Communication TwentyFourSeven

Leveraging LinkedIn for Your Success

December 19, 2022 Jennifer Furlong Season 2 Episode 52
Communication TwentyFourSeven
Leveraging LinkedIn for Your Success
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Show Notes Transcript

LinkedIn is an extremely powerful tool for entrepreneurs and small business owners. We use it to communicate our goals, our vision, and our calls to action. We can create a network of supporters and reach out to a deep pool of potential clients. Are we using it as effectively as we could be? That's why I asked Daniel Alfon to be my guest on the Communication TwentyFourSeven Podcast.

Daniel is the author of "Build a LinkedIn Profile for Business Success" and has trained thousands of people using a simple method he developed to help leaders reach their objectives. How? Well, I can tell you his method does not include cold calling or cold connecting, paying for a premium account or for advertising, or trying to be someone you're not.

Listen as Jennifer Furlong and Daniel Alfon discuss how you can leverage LinkedIn to get leads and revenue in an authentic and organic way, by doing what's smart, not what's popular.

Contact Daniel to learn more about LinkedIn: https://www.danielalfon.com/

Contact Jennifer Furlong to learn more about TEDx training: www.communicationtwentyfourseven.com

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[00:01] Jen: Imagine your favorite online dating app, but instead of using it for finding dates, you are booking podcasting interviews. Podmatch uses similar technology to match the ideal podcast host with the ideal podcast guest for interviews. I know it works because that's how I get so many awesome guests for my show. I used to spend hours on my social media channels hoping to be able to find just one reliable guest for my show. Now I simply log into Podmatch and let the program do all the work. It really is just that easy. And if you are a podcaster looking for compatible guests or you are a guest looking to be on a reputable podcast, sign up for Podmatch today by clicking on the link in the show. Notes welcome to the Communication 24/7 Podcast, where we communicate about how we communicate. I'm your host, Jennifer Furlong. So today is pretty special in that it is the last interview episode of season two. So I wanted to make sure that out of all of the interviews, I could bring in someone who was going to be of great service to my listeners. So you all know that the whole point behind the Communication 24/7 Podcast is I like to provide information to anyone who is interested in becoming more competent and a more confident communicator. Also, as an entrepreneur, as you all know, or if you don't know, you'll know. Now, I started Communication TwentyFourSeven, the business where I go into different organizations and I help the workforce learn how to manage its most difficult communication challenges. As an entrepreneur, I have had a lot of lessons learned this past year and a half. And one of those things as an entrepreneur, as many of you know, because I have met so many of you who are also entrepreneurs, whether you are a consultant or a coach or you are in the finance area if you are an artist trying to start your own business, we're constantly told LinkedIn is where it's at. You can go into LinkedIn and communicate what your vision is, and your mission is, and try to connect with not only other entrepreneurs but hopefully, find your ideal client on LinkedIn. So that's why I have Daniel Alfon here. He is a LinkedIn expert and he is also the author of Build a LinkedIn Profile for Business Success. So he's been on LinkedIn for quite some time, since 2004 and he has helped thousands of entrepreneurs try to get it together. So he's going to help us get it together with our own LinkedIn profiles and the messages that we're sending out to our ideal clients. So Daniel, thank you so much for being on the show. Welcome, Jennifer.

[03:31] Daniel: Thank you very much for having me on the Communication 24/7 Podcast. I'm pleased to be with you.

[03:36] Jen: Before we get started on the actual LinkedIn part of the interview, would you mind sharing with the audience a little bit about your background and how did you arrive at this particular niche?

[03:50] Daniel: With pleasure. One evening in 2006, LinkedIn simply helped me slash my sales cycle. I was quota carrying salesperson and I found that a third of my time was dedicated to trying to find the name of the person within the organization I needed to speak with and boom. It's like a kid entering a candy store. You see the names, you know who's the manager, and I haven't looked back. It's a very powerful platform. It has close to 850,000,000 users worldwide and every second three people set up wow.

[04:29] Jen: Every second three people set up a new LinkedIn profile. That's pretty powerful. Yeah, that's a lot of people out there. So we want to be able to tap into that, those of us who are entrepreneurs, how we can find that ideal client. I was a guest speaker for a business college class just last week and the students had some amazing questions for me. And one question one of the students had was regarding some of the other platforms, like Instagram, for example. Artists are very heavily into Instagram. Some people rely very heavily on Twitter, some people still rely very heavily on Facebook. So what do you think it is about LinkedIn that might be the preferred platform over the others? Or do you think it is the preferred platform for others regardless of what the industry is that you're in? What do you think about that?

[05:28] Daniel: That's a rick great question. I don't think it's the only platform, but in some cases, it comes on top. For example, when I Google your own name, the very first result I found was your LinkedIn profile. That's often not the case for Instagram or Twitter or other social media channels. So we need to make sure it properly represents us and we show ourselves professionally like we want to. And going back to the artist question, I think artists should definitely use visual channels such as Instagram and TikTok, and YouTube, but it doesn't mean that they need to forget LinkedIn. In fact, LinkedIn could be the tool where they would find producers, venues, and basic business connections. So not a listener not another listener to the latest song or the latest painting. But if you have a b to B aspect within your business, even Jennifer, even if it's it only amounts to 10%, then that 10% had better be represented well on LinkedIn. Because when your producer or someone who's in the business aspect of the field of your art is going to look you up, you want them to say, hey, I want to reach out to Jennifer even before she reaches out to me. There's no contradiction. Play with all the platforms you'd like and make sure the LinkedIn presence considers your ideal LinkedIn reader and not just the listener or the consumer, as we would typically think of in other platforms.

[07:16] Jen: Yeah, you brought up a really good point. Say somebody is out there and they are looking for an expert within the particular field that we're in. So for example, I'm in communication skills training, and like we were just talking about, there might be artists who would be interested in getting into B, two B sales. If you're an accountant, whatever it is, how can we make sure that when someone goes out to LinkedIn and they type in those keywords, how can we make sure that we do end up at the top of that line, at the top of that stack?

[07:50] Daniel: Excellent. It's a bit complex because no two LinkedIn people will see the same results in the right order, even if both of us try simultaneously. Now, to use a number of keywords, your network is different from mine. So it's not exactly like a Google search where theoretically we would try to push in and get to number one. But having said that, I suggest three very simple steps. The first is to describe the ideal project or the ideal task you'd like. People write keywords you'd like to be found for. So if you're an artist, you could come up with 20 or 30 keywords that people will look you up for. If you're a communication specialist, then your terms and your keywords would differ. It could be obviously, communication, it could be journalism, it could be blogging, it could be podcasts, it could be Vlogs, it could be all sorts of keywords. And I would actually recommend that you end up with at least 50 terms.

[08:52] Jen: Okay?

[08:53] Daniel: Not based on your expertise, but based on what you think people will look for. This is step number one. Step number two is heading to your LinkedIn profile and basically crossing out the terms that are there. So when I visit your LinkedIn profile, I see the term communication in the headline. I don't have to even look for it elsewhere. So the word communication is well placed and strategically placed, but if we came up with 50 terms, chances are we will not find all 50 terms on your profile. Maybe 1020, 30, or 40. There will be a number of terms that will not be anywhere in your profile. And this is Jennifer, where you stop and you say, okay, which of those terms is the most strategic one for me? What terms do I want you really to be inserted elegantly into my profile? Could we think of such a term? Is there any term you could throw to this discussion and we'll try to find what to do with it?

[09:55] Jen: How about conflict management?

[09:58] Daniel: Excellent. So let's say this for you, conflict management is essential. It's just an essential part of your brand. Then I would recommend you use conflict management probably in the about section in your summary. You may even push it to the headline if you'd like. If it's something that you only want people to find you for, but it's not essential for you, then you would basically add it below the fold, it could be at the end of the about section or even in the skills section. Yeah, it could be a volunteering section, all sorts of basically the important thing to remember are that when someone performs a LinkedIn search, LinkedIn indexes everything on your profile from the headline to the featured section, the about section, the experience section, volunteering education, and even the skills. So let's say there's a new thing that we want to be found for, but we can't logically say that we have gained a lot of expertise in it. You don't want to try to game the system and add it in the current experience section, but you can definitely add it as a skill. If you know how to spell it, you can add it as a skill. And the important thing is that when people look for that term, instead of being on page 15, you'll be moved to page five, or if you're on page four, you'll move to page two. And if you use the right terms and you help people find you. And if you want another quick idea about this, look at the terms you've written and try to run your own search with maybe half a dozen or eight terms and have a look or scan three or four other profiles, people who have communication and maybe other terms there. And what you would often find is that by reading other people's profiles, you will end up by recognizing other terms you haven't thought of, even if you had 50 terms. Now you see another term and you say, yes, of course, that's a very good term. Have I added it to my profile yet or not?

[12:03] Jen: Right?

[12:04] Daniel: And if you haven't, you basically thank the lady or the gentleman. You head back to your profile and you find a natural way for you to defend that term.

[12:13] Jen: You mentioned something a bit ago above the fold, and I'd like to just kind of zoom in on that for just a minute. For anybody who's not familiar with that term. If you have a background in journalism, you would understand that above the fold. That's kind of like if you would visualize a newspaper, old school paper, newspaper, okay, not the Internet, newspaper old school and how it comes folded in half. And usually the most important news of the day, like, what do you need to know right now? What do you need to know that's very important? It's relevant, it's recent, and it is affecting us at the moment. That would be the information that would be above the fold. And then not to say that anything below the fold isn't important, but in the terms of priorities. So that is a really important point that I wanted to focus on there that you said in terms of in the about section, above the fold versus below the fold. I have had with other entrepreneurs conversations about other things that we do. For example, a lot of entrepreneurs like to have podcasts. Now it's pretty common to have a podcast. You want to get your message out. It's being used as a marketing tool and hopefully just an additional way to get your brand out there. There is an argument out there about whether or not adding a link to your posts will cause LinkedIn to, I guess not prioritize your posts. I see you laughing because you know the arguments that I'm talking about. Everybody is debating about this. What do you think about that as an entrepreneur? Is that something that we need to worry about? Is that something that we need to consider as we're posting our information? What do you know about that?

[14:05] Daniel: Cool. So it is a large debate and what I would say is it depends on your content strategy and your network strategy. If you only have if your network is large and if you're sharing frequently then you need to play and see what works for you. And we have to remember that LinkedIn does not the last thing LinkedIn wants is for people to leave the platform. Yes, LinkedIn is not unique in that. Any platform would like you to stay within the gated area here. So there are a number of the most frequent workaround is basically sharing a post with no links. And you would see often that little link in the first comment or things like that.

[14:54] Jen: Right?

[14:57] Daniel: It works in the sense that the post itself will not be limited or throttled because of LinkedIn. But there is another thing about the algorithm LinkedIn does not like you to be the very first person to comment on your own post in January.

[15:13] Jen: Okay?

[15:15] Daniel: Because it would often mean that you're basically trying to game the system one way or another. So you could for example, if you're sharing information about your latest book, you could ask another author of the book or someone from someone you worked with, your editorial cover designer, or anyone that could be highlighted during the post. You would basically ask them to be the first to comment and then the second comment could come from you with a link to the Amazon order.

[15:55] Jen: Right? All right. So get with the people that you have in your circle of trust and let them know, hey, I'm getting ready to have this big post out here. Will you please be the first one to make a comment? Now is there a minimum recommended number of words for comments that kind of help with the algorithm?

[16:19] Daniel: The longer the comments are if they are thoughtful, the better it is generally. Initially, most people will say no great work or something that even the LinkedIn AI would suggest Jennifer ways for you to comment on other people's posts. But if you want to take it further then try to come up with a question that would still make the conversation going. So you would thank the person for sharing ABC and you would ask, by the way, do you mean you would refer to a specific point they mentioned and you would either refer to something else that enriches the conversation or you would try to get their opinion about something that is related to the content they shared. And that means that instead of being a one-off comment, basically saying great, you're likely to get a reply from them and other people may jump on the wagon and reply to that. If many people comment on a post, the LinkedIn Gods or the LinkedIn algorithm, which would be likelier to consider it worthy of sharing with other people and at one point it may even become viral within our own micro-ecosystem.

[17:36] Jen: Yeah. Is there a golden number? How do you know it's gone quote viral?

[17:43] Daniel: There's no formula. There were times I worked with clients who spent an enormous amount of time trying to have a meaningful post with the right A B testing with images and headlines. We can't really know. Even if we try to plan everything in advance, the minute we share it, people will see it based on what happens in their world. So yes, there are a number of basic criteria you have to think about the time of day you would usually post it often should be your working day, and your working hours in your time zone. But I've seen also examples of people actually sharing accidentally or not by thinking about it on Saturday or Sunday and because there's less competition on the weekend, their posts have actually gained a lot of traction. So at one point, you need to forget about the algorithm and stick to your truth and say, okay, does it weigh on you? Is it more difficult for you to try to wait for the right moment or are you more in a spontaneous mood? Would you like to comment on a real-life event, news event, if something happened around you in the world and you'd like to comment on it so newsjacking or referring to something that is happening now cannot wait for the ideal moment the day after tomorrow? So you have to basically not only think about the algorithm but think about your own content strategy. And between you and me, LinkedIn is probably the only platform I know where you can be highly successful without sharing too often.

[19:35] Jen: Okay, that was going to be my next question. Are there people who post more often? Like, I have noticed I know people who just they seem to be posting left and right nonstop, all day, every day. And then it makes me wonder like, I start having some self-doubt like, man, am I supposed to be posting more often than I do? What do you think about that? What's the conventional wisdom say about how often you should be posting?

[20:05] Daniel: Cool. So let's remember this the moment you see someone hijacking your feed or sharing too often for your own taste. That is the moment you basically no longer wait for the next thing they will share. And that is something you don't want people to think about your own shares. If you overshare, if you share too often then that means some part of your network is going to disengage from your content. There are a number of ways for them to do that. They could simply click on the three dots and say unfollow Jennifer. They would remain connected with you but they will no longer see the content that you share. Even if it's very important for you or if it's extreme. They could also disconnect from you or try to. Basically, the worst thing to do would be to become blind to your content. The idea of sharing often makes sense when you have 25-35,000 connections and you're looking for exposure. But there is a whole different game where you connect with 500 or 1500 people and you run a search and you see the person you'd like to be introduced to. And that means you can have a meaningful conversation and meaningful referrals simply by connecting with people you know well. And in that case, it doesn't make sense to overshare because people remember you. You may decide that basically there were quarters, I haven't shared anything and my business hasn't suffered at all because there are other ways for us to keep in touch with our network. It doesn't have to happen on LinkedIn. Come April 16, instead of being one of the 125 people sending you a happy birthday or saying congrats when you share something it would make more sense to actually leave the LinkedIn platform and communicate one on one with you. If it's someone important and says how have you been?

[22:11] Jen: Right.

[22:12] Daniel: Last time we spoke you were 18 months into your entrepreneurial journey. Now it's been two years. How is it going? How is season three, how is the podcast season three shaping for you? What can I help you with? Anything that would make it about them and more important than a cookie-cutter instant message, right?

[22:34] Jen: That is a fantastic idea. So yeah, kind of get to know who your followers are and what their connections are, and when there's something special like the birthday you're saying maybe instead of sending them that DM like everybody else or the post sends them an email. Or if you're connected through one of the other platforms or something like that just kind of makes it more personalized. That's actually a fantastic idea. I'm going to try that. I'm going to try that. I've heard that you say to treat your profile like a website, not a CV or a resume if you will. How can we treat our LinkedIn profile more like a website? Because I think that is probably a trap that most of us fall into. We think LinkedIn, we think connections, we think potential job offers. So let me put everything that I've ever done on here, and all my bullet points, and it's like a traditional resume or a CV. So what can we do better in that area?

[23:44] Daniel: I'm very glad about that question. So let's try to get back to the basics of who's our ideal reader on LinkedIn. And if you're in business, if you're an entrepreneur, then the ideal reader for you may be your next hiring client or the next person you'd like to work with. Now, for these people, the fact that you joined Leadership Directories in 1995 or 96 is less relevant than what you did there. And I suggested that we treat our LinkedIn profiles as a website and not as a CV. I basically mean this if you're not looking for an employee position, then think about your profile as a way to convert your ideal reader into reaching out to you. Question number one who's your ideal reader? Let's say, for the sake of this discussion, someone who wants to improve their communication skills. There may be a leadership position, they may be fellow entrepreneurs, there may be some other thing, but they're keen on improving the way they communicate in writing, in the video, and in a professional and personal aspect. The second question would be, what action would you like those people to perform? If they visit your LinkedIn profile, what action would you like them to perform?

[25:04] Jen: I would like them to be able to understand, for example, if they want to do a TEDx Talk because I'm a TEDx coach, I would be the person that they could contact to help them achieve that goal.

[25:18] Daniel: Excellent. So if you try to make those people reach out to you and say, I'm considering now doing a TEDx, and I see that you have experience with this, so we need to provide them with the right information in the right order at the right time for them to say Jennifer is part of the answer. And I'd like to quote your profile headline, and right there it says TEDx Speaker and Coach. Not all TEDx speakers are necessarily coaches, and not all of them want to be perceived as coaches or even provide services for other TEDx speakers. So if I bump into the profile, I'm likely to stay here and basically ask myself, okay, so could Jennifer be a person I'm reaching out to when I consider my TEDx Talk? And I would basically watch your own TEDx Talk and read and go to Communication Twenty-four seven. And then if we share mutual connections, then I would reach out to them and ask them about you. So this would be my due diligence, the public information, and that will maybe be the first exam. And there imagine that I see two names or I see someone that is a mutual connection for both of us. Let's say that Emmy Scrubs is a mutual connection because you interviewed Amy Scrubs and you discussed, among others, the differences between men and women about risk-taking and our perception of risk and what would happen if we do this or we do that. Then I'm pretty sure that if I reach out to Amy and I ask her about you, she would be able she would love to make the introduction.

[27:11] Jen: Okay. Yeah.

[27:12] Daniel: But I only see Amy's name there because she's a connection, both of you and me. If I see Amy's Krugs and Amy Davis, and Amy Davis doesn't know you and I reach out to her, she may tell me. Jennifer? Well, I don't really know. From my perspective. Jennifer, we are responsible for the way our profile looks, and we are also responsible for the names of the mutual connections we have because if we reach out to someone asking them about you, we want them to be able to answer basic questions about you and basically make us understand that reaching out to you makes sense. Not only have you done the TEDx, but you're a great person to work with. This can be done primarily by people you've spoken with, people you've coached, people you help, and people you've interviewed.

[28:15] Jen: StreamYard provides easy live streaming and recording, allowing you to stream to multiple online platforms all at one time. Whether you're a creator, a content marketer, a business, or just someone with something to say, StreamYard is the way to spread your message and engage with your audience. You can host virtual events, grow your business, inspire your followers, and create a movement. Try StreamYard today for free by clicking on the link in the show notes. So that begs the question, how many people to have in your network? Right. It's very easy as an entrepreneur, when you get on LinkedIn, really any platform, and you see all of the followers that someone may have, all of the contacts, you think, wow, they've got like 10,000 followers, 10,000 contacts. What the hell am I doing wrong? Right? Am I doing something wrong? Is that the right way or the wrong way to view how many contacts that one has? What is the conventional wisdom on that?

[29:25] Daniel: I'm very glad you brought it up. And there are actually two questions, so I'd like to start with the second one. Is it right or wrong? Before we go into growing your network and stuff like that and the metrics, I would actually advise our audience to stick to our business metrics. Let's go back to the TEDx, potential TEDx speakers. Let's say that based on your website, on average, you would get three new inquiries from people considering a TEDx stock. And by using LinkedIn, you transfer that number from three to four or from three to five, or you double the number to six inquiries. Then at one point, Jennifer, you would be able to translate those inquiries into real-life revenues. Maybe not in the first month, maybe not in the first six weeks, but at one point when they come into your system, when you've discussed their talk, with them, you will be able to turn some of them into your clients. And the metrics I think we need to focus on are not the LinkedIn metrics, because you may have 25,000 LinkedIn connections or LinkedIn followers and no new inquiries, and you may have 500 connections or 200 connections, and three, and you would enroll three new clients every month. Which one should we prefer?

[30:49] Jen: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. We want revenue. Cool. That's the whole point.

[30:55] Daniel: So we basically need to make a choice between exposure and trust. Exposure comes with 25 30,000 connections, and trust comes when you connect with people you know well. And probably the worst place to be, or the worst connection strategy, is trying to influence. Most entrepreneurs start with a quality approach. They start by connecting with people they know well, and then they get confused because everyone around Tolkien, you need to grow your network. And then at one point, they may have grown the network from, say, 800 to 8000, but they will not necessarily translate those new connections into revenues. Very few of our network will actually see what it is that we share. Most LinkedIn members are not on LinkedIn 24/7. They're visiting LinkedIn. Occasionally, there is a trigger. You send them an invitation request, you tag them, you mentioned them, and then they would go to LinkedIn. They would check you out, they would do something else, and then they would forget about LinkedIn for 12 hours or twelve days. So the exposure is often overrated. It only starts working when you have 30,000 connections. If you have 30,000 connections, even if only 2% of your network is likely to see what it is that you share, it's still a significant amount. But that 2%, if you only have 2000 or 5000, it's not a significant amount. So you've managed to pollute the quality of your network, and you gained only marginal exposure. Pick one, either quality or quantity, and ask yourself, if I had to pick one in three years' time, would I like to be the most connected or would I like to be the best connected?

[32:43] Jen: That is such a fantastic point. You just brought up quality versus quantity. And it makes me think anyone who's listening to this right now if you're a business owner or an entrepreneur, think about the network that you have that's existing right now. And what are you doing to make the most of that network that already exists? How are you leveraging that network that exists? So that makes me think of another question. Talking about leveraging your network, I'm sure I am not alone, and I'm sure this has happened to you as well. Somebody sends you a connection request, and you're like, sure, okay, this is somebody who's interested in me or my business. They want to connect for some reason. And then it seems like every single day you get a ton of times where they're just trying to sell you. Something. They just want you to buy something. Or they say they do want to make a connection, but at the end of the day, it really, truly is a sales call. What's going on there, and what can we do to make sure that we don't end up being that type of entrepreneur? Because, yes, we want to make the most of our contacts. Like we were just saying, it's quality, and you do want to be able to reach out and create that relationship. So how do we do that in a way where we're using the LinkedIn platform to be able to meet people? That's really ultimately what we want to do, right? But not bug the hell out of them and get them thinking, okay, now I'm just other sales quit trying to sell me something.

[34:27] Daniel: That's such a great question. And I'd like us to remember what you said about receiving or being on the receiving end of incoming invitations. So there are half a dozen ways to sell on LinkedIn without paying LinkedIn and without connecting with other people. It could be through content. So let's imagine I know you're doing a lot more than the TEDx, but it's easy for me to, again, give an example about TEDx.

[34:56] Jen: Yeah.

[34:57] Daniel: So some entrepreneurs, some people would consider would have a ton of questions about the TEDx, like, how do I start? How can I make sure the topic I found is on track? How do I practice this, what should I wear, and should I aim for the next one? Or should I do A, B, and C? So, Jennifer, if you're able to produce content that answers those people's initial questions, they would often find you because they would look for the basic questions. We're not talking about rehearsing the last time before they go on stage. We're talking about, is this right for me. Because I have a story to tell, but I'm not sure I need to be on that big stage. So they're often looking for some confirmation to see that their topic is of interest and they could actually do it. Some are less confident than others. So producing content around that would make them understand they would take a baby step, thanks to you, from thinking that there is no way for them to ever be on stage, to say, you know what? Maybe it's a bit too early for me, but now I understand what is the first step I need to take before I do that. And then once you've provided them with value and they move from point A to point B, now they're ready for you. When you say, there is a whole point C and D, I can walk you through them. I could coach you on the style of your talk or the way you want to, and what emotions you'd like viewers to experience when you run the talk when you do the talk. And that is the moment they are likely to come into your own system. They are likely to ask you to meet them or to have a discovery call or to ask what is the package that you offer would be TEDx Talks. And we can change that for people who want to improve their communications skills. Maybe there is a specific skill they want to improve. Maybe they want to maybe they consider launching a podcast or maybe they want to improve their YouTube channels or their visual communication. And that means you basically try to answer the same question who's your ideal reader? And the content that works best on LinkedIn, from my experience, is top of Funnel educational and if possible, evergreen. The questions we've asked so far, they're not technologically okay. It's not about the latest mic that you could use, but basically, is this for me? And what will be the first steps I need to consider before I know that I am able to do that? TEDx Talk or to launch my podcast to write that book or whatever comes to mind. Even curating content around those questions is a great way for people to discover you. And I'll mention very briefly another way you connect with people you know well. Jennifer, you basically run a search and you focus only on the second-degree context. You can even start by saying only the ones that are based in Georgia for now, and only those who have the term manager or the podcast or book or any criterion that you'd like and you end up with and you find three or five or 15 people. And if you know your network well, that is the moment you need to leave the LinkedIn platform to communicate with that person and basically ask a very simple yes-no question do you know that person well? I'm interested in speaking with Jane Doe. I saw that you two were connected. Do you feel confident or comfortable enough to make the introduction? You need to make it easy for them to say no and to reply, because even if the answer is no and they reply, then you're able maybe to leverage it and to ask for something else or to continue and to go and ask someone else to make that introduction. If you have a reply, then you're gold. Ideally, the reply would be, of course, I'm going to speak with her next week. What would you like me to say, Jennifer, when I speak with her? That's the ideal answer. So connect with people you know well. Run a search and identify the person or people who could make the introduction for you and try to make sure they feel comfortable doing it. They know the person well enough, and they know how to represent you. Or you can provide them with a question you'd like them to ask the influencer or the person you'd like to reach out to.

[39:54] Jen: Right? That is fantastic. That is such a great suggestion. And useful not only for entrepreneurs, but I would imagine anyone looking for a job because that's just huge on LinkedIn as well. Of course. Just trying to make those connections and get that next job that you want, looking up what those second connections are and then asking if they could make an introduction. That's brilliant. That makes me think about so we have our personal profiles, right? And this is a conversation that happens often with entrepreneurs. You are the brand versus your company or your business as the brand. And so LinkedIn, you do have the opportunity. Of course, we have our personal profiles. But then you also have the ability to create your company page. I know from personal experience, I don't really focus on my company page as much as I do my personal page. So I can't really speak to the effectiveness of my company page, because I really don't invest as much time and effort into it as I do my personal page. But what is the suggestion for entrepreneurs, businesses, and personal versus the other company-type pages? Is one better than the other? Should we have both? What should we do in that case?

[41:25] Daniel: Excellent. Can I make life easier?

[41:27] Jen: Absolutely. We love making life easier. Please.

[41:32] Daniel: Excellent. So set up the business page. Set up the page and focus on your individual profile.

[41:38] Jen: Okay? Yeah.

[41:39] Daniel: Okay. And why is that? Because your own Communication 24 LC page has less than 10% of your individual followers. And that would be the case for most entrepreneurs. If you're running a business and you have thousands of employees, then the page has a lot of weight. But if you're a sole partner, if your staff and your team are 10, 20, or 30 people, forget about the page. Do set it up, because it would end up providing you with a logo that would be represented on your individual profile. Right. No one will use that page. Everything will go through your individual profile. Forget about the page. Just set it up. And every six months, check it out. And if there's something that needs to be updated and maybe share twice a year, that would be enough for most people. Your profile is the vehicle for your lead generation.

[42:34] Jen: Thank you for that. I feel like I have permission now. Don't worry so much about the content on your company page. And I guess that's normal for everybody across the board, right? The company pages just don't receive as much attention as your personal profile pages.

[42:56] Daniel: Absolutely. On LinkedIn, your profile is way more important. And just imagine the difference. Say I had a choice. I could follow your company page, or I could connect with you as an individual. What information would you gain if I follow your page? Basically nothing. And it's just like when you release your book. So I can go to Amazon and buy cracking the reach code, but the customer information will be held by Amazon. You would not have access to my email even if I buy the book?

[43:32] Jen: That's right, yeah.

[43:33] Daniel: Whereas if I connect with you as an individual, by default I would get access to your email address and you would also get access to mine. So your individual profile is way more important than the page.

[43:47] Jen: I'm so happy that you gave us permission to not worry about it because that is such a sore point. It creates so much anxiety and stress for so many business owners that I know and it's one of those conversations that we have over and over and over again. I understand that you also talk about different myths about LinkedIn. Would you mind sharing with the audience what are some of the most common myths that we need to know about LinkedIn?

[44:19] Daniel: With pleasure. In fact, we already covered a few of them. So I'll mention briefly five of the main myths on LinkedIn. The first is the profile versus the page. Yes, set up the page and forget about it. And the important element is actually your own LinkedIn profile. The second is quantity versus quality.

[44:44] Jen: Yes.

[44:46] Daniel: And we mentioned that when we discussed the importance of your network, you could gain a lot more revenues thanks to 300 engaged people, you know, rather than 2000 or 6000 people who know nothing about you and could not recommend you to anyone. What we haven't mentioned and I'd like to bring to this conversation is content versus advertising and time versus money. So content LinkedIn is a great powerhouse for you to share content, ideally content that resonates with your audience. Again, if I'm considering writing a book or becoming a TEDx speaker, or improving my communication skills in one way or another, that content is more likely to make me discover you than advertising. And if I had to pick one between time and money I don't think you need to spend money on LinkedIn. I don't think most people need a premium account, but they do need to invest some time to understand how the LinkedIn platform works. And that requires time for them to see what's under the hood and play with it and see how they can leverage the platform and remember that LinkedIn is here to serve us and not the other way around. The fact that LinkedIn prompts you to share or to connect, do whatever you, Jennifer, have the ability to say that makes sense to me and that doesn't. The third element we briefly discussed is treating your LinkedIn profile as a website and not as a CV. I could go over and explain all sorts of other myths, but I think this would be the top five profile and not page, quality and not quantity, website and not as a CV. Content rather than advertising and time instead of money.

[46:49] Jen: That is wonderful. So you don't really think that upgrading to the higher levels of LinkedIn like a premium account, you don't think is really all that necessary for an entrepreneur.

[47:04] Daniel: I think the moment you see the limits of the free account is the moment you need to start considering this. But the free platform is so overwhelming, confusing, counterintuitive, and not user friendly and rich that it will take most entrepreneurs a lot of time to understand how the system works. And if they start by upgrading, they're often not able to actually leverage what they were getting. They do get something, but when is the time we can appreciate it? Once we hit the walls of the free account. And that means we've invested a lot of time. And now I know that if I have a Premium account, then instead of doing ABC, I could do D. That's fine. But if you only start using the platform and you upgrade, you will not be able to leverage the premium subscription that you've paid for.

[47:55] Jen: Wow, that's really valuable information right there, and that's a smart way to go about it. So don't feel like if you are a new business owner or a new entrepreneur, you have to rush into it and start spending that. I think it's like $60 a month or something like that on the Premium account. Give yourself some time. Learn how to leverage what's available to you right now. And Daniel, you have given so much great advice for anyone not only someone who's just starting out on LinkedIn but for old veterans like myself. We've been on there for quite a number of years, and we're still exploring, still learning, still trying to figure this thing out. So I appreciate so much the information and the wisdom that you have shared with us. Is there anything else that we have not had a chance to COVID that you think you know? Just one last thing. Also, make sure that you know or understand LinkedIn.

[48:56] Daniel: Maybe one quick thing would be to consider asking someone to look you up on LinkedIn and share their thoughts with you. So what do they think about what they see? Ideally, it would be someone you're not necessarily connected with.

[49:10] Jen: Okay.

[49:11] Daniel: So they would tell you that they like the banner because they're able to see the book cover on the right. They see your name up front and center. It communicates well with your profile photo. And now they'll mention something about the headline. And if they ask you questions like, what do you mean by A-B-C or D? It's very tempting to try and address their questions and answer them. But the purpose of interviewing them is to try to understand what's understood by others.

[49:43] Jen: Right?

[49:43] Daniel: And if three people ask you about the same thing, instead of trying to only explain to them, you go back to your head, back to your profile. And that term may be downgraded in the way you mentioned above the fold earlier. It doesn't mean that we need to kill it. But initially, when people see a term they are not necessarily familiar with. They're likely to say, okay, maybe it's not the right fit, maybe it's not exactly what I'm looking for. So try to be as simple as possible when people scan your profile and the terms you want to be found for can be buried down in some past experience where people would find it without jeopardizing the clarity of your message.

[50:26] Jen: That's fantastic. So we're here talking about communication. So think about that LinkedIn profile and what it is communicating to your ideal audience. And I really like that idea of having somebody or a few people go out there and look at it and what are those common questions? Because then that's giving you an indication that your message is not being communicated quite as clearly as you have probably initially hoped. So that's a fantastic way to go about that. All kinds of great golden nuggets throughout this conversation regarding what we are hoping to communicate about ourselves and how we can use LinkedIn to communicate with one another, reach out, increase our networking, and also the quality of the networking that we have going on out there. That's just fantastic. Daniel, how do we contact you, or anyone out there who is interested in getting some additional help with their LinkedIn profile? How do they get in touch with you?

[51:29] Daniel: In touch with the best thing to do would be to head to Daniel Alphon.com Al Fon and they would see all sorts of downloads and guides and articles in the store and they only have to mention Communication twenty-four seven. And I'll be glad to help.

[51:45] Jen: Again, Daniel, thank you so much. This has been incredibly informative. I know that there are some things that I'm going to immediately start working on with my LinkedIn profile right away. And I am sure that anybody who is watching this or listening to this, later on, they are also thinking you've got the wheels turning now. So, yeah, I think that's a wonderful thing. Thanks again.

[52:11] Daniel: Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure to speak with you and I look forward to Discover Season Three soon.

[52:17] Jen: Absolutely. All right, everyone, thank you so much for joining us. Make sure to leave a comment or ask a question and at some point, we'll be able to have you become a part of the conversation. We'd love to answer any questions that you have. Until then, stay tuned. Next week new episode coming out, of course, always on Mondays. So take care. Bye. If you are feeling stuck or disappointed with where you are personally or professionally and you want to level up your life, then I have a book for you. It's called Cracking the Rich Code and is a number one Amazon international bestseller. I, along with a group of diverse experts from around the world, have teamed up to provide you with powerful strategies and insights that will help you achieve greater success. This book offers some valuable entrepreneurial insights that will strengthen your life, your business, and your effectiveness overall. Use the Code podcast and get a 20% discount when you order from my website, www dot communication 24/7.com, or click on the link in the show. Notes thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and a review. You.