Matt Scherer and Elizabeth Quintanilla presented “LinkedIn 301: Thought Leadership – Position Yourself As An Expert!” on May 27th, 2020 through Zoom. Matt Scherer is CEO of Scherer Communications which focuses on helping people update their LinkedIn profiles. Elizabeth Quintanilla is a marketing professional at Marketing Gunslingers and a valued mentor at IncubatorCTX.
Rapid digital advancements have changed the landscape for most businesses, especially when it comes to the traditional marketing funnel… When it comes to driving business growth – online or offline – relationships matter.
Tip 1: Take the time to make yourself look AWESOME!
- Take time to think of a creative, thorough headline. What is your unique value proposition?
Tip 2: Choose Great Photos and get your custom URL!
- If you have a custom, shorter URL, you can share it easier with others. If your name URL is already taken, e.g. “/mattsherer” you can include a keyword about yourself or your job title.
Tip 3: Create a headline that works with your banner.
- If your banner includes your company name, Elizabeth suggests it could be helpful to elaborate in your biography exactly what it is you do at your job and what you can offer.
Tip 4: Understand the relationship between a desktop and a mobile banner.
- A banner might look good on a desktop but can look distorted on a mobile device. Make sure your banner and format look good on both platforms.
Tip 5: Always use a tieback in a connection note.
- Include where you met them or what you both have in common when making a connection!
Tip 6: Comment and like something strategically daily.
- This one is almost like proper manners. Why would anyone show you love if you don’t love back. You’ll find that you establish this small community of likes, comments, and reciprocity with the same people. As time passes, that community will grow.
Tip 7: Use Only Three Hashtags per post.
- LinkedIn really only likes you to have 3 hashtags in your posts, no more. They should be strategic to the message you are trying to tell people.
Tip 8: Plan your themes … This is your personal brand. Focus on only a few topics – MAX!
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What topics/issues/opinions do you want to be known for? (your personal brand). It is strongly recommended to have a focus here and stick to one or two related topics. For example, if someone follows you to hear about marketing, and your next 10 posts are about climate change (with no marketing angle), you might lose them.
Tip 9: Use your recommendations for work attribution.
- The recommendations on your profile are kind of like reviews of yourself, and people always read reviews before engaging. Make sure the recommendations on your profile are sincere and detailed.
Tip 10: Update Your Status, Be Authentically You … Professional You.
- Sometimes it’s obvious when you are just hiding behind a computer screen and not putting your best foot forward. When posting, don’t sound like a bot!
Tip 11: Writing a book? Great writers introduce topics via LinkedIn.
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Matt suggests posting a few key chapters from your book on Linkedin to get the opinions of others. This is also a great way to promote your work and let others know you have a book coming out soon. If it doesn’t resonate with people on LinkedIn, how can you generate sales later?
Tip 12: See something your customers are missing? Share a blog on LinkedIn.
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LinkedIn has a publishing feature and is a great place to post blogs that target your customer’s needs.
Tip 13: Make sure people can find you!
- A customized URL can be put on business cards, email signatures, and even at the end of presentations as an invitation to connect.
Tip 14: Use your middle initial in your profile.
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If you have a common name, adding a middle or even first initial can help make it easier for people to find you specifically.
Tip 15: Avoid the use of resume-speak in your profile.
- LinkedIn is not a place to format just like your resume. You want to talk to people in a first-person tone and make your content more personalized.
Tip 16: Don’t forget that @sign when posting content.
- If you post content that involves others or even if you think they would be interested in the content being posted, use the @ sign to tag them so they get a notification, Matt suggests.
Tip 17: Experiment with LinkedIn Live Video and post recorded videos on LinkedIn.
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A way to share videos of yourself sharing tips or updates is by using the LinkedIn Live Video feature. You can also pre-record videos and post them on YouTube, or even upload those videos directly onto LinkedIn.
Tip 18: In the news? Share it with others.
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If you have been in the news, a local TV station, or have had an article written about you, you definitely want to share that with others on LinkedIn because it helps provide credibility for yourself.
Tip 19: Create cross-promotional content with other thought leaders
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Matt explains that LinkedIn only allows you to two or three posts if you’re working on a campaign, so after posting on your own page, you can go to other people and ask if they can share it with their friends on LinkedIn. This way you get your content out cross-promotionally, and as a plus, they’re endorsing you by sharing your content. Any time you share another person’s content, you’re actually silently endorsing that person’s credibility.
Tip 20: Always respond to any comment on your posts!
- What you say reflects on you. Never post negative comments about someone’s post or a past employer. Instead, pause and think if there’s a way you can rethink and rewrite in a constructive way – if you can’t, just hit the delete button and go do something else to shift focus.
Watch the questions asked here:
- The first question from LinkedIn 301 discusses how to find your own expertise and narrow it into three main topics.
- Selling yourself is hard and it can be a daunting task to accomplish.
- This question from our LinkedIn 301 webinar discusses the importance of staying active in LinkedIn groups.
- This video discusses some tips we can use to have longer posts and blogs on LinkedIn.
You can buy Matt Scherer’s new book: LinkedIn for Military: Your Interactive Transition Networking Guide.
Matt Scherer: [email protected]
Elizabeth Quintanilla: [email protected]
Written by Hannah Watson
About IncubatorCTX
IncubatorCTX helps startups and early-stage companies grown and succeed. Our goal is to promote innovation and impact in Northwest Austin along the HWY 620 corridor. We are located on the campus of Concordia University amidst 400 acres of Hill country preserve.
IncubatorCTX members have 24/7 access to vibrant co-working space alongside other entrepreneurs. IncubatorCTX is much more than a co-working space; our members also benefit from a network of mentors, entrepreneurial programming, classes, events, and access to faculty and student workers.
For more information or to become a member, please go to www.incubatorctx.com or to learn more about Concordia University Texas go to www.concordia.edu
