opportunities.

There's a lot more going on, but too much to divulge here and I want to get on with the content that's going to make the biggest difference to you, right now!

Thanks for subscribing, it means more to me than you know... please comment below with what you enjoyed the most from this edition.

3 Practical LinkedIn? & Social Selling tips you can implement straight away

1. Use your LinkedIn? QR Code in your online presentations and meetings, so that the people you are presenting to, can immediately connect with you on LinkedIn?. Find your QR code in the search bar on the mobile app. Then click on 'Your Code'. Save it to Photos and start using it immediately. People who have seen you speak are more likely to engage with your content and you never know whom they are connected to. If they engage with your content, it's their network that is going to get visibility on your personal and professional brand. You never know where that could lead, your next best client could be in the network of your next audience member. Simply instruct your audience to point their Smartphone at the screen to be taken directly to your profile.
2. Add a Pronunciation to your profile to help people say your name correctly (plus add a call to action in there), after all, you do have a total audio length of 10 seconds. Not sure what I am talking about, go listen to mine after you've finished reading this newsletter. Visit my profile and see if you can hear the call to action. On your mobile app, go into edit on your profile and click 'Your Audio Recording'.
3. Give a LinkedIn Recommendation: It's a lovely thing to receive a recommendation out of the blue, in fact, I have picked up 5 wonderful new recommendations this week from people who saw me speak at the Spring convention 'REFRESH!' for the Professional Speaking Association. As a Fellow of the PSA, it was a real honour to be asked to speak in front of my peers. So if it gives you the warm fuzzies to receive a recommendation, then why aren't you giving more recommendations to people in your network? Pick someone you've been meaning to give a recommendation to or choose an old client who stopped spending with you, and you just need a way to reconnect and restart the conversation. What better way than to surprise them?! So, who are you going to choose? Got someone in mind? Now write down the names of 3 more after that one... keep giving.

New LinkedIn? Features coming your way soon (or you may already have!)

There is a raft of new features being rolled out by LinkedIn? at the moment, some in beta testing, some already fully rolled out and others coming that you may not be aware of:

• LinkedIn? Creator Mode: I have been given access to this. A few changes to my profile (and yours too if you choose to switch it on). You will notice my profile is now in 'Follow' only mode, I have 5 hashtags added to the top of my profile so you can see what I create content about, plus the order of my profile has changed. The Featured Section is first, then my Posts and Activity, then my About section (a different order, prioritising content first). You may not see it yet, but if you were wondering what the difference is on some people's profiles, it means that they have the new Creator mode. You can turn this 'On' or 'Off', once you have it. I am still testing it out.

LinkedIn? states: "At the heart of our ecosystem is our creator community. People love to see creators give their take on what’s happening in the news or share insights into a specific industry -- whether that’s a post, a video, an article, or even a comment. If this is you, check out the new creator mode in your Profile dashboard."

• LinkedIn? Cover Story - Bring your Profile to Life: This is a video message you can add which shows up in the same place where you see your LinkedIn headshot. Many people can't see this yet, so I created this short video to demonstrate it in action. If you have this new feature, in the mobile app when you go to edit profile, you will see a plus (+) button underneath your headshot that says 'Add a Cover Story'. Looks like only people who have it, can see that of others for now. Expect this to come your way soon.

LinkedIn? states: "Once you add your Cover Story, an orange ring will appear around your profile photo, and a preview of your video will auto-play silently within your photo frame (we like to think of it as the 'Harry Potter' effect). And, stay tuned for captioning capabilities coming soon."

• Video Header Images: Coming soon, for those of you who stream on LinkedIn? Live, coming soon, when you are live streaming, your header image will turn into a video of your broadcast. All of these updates are putting heavy emphasis on video, so time to up your video game if you haven't already (that includes me! ??)

• Stay at Home Parent, Stay at Home Mom and Stay At Home Dad: Job titles have been added to recognise career breaks/ gaps on LinkedIn? profiles. If you took a career break or are on one, update your profile, particularly for those of you who are job searching or supporting job seekers.
• Gender Pronouns added (optional): You can now add a field at the top of your profile, to show your gender, this gives people more ways to express their identity and I am a fan of this new addition, with the rise in both awareness and importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

FREE LinkedIn? Workshop this week: Friday 7th May (Limited Places)

So many people are starting new businesses and/or getting to grips with LinkedIn? for the first time. Given the year we've all just gone through I want to give back, help, and support as many people as possible on their social selling journey, so I am delivering this workshop to provide some of the key tips and tricks that I wish I had known back when I started my own LinkedIn? journey more than 16 years ago.

You can register that you want to attend the event by clicking the image below, it will run at 1pm UK time for 90 minutes. The registration link will go live later today (5th May) and places are very limited. There are already over 250 people registered on the event page and I haven't even promoted it yet(!!). This newsletter is going out to more than 6,500 subscribers. The webinar registration page will be provided to everyone who expresses interest on this LinkedIn event page.

My latest Article: "7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Sellers"

In case you missed it, here is my latest article featuring the "7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Sellers". If you are a Sales Leader with a team, a Sales Professional using Sales Navigator, or a Business Owner responsible for business development and lead generation this one is for you:

Losing my Clubhouse Virginity and how you can learn more from me

So I have taken the plunge and decided to dip my toe into the 'not-so-new' platform, Clubhouse. I lost my Clubhouse virginity last week, I have teamed up with Jane Bayler and a panel of lead generation experts across all social media platforms (including LinkedIn (that's me!) Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube), plus SEO, PAID Ads and more to share top tips for experts on how to generate leads and find your IDEAL client. We run a Club "Lead Generation for Expert Success" every Tuesday evening at 7pm UK time, access next week's session on the link below, see you there and ask me a question.

It's been fun so far, and I am enjoying the freedom of audio, it's easy to manage around the kids and I don't have to spend 30 mins getting 'poshed up' and setting up my studio to get ready to go live. First impressions good, is it a fad? Maybe, but I know so many people who are building an audience and growing business from this platform that it's not to be ignored.

Word on the street is that LinkedIn? is planning to launch something similar. I am intrigued to see how that plays out.

If you are already on Clubhouse, be sure to follow me and get notifications, or join Clubhouse here: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/@samrathling

#AweSam Posts You Might Have Missed

So here at Linked Inbound, we aim to consistently put our great content that will help you and your team be more effective at LinkedIn? & Social Selling. Here are a few posts that are worth a read or watch if you are serious about upping your prospecting game:

Top Tips for Prospecting C-Suite Leaders To Cut Through the Noise - by Lianne Saxton (follow #LiannesLessons for more like this)

20 Ways to Personalise Your Prospecting & Outreach Messages (follow #AweSam for more posts like this)

8 Things To Consider For Your Social Selling Strategy - by Lianne Saxton (follow #LiannesLessons for more like this)

Why the Laughter Emoji Should Be Added to LinkedIn

I am currently working with my good friend, former BBC broadcaster, event MC, and fellow West Ham supporter Jeremy Nicholas, on building comedy and humour into my speaking delivery and corporate presentations. He is a Communications Coach helping Corporate Leaders and Speakers to be let's face it. 'less boring' by adding humour and wit into their presentations, whilst maintaining their credibility. Jeremy's belief is, "if they're laughing, they are listening". I am on his 6 weeks 'Talking Funny' programme, and it's excellent! Highly recommended. You can find Jeremy's LinkedIn profile here, follow him for great tips and some humour along the way.

Jeremy is on a mission to get LinkedIn? to add the laughter emoji added here as a reaction, and I am backing him all the way. Here is his recent article. Please comment on the Article or below here if you would love to see the ?????? laughter emoji feature on LinkedIn? as a way for us to react to posts, the world needs more laughter right now.

Spring Offer: My Academy is half price(!) until the end of May

I have been overwhelmed by the feedback from corporate sales teams and SME business owners on my Pipeline Academy. A year ago, I created and launched the Pipeline Academy to provide the most comprehensive deep-dive training on LinkedIn? & Social Selling. It's a highly practical online course, combined with group mentoring and community, to help salespeople, marketing professionals, and business owners to discover the power of social selling through LinkedIn?.

There are now more than 40 videos in the Academy, across 15 modules in an on-demand course, that has tasks and accountability built-in. Each month all Academy members come together for a Live Q&A and mentoring session with me, to get help and support as they learn and implement as well as gaining access to my private clients-only LinkedIn? group. Right now, we are running a Spring offer which closes on 31st May, where you can gain access to my Academy (the Premium version) for half price!

Click here for more information on my Pipeline Academy, click here:

Pipeline Academy Premium Learn More

If you prefer some expert help and simply don't have the time for the Academy, then you may want to consider Pipeline Pro instead:

Pipeline Pro Learn More

Thank You

To all of my loyal subscribers, more than 6500(!!) of you now, thank you. Please comment below with what you enjoyed and/or found most helpful from this edition.

About the Author

Sam Rathling is a LinkedIn Expert & Social Selling Strategist based out of Derby in the East Midlands. Sam and her team are on a mission to generate over ￡1billion in sales for their clients by 2025. Sam is Best Selling Author of "Linked Inbound'.

An international Speaker, she is considered to be a global authority on building sales pipeline through LinkedIn?. Yahoo! Finance recently named her as a Top 10 Global LinkedIn? Expert to follow. Since Jan 2019, Sam and her team have helped companies to generate in excess of ￡97.5m in new business from this platform. An Award-Winning Entrepreneur, best known for her practical, no-nonsense, easy to implement training that transforms the sales pipeline of her clients.

As the Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) & Founder of Linked Inbound & the Pipeline 44 Group, she leads an amazing team of LinkedIn? ninjas. Sam runs this specialist agency delivering marketing campaigns to strategically building sales pipeline on behalf of her clients. Pipeline Pro is suitable for business owners who don't have the time or resources in-house to prospect consistently to generate a flow of leads from LinkedIn? every month. To learn more about Pipeline Pro, click here.

Sam inspires C-suite leaders, business owners, and sales & marketing professionals to generate massive results through LinkedIn? & social selling. Sam trains her clients through her on-demand, video-based online Pipeline Academy, as well as delivering in-house and virtual programmes with large enterprise clients looking to transform their sales pipeline and embed social selling throughout their entire organisation. Want to train your sales team? Book a call.

To get hold of a copy of Sam's book, which is available on Kindle and in Paperback. Click here.

Sam is working on her next book, "Linked Outbound", if you have a social selling story to share, please send Sam a message and let her know your LinkedIn? success story!

You can reach Sam on [email protected] or by sending her a message on LinkedIn?, although be patient, it's a busy inbox (as you can imagine!).