Latest / Sales Trajectory Podcast / Building a LinkedIn Strategy That Actually Drives Sales with Kylie Chown, LinkedIn Strategist

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Building a LinkedIn Strategy That Actually Drives Sales with Kylie Chown, LinkedIn Strategist · Sales Trajectory Podcast

• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Sales Trajectory Podcast, where innovation meets execution in sales.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Jason Howes, your host, a 35-year sales veteran and lifelong student of the game.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is for leaders and sales professionals with a growth mindset.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: You'll hear real sales stories about new products, motivating teams to prospect, and boost productivity.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: We dive deep into sales process, cutting edge tech, and recruiting top sales performers.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Sales Trajectory Podcast.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm joined by Kylie Chown, LinkedIn strategist.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Kylie.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Great to see you.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Jason.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's great to talk to you as always, and I'm really excited to be here today.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: We decided to get Kylie on today.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I've personally been doing a lot of work in regards to LinkedIn best practice and LinkedIn strategy.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, as an important part in a sales process and social selling is trying to warm up opportunities, which includes a lot of work that Kylie does.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, Kylie, just give us a short introduction about yourself and how you got into do um what you do today.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thanks, Jason.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: Essentially, what I do is work with people, teams, and organizations to strengthen their LinkedIn strategy so they can achieve the commercial outcomes that they want.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: How I got into this is I essentially found that people are really great at what they do.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: They've got great background, they've got great experience, but there's a real disconnect between what happens online and what happens in person.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: So what I found is that I'll talk to people and they're amazing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: They've got really cool stories, really cool experience, but it just isn't translating online.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And this becomes an issue because now more than ever we learn about people online before we meet them in person.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: And that actually becomes an anchor point.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: So effectively, people can miss out on opportunities, whether it's career opportunities, sales opportunities, uh business opportunities, just because they haven't positioned themselves correctly.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Look, it's that's a great point.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, being a recruiter and a sales coach as well, it's something we talk about a lot when we're working with our clients.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And LinkedIn is a very, very powerful tool.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that you need to keep working on because it's it's always changing.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Where where did you start your career in business, Kyle?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: You talk to me a bit about that.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: So we started doing a lot of LinkedIn around the corporate space.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: So we're doing a lot of LinkedIn corporate.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: At that time, I was doing that with someone else.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I guess what I found is that that was great, but I really liked working with the smaller business owners and the people who had the authority to make decisions and get things done.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: So then moved into this space, which is really around coaches, consultants, advisors, and teams and being able to work with them uh one-on-one.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: So my background prior to that was um I was in the career management space.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: So a very similar space, very similar tools, but we were coming from a different perspective.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that was very much looking at how we help individuals position themselves.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Not so much online back then, that was more on paper, but obviously as time has gone on, it's very much moved into that online space.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it must be uh a pretty exciting area to work in because um, as I just mentioned, yeah, it's it's very fast moving, isn't it?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: What what are some of the biggest challenges you see these days?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, a lot of our my network and the listeners are either business owners or salespeople or in HR.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: What just maybe start with the sales people?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's yeah, let's run through a few areas where you you feel that they're struggling and maybe some quick tips on uh, you know, a few ideas on how they can make themselves look better.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I think the sales people, there's a couple of challenges that come up.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I think particularly around social selling and direct outreach.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think a l sometimes what happens is people in sales roles will go straight into the messengers and be like, I'm gonna reach out, I'm gonna start messaging people, but they're not looking at the whole picture and the whole context.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: So what they need to look at is look at their profile and just make sure that their profile is really on point and reflective of who they are.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: And really, ideally, we're looking to position them in a peer-to-peer relationship.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Really positioning around how they can help um who their ideal audience is achieve an outcome and really coming in from that angle.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Ideally, they want to be putting out a little bit of content that talks to or demonstrates their knowledge and expertise.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then the messaging is just like 20% of it that basically tidies it all up.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: I I think what I see overall is that people will come in and it'll be the other way around.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: They'll spend 80% of time trying to connect and message and reach out to people, 20% of time on the profile and the content.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: Where I, from my perspective, it's actually got to be the other way around because people will come back to your profile, they'll want to see that validation and credibility.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: They'll want to see that you know what you're talking about through putting out content and the messaging and the reach out just tidies that up nicely.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: What you're talking about, and obviously I I have the pleasure of working with Kylie on on uh refreshing my profile, business profile.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there is a lot to do, but again, as you said, I mean it's like that's your uh you know, your C V to the market or that's your the way people see you.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I know I've just redone my banners, done a lot of work on the the layout and and all those areas, and it's really important.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think again, as a as a recruiter, we don't actually really look at resumes a lot.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know people probably don't want to hear that.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: But now you've got more AI, you know, and people can write whatever they want on a resume quite you know often that I'll go in and I'll look at the resume and then I'll go on LinkedIn and it's different, or there's something missing for the right reason, you know.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that disconnection point, right?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: So you're having you're seeing it in paper, and then you're seeing them online, and there's that disconnection that creates that friction.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's interesting you say that about the profiles.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: I was talking to someone this morning, um, and I was saying I feel like people's personal profiles are maybe, you know, two to five years behind where they actually are, because usually the trigger event for updating your profile is you finish university or you start a business or you get a new job, and you might not necessarily go in and update it.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but what that means is it doesn't reflect where you are now.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and like you're kind of leading to is that people will make decisions based off that information.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, look, you're right.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I've had many conversations over the years.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And look, I I sit here and say that I've made plenty of mistakes on LinkedIn.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've, you know, like changed things around or, you know, focused on different areas, and and I think it's the platform that you, you know, you continue to learn every day.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be talking to a lot of people and they'll be like, oh, I saw you, you know, I saw you did a good post or a good video or something, but it's news to me, see, because they never put their hand up.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's a really good point.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I did a post about this a little while ago, which is like your next client might not like your post.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: And it was exactly playing on that, is that people, there are people who will consume content but won't necessarily engage, but they're still watching.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: So when it's right for them, then they will reach out.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I've literally had the same thing where people have just popped up and I've got no context of them engaging with me or commenting or anything like that, but they have been watching.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's an important point because I think sometimes people get a bit deterred if they're not getting that engagement that they maybe would get on other platforms.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would still absolutely encourage them to keep going because you don't know who's watching what they're doing.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm sort of working, you know, and coaching, I always say the comment is worth 10 likes.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you've seen something and it looks good or you've got some sort of connection to what you're doing, well then say something.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Another good point as well, because people will say to me, like, I don't get much engagement, and then I'll say to them, well, like, do you engage with other people's content?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then they might not be doing that.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I do think, I mean, I think you do actually have to like it, but I think there is something in exactly what you're saying is if you see something, contribu like make your contribution to other people's content, like you want people to contribute to your content as well.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I think again, guilty as charged.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can get caught up on LinkedIn a lot in and trying to do the right thing.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of it comes back to what you said before.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's about, you know, when we're working with clients, it's about having that real clear understanding of what a good or who is a good client and what do they look like for you.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Or you're obviously maybe supporting someone else in your network who's who's doing something else as well.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I think, yeah, it it's it's important.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what percentage of LinkedIn news or actually do post these days?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have any analytics.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's really low.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I think the latest starter point I think I've got is end of 2024, and it was like 3% or something.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really low.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: There's still a lot of really great opportunity to put your organic content.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: So when I say organic, not having to put a paid ad spend behind your content and get a lot of really great visibility with your ideal audience.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, which is interesting, and I think we're seeing a lot of shifts in that content landscape now as well.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: I was speaking with someone this morning having the conversation around, and I'm not sure if you're seeing it, but a lot more AI-generated content is coming out on LinkedIn.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I think from one side it's good because it's given people who maybe didn't have the resources or the tools or the confidence, that scaffolding to have a voice, which is a good thing.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: But as I said, I think it's also meant that we're seeing a lot more content.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I think just kind of going back to those foundations of sharing your story, sharing your experiences, sharing your professional brand on LinkedIn is really helpful in helping you stand out in that sea of content that we're all swimming in at the moment.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Look, we do uh spent nearly 35 years in the construction, manufacturing, and building industry.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I I saw one today, it was a great project uh in Tasmania of a university or something like that, and it just had all these massive timber beams and beautiful, you know, Australian timber, and and it had like a lot of comments and a lot of interactions because it just looks amazing.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think if you're in our space and you're working on a project and share it.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, get some video, get some images, I mean, just to start doing something as far as getting yourself out there a little bit, it does build confidence when you you start to connect with other people.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: It can help you down long term with an opportunity, or whether it's a job down the track or building a connection with someone that might refer you.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: What sort of best practice do you say or is good these days from a posting perspective?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: So let's maybe look at it from the fact that someone here is listening, they've never done anything on LinkedIn before, what would you recommend is a good starting point?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's a couple of things I would talk to in that regard.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think first of all, starting where you are and just taking the next step.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're really new to LinkedIn and I tell you to do a post, you're likely to certainly go away or go, yeah, and um not do that.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's starting where you are and doing the next step.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: So if someone's really new to LinkedIn, I would just encourage them to hop on and just start by liking other people's content and that gets them familiar and they get uh they're still getting some visibility in the platform.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: Once they're comfortable with that, then I might go, okay, cool, like you're comfortable liking content.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Why don't you uh put a comment on someone else's post?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: So that's like a micro piece of content.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: So they can, you know, go to someone else's post and make a comment.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Once they get comfortable with that, then they could repost content from someone else.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: So again, they might see a post, it could be from their company or their industry association.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: They can repost that with their thoughts.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that's like three things that they can do before they even have to write their own post.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then when they come to writing their own post, I think one way that they can frame it is make the post about their community.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: So it doesn't have to be.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think some people feel a bit overwhelmed with I've got to say I and me, and this is what I'm doing.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think if you can flip it around around your community, so that can be your clients, your suppliers, your network, your business associations, and make your posts around them, then that takes a bit of the pressure up as well.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: So in that building example, it could be, you know, super proud of my team at this particular company for delivering this project.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: Also shared experiences.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I think if we write about things with experience, um, we've worked on a project, these are some key points and a closing statement.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: We're demonstrating our expertise and it's coming back as well to that storytelling.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: So think about the stories that you can come across in your work and share those as well.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I find it's interesting, most people on LinkedIn are there from that work perspective, professional development perspective.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: So we tend not to see as much of that negative pushback as we do on other platforms.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually think it's a quite a friendly platform to start with in that regard as well.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great idea.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think one other good area, like I know at the moment there's a large national conference on.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you could be you could be in your stand, take a selfie with your your team.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: As I said, shout out to the business.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's a good way as well.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: They always seem to work quite well.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you flip the switch here a little bit, and I'll put my sales coach hat on.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if people start to like or comment and you've done something like that, as I said, you're at a conference, jump into the personal message and thank them.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, thank you for liking my posts.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate it.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe even, oh, was there anything, you know, that interested you of that?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to, you know, learn more about you without putting that pressure on.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So as a sales, as a salesperson, it does give you a really good opportunity to warm up that call.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I've sort of used the social selling a lot over the years is to build that relationship.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, when you do get someone on the call, or I've had a lot of situations where I might walk in somewhere, it happened just the other day, and you see someone and you know them from LinkedIn, and it's like you're your best mates, but it's made it much more comfortable.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think you've got that familiarity with them, right?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: So it's you feel like you've um that you've seen them before, you know them, and it it it makes that again, I think with that sales process, it's really about closing that gap.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: So all those things add to closing that gap of developing the relationship.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I really like what you said with the messages.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think using the messages from a comment on a post or an interaction is a really nice, soft, warm lead into a conversation.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: We liked how you said a conversation.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: So um, I think when we're in the messages and we're talking to people, it's exactly that.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: Trying to get into a two-way interaction.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: Tell people like, think about what you would do if you've seen someone in person, right?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: So, how do you replicate that?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: You don't talk at them and send them 28 messages that they don't reply to.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: You ask them questions, they engage back and you get into a dialogue.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I think unfortunately, sometimes when you put a keyboard in front of people, they get a bit weird.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just trying to go, okay, there is a person on the other side of this, and how would I engage with them in a face-to-face setting as well?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's let's talk about a couple of things here because I know they say it's like asking someone out immediately on a first date when you meet someone at a bar.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm certainly no expert in that.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the other one is you see something pop up, say it's a job and someone's looking for someone in in Melbourne, and I actually have some really good connections.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Once they've already put the job up, if I reach out straight away, it's like, oh my goodness, someone's trying to talk to me.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's the elephant in the room, you know.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, everyone these days, I think everyone is getting hammered so much by people just bombarding with messaging that we've all become very conservative and it's a real struggle.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh, particularly if you are trying to do the right thing.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you're talking to someone, what's your what's your take on that?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's interesting because I agree with you.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think people have become a bit more, not sure what the word is, I feel like they're a bit more protective of messaging or a bit more, they feel like sometimes you're stepping into their space too soon.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: Again, I think it comes back to looking at using those messages to develop a relationship and to connect and engage and have a conversation with them.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I think too, using messages is only part of that strategy, that social selling strategy.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: For example, ideally you've been following this person or this company for a little while.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you might be engaging in their content, you might be writing comments on their content.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: So again, it's you've built that familiarity before you go to the messaging as well.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: It takes more work, but I think people get the result when things are custom customized and personalized.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: So, and I say to people, like, think about how you react to messages.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: I I had a guy this morning and he was we were having this conversation about a social selling plan.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and he had this whole message structure that he wanted to use.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I was like, okay, cool.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: So tell me about how you respond to messages.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, I jump in and if they're not relevant, I delete them.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay, cool.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: So if we look at it from that lens, maybe people are doing that to you as well.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, oh yeah.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I think unfortunately, I think people are wanting to go for something that's quick and easy and a quick fix.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I think for sustainability and for it to actually work, it's less is more personalized, engaged, and really make it like that you're talking to the person.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: As I said this morning, I was saying to him, if you could send that message to someone else, it's probably not personal.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: And yes, absolutely, it's going to take more work, but I find people will get a much better response.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I know myself as well, if I've got something and it looks like the person has made an effort, even if I'm not interested or have that immediate need, I'll still respond to them because I can see that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, look, I mean, I we all get it.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if I look at a quick example here, you know, I get a lot of requests for to connect, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna let you through because I have a little bit of interest in, you know, what you're talking about, but then bang, you know, I'm hit with it.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'm like, oh, okay.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: But again, looking back, guilty as charged, tried to do the right thing, but I think it's um my theory is that if someone's advertised for a job, uh, I should have been talking to them before now.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's, you know, they want to f they want to fill the job and and they want to look at it themselves.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it look, it is interesting, but I really like what you mentioned before.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's you you really need to put yourself in the position if you're talking to someone face to face, you know, how would you approach that?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: With the um with putting a poster, what's the difference these days between say format of text, image with text, and or video?
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Can you give us a bit of a rundown on your thoughts?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: A big bucket to jump into.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think over I guess to kind of step back, um, I'd like to maybe reframe the content um first.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Historically, on what we've seen on LinkedIn is very much a data and metrics-driven output.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, what I mean by that is historically you would do a post if it got likes, it got more likes, um, and continue to do so.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: What we're seeing is we're seeing a bit of a shift, and it's particularly around this 360 brew algorithm change that they're bringing through at the moment.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: And what it means is a couple of things.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, your your content is more impacted by relevance.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: So, what that means, if I do a post saying um 10 ways that sales managers can use LinkedIn, if I get sales managers engaging on that post and commenting on that post, that's weighed much more heavily than people who don't have that point of relevance.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: We're also seeing a shift into what we've seen on other social platforms for a long time, is more of an interest-driven content news feed.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: So, again, historically, what we've seen has been around our connections and our network.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: We are starting to shift into more of an interest-driven.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: And the reason why I want to frame it like that is that actually affects your content and your content media formats.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the day, all the platforms want you to stay on the platform as long as possible.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: So any content media that's going to support that will typically do well.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: So video is the obvious one there, right?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: So if I see a video and I'm interested and it's 30 seconds, that's 30 seconds on the platform.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas if it was a still image, I would have just scrolled down.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: But keeping in mind as well is how your audience likes to consume content and mapping that in as well.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm also finding that again, the more I'll say professionally authentic content is working well.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: So where it's maybe, you know, if you're doing a presentation or a delivery, like a client delivery session or something like that, images of that that it show your professional experience that way do well because they're real and they're relevant to you.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll also come back to that story element when we can frame a post as a story that's relevant to us that does well as well.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: So that might look like is um I did an awesome podcast with Jason.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, here are three things that we talk about, no problem.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and here's a closing statement.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I haven't said like, here's three things salespeople can do on LinkedIn.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sharing an experience and I could share a photo um of us on the screen, and that would do a lot better than me just doing, say, a text post around 10 things salespeople need to know about LinkedIn, right?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: So um and so I think there's a lot in that content bucket, particularly at the moment where we're seeing a lot of changes.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think one of the other ones too, uh Kylie, is uh obviously trying to take people off LinkedIn.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where most recently what I will do.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Here is to obviously share a a snippet of of us having doing the podcast and then what's the best practice in that situation, right?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we share a snippet, we want someone to to watch or listen more.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: How do you position because if you try and take someone off LinkedIn, I've heard that can be a disadvantage to you.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: What's the best practice if someone wanted to do that?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's an interesting point that you make about the external links.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it also needs you need to come back to the customer experience.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: So for context, as you know, uh local link networking event, I will do posts about that.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'll put a link to the tickets in the post because it's a better customer experience, right?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because then the person doesn't have to go and find the link and it's all extra steps.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Now, technically, does that LinkedIn penalize that post?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe, but I'm still getting visibility and I'm still getting engagement, and the people who are seeing it get that good experience.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I think we've got to balance out this what's technically right with also what sits with our um customer.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: So how you've described it to me, where you show a snippet, I think that's great because people can get a bit of a taste for it, get the flavor for it, and then they might go, oh, you know what, that's not for me.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: So that's cool.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: But if they go, okay, you know, this is something I'm interested in, you've provided them with that link to learn more.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I like the snippet as well, because like I said, they can opt in or out.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: So if it's not for them, then not going off platform.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: But it if it is, you're bringing them, you're giving them what they want as well.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's interesting because I've heard put it in the post or put it in the comment or wait an hour, then put it in the comment.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh yeah, it's just there's so many things.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: The next one I'd love to talk to you about because I know it's going to be on a lot on people's minds.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I've I've spoken to a lot of companies that have a company page, and then they will post on that and then get their own people to repost that in their feed.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: What's your thoughts on that process?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we could do a whole session on company, uh, uh company pages.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think a couple.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, I'm a little bit, you know, I've got a few concerns about the company page.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: I know you, I know you have concerns about the company page.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I think we go back to like the principles and the foundations and the purpose.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Company page is very much for typically uh brand awareness and credibility.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: Personal profiles are typically about your thought leadership, positioning you as a professional brand in your area of expertise.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: Now, um, a lot of companies will come to me and say exactly that.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: We're posting all this content on our company page.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: How do we get our people to share it out?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I kind of go back to them and say, well, why would they share this?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why, like, why would they do that?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, well, we're posting on the company page.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we've kind of got to stop there and have a bit of a check-in.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think working, I think there's a couple of things with that, working with the individuals.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: So for example, if it was a sales team, I would suggest that they have maybe three core topics of expertise on their company page is one of them.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: And they share that out, but giving them the context to do so, but also allowing them to develop their own thought leadership and their own posts.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: But then also the company page sharing that back.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: I actually think that's valuable as well, is that if your team is uh creating content, the company page sharing that back and supporting that as well.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's really that two-way, it needs to be a bit of a two-way street.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: If you want your team members to share the company content, you need to support them to be able to do that.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: But you also then would ideally be supporting back their content as well.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think company pages, I was saying this to someone yesterday.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think if we've got like a hundred percent in our bucket, everyone splits it differently depending on their business.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: It might be 20% company page, 80% personal.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: And that's typically what we see in our business owners, consultants, advisors.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: But when we get more into corporate and more enterprise, that'll that starts to shift, right?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: So um I think the use of your company page also depends on your business, your objectives, um, your team.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of consideration that comes into that.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's interesting.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard, you know, I've heard stories of where employees, it's part of their KPIs to actually share company information.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I've also heard back that it's uh, you know, everyone also has their personal brand and free to speech.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean it's uh it's a bit of a fine line, that one.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think, you know, there's no hidden secrets or sales and marketing must align better than what they are at the moment.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's a great dividing range, particularly in the space that I operate in.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, LinkedIn, LinkedIn is a good chance to to align sales and marketing.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good chance to show who you are as a business or who you are as individuals.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's really important to, you know, again, a lot of other companies are using other platforms as well, which I try to a little bit.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, yeah, my main network is LinkedIn.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: I used to get, you know, roughly 50% of my business off LinkedIn.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Or it may even be that, you know, I've been following you and and now I've got something that I need help with, which is what you mentioned before.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's a lot in that.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, I think um think a couple of things.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think when marketing and sales can align, that's a real strategic advantage to go to market because, like you said, a lot of companies aren't in that position.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that guess that kind of push and pull between what the company wants and what the individual wants.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the day, it's my understanding that the personal profile belongs to the individual.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it's a company can have a social media policy.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think sometimes having that, well, sometimes having that policy does put guardrails around a lot of those challenges.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's interesting.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: I had a client say to me, Oh, can we have a social media policy?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Do you have a code of conduct?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like, Yes, we do.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, okay, cool.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: So you're you're giving some advice or direction or parameters on how people behave in person.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: This is exactly the same, it's just online.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think too, then that if there's an issue, it's a policy issue, it's not a conversation.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's not me going, hey, uh, that post she did, I don't really like that.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: That I think is setting up the conflict.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_02: If we've got the right policies in place, we can say, hey, that post she did doesn't align with our policy, and this is why, and this is how, and can you see that?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it takes that um perception that you're being personally uh attacked from your LinkedIn post um off you as well.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: But it's definitely an area that I'm seeing a lot of um, a lot of interesting movement in as well, because again, it's that balance.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: If I'm connected to a company page, I am actually essentially representing that brand and that business online.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: If I write something that doesn't align with their values and that that that's a friction point as well.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, there's I think companies who can get that balance right are really well positioned moving forward.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: If they can get that balance right and get the sales and marketing aligned, they're gonna be way ahead of what a lot of other people are doing.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Just a couple of quick ones.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to add frustrations as a recruiter and a sales coach.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to this and you've got a LinkedIn profile that is attached to your company email, best practice from my perspective is to change that because if you leave the business, then you can't access your LinkedIn profile.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: I still would love to know how many LinkedIn profiles are called what I'd say a ghost profile.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Where, you know, I've seen that where someone's been congratulated for 15 years and they left eight years ago.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I think, you know, if you are out there now, go in, check your profile, make sure you've got access to it.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: If it's an old one, reach out to your old employer, maybe they can help.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: I actually have heard, and I think it's not bad practice, where if somebody leaves a company after a period of time, they will email them and say, Look, you know, you have left the business some time ago.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Would you please remove yourself from being attached to our company?
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Do you hear much about that?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm not sure.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's that's actually a bit of a challenge that I'm seeing as well.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is a company page admin can't actually remove someone from a company page.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: So again, if I am a disgruntled employee and I'm connected to the page and I haven't removed myself, that's potentially an issue there.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: In saying that, there is a form that you can fill out.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: LinkedIn is actually pretty good with that.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that then comes back to like what you're saying, the on and offboarding process.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: So, from a sales perspective, ideally you want to have an onboarding process for your new sales team members on okay, this is this is I mean, this is what we look like on LinkedIn, this is what we do on LinkedIn, and this is what we say.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: And if we can give them those parameters early, that helps as well.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: I really like your point about the email addresses.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: I've had so many conversations where people have left an organization and gone to reset the password and they haven't been able to do that because they no longer have access to that email address.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can also do it with mobile, but you do need to have that mobile phone associated with that account.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes people haven't done that.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: So for anyone's listening, yeah, if you if that is your situation, you can actually go to LinkedIn and request they take you off.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: One last question.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: We do greatly appreciate your time today.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hit the listeners with three quick things they can do today to improve their LinkedIn position and uh profile.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so three quick things they can do today.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, go to Google, put in their name.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: They'll see their LinkedIn profile comes up.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: If not first, high in the search results.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: Click on it as a potential customer, as a potential client, if you're seeking jobs as a recruiter, and just look at it from that lens and go, okay, cool.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Does this position me reflective of my skills and experience right now?
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Because this is what people are making decisions on.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: So that would be the first thing.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: Secondly, when we get into the profile, um, I would be looking at your headline.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: Your headline defaults to your current job title and where you work.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes that doesn't give context and it doesn't position you as an advisor, expert on that peer-to-peer level.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I would maybe change that to helping whoever your audience is to achieve whatever outcome they want.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: That would be the second thing.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the third thing's quite boring, but I think we've touched on it and I think it's important.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Go in and check your settings.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: So go in and just make sure that you've got access.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if something does happen, put on, you can put on secondary email, do that.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: If you've been using LinkedIn for ages, you can download your data.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: So go and do that so you've got a backup.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: But just spend a little bit of time in those settings to make sure that you're all set up really well.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: Look, I think we you're right, we could talk for ages.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I do love about working with Kylie, she's really helped me in a lot of areas on LinkedIn, which I'm greatly appreci which I greatly appreciate.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: One last one I'll mention is the newsletter.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: I've already got over 2,000 followers, which has been amazing.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: I love that you mentioned the newsletter.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a big newsletter fan.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: So when anyone says they've implemented their newsletter, it makes me very happy because I know I can see how they work so well.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: So well done.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the best place to find me is actually on LinkedIn.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: So if people search for me on LinkedIn and connect with me if they've got any questions or if there's anything that I can help with, I'm happy to start a conversation with them there.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: You you've you've got the floor open.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um tell us about your most your most recent experience.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I've had a couple of experiences recently.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: So um, and it's all around this concept of education.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: But essentially, um, I did an interview with Sky News where we talked about exactly this sort of thing, right?
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: That people will learn about you online before they meet you in person.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: And we also talked about it being the beginning of the year, which it's still technically kind of is still, it's still first quarter, but I think it's a really great time to actually stop and go, okay, cool, like before we get into the year, is there any housekeeping?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: What do I need to do?
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: And essentially, I think the main thing as well is what's your strategy?
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Because I find a lot of people, and I've done this as well, they go to LinkedIn, they pick up their phone or it's on their computer, and they just scroll through and react to what's in front of them.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think if you can have a strategy and a plan and really have some intention behind what you're doing, you're gonna see a lot, it's gonna work a lot differently than if you don't.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the Sales Trajectory Podcast is all about where innovation meets sales execution.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we've got Kylie on today.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: She's an expert in LinkedIn.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Highly recommend connecting, following Kylie on LinkedIn.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your time, and I look forward to speaking with you shortly.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me, and thank you for everyone uh who's tuned in to listen today.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Kylie.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Jason.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Got a product that's struggling or launching something new?
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: Reach out.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: We're inviting guests who want to make a real impact.