Why You Shouldn’t Sleep On LinkedIn

Hey friends! Welcome back to another Personal Brand Brief. We’re now a community of 17,500+ founders, ideators, and marketers. If you want content like this sent straight to your inbox, subscribe here .

This week’s set up:

?? Problem: You (or someone you know) is missing out on valuable leads, community connections, and inbound opportunities.

?? Solution: Step up your LinkedIn game to create a 24 hour marketing engine.

?? Next play: Identify your goal on the platform and start moving on an action plan

LinkedIn can literally change the trajectory of your business, relationships, and well… whole life.?

It did for me.

Because of LinkedIn (and the other social media sites), I’ve had loads of opportunities to connect with thousands of people I would have never met in person, and it’s totally changed my career path. ??

But I’m not a one-off case.

Here’s a 4 reasons you should take this platform a bit more seriously:

1. It’s a $26 billion hotbed of activity

Yes, you heard me. LinkedIn was acquired for $26B by Microsoft back in 2016.??

LinkedIn isn’t just a fluffy professional platform. It’s a look into how 750+ million people are approaching and thinking about work and it offers a glimpse into the online professional world.?

Even if you don’t post a lot, you should still have a pulse on what is going on in the ecosystem because it’s a hotbed of news that—when tailored correctly—can mean a lot to you and your business.?

If you don’t understand it, you’re going to be behind the ball on what’s evolving in hiring, education, and storytelling.?

On the platform, there are 3 hires a minute, 57 million business accounts, and so many signals that you can act on ahead of competitors.?

2. You’re leaving relationship potential on the table?

People are meeting online and doing business together before ever meeting in person.?

And you need to wake up and understand that it’s not buddy-buddy business with who you went to school with, met at a conference, or is a friend-of-your-friend. Sure, that happens, but when it comes down to it, now a lot of people we work with we’ve never met in person.?

In 2021, your online reputation is your gateway to growing your business. ??

For example, a lot of my consulting business has been with people who I haven’t met in person.

Let me say it again for the people in the back:

most of my new clients are people that I have never shook hands with in person.?

Although I always enjoy meeting clients face to face, they initially meet me through reading my content, engaging with my posts, and messaging me on LinkedIn.?

We connect over shared values and interests, and that sparks a new relationship.?

And if someone is curious to learn more about my work, they know how to get a hold of me.?

3. You’re missing the industry signals to act on?

The trends you can pick up on LinkedIn will unlock business and career opportunities.

For example, you heard about a person that got a job. It’s an old friend that’s now VP of Partnerships at Microsoft which is interesting because you’re looking to connect with Microsoft, because your team’s working on a product that’s going to align with their audience.?

?? Now you have been signalled a huge opportunity: you can send her a message, bypass a huge audience, and help your company massively.?

This is the kind of connection (an introduction to a person to expand a new product launch) that people pay thousands of dollars for.?

And that’s not the only kind of signal you can find on LinkedIn. Stay up to date on industry news and trends, no matter what niche you’re in.?

It’s a noisy space but if you curate (unfollow) to distil down to what’s important in your industry, you can do that for free and have these opportunities fall on your lap.

4. You’re always guessing and never validating?

People are always saying, “What if we do this… hire them... try this.” But those people (bless their hearts) have great ideas but don’t have a model or framework to validate the ideas.?

In 2021, we have 4.6 billion people online. If you do not have a validation model on a platform like LinkedIn to get feedback, you’re missing out.?

You can use LinkedIn to post a poll, message someone, get input, or scan comments!?

Companies are paying consultants, contractors, vendors thousands of dollars to get input. But you can do it for free on this little blue social media app.?

When you need community feedback or expert input so you post an idea on LinkedIn, you’re at the fingertips of 300 million monthly active members. That’s free hustle knowledge that you just have to show up and get. ????

If I could figure it out as a student in university, and you’re an industry professional with 10, 20, or 30+ years experience as a C-Suite executive leading your business, then it’s literally just plug-and-play and getting familiar with the platform.?

All it takes is the time and effort to dig in.

?? Now’s Your Chance

I’m genuinely excited to help people with this, so much that it’s become my full time job. I usually work with clients 1-1, but I’ve been exploring a new way to teach more people in small groups.

Next month, I’m launching a cohort course focused on LinkedIn Growth and Storytelling hosted through Maven (founded by Wes Kao & Gagan Biyani ).

It’ll be a 20-person live cohort course in October (after the kids are in school) to dig into building an eye-catching profile, ranking higher in SEO, and building a thought leadership strategy that draws in attention from your industry.

It’ll be a 3-week sprint built for Founders, CEOs, and Consultants on how to master LinkedIn.?

Spots are limited and the class format will be focused on exercises and projects within the class vs after class to respect your busy schedule.

If you want to start improving your presence on LinkedIn, sign up on the waitlist here or drop me a question at [email protected] if you want to learn more.

(Yes, it’s my real email and I respond to every question.)

If you’ve mastered LinkedIn and you feel confident, forward this email to a friend who’s sleeping on this platform…

Wake them up with the importance of this. The world’s online relationships are being built on here. Don’t let any of them stay under a rock.

Thanks for reading! I try hard to make it a newsletter you look forward to each week, so if you have any suggestions about content you’d like to see or ideas that sparked, let me know .

Stay outta’ trouble and catch you next week.

??? Joel

?? Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Courses