July 25, 2025 • 28 mins
Summary
In this conversation, Al Kushner discusses the importance of leveraging LinkedIn groups for networking and enhancing professional credibility. He emphasizes the value of being active in these groups and the effectiveness of video content in increasing engagement and visibility on the platform.
Guest Bio:
Al Kushner is an award-winning author passionate about leveraging technology to empower leaders and change-makers to achieve meaningful impact. My upcoming book, The AI LinkedIn Advantage: Unleash the Power of AI and Dominate the Competition, releasing on July 4, highlights how AI and LinkedIn can help thought leaders and decision-makers build influential networks, innovate their strategies, and drive powerful, purpose-driven goals forward.Contact: www.linkedin.com/in/al-kushner
Chapters
00:00 Empowering Sustainable Leaders through Digital Influence
07:57 Leveraging AI for Storytelling and Impact
15:25 Building Quality Connections and Avoiding Fatigue
22:10 Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile for Real-World Opportunities
26:41 Practical Steps for Growing Influence on LinkedIn
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There are groups on LinkedIn andyou can join, you know, that may
be pertaining to your particularindustry.
And if you are accepted, you canpost certainly in those groups.
So that may give you some traction and also helps your
credibility too. Because whenever you do any of
outreach, those who you're connecting with may see you're
part of a group. They may be more willing to
(00:20):
accept your invitation as opposed to if you were not part
of that group. So that could be a very good
help hopeful indicator as far asyou getting more like I would
say, you know, thought leadership, you know, being part
of the group and also being active in that group again, post
at least once a week, you know, and make the information you're
(00:41):
posting educational by nature. You know, and what's trending
right now is actually video, youknow, So if you can create a
short video and post it to that group, that they would get a lot
more eyeballs on it and certainly drive more interest
and, you know, checking out yourprofile because a lot of people
are not really doing that at thecurrent times.
(01:08):
Welcome to Sustainability Transformations podcast where we
explore bold ideas to drive positive change for people,
community and business. And today's guest is strategic
tech driven, impact for cost, group oriented and relationship
centered. Cushionary is the founder of
Linked Vantage, award-winning author of the AI LinkedIn
(01:31):
Vantage, and a trusted advisor helping lead this group
authority networks and resource using content, AI and branding
strategies. And the core theme of our
discussion is empowering sustainable leaders through the
digital influence regarding AI and influence building
sustainable impact through LinkedIn strategy.
(01:52):
How you've built a career helping professional stand out
online, but what sparked your passion for helping mission
driven leaders build real impactthrough LinkedIn?
I think it, you know, it's a great platform to get connected
and I think it's an opportunity for sustainability.
Leaders often misses showcasing their unique vision in a way
(02:14):
that connects emotionally with their audience.
It's not just about posting updates.
It's about positioning yourself as a thought leader by sharing
stories that reflect your mission and values.
Authentic thought leadership emerges when you when your
content sparks trust and fostersconversation and inspires
actionable change. What's the biggest opportunity
(02:35):
leaders in sustainability miss when it comes to their LinkedIn
presence? I think being purpose purposeful
networking is all about seeking collaborators and funding
partners who are aligned with both your values and goals.
LinkedIn filters and search tools can help identify like
minded individuals or organizations to avoid
connection fatigue. Focus on quality over quantity,
(02:58):
thoughtful engagements, small but intentional networks and
mission driven conversations. Energized and sustained
momentum. OK.
So you mentioned about the quality over quantity.
So now with AI, with Chachi PT, I can see and a few people have
sensed that the quality of post has increased because AI is
(03:19):
helping the efficiency. Now there's a lot of quantity of
post out there. So what's the difference between
just posting content and building through thought
leadership? Well, I guess you'd have to look
at the content that you are creating.
You got to start with content that educates your audience,
follow with posts that inspire action and conclude with clear
(03:40):
next steps like a subtle call oraction.
For those adverse to self promotion, remember that
highlighting your mission and it's and it's why is a service
not self-serving. OK, So I personally have
experienced where when I've posted content on LinkedIn which
is around leadership of sustainability, is it fair to
(04:01):
say or assume that the demographic of the audience you
target, some demographic could be more less inclined to like or
comment for various reasons if Iuse the seniors or the leaders
as an example? Or you can still deliver content
to such demographic using that as an example to still get
(04:25):
commenting and liking and is a reaction of some sort or
engagement rather is the word I was looking for.
Well, it all depends on your followers.
You know, if you in a situation where you have a lot of
followers that are not related to what you're saying, no, it's
nobody's going to listen to it. For example, I use newsletters
(04:45):
and focus particularly on certain industries like
accounting or attorneys or financial planners and cater to
information for those individuals.
So when they receive it, it's directed to them specifically
based on their, let's say, occupation.
So I sent out lose letters at least once a week.
I have about 5 different newsletters going on to specific
(05:06):
industries that of course that those who read it are very
interested in what is currently trending in their particular,
you know, topics that they're having.
So that's important to be very selective in who you're sending
the information to as opposed toin general because you're really
not going to get much traction that way.
(05:27):
Considering the LinkedIn platform is fairly a general
audience, then what are the insights or advice for leaders
or sustainability leaders when they create content?
Considering LinkedIn is a broad family of people from different
demographics, seniority and so on, what are some of the tips
(05:49):
you would advise to get a good understanding of what the
demographics are like so that you post content to attract the
kind and or the type of demographic that will suit the
audience you are creating the content for, if that makes
sense. Yeah, well, pretty easy.
There are groups on LinkedIn andyou can join, you know, that may
(06:09):
be pertaining to your particularindustry and if you are
accepted, you can post certainlyin those groups.
So that may give you some traction and also helps your
credibility too, because whenever you do any of outreach,
those who you're connecting withmay see you're part of a group,
they may be more willing to accept your invitation as
opposed to if you were not part of that group.
(06:30):
So that could be a very good help, helpful indicator as far
as you getting more like I wouldsay, you know, thought
leadership, you know, being partof the group and also being
active in that group. Again, post at least once a
week, you know, and make the information you're posting
educational by nature, you know,and what's trending right now is
(06:52):
actually video, you know, So if you can create a short video and
post it to that group, that theywould get a lot more eyeballs on
it and certainly drive more interest in, you know, checking
out your profile because a lot of people are not really doing
that at the current time. So that's really where I've seen
the trend right now is video is really taking off.
If you keep it short, people will be more likely to watch it
(07:15):
and be more receptive to what you're trying to say.
And. That's good.
When I started posting on LinkedIn, I don't know what I
just made, but I was more conscious of the general
audience of former work colleagues for previous friends
that we're just seeing the post I was sending, but it wasn't
(07:36):
relevant to them. And so your advice is, you know,
focusing on the groups looks like such a great idea because
you know the audience. For example, I'm part of the
sustainability professionals group on LinkedIn.
So in this scenario, then I can focus posting such video or
content in that group because that's what I'm trying to focus
on. So that's great.
(07:57):
So tell us about your new book, the AI LinkedIn.
How can sustainability innovators or leaders use AI to
amplify their message? Well, I mean, there are a lot of
information that I researched onand my book focuses on
empowering innovators to leverage AI for storytelling and
impact. AI can amplify messages by
(08:20):
identifying audiences insights, optimizing content for
visibility, and scaling human connection through tools like
smart messaging, personalization, practical
applications. I'd say use AI for scheduling
content at peak engagement timesor crafting dynamic posts that
align with trends while staying authentic to your mission.
(08:42):
Are there any two or three practical ways or methods that
AI is transforming how we build that professional relationship
and trust in the midst of AI sometimes can be quite robotic
or too mechanical. Well, I would say that
responding to posts on LinkedIn,people who are influential or
(09:02):
influencers you might say, and responding within a timely
fashion, usually within the first hour that they post and
provide critique as far as what they are trying to say and see
if you can help help them with their posts by perhaps adding to
something that they didn't address could be a great
example. AI technology like ChatGPT can
(09:24):
analyze the post and look for ways that could help add
something that would create a help for that influencer.
And a lot of times that post that they post will probably go
viral. But if you get it within a
certain time frame, usually within I would say the first
hour, if you post, people who follow that post will see yours
(09:44):
responding and they may follow you as a result because of the
amount of people following that.And that influencer may check
out your profile as a result because you help them elevate
their post, which LinkedIn lovesand helps the algorithm to
spread the message even greater.So it's a win win situation for
both the influencer and you. I've seen a feature on LinkedIn
(10:06):
which now when you comment on a post you see the impressions.
Hopefully I've got a name right of how many people have viewed.
I hope that's the minute of the impressions, which in a way
helps see the impact of commenting.
Can you shed some light on that new feature on LinkedIn?
Well, as far as the amount of views on your particular post,
(10:27):
it's been around for a while. So it's not a necessarily new
feature. It just gives you a gauge as far
as whether or not your post is gaining traction or has gotten,
you know, more interest comparedto other posts.
So it kind of gives you something as a basis point which
you may be able to use or repurpose in the future for
another type of post. Maybe expanding upon that if
(10:49):
it's a popular topic that resonated well with your, you
know, your people who follow you.
So that could be a useful tool for that.
Yeah, so I was actually referring to not the posts which
you get the analytics, but when you comment.
So thought leaders creates a post, they get the analytics of
(11:10):
it. But I'm talking about a thought
leader creating a post and when I comment on it or when you
comment on it now you can see how many people it's called
impressions. So you actually now get a data.
Well, I'd say that if you comment on influence post and
you find that you're getting a lot of people who are commenting
on your post, that's certainly helpful and realize that you're
(11:30):
going in the right direction. So whenever they do another post
in the future, you know the key thing is comment within a
certain time, usually within trying to be as quickly as
possible because then your post will be on the top where others
will be all the way on the bottom.
When they look at hit, you know that individuals post, they'll
see yours underneath and may decide to comment on your post
in addition to theirs, which helps gain you more favorably
(11:53):
with Lincolns algorithm. So it's definitely an advantage
to do that. You talk about purpose for
networking, how do leaders use LinkedIn to find aligned funding
partners for a sustainability startups or businesses or
collaboration partners for theirmission so as.
Far as how to use LinkedIn, well, it's about making quality
(12:14):
connections. Reach out to people who may be
influencers in that industry andengage with them.
The best way to engage with themis obviously to follow them or
don't connect directly to them. For the most part, they'll
decline you because they're popular.
It's like you're trying to, you know, want to connect with, I
don't know, whoever is the most popular nowadays, Gary
(12:35):
Vaynerchuk, for example, and youwant to reach out and make a
connection. Well, most likely he's not going
to accept it, but you can followthe individual.
And what happens is you'll get notified when they post and that
gives you an opportunity to engage, you know, with their
particular post to reply that. And sometimes that may help get
you their interest and they may extend ability to connect with
(12:58):
you. You know, so that's really the
way to do that is, is, is to follow someone who feel it's a
offering a good value and comment on what they're posting
and but add value to what they're commenting will make a
difference. Yeah, that's good.
So how can sustainability advocates avoid connection
fatigue? I think you've shared some some
of them and build communities that really energize great
(13:22):
transformation. Well, way to do it is to really
spend not all day on LinkedIn, but maybe at least an hour a day
and reply back to any comments that people posted on your
particular thing. For example, a lot of people
post and ghost, you know, they just leave a video and they and
(13:44):
they come back a week later to see what responses they get.
That's not the way to do it. And you're not going to make
connections that way. You know, you should be alerted
as far as who's looked at it, who's commented on it and then
respond back, you know, whether it's saying, you know, thanks
for your thoughts or answer their questions they have.
That's really the way to do thatso you can get engagement.
The way to do it is to really make the time you spend on
(14:05):
LinkedIn, you know, impactful. So I would say that, you know,
try to engage with at least a newsletter once a week.
If you're going to post, post ingroups, you know, at least once
a week. Ideally post a video because
you're going to get a lot more views that way.
And you'll be quite surprised that being part of groups helps
you improve your ability to makemore connections because by
(14:27):
association that really helps. So that's really the way to do
it without, you know, getting fatigued, you know, make the
time on there spent worthwhile, you know, by doing the strategic
moves, which I talk about in my book, the AI LinkedIn Advantage.
So that's something that a lot of people will find to be a good
resource for learning about tools and techniques that help
me become, you know, better at what I do.
(14:49):
And that's definitely a good starting.
Point. That's great.
I really love that video to the LinkedIn group because I think
that's going to be my next task to focus on, so that's great
once again. So what framework do you use so
that you can move from the profile views to real world
opportunity? So you know, LinkedIn notifies
(15:10):
when someone views your profile and if you are on the premium
then you are able to see who's viewing your profile.
Or sometimes you may ask for connections where the person
doesn't accept but they actuallyview your profile.
I'm very curious to know what are some of the hidden or user
experience? What do those signals mean?
Well, before you do any outreachwhatsoever, you got to really
(15:32):
optimize your profile. I mean, that's really to make a
difference. You know, start with the profile
picture. You know, you want a
professional picture, you want aheadshot that's going to be
representing who you are and also look at the background
picture too. Don't ignore that, you know,
don't put up something like AI don't know a generic, you know,
or cliche quote, you know, do something more with that.
(15:54):
You know, talk about, you know what what is?
What's a compliment that you have?
Maybe you won an award, maybe you've given volunteer work.
I mean, people love that. And that's all should be part of
your profile. You know, expand about your
about section. A lot of people treat it like a
resume and it's not really the case.
You want to really give something of value whoever
(16:16):
you're connecting with because they say in life, you know, you
don't get a second chance to make a first impression.
And that's true, OK. And I only give you a short
period of time before they move on to someone else.
So you need to really give them value whoever you're connecting
with. So pay attention to your
featured section, you know, makeit more, you know, you know, put
the best features that you have first so you can make it more
(16:37):
impactful. Whoever you're connecting with,
if you have videos on there, showcase some videos as part of
your activity. You know, that's always
important to notice. I would say also look at your
experience, you know, and elaborate on certain industries
you're in. You don't have to put every
experience you'd had in life. You know, that's really
ridiculous. Some people put experience so
they worked at McDonald's when there was a teenager.
(16:58):
OK, Well, that's irrelevant compared to if they're, I don't
know, attorney now or something.But you know, if you have a
school affiliation, that's a great thing.
Investment skills, you know, take advantage.
You could do up to 100 skills actually as part of your skill
set. So try to put as much as you can
in the skills section on that. But most important is
recommendation. So that's how you're going to
(17:19):
build trust. I mean, if you have a
recommendation, you know, you want to be as many
recommendations as possible. Everyone recommendation doesn't
cut it nowadays. OK, you got to be more
proactive. All right, So whoever is use
your services or is happy with your services, reach out and ask
them for some kind words, you know, because it's going to make
a difference. You know, that's the first thing
(17:41):
once you because when you look at this, if you have, I don't
know, 6000 followers, but only one testimonial, that's really
suspicious right there. You're going to think about
who's this guy, you know, I mean, you know, you should have
at least, I don't know, 10% of testimonials of that followers,
you know, commenting how great you are because that's something
that's going to make a difference.
So that's really where they wantto focus.
(18:01):
Before you do any outreach, you got not optimize your profile.
You got to give something of value because nowadays, you
know, the people have a short attention span.
They don't want to spend time ontime wasters, you know, and
that's really what for their point of view is that you got to
give them something that you know, the competition is giving
them, you know, they're giving them, you know, great value.
(18:23):
You know, whether it's an article they've written or or
testimonials, some people who'veused their services, that's
going to make a difference between you and the competitor
out there. So that's what you have to
really do is focus on being moreproactive, getting those
testimonials and creating content that's going to give
something of value or videos. This is all part of it.
Before you do any outreach, you got to put your house in order.
(18:44):
Yeah, that's good. A great tip out there is if
you've worked with any clients or customers, try and get those
recommendations as soon as possible.
From my experience and I've goneback a year or two later and you
know it's difficult to get thoserecommendation.
Yeah, that's that's not the besttime.
The best time is to do it as soon as possible.
(19:06):
Like for example, this podcast is a great time because I'm
going to give you a great recommendation.
Hopefully you'll do the same, you know, but that'll give you a
template in order to do that. So whoever you can, you know,
whoever your next guest is, do the same thing.
If they have a LinkedIn profile,Hey, you know, if I give you
value, you know, let's and you can make it easy for them, you
know, put in some kind words, you know, you can create the
(19:28):
content for them and they'll just post it, you know, I mean,
that's make it as user friendly as possible.
People don't want to think aboutwhat to say, but give them
examples of what you're looking for and guess what, you make it
easier for them. It makes a big difference and
you'll see also what's good about it.
Now, do you have a website separate from LinkedIn?
Yes, I have two websites actually, yeah.
OK. Do you have any testimonials on
that website? Yeah.
(19:49):
So the training, I have pulled 10 testimonials onto the
website, yes. Any of those testimonials on
LinkedIn? 10 is only one and that's
something which clearly I have to work on because the challenge
is I didn't. Really take it seriously about
recommendations. So yeah, I didn't really take
good action. So I think I fit the statistics
(20:09):
where I have over 6000 followers, but I haven't really
done. But I went back about six months
ago and it's difficult to get any response from those that
I've worked with in the past where in the moment when I was
consulting for them and leading them, it was really good.
So that's why I shared the advice about try and get a
testimonial as soon as possible and the challenges.
(20:30):
I moved from a oil and gas sector into a solar and
naturally that is a disconnect because when you work in that
oil and gas, for some reason in the space it may appear to be
there's a different, yeah, yeah.So trying to get feedback or
recommendations from a differentsector into a new sector.
(20:50):
There's a lot of lessons there. You sound like a fresh start but
the reason I'm saying is that once you do that, let's say you
get people on and you get 1020 testimonials.
You can use it on your website and then also a share link with
that person's profile because itmakes more authentic, you know,
because people post testimonialson their website, but I don't
know who these people are. They can be fake by all matters,
(21:11):
but you put it like a LinkedIn logo.
They connect it and they see that person's real.
Well, that makes you more trustworthy.
You know, that's really what's all you know, and that's
important. So my website linked Vantage,
they can go ahead and check out the reviews I have from real
people, you know, and they clickon the profile and they can then
reach out to them. Hey, did you work with Al?
(21:31):
They know, you know, so that really makes a difference.
So at least lead by example. So that's just an example of
what you can do. And then once you get that in
order, then do an outreach, you know, then decide to connect
with someone. But the first thing to do is you
don't have to connect with them directly.
You can follow them. For example, you go to the
profile, don't do an actual connection, you know, unless you
(21:51):
are referred by someone, for example.
But if you don't really know theperson and maybe they're a
second connection, may be part of a group that you're part of,
I would follow that person. And what happens is when they
get notified that they, they, you do, they do a post, you'll
be notified when they post and then comment on their post.
And sometimes they'll check out your Provo like that service
(22:11):
that LinkedIn tells you who's looked at your profile.
That's a great opportunity to ask them, Hey, thanks for
stopping by my profile. What made you decide to check
out? They may say, Oh, well, you're
part of my group and I just figured to kind of make a
connection and then at that timereach out.
Well, let's connect. You know, you understand and
that's how you do it, you know, organically in a way that it
(22:32):
doesn't come across as being spammy or, you know, forced.
You know, it's, it's a natural order of business.
But if you do it that way, you'll finally make more quality
connections and you can grow your followers of people who are
really looking for what you're have to offer.
You know, that makes a difference.
And again, also, I think LinkedIn caps out at 30,000
(22:52):
followers or something, I'm not sure.
Or connections. I think you can go unlimited,
but that's something you know down the road think about.
So it's more about the quality of the connections versus the
quantity is a key thing. So that's what I want to share
with you that. That's what metrics actually
matter then, for sustainability leaders who growing a presence
(23:13):
online. As far as making, you know,
making the most out of LinkedIn,you would say or.
Yeah, as. Far as the.
Yeah, sorry. Grown.
Yeah. I would say post a story about
your mission, for example, and include a clear call for
collaboration or insights. Storytelling invites connection,
and you never know which post could lead to your next
(23:35):
milestone. So I hope that these insights
provide inspiration and practical steps to leverage
LinkedIn as a tool for greater impact.
So for impact driven professionals, what would you
advise? How to balance inspiration,
education and promotion in theircontent?
Well, I would say digital sustainability is about
(23:56):
maintaining authenticity and consistency consistency online
over time. Leaders often falter when they
focus too heavily on short term ROI or trends.
So the fix, revisit your long term goals and craft a digital
presence that feels sustainable for you.
Blending tools, automation, and personal touch points to extend
(24:16):
your reach without overextendingyourself.
Yeah, good. So what is 1 mistake leaders
when they are scaling their influence they have to be aware
of and how to cause correct any such mistakes you say?
Well, I would say to balance education, inspiration and
promotion, think of your contactas a three act story.
Start with contact that educatesyour audience, follow with post
(24:40):
and inspire action and conclude with clear next steps.
You know a subtle call to actionfor those adverse self
promotion. Remember that highlighting your
mission and it's why as a service, it's not self-serving.
Yeah. So the popular belief is to
pushed continuously or pushed asoften as possible.
(25:02):
But I'm curious to know that considering less than 5% of
people on LinkedIn actually post.
Yeah, you know, I don't know thespecific stance, so you probably
correct me on that, but less than 5 or 10% of people post
once a week. And so if you pushed once a
week, then you are more than youare doing more than the majority
(25:24):
of the people. So how can using that knowledge,
where the popular belief is to post as often as possible, but
post just about enough to stay relevant, to improve your brand
by avoiding the potential of burnouts?
Well, The thing is to provide a variety of posts and it doesn't
don't have to necessarily be a post directly.
You can post by commenting on aninfluencer, for example, you
(25:46):
know, and you can post, you know, several times a week on
that influencer's particular post.
That may help gain traction withyou post once a week in the
groups that you have just to be active, which is a great thing
to do. If you have a newsletter that's
very good, you send that out. And what's great about the
newsletter is that it kind of bypasses spam filters when
(26:07):
people receive e-mail or becauseof Linkedin's, you know,
algorithm, you know, it gets through Gmail, gets through
Yahoo, compared to traditional, you know, other things sending
out from a corporate e-mail, it gets more prominence and not
filtered through spam. So if you're posting on a
LinkedIn, like in your newsletter, it'll go directly to
(26:28):
the inboxes. So people will see it as opposed
to going to the spam filters. So that's something that is
unique about LinkedIn. The newsletter feature I.
For sustainability leader listening today, what's 1
LinkedIn move they can make thisweek to grow their influence?
Focus on your profile. You know you want to grow, you
have to get your house in order.OK, my book has a lot of
(26:51):
resources available. How to optimize your profile on
my website, linkedvantage.com, Ihave courses that you can learn
how to optimize your profile. You know, to before you do any
outreach, you got to get your house in order, OK, because no
one's really going to take you seriously if you don't take your
profile seriously. You know, that's Simply put, you
know, and if you think you can kind of, you know, get around at
(27:13):
a cut corners not it's not goingto work.
And what's going to happen is, is that whatever you outreach
doesn't want to connect with you.
It's going to look by LinkedIn as you're spamming other people.
And you may end up getting your account closed because you look
as a spammer. You gotta give more than you
take, and that's really what it's all about.
So make sure you get your profile optimized before you do
(27:34):
any outreach. That's my word of the day.
Huge thank you to our for your time and the incredible insights
for leaders of sustainability impact driven leaders on how to
grow influence particularly on LinkedIn in the mixed of AI and
other key topics. So if the listeners or those who
(27:55):
are watching would like to explore more of your work, where
can they find you? When?
I go to mywebsite.linkedvantage.com.
I also have free ebook that could download on tips on
optimizing your profile. You can go to the website and
learn more about that. Certainly check me out on
LinkedIn, LinkedIn profile, and also my book will be available.
(28:17):
It's be released I think July 4th.
So it'll be available. Both audio book, you can go on
Spotify, get on the waiting listfor the book to be released.
So yeah, those are just great ways to kind of connect and find
resources that'll help your listeners get better on
LinkedIn. That's great.
Thank you so much. Welcome.
Thanks for the opportunity. I look forward to speaking to
(28:38):
you again. Yeah, cheers.
There are groups on LinkedIn andyou can join, you know, that may
be pertaining to your particularindustry.
And if you are accepted, you canpost certainly in those groups.
So that may give you some traction and also helps your
credibility too. Because whenever you do any of
outreach, those who you're connecting with may see you're
part of a group. They may be more willing to
(00:20):
accept your invitation as opposed to if you were not part
of that group. So that could be a very good
help hopeful indicator as far asyou getting more like I would
say, you know, thought leadership, you know, being part
of the group and also being active in that group again, post
at least once a week, you know, and make the information you're
(00:41):
posting educational by nature. You know, and what's trending
right now is actually video, youknow, So if you can create a
short video and post it to that group, that they would get a lot
more eyeballs on it and certainly drive more interest
and, you know, checking out yourprofile because a lot of people
are not really doing that at thecurrent times.
(01:08):
Welcome to Sustainability Transformations podcast where we
explore bold ideas to drive positive change for people,
community and business. And today's guest is strategic
tech driven, impact for cost, group oriented and relationship
centered. Cushionary is the founder of
Linked Vantage, award-winning author of the AI LinkedIn
(01:31):
Vantage, and a trusted advisor helping lead this group
authority networks and resource using content, AI and branding
strategies. And the core theme of our
discussion is empowering sustainable leaders through the
digital influence regarding AI and influence building
sustainable impact through LinkedIn strategy.
(01:52):
How you've built a career helping professional stand out
online, but what sparked your passion for helping mission
driven leaders build real impactthrough LinkedIn?
I think it, you know, it's a great platform to get connected
and I think it's an opportunity for sustainability.
Leaders often misses showcasing their unique vision in a way
(02:14):
that connects emotionally with their audience.
It's not just about posting updates.
It's about positioning yourself as a thought leader by sharing
stories that reflect your mission and values.
Authentic thought leadership emerges when you when your
content sparks trust and fostersconversation and inspires
actionable change. What's the biggest opportunity
(02:35):
leaders in sustainability miss when it comes to their LinkedIn
presence? I think being purpose purposeful
networking is all about seeking collaborators and funding
partners who are aligned with both your values and goals.
LinkedIn filters and search tools can help identify like
minded individuals or organizations to avoid
connection fatigue. Focus on quality over quantity,
(02:58):
thoughtful engagements, small but intentional networks and
mission driven conversations. Energized and sustained
momentum. OK.
So you mentioned about the quality over quantity.
So now with AI, with Chachi PT, I can see and a few people have
sensed that the quality of post has increased because AI is
(03:19):
helping the efficiency. Now there's a lot of quantity of
post out there. So what's the difference between
just posting content and building through thought
leadership? Well, I guess you'd have to look
at the content that you are creating.
You got to start with content that educates your audience,
follow with posts that inspire action and conclude with clear
(03:40):
next steps like a subtle call oraction.
For those adverse to self promotion, remember that
highlighting your mission and it's and it's why is a service
not self-serving. OK, So I personally have
experienced where when I've posted content on LinkedIn which
is around leadership of sustainability, is it fair to
(04:01):
say or assume that the demographic of the audience you
target, some demographic could be more less inclined to like or
comment for various reasons if Iuse the seniors or the leaders
as an example? Or you can still deliver content
to such demographic using that as an example to still get
(04:25):
commenting and liking and is a reaction of some sort or
engagement rather is the word I was looking for.
Well, it all depends on your followers.
You know, if you in a situation where you have a lot of
followers that are not related to what you're saying, no, it's
nobody's going to listen to it. For example, I use newsletters
(04:45):
and focus particularly on certain industries like
accounting or attorneys or financial planners and cater to
information for those individuals.
So when they receive it, it's directed to them specifically
based on their, let's say, occupation.
So I sent out lose letters at least once a week.
I have about 5 different newsletters going on to specific
(05:06):
industries that of course that those who read it are very
interested in what is currently trending in their particular,
you know, topics that they're having.
So that's important to be very selective in who you're sending
the information to as opposed toin general because you're really
not going to get much traction that way.
(05:27):
Considering the LinkedIn platform is fairly a general
audience, then what are the insights or advice for leaders
or sustainability leaders when they create content?
Considering LinkedIn is a broad family of people from different
demographics, seniority and so on, what are some of the tips
(05:49):
you would advise to get a good understanding of what the
demographics are like so that you post content to attract the
kind and or the type of demographic that will suit the
audience you are creating the content for, if that makes
sense. Yeah, well, pretty easy.
There are groups on LinkedIn andyou can join, you know, that may
(06:09):
be pertaining to your particularindustry and if you are
accepted, you can post certainlyin those groups.
So that may give you some traction and also helps your
credibility too, because whenever you do any of outreach,
those who you're connecting withmay see you're part of a group,
they may be more willing to accept your invitation as
opposed to if you were not part of that group.
(06:30):
So that could be a very good help, helpful indicator as far
as you getting more like I wouldsay, you know, thought
leadership, you know, being partof the group and also being
active in that group. Again, post at least once a
week, you know, and make the information you're posting
educational by nature, you know,and what's trending right now is
(06:52):
actually video, you know, So if you can create a short video and
post it to that group, that theywould get a lot more eyeballs on
it and certainly drive more interest in, you know, checking
out your profile because a lot of people are not really doing
that at the current time. So that's really where I've seen
the trend right now is video is really taking off.
If you keep it short, people will be more likely to watch it
(07:15):
and be more receptive to what you're trying to say.
And. That's good.
When I started posting on LinkedIn, I don't know what I
just made, but I was more conscious of the general
audience of former work colleagues for previous friends
that we're just seeing the post I was sending, but it wasn't
(07:36):
relevant to them. And so your advice is, you know,
focusing on the groups looks like such a great idea because
you know the audience. For example, I'm part of the
sustainability professionals group on LinkedIn.
So in this scenario, then I can focus posting such video or
content in that group because that's what I'm trying to focus
on. So that's great.
(07:57):
So tell us about your new book, the AI LinkedIn.
How can sustainability innovators or leaders use AI to
amplify their message? Well, I mean, there are a lot of
information that I researched onand my book focuses on
empowering innovators to leverage AI for storytelling and
impact. AI can amplify messages by
(08:20):
identifying audiences insights, optimizing content for
visibility, and scaling human connection through tools like
smart messaging, personalization, practical
applications. I'd say use AI for scheduling
content at peak engagement timesor crafting dynamic posts that
align with trends while staying authentic to your mission.
(08:42):
Are there any two or three practical ways or methods that
AI is transforming how we build that professional relationship
and trust in the midst of AI sometimes can be quite robotic
or too mechanical. Well, I would say that
responding to posts on LinkedIn,people who are influential or
(09:02):
influencers you might say, and responding within a timely
fashion, usually within the first hour that they post and
provide critique as far as what they are trying to say and see
if you can help help them with their posts by perhaps adding to
something that they didn't address could be a great
example. AI technology like ChatGPT can
(09:24):
analyze the post and look for ways that could help add
something that would create a help for that influencer.
And a lot of times that post that they post will probably go
viral. But if you get it within a
certain time frame, usually within I would say the first
hour, if you post, people who follow that post will see yours
(09:44):
responding and they may follow you as a result because of the
amount of people following that.And that influencer may check
out your profile as a result because you help them elevate
their post, which LinkedIn lovesand helps the algorithm to
spread the message even greater.So it's a win win situation for
both the influencer and you. I've seen a feature on LinkedIn
(10:06):
which now when you comment on a post you see the impressions.
Hopefully I've got a name right of how many people have viewed.
I hope that's the minute of the impressions, which in a way
helps see the impact of commenting.
Can you shed some light on that new feature on LinkedIn?
Well, as far as the amount of views on your particular post,
(10:27):
it's been around for a while. So it's not a necessarily new
feature. It just gives you a gauge as far
as whether or not your post is gaining traction or has gotten,
you know, more interest comparedto other posts.
So it kind of gives you something as a basis point which
you may be able to use or repurpose in the future for
another type of post. Maybe expanding upon that if
(10:49):
it's a popular topic that resonated well with your, you
know, your people who follow you.
So that could be a useful tool for that.
Yeah, so I was actually referring to not the posts which
you get the analytics, but when you comment.
So thought leaders creates a post, they get the analytics of
(11:10):
it. But I'm talking about a thought
leader creating a post and when I comment on it or when you
comment on it now you can see how many people it's called
impressions. So you actually now get a data.
Well, I'd say that if you comment on influence post and
you find that you're getting a lot of people who are commenting
on your post, that's certainly helpful and realize that you're
(11:30):
going in the right direction. So whenever they do another post
in the future, you know the key thing is comment within a
certain time, usually within trying to be as quickly as
possible because then your post will be on the top where others
will be all the way on the bottom.
When they look at hit, you know that individuals post, they'll
see yours underneath and may decide to comment on your post
in addition to theirs, which helps gain you more favorably
(11:53):
with Lincolns algorithm. So it's definitely an advantage
to do that. You talk about purpose for
networking, how do leaders use LinkedIn to find aligned funding
partners for a sustainability startups or businesses or
collaboration partners for theirmission so as.
Far as how to use LinkedIn, well, it's about making quality
(12:14):
connections. Reach out to people who may be
influencers in that industry andengage with them.
The best way to engage with themis obviously to follow them or
don't connect directly to them. For the most part, they'll
decline you because they're popular.
It's like you're trying to, you know, want to connect with, I
don't know, whoever is the most popular nowadays, Gary
(12:35):
Vaynerchuk, for example, and youwant to reach out and make a
connection. Well, most likely he's not going
to accept it, but you can followthe individual.
And what happens is you'll get notified when they post and that
gives you an opportunity to engage, you know, with their
particular post to reply that. And sometimes that may help get
you their interest and they may extend ability to connect with
(12:58):
you. You know, so that's really the
way to do that is, is, is to follow someone who feel it's a
offering a good value and comment on what they're posting
and but add value to what they're commenting will make a
difference. Yeah, that's good.
So how can sustainability advocates avoid connection
fatigue? I think you've shared some some
of them and build communities that really energize great
(13:22):
transformation. Well, way to do it is to really
spend not all day on LinkedIn, but maybe at least an hour a day
and reply back to any comments that people posted on your
particular thing. For example, a lot of people
post and ghost, you know, they just leave a video and they and
(13:44):
they come back a week later to see what responses they get.
That's not the way to do it. And you're not going to make
connections that way. You know, you should be alerted
as far as who's looked at it, who's commented on it and then
respond back, you know, whether it's saying, you know, thanks
for your thoughts or answer their questions they have.
That's really the way to do thatso you can get engagement.
The way to do it is to really make the time you spend on
(14:05):
LinkedIn, you know, impactful. So I would say that, you know,
try to engage with at least a newsletter once a week.
If you're going to post, post ingroups, you know, at least once
a week. Ideally post a video because
you're going to get a lot more views that way.
And you'll be quite surprised that being part of groups helps
you improve your ability to makemore connections because by
(14:27):
association that really helps. So that's really the way to do
it without, you know, getting fatigued, you know, make the
time on there spent worthwhile, you know, by doing the strategic
moves, which I talk about in my book, the AI LinkedIn Advantage.
So that's something that a lot of people will find to be a good
resource for learning about tools and techniques that help
me become, you know, better at what I do.
(14:49):
And that's definitely a good starting.
Point. That's great.
I really love that video to the LinkedIn group because I think
that's going to be my next task to focus on, so that's great
once again. So what framework do you use so
that you can move from the profile views to real world
opportunity? So you know, LinkedIn notifies
(15:10):
when someone views your profile and if you are on the premium
then you are able to see who's viewing your profile.
Or sometimes you may ask for connections where the person
doesn't accept but they actuallyview your profile.
I'm very curious to know what are some of the hidden or user
experience? What do those signals mean?
Well, before you do any outreachwhatsoever, you got to really
(15:32):
optimize your profile. I mean, that's really to make a
difference. You know, start with the profile
picture. You know, you want a
professional picture, you want aheadshot that's going to be
representing who you are and also look at the background
picture too. Don't ignore that, you know,
don't put up something like AI don't know a generic, you know,
or cliche quote, you know, do something more with that.
(15:54):
You know, talk about, you know what what is?
What's a compliment that you have?
Maybe you won an award, maybe you've given volunteer work.
I mean, people love that. And that's all should be part of
your profile. You know, expand about your
about section. A lot of people treat it like a
resume and it's not really the case.
You want to really give something of value whoever
(16:16):
you're connecting with because they say in life, you know, you
don't get a second chance to make a first impression.
And that's true, OK. And I only give you a short
period of time before they move on to someone else.
So you need to really give them value whoever you're connecting
with. So pay attention to your
featured section, you know, makeit more, you know, you know, put
the best features that you have first so you can make it more
(16:37):
impactful. Whoever you're connecting with,
if you have videos on there, showcase some videos as part of
your activity. You know, that's always
important to notice. I would say also look at your
experience, you know, and elaborate on certain industries
you're in. You don't have to put every
experience you'd had in life. You know, that's really
ridiculous. Some people put experience so
they worked at McDonald's when there was a teenager.
(16:58):
OK, Well, that's irrelevant compared to if they're, I don't
know, attorney now or something.But you know, if you have a
school affiliation, that's a great thing.
Investment skills, you know, take advantage.
You could do up to 100 skills actually as part of your skill
set. So try to put as much as you can
in the skills section on that. But most important is
recommendation. So that's how you're going to
(17:19):
build trust. I mean, if you have a
recommendation, you know, you want to be as many
recommendations as possible. Everyone recommendation doesn't
cut it nowadays. OK, you got to be more
proactive. All right, So whoever is use
your services or is happy with your services, reach out and ask
them for some kind words, you know, because it's going to make
a difference. You know, that's the first thing
(17:41):
once you because when you look at this, if you have, I don't
know, 6000 followers, but only one testimonial, that's really
suspicious right there. You're going to think about
who's this guy, you know, I mean, you know, you should have
at least, I don't know, 10% of testimonials of that followers,
you know, commenting how great you are because that's something
that's going to make a difference.
So that's really where they wantto focus.
(18:01):
Before you do any outreach, you got not optimize your profile.
You got to give something of value because nowadays, you
know, the people have a short attention span.
They don't want to spend time ontime wasters, you know, and
that's really what for their point of view is that you got to
give them something that you know, the competition is giving
them, you know, they're giving them, you know, great value.
(18:23):
You know, whether it's an article they've written or or
testimonials, some people who'veused their services, that's
going to make a difference between you and the competitor
out there. So that's what you have to
really do is focus on being moreproactive, getting those
testimonials and creating content that's going to give
something of value or videos. This is all part of it.
Before you do any outreach, you got to put your house in order.
(18:44):
Yeah, that's good. A great tip out there is if
you've worked with any clients or customers, try and get those
recommendations as soon as possible.
From my experience and I've goneback a year or two later and you
know it's difficult to get thoserecommendation.
Yeah, that's that's not the besttime.
The best time is to do it as soon as possible.
(19:06):
Like for example, this podcast is a great time because I'm
going to give you a great recommendation.
Hopefully you'll do the same, you know, but that'll give you a
template in order to do that. So whoever you can, you know,
whoever your next guest is, do the same thing.
If they have a LinkedIn profile,Hey, you know, if I give you
value, you know, let's and you can make it easy for them, you
know, put in some kind words, you know, you can create the
(19:28):
content for them and they'll just post it, you know, I mean,
that's make it as user friendly as possible.
People don't want to think aboutwhat to say, but give them
examples of what you're looking for and guess what, you make it
easier for them. It makes a big difference and
you'll see also what's good about it.
Now, do you have a website separate from LinkedIn?
Yes, I have two websites actually, yeah.
OK. Do you have any testimonials on
that website? Yeah.
(19:49):
So the training, I have pulled 10 testimonials onto the
website, yes. Any of those testimonials on
LinkedIn? 10 is only one and that's
something which clearly I have to work on because the challenge
is I didn't. Really take it seriously about
recommendations. So yeah, I didn't really take
good action. So I think I fit the statistics
(20:09):
where I have over 6000 followers, but I haven't really
done. But I went back about six months
ago and it's difficult to get any response from those that
I've worked with in the past where in the moment when I was
consulting for them and leading them, it was really good.
So that's why I shared the advice about try and get a
testimonial as soon as possible and the challenges.
(20:30):
I moved from a oil and gas sector into a solar and
naturally that is a disconnect because when you work in that
oil and gas, for some reason in the space it may appear to be
there's a different, yeah, yeah.So trying to get feedback or
recommendations from a differentsector into a new sector.
(20:50):
There's a lot of lessons there. You sound like a fresh start but
the reason I'm saying is that once you do that, let's say you
get people on and you get 1020 testimonials.
You can use it on your website and then also a share link with
that person's profile because itmakes more authentic, you know,
because people post testimonialson their website, but I don't
know who these people are. They can be fake by all matters,
(21:11):
but you put it like a LinkedIn logo.
They connect it and they see that person's real.
Well, that makes you more trustworthy.
You know, that's really what's all you know, and that's
important. So my website linked Vantage,
they can go ahead and check out the reviews I have from real
people, you know, and they clickon the profile and they can then
reach out to them. Hey, did you work with Al?
(21:31):
They know, you know, so that really makes a difference.
So at least lead by example. So that's just an example of
what you can do. And then once you get that in
order, then do an outreach, you know, then decide to connect
with someone. But the first thing to do is you
don't have to connect with them directly.
You can follow them. For example, you go to the
profile, don't do an actual connection, you know, unless you
(21:51):
are referred by someone, for example.
But if you don't really know theperson and maybe they're a
second connection, may be part of a group that you're part of,
I would follow that person. And what happens is when they
get notified that they, they, you do, they do a post, you'll
be notified when they post and then comment on their post.
And sometimes they'll check out your Provo like that service
(22:11):
that LinkedIn tells you who's looked at your profile.
That's a great opportunity to ask them, Hey, thanks for
stopping by my profile. What made you decide to check
out? They may say, Oh, well, you're
part of my group and I just figured to kind of make a
connection and then at that timereach out.
Well, let's connect. You know, you understand and
that's how you do it, you know, organically in a way that it
(22:32):
doesn't come across as being spammy or, you know, forced.
You know, it's, it's a natural order of business.
But if you do it that way, you'll finally make more quality
connections and you can grow your followers of people who are
really looking for what you're have to offer.
You know, that makes a difference.
And again, also, I think LinkedIn caps out at 30,000
(22:52):
followers or something, I'm not sure.
Or connections. I think you can go unlimited,
but that's something you know down the road think about.
So it's more about the quality of the connections versus the
quantity is a key thing. So that's what I want to share
with you that. That's what metrics actually
matter then, for sustainability leaders who growing a presence
(23:13):
online. As far as making, you know,
making the most out of LinkedIn,you would say or.
Yeah, as. Far as the.
Yeah, sorry. Grown.
Yeah. I would say post a story about
your mission, for example, and include a clear call for
collaboration or insights. Storytelling invites connection,
and you never know which post could lead to your next
(23:35):
milestone. So I hope that these insights
provide inspiration and practical steps to leverage
LinkedIn as a tool for greater impact.
So for impact driven professionals, what would you
advise? How to balance inspiration,
education and promotion in theircontent?
Well, I would say digital sustainability is about
(23:56):
maintaining authenticity and consistency consistency online
over time. Leaders often falter when they
focus too heavily on short term ROI or trends.
So the fix, revisit your long term goals and craft a digital
presence that feels sustainable for you.
Blending tools, automation, and personal touch points to extend
(24:16):
your reach without overextendingyourself.
Yeah, good. So what is 1 mistake leaders
when they are scaling their influence they have to be aware
of and how to cause correct any such mistakes you say?
Well, I would say to balance education, inspiration and
promotion, think of your contactas a three act story.
Start with contact that educatesyour audience, follow with post
(24:40):
and inspire action and conclude with clear next steps.
You know a subtle call to actionfor those adverse self
promotion. Remember that highlighting your
mission and it's why as a service, it's not self-serving.
Yeah. So the popular belief is to
pushed continuously or pushed asoften as possible.
(25:02):
But I'm curious to know that considering less than 5% of
people on LinkedIn actually post.
Yeah, you know, I don't know thespecific stance, so you probably
correct me on that, but less than 5 or 10% of people post
once a week. And so if you pushed once a
week, then you are more than youare doing more than the majority
(25:24):
of the people. So how can using that knowledge,
where the popular belief is to post as often as possible, but
post just about enough to stay relevant, to improve your brand
by avoiding the potential of burnouts?
Well, The thing is to provide a variety of posts and it doesn't
don't have to necessarily be a post directly.
You can post by commenting on aninfluencer, for example, you
(25:46):
know, and you can post, you know, several times a week on
that influencer's particular post.
That may help gain traction withyou post once a week in the
groups that you have just to be active, which is a great thing
to do. If you have a newsletter that's
very good, you send that out. And what's great about the
newsletter is that it kind of bypasses spam filters when
(26:07):
people receive e-mail or becauseof Linkedin's, you know,
algorithm, you know, it gets through Gmail, gets through
Yahoo, compared to traditional, you know, other things sending
out from a corporate e-mail, it gets more prominence and not
filtered through spam. So if you're posting on a
LinkedIn, like in your newsletter, it'll go directly to
(26:28):
the inboxes. So people will see it as opposed
to going to the spam filters. So that's something that is
unique about LinkedIn. The newsletter feature I.
For sustainability leader listening today, what's 1
LinkedIn move they can make thisweek to grow their influence?
Focus on your profile. You know you want to grow, you
have to get your house in order.OK, my book has a lot of
(26:51):
resources available. How to optimize your profile on
my website, linkedvantage.com, Ihave courses that you can learn
how to optimize your profile. You know, to before you do any
outreach, you got to get your house in order, OK, because no
one's really going to take you seriously if you don't take your
profile seriously. You know, that's Simply put, you
know, and if you think you can kind of, you know, get around at
(27:13):
a cut corners not it's not goingto work.
And what's going to happen is, is that whatever you outreach
doesn't want to connect with you.
It's going to look by LinkedIn as you're spamming other people.
And you may end up getting your account closed because you look
as a spammer. You gotta give more than you
take, and that's really what it's all about.
So make sure you get your profile optimized before you do
(27:34):
any outreach. That's my word of the day.
Huge thank you to our for your time and the incredible insights
for leaders of sustainability impact driven leaders on how to
grow influence particularly on LinkedIn in the mixed of AI and
other key topics. So if the listeners or those who
(27:55):
are watching would like to explore more of your work, where
can they find you? When?
I go to mywebsite.linkedvantage.com.
I also have free ebook that could download on tips on
optimizing your profile. You can go to the website and
learn more about that. Certainly check me out on
LinkedIn, LinkedIn profile, and also my book will be available.
(28:17):
It's be released I think July 4th.
So it'll be available. Both audio book, you can go on
Spotify, get on the waiting listfor the book to be released.
So yeah, those are just great ways to kind of connect and find
resources that'll help your listeners get better on
LinkedIn. That's great.
Thank you so much. Welcome.
Thanks for the opportunity. I look forward to speaking to
(28:38):
you again. Yeah, cheers.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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