- What if I told you you are using LinkedIn wrong
and that you've probably been
using it wrong this entire time?
There's a good chance like most people
that you've been using LinkedIn as a digital resume
and while that might have worked in the early days,
it's not really conducive to achieving the goals
that you want right now in terms of new employment,
new opportunities, growing your network,
or growing your business,
so today I'm gonna tell you
how to truly use LinkedIn to your advantage
and some things you didn't know about
the platform, so let's get into it.
Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake,
helping you create something awesome today,
welcome back to the channel.
If you happen to be new here,
first of all, welcome to the channel,
my name is Roberto Blake.
I'm a creative entrepreneur,
public speaker, and I also talk a lot about video marketing.
I've done events like VidCon,
VidSummit where I tried
to help individuals build their personal brand
and their business with online video
and leveraging content marketing.
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful
tools in your arsenal right now if you're trying
to grow your brand or your business.
When it comes to content marketing,
you need to look at LinkedIn
as not just a glorified digital resume,
because I mean a resume,
let's be honest, it's bland,
it's boring, it's by the numbers,
it is just a list of facts and accomplishments.
There is very little personality and context,
but LinkedIn is a content platform,
it is a social media platform,
which means you have an opportunity
to use this as a publishing platform
and editorialize your narrative in a way
that's very advantageous for you but
adds context to anybody viewing it.
The short version, stop being boring on LinkedIn,
being professional, being a thought leader,
being a value doesn't equal being boring, just cut it out.
While there are people in the job arena whether they
are employers or recruiters,
they are looking at your skills,
they also are looking for alignment on the company culture,
the culture of the company
and the brand and their values
and the type of people that they think can be champions
for the brand is going to be important
to people moving forward,
because that's the nature of the market right now.
And you have an opportunity
to put yourself in alignment with the brands
that you want to cultivate the attention of
and the individuals that you want in your network.
Your vibe attracts your tribe is something
that people on social media are very fond of saying
because it's true and it's proven
in human behavior and psychology.
Where you sit is where you stand.
The five people around you,
we've all heard that before and it's true.
Okay Roberto, that's great,
this fluffy, what do I do with that,
what's the actionable takeaway?
Well, I'm glad you asked
because I'm all about giving actionable advice on
this platform and something
that I've been personally doing with LinkedIn
is I have been getting into LinkedIn Video
and I've been making it a point to
try to post Monday through Friday on LinkedIn whether it's
a video post, a long format text post,
almost like a blog if you will,
an article, or a photo and asking a question to my network
and my context, and this sounds very much
like using it in a way that you would for say Facebook,
but I am not using it the way
that you would use Facebook
because the intention is different.
Like Facebook, I'm using the devices of storytelling
and sharing my personal views
and value to cultivate and attract attention of
like-minded people, but unlike Facebook,
at least for most people,
I'm doing this with very specific intent and a framing
of a professional audience
that I believe has a mutual benefit
where we can add value to each other but to do that,
I have to demonstrate what my value is,
have to show that I'm in alignment with the other person
and what their values might be
and also that we are operating in the same sphere
in terms of our industry
or niche for what we are trying to accomplish
in terms of our goals.
So you've been using LinkedIn wrong this whole time
because of a couple of things.
You're not posting Monday through Friday in a way
that's meaningful, to people already in your network,
or part of the network that you want to cultivate,
or align yourself to give commentary on your industry,
your niche, or the arena that you're trying to enter into.
And the reason this becomes important
is because it puts you as an individual into context
for somebody who's looking into you.
You have to know where people stand.
You have to also have demonstrations of their knowledge
and their experience and when you communicate that,
and you do it in a much less formal way,
but you're direct, that resonates with people
because they don't feel you're being fake,
so it's a disproportionate opportunity to reach people
and say, you know what,
I really resonated with what so-and-so had to say.
That's gonna mean a lot more to somebody than oh,
so-and-so has these qualifications or went to this school.
We don't really care about those things,
there are shorthand for trying to get context on somebody,
but you know what really gives someone context?
Knowing why something matters to you,
knowing why you care about the industry being disrupted,
knowing why you care about preserving your craft,
that is a much more powerful signal to somebody
that you resonate with them
and that you are in alignment
and that you're part of the right company culture
than any other accolade or accomplishment.
Not everybody is great at video,
and I completely respect that,
but what I do think many
of you could be doing differently is writing an article
at least once a week in LinkedIn.
It doesn't have to be some elongated thing,
it can be 300 words, use 300 words
and then grab like a stock photo.
You guys know that I am a fan of Adobe Stock,
or take a picture of something with your smartphone
that puts the frame into context
in terms of what you are talking about,
and then just write something meaningful
and something that's based on your experience
and shows you to be a person
of substance that can contribute to the industry
and to the niche that you're discussing.
I think that that is underrated,
and a once a week commitment of 300 to 500 words is not
that challenging, and again,
just by filming on my smartphone,
it's been very well received even without being polished
and edited, one, the quality
of what you can do on a smartphone is amazing
in terms of video at this point.
It's unprecedented, and then two,
because I'm demonstrating and communicating confidence,
I'm demonstrating higher value by showing the confidence
to one, beyond camera, differentiates me from the majority
of the market, 90% of the people won't do it,
and then of the remaining 10%, how many
of them will do it unedited
and unfiltered and take
that risk that it will be well received
or it will go on the record unedited,
that differentiates me in another way,
it takes me to another higher tier because you see,
often different is better than better.
How are you separating yourself
from the majority of the market?
Once you narrow that down,
now you're much more interesting and you're more
likely to attract the opportunities that you want,
the network that you want,
and people who can really help you in building your brand,
building your business, achieving your goals.
Now, there are some of you that,
that just feels wildly uncomfortable for you and you don't
like necessarily sharing your inner thoughts or you don't
like talking about yourself
and you are resistant to it
and you're resistant to personal branding for
that reason even though all
that really is is demonstrating your skills,
ability, your knowledge,
your experience, showcasing your body
of work in what's actionable to somebody,
like that's all we're talking about
when we say personal brand,
reputation and body of work
and then distributing that so that people can have context.
That's what we are really talking about,
but if that is uncomfortable for you,
there is another alternative.
Curation of content is underestimated
and LinkedIn is a great place for you
to share things from industry thought leaders,
so sharing a great article,
sharing something from an accredited publication
in your niche, maybe you share something from Inc.
or Business Insider or Fortune
in terms of articles on regular basis
so that you become the curator
of the best information in your sphere of influence
and that makes you valuable
to people without you having to talk about yourself.
Maybe you highlight the people in your network
that you feel deserve a lot more credit for what they
are doing, a lot more attention and you highlight that,
so that means you can write about other people
or you can share other people's content.
This makes you valuable because now,
you're someone who has an eye for talent,
you are someone who has their fingers
on the pulse of the industry.
This is something that can differentiate you
and make you stand out and make you someone of substance
and value in the eyes of others.
All of a sudden, LinkedIn
is a lot more interesting to you now, isn't it?
Question of the day.
Are you gonna start using LinkedIn
as more than a glorified resume now that
I've talked you through it in this video?
I would love to know in the comments section if you feel
like you've been underestimating LinkedIn
and if you're finally gonna use it as the great
tool that it actually use.
Maybe I changed your mind with this video.
Anyway, I would love to hear from you.
Like this video if you like it, don't forget to subscribe.
In fact, also do me a huge favor.
If I've ever created value for you,
go ahead and please give me a recommendation
in LinkedIn because that actually really helps
and remember, I'm doing exclusive content
that I'm only really doing mostly in LinkedIn so you might
want to check that out.
As always you guys, thank you so very much
for watching and don't forget.
Go out there and create something awesome today.
Take care.
(upbeat music)