July 28, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode, Anthony is joined by Dani Markovits, Creator & Community Manager at LinkedIn, to explore how anyone, from students and young professionals to entrepreneurs and senior leaders, can use LinkedIn as a powerful tool for career growth, authentic brand storytelling, and building a strong personal presence.
Whether you're just starting to build your network or looking to stand out in a competitive job market, this conversation is packed with actionable advice.
Dani shares the insider strategies he uses to support LinkedIn’s top creators, from optimising your profile and posting with purpose, to leveraging comments and DMs to spark genuine connections.
Expect practical tips on building your personal brand, being consistent without burning out, and how to turn curiosity into content that adds real value.
If you're serious about your career, you can't afford to treat LinkedIn like just a digital CV. This episode shows you how to turn it into your launchpad whatever your industry.
(00:00) Intro: Why LinkedIn Matters
(01:14) Tip 1: Optimise Your Profile
(05:23) Tip 2: Start Before You’re Ready
(08:37) Tip 3: Comment Like It’s Your Job
(12:31) Tip 4: Curiosity Is a Superpower
(15:29) Tip 5: Create Content That Adds Value
(23:57) Tip 6: Be Generous With Others
(27:52) Tip 7: Stay Consistent
(31:18) Tip 8: Send Better DMs
(34:57) Tip 9: Experiment With Different Formats
(36:11) Tip 10: Be Known For Something
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome to this special one off episode of The
Market Maker. Whether you're looking for a
job, trying to break into a competitive industry like
finance, or just want to build your network, LinkedIn is where
it starts. But here's the thing, most
people are using LinkedIn reallypassively.
They scroll, they lurk, maybe they post every few months, and
(00:21):
then they wonder why it's not working for them.
The truth is though, LinkedIn can unlock career changing
opportunities if you know how touse it properly.
That's why in this episode, we're covering 10 top tips to
maximize your LinkedIn account, from optimizing your profile and
building a personal brand to using comments to get noticed
and creating content that actually adds value.
(00:44):
So to unpack it all, I'm joined by Danny Markovitz, a creator
and community manager at LinkedIn who works with the
platform's most successful creators and knows exactly what
gets traction and what doesn't. So whether you're just getting
started or looking to level up in your career, this episode is
packed with practical advice that you can start using today.
(01:05):
So let's get into it. So I thought a good structure to
do this would just be to go withwith 10 top tips so we could cut
straight to the chase. And so why don't we get up and
running with the the first one, which I know is around actually
your own profile to start with? Yeah, let's do it.
I thought that was a good way tostart.
I think there's a misconception that that success on LinkedIn is
(01:28):
based solely on a profile. But I think the profile, it's
only one part of LinkedIn, but absolutely an important one.
So I always tell anyone who I support or I speak to, you know,
make sure you have a strong profile.
If anyone wants to see who you are, they're going to go
directly to LinkedIn or even before that, they're going to
(01:50):
Google you and LinkedIn is goingto appear first.
So that's how you want to, you know, introduce yourself to the
world. And a strong profile is super
important. And by that I mean make sure the
basics are in place, you have a good profile image, a good
banner image in the back, that the quality of the images are
(02:11):
stronger, new, doing best, some time or even money on having a
good image. It's so, so important.
Even when I speak to big known experts or voices or even CE OS
and you go to the profiles and the images are bad or there's no
images at all, you kind of neglected a bit some
unconsciously. So again, make sure you do have
(02:33):
good images. They don't need to be the most
serious or like be you, be authentic.
LinkedIn is not the most seriousplace anymore.
You don't need to be with a suit, but good quality really
matters. And of course, make sure you
have everything in place. The about section, the
experience. LinkedIn is a really good piece
of real estate to showcase that we're much more than just, I
(02:56):
always say professionals. We're fathers, we're mothers, we
have hobbies, especially for young professionals or students.
These are really good. Again, piece of of of of real
estate to showcase maybe your hobbies, your interest, your
curiosities, What are you studying really allows you to
stand out. Just a quick example here.
(03:16):
When I did my about section, I think a few years ago, it was
along the lines of, you know, I support creator during the day
and change diapers during the night because I had just become
a dad. So that was a the truth, but
that that was also, I think a really good way for me to
showcase what I'm doing, where my life is.
And so, yeah, just an example ofyou don't need to be, you know,
(03:39):
generic talking first person, beyou in in a good segue to where
we're coming after the the profile is only part of it, you
know, but what what you do outside of your profile in the
LinkedIn ecosystem will allow people to actually go to your
profile and see what you're doing.
Yeah, I see a lot of students actually, early careers people,
(04:00):
they often get the photo wrong. And I always say to someone as
someone who, let's say a lot of people are trying to connect
with me, let's say to do outreach, network with me often
when I have loads of connectionsto accept if there is no face or
no photo, I'm really unlikely toactually engage with your
profile because I just skip overit really.
(04:22):
And then sometimes as well the, the, the proportions of a photo
because I always explain to students, it's like human
psychology. We are by definition very judgy
people. We judge by what people look
like. So you got to invest there's
some time and get a good photo, even if it makes you cringe, it
makes you feel uncomfortable in front of a camera.
It's almost like your your key portal.
(04:42):
It's the cover of your book that's going to entice people in
to want to get into your story. So.
And I think that's just table stakes now, just having a good
image. And I think the ROI of going and
even paying someone, you don't need to write with all the tools
nowadays, but of having a good image, it's a must.
And as you said, I think we didn't want to, I didn't see it
that way, but we're judging. We do feel attracted with
(05:03):
people. I'm not saying you have to be
good looking or not, but a good image really sells.
So I think that's the first thing I suggest anyone to do
before really, you know, going deep on LinkedIn.
OK, so, so number one, you got to start strong.
You got to have the foundations in place, and that's a good
profile. So what's #2?
Yeah #2 I think it's the mindset, meaning you don't need
(05:28):
to be ready to start posting on LinkedIn.
You don't need to be the biggestexpert.
I think that's something took mea while to understand.
Meaning I thought that in order to share post or knowledge, you
had to be like, you know, how tohave a fancy title or you had to
be like a CEOA founder is something I always like to tell
people, especially again, young professionals, is that you don't
(05:52):
need to be a 10 out of 10, let'ssay in the marketing range of
expertise. Do share something about
marketing. You can be a four out of 10 and
still teach someone that it's maybe a bit earlier in the
marketing journey or someone that it's not in the marketing
world. Something about marketing,
meaning there's no perfect timing.
(06:12):
There's no perfect, you know, post.
It's more about being ready, having the mindset and just
getting started, you know, bias for action.
You know, these more than than me.
And and I think it's just how you approach LinkedIn, that
mindset of just adding value andwe all have value, something
we're going to speak up a bit more today.
We all have something to share. But just knowing that that's the
(06:35):
case, I think it's really key. Yeah, I always think with new
people you can almost lean into your naivety.
You look at things really fresh.You're like, this is my
observation on something, this is a learning or an experience
I've had and I'm sharing what myinterpretation was.
What do you think? And then it's like you're not,
you're not trying to be super clever, you're not trying to be
(06:56):
polished and a finished product.You almost embrace that
opportunity when you're in your early career for sure, love.
That and I think that's an advantage.
It's exactly to the mindset. Turn it into an advantage.
Ask questions, be curious, just talk about something that you're
currently maybe you know, learning, watching, reading
doesn't need to be again, based on your experience as a 20 year
(07:17):
old professional. It's more about, again, that
what angle are you coming from? So yeah, definitely important,
especially on LinkedIn, people are a bit more hesitant to post.
It's maybe a bit more frightening that maybe, you
know, linked TikTok, Instagram. We are connected to your real
identity, to our professional identity.
What are our colleagues going tothink?
(07:39):
What are my, you know, peers going to think?
We've all been through that. I've been through that.
Even when I speak to, again, CEOs, they go through that.
So knowing that we all go through that and also, I want to
be completely honest here, took me a while to understand nobody
cares about us. And I say this in a good way.
(08:00):
We all think people are worried about what we think or waiting
to see what we say. That's not the case.
So knowing that, being consciousof that really helps getting
over that imposter syndrome or getting over that friction to be
active, putting yourself out there.
But you're going to see the opportunity to want to speak
more about that. You're going to benefit from it.
(08:21):
So knowing that really helps at the beginning.
OK. So we've got our solid
foundation in place. We've got a fully complete
profile. We're now in the mindset that we
want to be sharing, but it's notjust about outbound posting
content, right? Yeah, now we have the
foundations, we have the mindset.
Let's get a bit more tactical. Something I tell people, and
(08:42):
it's such an under looked strategy is comments or engaging
with other people's posts. And this is especially the case
for those of you who haven't started properly, who have not
posted. I think the best way to get into
that world is by leaving comments.
I tell people comments are your best friend on LinkedIn.
(09:05):
They're a very good way to buildconnections, to build
relationships, but also to get into that habit.
I always also like to say comments are content on itself,
especially if it's a good comment that's creating content.
We don't see it that way, but you're already creating content,
you're already sharing value, you're already sharing insights.
(09:27):
And in LinkedIn especially, a lot of the connections and magic
happens in in the comments and comments, by the way, can allow
you to grow or get exposure evenmore than that than actual post.
So a very good strategy and, and, and tip that not many
people leverage is tapping into others, other people, audiences,
(09:47):
other people's, you know, engagement and kind of hopping
on top of that and leveraging that.
So to give you to put this more into perspective, let's say you
follow someone you really like. This person has 200,000
followers. Leave get notified when this
person post as soon as this person post, leave a comment,
leave a good comment, right? Go beyond saying good post or I
(10:10):
agree or spot on and add nuance.Leave more, you know, context.
And that's a great way, first ofall, to connect with the actual
author of the post, but more importantly, to get to be seen
by the audience of this person. So it's such a great strategy
that not many people actually put in place.
(10:31):
And yeah, I think leaving comments, what I also tell
people is whenever you want to engage with someone, whenever
you want to ask someone, whenever you want to teach
something to someone, if you have engaged in the past, if you
have given in the past, the likelihood of that person
getting back to you or, you know, getting responded is going
to increase by 20X, by 100X. So such an obvious one, but not
(10:54):
many people do it. So go and comment, leave 10
comments a day. You can be methodical about it
and you're going to see this compounding.
Yeah, and I, and I can say this to anyone listening, like if you
ever engage in an identified comment and I see a post or
someone who I know a student hasdone something or someone in
their early careers, I would always comment on them to help
use my community to lift their presence.
(11:15):
Because that's what I'm here to do as part of my job, which is
working with young people, helping them find their feet in
their early careers. So yeah, absolutely.
And and for me being on the receiving end, if I do get like
a question, like you said, sometimes it's like not just a I
like this post. It then leads to me replying
that brings even more and it double s down on that strategy.
(11:35):
So yeah, absolutely. I think it's a really
underutilized thing. Yeah.
And I would, I would say even some of my biggest levers of
growth have come in through comments.
Some of my comments have gotten 20K impressions and have gotten
followers. So now you can actually see also
how your comments are performing.
There's more analytics behind the comments, which is a good
signal. So definitely do that into your
(11:57):
point. And I get a lot of, you know,
requests or messages. And if, if, if I see some of
those requests or messages from people that have engaged with my
comment, you naturally feel compelled to answer, to give
back. And it's at the end of the day,
it's a social platform. We forget that, you know, you
want to converse, you want to connect, you want to give love.
And I think commenting is a really good way to live to give
(12:19):
love and support. And I think it's such an obvious
one that again, I would say 99% of the people don't do it.
OK, so people are now commentingon posts they've got their
notifications on. So #4 here you had titles.
Curiosity is a superpower. So what does that mean?
Yeah, I think we kind of going to the point before of using
(12:41):
your being naive as a as a superpower.
You know, LinkedIn is a blank, blank canvas.
You can do all sorts of things with it.
Use it as a research tool, follow people you want to
connect with. I always get asked a lot.
I'm I'm graduating soon and I want to get into the e-commerce
world. What's the best way to to
(13:02):
getting in that industry? How can I really leverage
LinkedIn? And I would say just follow your
curiosity. Start connecting with people
that you admire, maybe XX at e-commerce companies, creators
that talk about e-commerce, Start learning from them.
Start seeing what they're talking about.
Start, maybe if you want to really go deep, start measuring
(13:25):
what content works well, what formats are performing content
is all about, we hear this a lot, Ryanth, and about copying,
but adding your own spin. So it's totally fine to to
really imitate what the best creators or experts are doing in
that space and adding your own spin.
So be curious about that, about who you follow, who you connect,
(13:48):
study what they do. And I think that's key,
especially when getting started.You need to find your voice, but
it's totally fine 1st to really understand and you know, get
immersed in that world you want to, you know, be a part of.
So definitely leaning to that. And I would say connected to the
next one. Start creating content, right?
We nailed the profile, we nailedthe commenting bit, we nailed
(14:11):
the mindset. And now I think it's start
creating content on LinkedIn, right?
I always tell people LinkedIn isthe oldest platform, maybe
amongst the big ones, but I still think that the potential
is it's, it's more untapped. It's much easier to stand out on
LinkedIn than on X on Instagram,on TikTok, I believe just as a
(14:32):
very small percentage of of our members, which by the way, we
cross the billion member threshold.
So LinkedIn is a big platform. Only one or 2% of of our
audience is actually creating content, whereas in other
platforms the number is much, much higher.
So that's that's first know thatyou can really stand out in any
niche. I don't think that's the case in
(14:52):
most platforms. And I think that's the beauty of
LinkedIn. It can be about, of course, the
sex industries, marketing tech, AI, but it can be about supply
chain, nano manufacturing. You can be a student in the most
technical, you know, area of physics and you can still find
your tribe, your audience. And I think that's the beauty of
LinkedIn, but approach it as a platform where you are, you
(15:15):
know, think like a learner, not a lecturer.
Try to teach less and more add value what you're finding
interesting. What are the unique insights,
takeaways. I want to give a few frameworks
on creating content on LinkedIn,because that's that's a question
I get a lot. It's like Danny, I do see the
value of LinkedIn. I do understand that the point,
but I'm struggling to come up with idea and with content, you
(15:37):
know, formats, and this can be approached in a million ways.
I think content is objective. That's part of what I really
like, you know, the content bit.But I think 2 frameworks are
really helpful. One, just talk about what you're
doing on your, you know, careers.
That could be as a student or asa professional.
If you're a student, talk about,you know, the lectures you're
(15:59):
learning. How do you approach creating
your homework, your thesis? What tools are you using?
How are you navigating this new AI world?
Basically, give an inside peek as to what being a student looks
like. You're going to add value.
You're going to connect with fellow students, with fellow
professors, with recruiters. People want to hear from you.
(16:23):
2nd and most important one, it took me also a while to
understand it. I thought you had to come up
with the most original idea or concept to create content on
LinkedIn, which you can, but I think that's super hard.
Whereas you can just hijack the news as I say it and just talk
about something that's happeningin your world, in your industry,
(16:43):
in your area of study, in your area of, of curiosity and add
your unique spin. I think that's ultimately what
matters. It could be something that's
happening in the economy, in thenew, in finance, in AI, in
sports, something that's timely.I think that's a really good way
to approach LinkedIn and at your, again, your spin and maybe
connect the dots. What are the 2nd order effects
(17:04):
of this specific announcement orpiece of news?
What are the implications? And that's how I've been
approaching LinkedIn. That's what's working for me at
the intersection of sports, greater economy, media.
And I always try to give a unique spin that not many people
are thinking about it. And that has allowed me to send
out. And that's how you should
approach LinkedIn, right? Not as a promotional platform.
(17:26):
You do want to promote yourself.You want to announce to your
network that you got higher, that you got promoted.
That's part of the game. Do that.
You have to do that. But not only that.
And that's I think a huge mistake that most people do.
And by the way, that's what I think it's changing on LinkedIn.
Back in the day, most of the content was only right hand.
You know, I got promoted, I got hired.
(17:47):
Yeah. But now we're trying to changed
that and I think it's happening slowly, but I am seeing better
content in my feet. I'm seeing more content that is
not promotional. There's no agenda besides adding
your expertise. And another phrase I like to
throw a lot is that the best wayto be promotional is by being
non promotional. So really try to, you know,
(18:08):
follow that that approach. Yeah.
And I think just to make that tangible, if there is any
entrepreneurs or business ownersout there or even young people,
when you're trying to foster mentors or find connections like
the following that you have justmeans that the chance of them
reciprocating and responding to you goes up.
So it's such a powerful relationship tool for that,
(18:30):
that, that good stuff. There are a couple of things I
was thinking here when you were talking from my own experience
was I definitely if, if it helpsif I share is that I need to
consume content to make content.So often what I'll do, you know,
rather than sit there going, I wonder what I should post next.
What I'll do is I'll just read different websites.
I'll read newsletters, I'll lookat LinkedIn itself.
(18:53):
And LinkedIn is great because basically it's a curated feed of
the people I've chosen to follow.
So it's all people within my industry, within my niche, as
you said. And so therefore when then I'm
seeing what's having success, what isn't, what's in the news
and what's not. And then basically then the idea
comes and. And, and I should have included
these on my list. I didn't.
(19:15):
But yeah. Q Rain your feet.
Such an important one. I think most of us didn't know
how to use LinkedIn back in the day.
I used to accept all requests, you know, 10 years ago, and my
feed was all over the place. So I would definitely recommend
you to dedicate some time a day or two on curating your feed.
Maybe I'm following people that are not adding much or that are,
you know, not the people you want to follow and you're going
(19:40):
to have a much better experienceand you're going to get, you
know, as, as you said, and motivated or inspired by their
content. And I think something that I've
been feeling more lately as I'vebeen creating more is you start
connecting the dots. And I really like that you see
something, you hear something, you read something, you're like,
oh, this is how I want to this, this is a content, this is a
(20:01):
post, a potential post. And that only happens when you
consume a lot and consume good content.
So go niche. Don't.
Try to follow, I always tell people follow small creators as
well, up and coming creators. I think it's like the analogy of
investing in a start up. Maybe it's a bit more risky
because it's not proven, but thepotential is, is bigger.
(20:23):
You're going to find out things before others.
Whereas if everybody feels the same influencers or the Stephen
Bartlett who is amazing, you're not going to be able to stand
out or come up with, you know, non obvious stakes.
So that's also a recommendation.I I I have.
Yeah, and a lot of the time I always try to build it around my
normal routine. So if you are a busy person,
(20:45):
studying, working, so on. I used to commute is where I
consume the content and then actually I write most of my
posts. I have a door to door hour
commute. That's enough for me to consume
and write something and post something.
And then before my days even begun, I've already done my my
kind of post that I wanted to. So yeah, you can kind of build
(21:06):
it in so it's not becoming a drag or a nuisance.
It's the highest value time efficiency that you have for the
goals that that you're setting out.
And I think finding that not only that space, but like a
constraint, it's also something I recommend people because even
though LinkedIn is is, as I said, easier than other
platforms, you still have, you know, dedicate time, energy you
(21:27):
need to commit. It's not, you know, it's not a
there's no secret formula. So even having, like you said,
and in this commute, I'm going to post yes or yes, you know,
there's no other way. Even if the post is not perfect,
that's a solid strategy. Or, you know, just block some
time on on once a week. And we're going to, I think one
of my other points in the coming, it's kind of
(21:49):
consistency, but really kind of force yourself to get it out
there. Because if not, if you're going
to just keep coming at it, rethinking about it, you're
never going to post. And that's something I felt it,
you know, very closely. Yeah, and don't and don't stress
out like the amount of times I Iread the FT, it's part of my
job, right, in finance. And so on the commute, I read
the FT in half the time. I've been working finance for 20
(22:10):
years. I'll read the FT and there'll be
a point of terminology they use.I'm like, what the hell are they
talking about? Because I don't have a clue what
they're talking about. And then I just use, adopt that
mentality and just go, OK, So what is this?
Because if I don't understand itand I've been doing this for two
decades, well, then there's a whole bunch of people, you know,
who, who also probably feel the same.
So you can add value in lots of different ways.
(22:32):
I'm not trying to be clever. I'm actually just trying to
demystify, simplify and make things more digestible for
people. That's that's all.
Like that's the niche if you like.
Love it and and last point on this which I think is irrelevant
hopefully to the audience. I have like younger cousins who
always tells me like, yeah, I want to post more, but my only
(22:54):
interest or hobbies or expertiseis around, let's say in his case
was, you know, Pokémon cards or trading tradables.
And I'm like, listen, dude, thisis the perfect like back in the
day, maybe it's like this is useless.
Nobody cares about this. But now, you know, there's
hobbies to be there's, there's niches to be made out of
(23:15):
anywhere and out of anything. So start talking about maybe
you're an expert in training cards in Pokémon cards in this
world that I have no clue about,but talk about that, right?
That's a perfect way to to standout, be associated as an expert
maybe in this domain. And I think at some point he was
approached by by by the Pokémon for some sort of, you know,
coverage piece. And that's how opportunities
(23:36):
start start to come about. So the more niche, the more
weird, the more crazy your hobbyis, the bigger the potential it
is, especially nowadays in the creator economy.
So leaning to that, lean to whatmakes you weird, the quirks, and
take it from there. OK, we're, we're halfway.
(23:56):
So number six now is being generous.
So how do you be generous on a platform like like LinkedIn?
Yeah, and I think we speak a bit, I spoke about this quite a
bit, but you know, going back tothe commenting piece, and it's
not only through comments, but people always forget that.
And I think it's just human nature.
You want to give, you want to bethat person that you know
(24:20):
doesn't ask anything back. I'm always one that truly
believes and not to get too emotional, that the people that
I really connect with are the ones that, you know, don't care
who's on the other side. Meaning it's easy to give or to
be nice. If you're doing that with
someone that's senior or with someone that's important, but
you want to do the same with someone that's maybe junior,
(24:42):
with someone who you don't necessarily immediately will get
any value from it. But that's how I approach the
world. And I think the same is on
LinkedIn, you know, give leave comments if someone maybe
reaches out, you know, responds as much as possible, you know,
add value, respond to questions.If you see someone asking for
advice or asking for a connection, try to make that
connection. I always try to connect people
(25:04):
without any asking anything in return.
One, I think it's a nice thing to do, but also in terms of a
strategy, things come back, you will get those that karma back.
But besides that, but and most importantly, starting, you want
to start being associated as a positive person, as someone who
contributes, who gives. And then you have an ask.
(25:27):
It's much easier to to get that ask responded as mentioned, if
you have given before. So yeah, build relationships
before you need them. That's maybe my biggest take
away, especially on LinkedIn. Let's say if you see someone,
someone that works at Meta and you want to ask for a referral.
If you send them a message and they haven't never heard from
(25:49):
you, maybe they will not respond, right.
But if you in the past have engaged with their content, have
given them something, have connected, then you ask for that
specific favor, you know what's going to happen, they're going
to do it. So I mean, lean with that.
And and that's the best play to when when you don't need some
what something when you're when you're studying, when you're in
a good position, that's the bestplace to start building those
(26:09):
relationships. You don't want to be that person
that you know, is always selling.
You want to be the opposite. So, so yeah, that's a very
important aspect of LinkedIn. Yeah, yeah.
I always say to the students I interact with the What's the
cornerstone of any good relationship?
And it's trust. So then the question comes, or
how do you foster trust? And to do that, you need to
(26:33):
build a relationship. And a relationship can be built
on a platform like this, as you described.
Doesn't have to be, you know, whole series of coffee chats,
just these little nudges, littlecomments, little interactions
here and there. They accumulate and compound.
And then you're not such a stranger.
And then there's a bit more trust.
And I think this even goes to tobig, to X, to to to any expert.
(26:53):
I think giving is also creating content that's a valuable
without, you know, promoting anything.
And I always tell people the same, you know, if LinkedIn is a
place to do business, to grow professionally, I think that
that's that's clear. But it's the only thing you're
sharing is, you know, selling your courses or or selling your
business or trying to get leads.That's not going to cut it.
(27:14):
Whereas if you do 20 posts aboutyour industry, about your
expertise, about what are you excited about?
And then on the 20th post, you promote something, your
newsletter, your podcast, your company, it's going to be much
more effective. So I think also when it comes to
creating content, give, give, give and then ask because you
want to promote, you want to sell.
That's obviously a part of LinkedIn.
(27:34):
But if I see a feed or someone that is just sharing or
promoting their podcast, their newsletter, their, their digital
courses, like I'm not going to engage.
So it's just the nature of things and people don't want to
be sold. To to your point, I think trust
is the most important thing nowadays and that's how you
build trust. OK #7 possibly the hardest one
(27:56):
and maybe the biggest block or barrier for a lot of people.
And this is consistency. So So what?
What's your take on that with all the creators and people
LinkedIn you deal with? Yeah, I have a more non BS take.
We always hear, you know, about consistency, super important in,
in, in platforms. You want to post every, you
(28:16):
know, every day. I think naturally platforms and
not to get into the algorithm doreward consistency.
And I think that happens everywhere.
But I think it's more a matter of you, where are you in that
journey? So if you've never posted and
you start posting once a month, that's already like a win.
(28:37):
That's already a huge progress. So you don't need to go from
zero to 100. It's more where you are in your
journey. I'm trying not to post 2 two
times a week, which which has been hard, but I wouldn't say go
and go or lean from zero to 100.Post every day is what works for
you, what works for your structure, for your specific.
You know where you are in life. But more importantly, the more
(29:00):
you post, forget about the algorithm that you get better.
You start finding your voice, you start finding your formats.
And like like football, you knowif you shoot 10 times to goal,
you're going to score more goalsthan if you never shoot.
So that's how I would see it, but I honestly think it's more
about quality than quantity. It's not necessarily about going
viral. We all want to see numbers.
(29:21):
We all want to get those, you know, followers and engagement.
I think especially on LinkedIn where you're not getting paid,
let's say for, for the amount ofviews you get, like YouTube
where it's a different monster. You want to reach the right type
of people. The example I always like to
give, I've seen first hand how some of my creators go viral and
(29:45):
nothing happens on the back of that.
Whereas the same creator the week after shared a post, had a
classic LinkedIn engagement of, you know, 50 likes, 10 comments.
But out of that post, I think hegot, you know, a few podcast
invitations, a few partnerships.So again, virality is not a
measure of success is the type of people you're connecting
(30:08):
with, the type of conversations you're having, the type of DMS
you're getting, especially on LinkedIn.
So that's another important aspect that we we forget, we
forget. Yeah, it's, it's such a
interesting one because, you know, even now, like being human
and, and having posted consistently now for for a few
(30:29):
years, even if I don't get, you know, the certain, I think this
is a really good post. And I, and I just think, yeah,
this is going to go. And it doesn't like, it's OK to
feel like that for a few seconds, but then you just check
that self-awareness, that feeling and you go, look, this
isn't what it's about. Like you'd be lying to say that
that isn't there as a desire to a certain extent.
(30:51):
But yeah, the one thing I can absolutely attest to, like
you're saying, is that it's moreif you can do a post that speaks
to that core audience that you're really interested in, it
doesn't, it doesn't need a lot of engagement actually, because
it only takes those one or two good connections you get on the
back of it that can really mean business or whatever.
It might mean a job opportunity.So yeah, it comes in different,
(31:13):
different shapes and sizes for sure.
OK, so we've got three more. The next one is about direct
messages DMS. So how would you recommend using
direct messages? And by the way, the last point,
last thing I want to say is thatLinkedIn is I think we're trying
to do a better job at matching the right content to the right
audiences. So we do hear a lot of, you
know, people saying, you know, engagement has gone down.
(31:35):
My numbers are not as good as before, but it might be the case
that the quality of the people that are seeing your content,
it's actually much higher. And at the end of the day, I
think that's what you want. And also we can talk about the
lyricors, people that are not engaging with your content that
you've never heard about, but they're seeing the content, they
are seeing you as an expert and someday they might come with an
(31:59):
opportunity. So we also forget about that,
about sending that DM again. I would definitely, I put it on
purpose really down on the list because I would suggest doing
this after you've done all of the above, you know, after you
have a good profile, after you've consistently created
content, adding value you've given, right, Send that DM.
And by that, I don't mean spam people or sell whatever you want
(32:22):
to sell to 100 people is if you want to speak to someone, send a
DM. I think people on LinkedIn are
much more positive, are much more willing to engage and to to
give as well. I think I've seen that.
So if you look up to someone, let's say an entrepreneur, a
bigger creator, an expert in your space, A recruiter, you
(32:44):
know, send that message, do it well, of course, you know, add
value. Be mindful of, of their time
and, and of the ask, but take the risk.
First of all, it's not a huge risk.
I'm a big believer of, you know,what's the worst that can happen
type of mentality. But it took me a while to, to
approach this. And now I've been speaking to
footballers, to, you know, people that I've never imagined
(33:06):
having conversations. And a lot of that is because you
just send a message and of course not all of them will
respond, but go for it. Ask for a question.
Maybe people are willing to do 10 times for mentorship.
I think it's, it's a big part of, of LinkedIn.
So definitely go ahead and do that.
And hopefully in the future whenthe other way around happens,
(33:29):
you're also going to do it with,with a younger generation.
So centre DM it's it's my my my my my advice here.
Yeah. And I just to manage
expectations, you know as well, because I think that's something
you can get quite deflated about.
You'll send lots of outbound messages and you'll be like, oh,
like what's wrong? Is it my profile or the content
(33:50):
or But that's just the nature ofthis that you know, you know,
these people to a light extent. You might have had a few
interactions more superficially.So they might respond, they
might not. And actually, like someone might
just be busy and you might miss and they might have just missed
your comment. It might have just got lost in
the in the inbox. And then you follow up two weeks
(34:10):
later and then you just hit the right time at the right moment
and that person responds. So, you know, again, it's like
one of those things that I thinknot to get to pop down.
Yeah, absolutely. And of course, who are you
sending the DM to? But my point being is that if
you don't send the DM, you for sure are not going to get an
answer. Whereas if you send it, you
know, there might be a chance. And, and of course, this sounds
(34:32):
obvious as well, but make sure the message is, you know, how
are you standing out? Similarly to the content piece
above, maybe, you know, do proper research, send a joke,
send something, you know, out-of-the-box, not just say,
hey, I want to get 5 minutes of your time.
It's and we can do a whole othersession on, on, you know, call
DM ING and, and you know how to sell.
And I think Anthony knows more than me, But of course it's an
(34:55):
important consideration as well.Two more left, so experiment
with different formats. So what are we talking here?
Quickly, I think LinkedIn reallylends itself for more formats
than other platforms. I love YouTube.
It's my go to for, you know, watching content, but I I don't,
I wouldn't even know where to start creating a good YouTube
(35:15):
video, right? It's so hard.
It requires you know much more, whereas LinkedIn you can just,
you know, do a text with an image.
You can do video as well, but itin a less polished way.
Actually, you can write an article if you want to go into a
deeper dive, you can do a poll. You can do LinkedIn life if you
want to do some sort of, you know, broadcast.
So there's a lot more flexibility when it comes to
(35:36):
creating content. I'm still a big fan of the old
traditional text based post. That's actually the one that
works the best for me. But again, just knowing that
that's the case, you can play, you can experiment, maybe some
format will resonate more with you, you'll enjoy it more, play
with it, you know, throw pasta to the wall, as they say.
Whereas in other platforms you don't have that in flexibility.
(35:57):
Yeah, for sure. I sometimes do play around with
carousels and different things just to see how they're
performing. And also through those
observations we talked about earlier when you're watching on
your created feed of what's what's working, what's not in
that moment. OK, so we've come to the end #10
of the 10 tips. So what do we have, Danny?
Yeah, I would say start finding your niche and your premise,
(36:18):
what you want to be known for. I think when you are known as
the guy or the girl of X is whenyou made it so he's the, you
know, the guy that does funny love videos or the girl that
talks about, you know, funny work, you know, stories.
You want to start being known assomething.
(36:38):
And I think that's how you want to approach LinkedIn.
Maybe find intersection of some of your curiosities.
Expertise, in my case is, you know, the overlap of sports, the
creator economy and, you know, different ideas.
So that's how I'm trying to position myself on LinkedIn.
And you want to, you know, strive for that.
But yeah, you need to follow allof the previous tips and
(36:59):
hopefully you'll get there. OK, that was fantastic, Danny.
I really appreciate those, those10 tips and all your insights.
And yeah, hopefully some more active users on the platform,
but do drop us a a comment if you have any questions, things
like that. Wherever this podcast is shared,
I'd love to interact with those comments to live true to what's
just been said on this episode. And I'll also add chapters so
(37:21):
you can just skip to any of the 10 points that you need to look
at. All right, Danny, take care and
all the best. Thanks for having me.
Hello and welcome to this special one off episode of The
Market Maker. Whether you're looking for a
job, trying to break into a competitive industry like
finance, or just want to build your network, LinkedIn is where
it starts. But here's the thing, most
people are using LinkedIn reallypassively.
They scroll, they lurk, maybe they post every few months, and
(00:21):
then they wonder why it's not working for them.
The truth is though, LinkedIn can unlock career changing
opportunities if you know how touse it properly.
That's why in this episode, we're covering 10 top tips to
maximize your LinkedIn account, from optimizing your profile and
building a personal brand to using comments to get noticed
and creating content that actually adds value.
(00:44):
So to unpack it all, I'm joined by Danny Markovitz, a creator
and community manager at LinkedIn who works with the
platform's most successful creators and knows exactly what
gets traction and what doesn't. So whether you're just getting
started or looking to level up in your career, this episode is
packed with practical advice that you can start using today.
(01:05):
So let's get into it. So I thought a good structure to
do this would just be to go withwith 10 top tips so we could cut
straight to the chase. And so why don't we get up and
running with the the first one, which I know is around actually
your own profile to start with? Yeah, let's do it.
I thought that was a good way tostart.
I think there's a misconception that that success on LinkedIn is
(01:28):
based solely on a profile. But I think the profile, it's
only one part of LinkedIn, but absolutely an important one.
So I always tell anyone who I support or I speak to, you know,
make sure you have a strong profile.
If anyone wants to see who you are, they're going to go
directly to LinkedIn or even before that, they're going to
(01:50):
Google you and LinkedIn is goingto appear first.
So that's how you want to, you know, introduce yourself to the
world. And a strong profile is super
important. And by that I mean make sure the
basics are in place, you have a good profile image, a good
banner image in the back, that the quality of the images are
(02:11):
stronger, new, doing best, some time or even money on having a
good image. It's so, so important.
Even when I speak to big known experts or voices or even CE OS
and you go to the profiles and the images are bad or there's no
images at all, you kind of neglected a bit some
unconsciously. So again, make sure you do have
(02:33):
good images. They don't need to be the most
serious or like be you, be authentic.
LinkedIn is not the most seriousplace anymore.
You don't need to be with a suit, but good quality really
matters. And of course, make sure you
have everything in place. The about section, the
experience. LinkedIn is a really good piece
of real estate to showcase that we're much more than just, I
(02:56):
always say professionals. We're fathers, we're mothers, we
have hobbies, especially for young professionals or students.
These are really good. Again, piece of of of of real
estate to showcase maybe your hobbies, your interest, your
curiosities, What are you studying really allows you to
stand out. Just a quick example here.
(03:16):
When I did my about section, I think a few years ago, it was
along the lines of, you know, I support creator during the day
and change diapers during the night because I had just become
a dad. So that was a the truth, but
that that was also, I think a really good way for me to
showcase what I'm doing, where my life is.
And so, yeah, just an example ofyou don't need to be, you know,
(03:39):
generic talking first person, beyou in in a good segue to where
we're coming after the the profile is only part of it, you
know, but what what you do outside of your profile in the
LinkedIn ecosystem will allow people to actually go to your
profile and see what you're doing.
Yeah, I see a lot of students actually, early careers people,
(04:00):
they often get the photo wrong. And I always say to someone as
someone who, let's say a lot of people are trying to connect
with me, let's say to do outreach, network with me often
when I have loads of connectionsto accept if there is no face or
no photo, I'm really unlikely toactually engage with your
profile because I just skip overit really.
(04:22):
And then sometimes as well the, the, the proportions of a photo
because I always explain to students, it's like human
psychology. We are by definition very judgy
people. We judge by what people look
like. So you got to invest there's
some time and get a good photo, even if it makes you cringe, it
makes you feel uncomfortable in front of a camera.
It's almost like your your key portal.
(04:42):
It's the cover of your book that's going to entice people in
to want to get into your story. So.
And I think that's just table stakes now, just having a good
image. And I think the ROI of going and
even paying someone, you don't need to write with all the tools
nowadays, but of having a good image, it's a must.
And as you said, I think we didn't want to, I didn't see it
that way, but we're judging. We do feel attracted with
(05:03):
people. I'm not saying you have to be
good looking or not, but a good image really sells.
So I think that's the first thing I suggest anyone to do
before really, you know, going deep on LinkedIn.
OK, so, so number one, you got to start strong.
You got to have the foundations in place, and that's a good
profile. So what's #2?
Yeah #2 I think it's the mindset, meaning you don't need
(05:28):
to be ready to start posting on LinkedIn.
You don't need to be the biggestexpert.
I think that's something took mea while to understand.
Meaning I thought that in order to share post or knowledge, you
had to be like, you know, how tohave a fancy title or you had to
be like a CEOA founder is something I always like to tell
people, especially again, young professionals, is that you don't
(05:52):
need to be a 10 out of 10, let'ssay in the marketing range of
expertise. Do share something about
marketing. You can be a four out of 10 and
still teach someone that it's maybe a bit earlier in the
marketing journey or someone that it's not in the marketing
world. Something about marketing,
meaning there's no perfect timing.
(06:12):
There's no perfect, you know, post.
It's more about being ready, having the mindset and just
getting started, you know, bias for action.
You know, these more than than me.
And and I think it's just how you approach LinkedIn, that
mindset of just adding value andwe all have value, something
we're going to speak up a bit more today.
We all have something to share. But just knowing that that's the
(06:35):
case, I think it's really key. Yeah, I always think with new
people you can almost lean into your naivety.
You look at things really fresh.You're like, this is my
observation on something, this is a learning or an experience
I've had and I'm sharing what myinterpretation was.
What do you think? And then it's like you're not,
you're not trying to be super clever, you're not trying to be
(06:56):
polished and a finished product.You almost embrace that
opportunity when you're in your early career for sure, love.
That and I think that's an advantage.
It's exactly to the mindset. Turn it into an advantage.
Ask questions, be curious, just talk about something that you're
currently maybe you know, learning, watching, reading
doesn't need to be again, based on your experience as a 20 year
(07:17):
old professional. It's more about, again, that
what angle are you coming from? So yeah, definitely important,
especially on LinkedIn, people are a bit more hesitant to post.
It's maybe a bit more frightening that maybe, you
know, linked TikTok, Instagram. We are connected to your real
identity, to our professional identity.
What are our colleagues going tothink?
(07:39):
What are my, you know, peers going to think?
We've all been through that. I've been through that.
Even when I speak to, again, CEOs, they go through that.
So knowing that we all go through that and also, I want to
be completely honest here, took me a while to understand nobody
cares about us. And I say this in a good way.
(08:00):
We all think people are worried about what we think or waiting
to see what we say. That's not the case.
So knowing that, being consciousof that really helps getting
over that imposter syndrome or getting over that friction to be
active, putting yourself out there.
But you're going to see the opportunity to want to speak
more about that. You're going to benefit from it.
(08:21):
So knowing that really helps at the beginning.
OK. So we've got our solid
foundation in place. We've got a fully complete
profile. We're now in the mindset that we
want to be sharing, but it's notjust about outbound posting
content, right? Yeah, now we have the
foundations, we have the mindset.
Let's get a bit more tactical. Something I tell people, and
(08:42):
it's such an under looked strategy is comments or engaging
with other people's posts. And this is especially the case
for those of you who haven't started properly, who have not
posted. I think the best way to get into
that world is by leaving comments.
I tell people comments are your best friend on LinkedIn.
(09:05):
They're a very good way to buildconnections, to build
relationships, but also to get into that habit.
I always also like to say comments are content on itself,
especially if it's a good comment that's creating content.
We don't see it that way, but you're already creating content,
you're already sharing value, you're already sharing insights.
(09:27):
And in LinkedIn especially, a lot of the connections and magic
happens in in the comments and comments, by the way, can allow
you to grow or get exposure evenmore than that than actual post.
So a very good strategy and, and, and tip that not many
people leverage is tapping into others, other people, audiences,
(09:47):
other people's, you know, engagement and kind of hopping
on top of that and leveraging that.
So to give you to put this more into perspective, let's say you
follow someone you really like. This person has 200,000
followers. Leave get notified when this
person post as soon as this person post, leave a comment,
leave a good comment, right? Go beyond saying good post or I
(10:10):
agree or spot on and add nuance.Leave more, you know, context.
And that's a great way, first ofall, to connect with the actual
author of the post, but more importantly, to get to be seen
by the audience of this person. So it's such a great strategy
that not many people actually put in place.
(10:31):
And yeah, I think leaving comments, what I also tell
people is whenever you want to engage with someone, whenever
you want to ask someone, whenever you want to teach
something to someone, if you have engaged in the past, if you
have given in the past, the likelihood of that person
getting back to you or, you know, getting responded is going
to increase by 20X, by 100X. So such an obvious one, but not
(10:54):
many people do it. So go and comment, leave 10
comments a day. You can be methodical about it
and you're going to see this compounding.
Yeah, and I, and I can say this to anyone listening, like if you
ever engage in an identified comment and I see a post or
someone who I know a student hasdone something or someone in
their early careers, I would always comment on them to help
use my community to lift their presence.
(11:15):
Because that's what I'm here to do as part of my job, which is
working with young people, helping them find their feet in
their early careers. So yeah, absolutely.
And and for me being on the receiving end, if I do get like
a question, like you said, sometimes it's like not just a I
like this post. It then leads to me replying
that brings even more and it double s down on that strategy.
(11:35):
So yeah, absolutely. I think it's a really
underutilized thing. Yeah.
And I would, I would say even some of my biggest levers of
growth have come in through comments.
Some of my comments have gotten 20K impressions and have gotten
followers. So now you can actually see also
how your comments are performing.
There's more analytics behind the comments, which is a good
signal. So definitely do that into your
(11:57):
point. And I get a lot of, you know,
requests or messages. And if, if, if I see some of
those requests or messages from people that have engaged with my
comment, you naturally feel compelled to answer, to give
back. And it's at the end of the day,
it's a social platform. We forget that, you know, you
want to converse, you want to connect, you want to give love.
And I think commenting is a really good way to live to give
(12:19):
love and support. And I think it's such an obvious
one that again, I would say 99% of the people don't do it.
OK, so people are now commentingon posts they've got their
notifications on. So #4 here you had titles.
Curiosity is a superpower. So what does that mean?
Yeah, I think we kind of going to the point before of using
(12:41):
your being naive as a as a superpower.
You know, LinkedIn is a blank, blank canvas.
You can do all sorts of things with it.
Use it as a research tool, follow people you want to
connect with. I always get asked a lot.
I'm I'm graduating soon and I want to get into the e-commerce
world. What's the best way to to
(13:02):
getting in that industry? How can I really leverage
LinkedIn? And I would say just follow your
curiosity. Start connecting with people
that you admire, maybe XX at e-commerce companies, creators
that talk about e-commerce, Start learning from them.
Start seeing what they're talking about.
Start, maybe if you want to really go deep, start measuring
(13:25):
what content works well, what formats are performing content
is all about, we hear this a lot, Ryanth, and about copying,
but adding your own spin. So it's totally fine to to
really imitate what the best creators or experts are doing in
that space and adding your own spin.
So be curious about that, about who you follow, who you connect,
(13:48):
study what they do. And I think that's key,
especially when getting started.You need to find your voice, but
it's totally fine 1st to really understand and you know, get
immersed in that world you want to, you know, be a part of.
So definitely leaning to that. And I would say connected to the
next one. Start creating content, right?
We nailed the profile, we nailedthe commenting bit, we nailed
(14:11):
the mindset. And now I think it's start
creating content on LinkedIn, right?
I always tell people LinkedIn isthe oldest platform, maybe
amongst the big ones, but I still think that the potential
is it's, it's more untapped. It's much easier to stand out on
LinkedIn than on X on Instagram,on TikTok, I believe just as a
(14:32):
very small percentage of of our members, which by the way, we
cross the billion member threshold.
So LinkedIn is a big platform. Only one or 2% of of our
audience is actually creating content, whereas in other
platforms the number is much, much higher.
So that's that's first know thatyou can really stand out in any
niche. I don't think that's the case in
(14:52):
most platforms. And I think that's the beauty of
LinkedIn. It can be about, of course, the
sex industries, marketing tech, AI, but it can be about supply
chain, nano manufacturing. You can be a student in the most
technical, you know, area of physics and you can still find
your tribe, your audience. And I think that's the beauty of
LinkedIn, but approach it as a platform where you are, you
(15:15):
know, think like a learner, not a lecturer.
Try to teach less and more add value what you're finding
interesting. What are the unique insights,
takeaways. I want to give a few frameworks
on creating content on LinkedIn,because that's that's a question
I get a lot. It's like Danny, I do see the
value of LinkedIn. I do understand that the point,
but I'm struggling to come up with idea and with content, you
(15:37):
know, formats, and this can be approached in a million ways.
I think content is objective. That's part of what I really
like, you know, the content bit.But I think 2 frameworks are
really helpful. One, just talk about what you're
doing on your, you know, careers.
That could be as a student or asa professional.
If you're a student, talk about,you know, the lectures you're
(15:59):
learning. How do you approach creating
your homework, your thesis? What tools are you using?
How are you navigating this new AI world?
Basically, give an inside peek as to what being a student looks
like. You're going to add value.
You're going to connect with fellow students, with fellow
professors, with recruiters. People want to hear from you.
(16:23):
2nd and most important one, it took me also a while to
understand it. I thought you had to come up
with the most original idea or concept to create content on
LinkedIn, which you can, but I think that's super hard.
Whereas you can just hijack the news as I say it and just talk
about something that's happeningin your world, in your industry,
(16:43):
in your area of study, in your area of, of curiosity and add
your unique spin. I think that's ultimately what
matters. It could be something that's
happening in the economy, in thenew, in finance, in AI, in
sports, something that's timely.I think that's a really good way
to approach LinkedIn and at your, again, your spin and maybe
connect the dots. What are the 2nd order effects
(17:04):
of this specific announcement orpiece of news?
What are the implications? And that's how I've been
approaching LinkedIn. That's what's working for me at
the intersection of sports, greater economy, media.
And I always try to give a unique spin that not many people
are thinking about it. And that has allowed me to send
out. And that's how you should
approach LinkedIn, right? Not as a promotional platform.
(17:26):
You do want to promote yourself.You want to announce to your
network that you got higher, that you got promoted.
That's part of the game. Do that.
You have to do that. But not only that.
And that's I think a huge mistake that most people do.
And by the way, that's what I think it's changing on LinkedIn.
Back in the day, most of the content was only right hand.
You know, I got promoted, I got hired.
(17:47):
Yeah. But now we're trying to changed
that and I think it's happening slowly, but I am seeing better
content in my feet. I'm seeing more content that is
not promotional. There's no agenda besides adding
your expertise. And another phrase I like to
throw a lot is that the best wayto be promotional is by being
non promotional. So really try to, you know,
(18:08):
follow that that approach. Yeah.
And I think just to make that tangible, if there is any
entrepreneurs or business ownersout there or even young people,
when you're trying to foster mentors or find connections like
the following that you have justmeans that the chance of them
reciprocating and responding to you goes up.
So it's such a powerful relationship tool for that,
(18:30):
that, that good stuff. There are a couple of things I
was thinking here when you were talking from my own experience
was I definitely if, if it helpsif I share is that I need to
consume content to make content.So often what I'll do, you know,
rather than sit there going, I wonder what I should post next.
What I'll do is I'll just read different websites.
I'll read newsletters, I'll lookat LinkedIn itself.
(18:53):
And LinkedIn is great because basically it's a curated feed of
the people I've chosen to follow.
So it's all people within my industry, within my niche, as
you said. And so therefore when then I'm
seeing what's having success, what isn't, what's in the news
and what's not. And then basically then the idea
comes and. And, and I should have included
these on my list. I didn't.
(19:15):
But yeah. Q Rain your feet.
Such an important one. I think most of us didn't know
how to use LinkedIn back in the day.
I used to accept all requests, you know, 10 years ago, and my
feed was all over the place. So I would definitely recommend
you to dedicate some time a day or two on curating your feed.
Maybe I'm following people that are not adding much or that are,
you know, not the people you want to follow and you're going
(19:40):
to have a much better experienceand you're going to get, you
know, as, as you said, and motivated or inspired by their
content. And I think something that I've
been feeling more lately as I'vebeen creating more is you start
connecting the dots. And I really like that you see
something, you hear something, you read something, you're like,
oh, this is how I want to this, this is a content, this is a
(20:01):
post, a potential post. And that only happens when you
consume a lot and consume good content.
So go niche. Don't.
Try to follow, I always tell people follow small creators as
well, up and coming creators. I think it's like the analogy of
investing in a start up. Maybe it's a bit more risky
because it's not proven, but thepotential is, is bigger.
(20:23):
You're going to find out things before others.
Whereas if everybody feels the same influencers or the Stephen
Bartlett who is amazing, you're not going to be able to stand
out or come up with, you know, non obvious stakes.
So that's also a recommendation.I I I have.
Yeah, and a lot of the time I always try to build it around my
normal routine. So if you are a busy person,
(20:45):
studying, working, so on. I used to commute is where I
consume the content and then actually I write most of my
posts. I have a door to door hour
commute. That's enough for me to consume
and write something and post something.
And then before my days even begun, I've already done my my
kind of post that I wanted to. So yeah, you can kind of build
(21:06):
it in so it's not becoming a drag or a nuisance.
It's the highest value time efficiency that you have for the
goals that that you're setting out.
And I think finding that not only that space, but like a
constraint, it's also something I recommend people because even
though LinkedIn is is, as I said, easier than other
platforms, you still have, you know, dedicate time, energy you
(21:27):
need to commit. It's not, you know, it's not a
there's no secret formula. So even having, like you said,
and in this commute, I'm going to post yes or yes, you know,
there's no other way. Even if the post is not perfect,
that's a solid strategy. Or, you know, just block some
time on on once a week. And we're going to, I think one
of my other points in the coming, it's kind of
(21:49):
consistency, but really kind of force yourself to get it out
there. Because if not, if you're going
to just keep coming at it, rethinking about it, you're
never going to post. And that's something I felt it,
you know, very closely. Yeah, and don't and don't stress
out like the amount of times I Iread the FT, it's part of my
job, right, in finance. And so on the commute, I read
the FT in half the time. I've been working finance for 20
(22:10):
years. I'll read the FT and there'll be
a point of terminology they use.I'm like, what the hell are they
talking about? Because I don't have a clue what
they're talking about. And then I just use, adopt that
mentality and just go, OK, So what is this?
Because if I don't understand itand I've been doing this for two
decades, well, then there's a whole bunch of people, you know,
who, who also probably feel the same.
So you can add value in lots of different ways.
(22:32):
I'm not trying to be clever. I'm actually just trying to
demystify, simplify and make things more digestible for
people. That's that's all.
Like that's the niche if you like.
Love it and and last point on this which I think is irrelevant
hopefully to the audience. I have like younger cousins who
always tells me like, yeah, I want to post more, but my only
(22:54):
interest or hobbies or expertiseis around, let's say in his case
was, you know, Pokémon cards or trading tradables.
And I'm like, listen, dude, thisis the perfect like back in the
day, maybe it's like this is useless.
Nobody cares about this. But now, you know, there's
hobbies to be there's, there's niches to be made out of
(23:15):
anywhere and out of anything. So start talking about maybe
you're an expert in training cards in Pokémon cards in this
world that I have no clue about,but talk about that, right?
That's a perfect way to to standout, be associated as an expert
maybe in this domain. And I think at some point he was
approached by by by the Pokémon for some sort of, you know,
coverage piece. And that's how opportunities
(23:36):
start start to come about. So the more niche, the more
weird, the more crazy your hobbyis, the bigger the potential it
is, especially nowadays in the creator economy.
So leaning to that, lean to whatmakes you weird, the quirks, and
take it from there. OK, we're, we're halfway.
(23:56):
So number six now is being generous.
So how do you be generous on a platform like like LinkedIn?
Yeah, and I think we speak a bit, I spoke about this quite a
bit, but you know, going back tothe commenting piece, and it's
not only through comments, but people always forget that.
And I think it's just human nature.
You want to give, you want to bethat person that you know
(24:20):
doesn't ask anything back. I'm always one that truly
believes and not to get too emotional, that the people that
I really connect with are the ones that, you know, don't care
who's on the other side. Meaning it's easy to give or to
be nice. If you're doing that with
someone that's senior or with someone that's important, but
you want to do the same with someone that's maybe junior,
(24:42):
with someone who you don't necessarily immediately will get
any value from it. But that's how I approach the
world. And I think the same is on
LinkedIn, you know, give leave comments if someone maybe
reaches out, you know, responds as much as possible, you know,
add value, respond to questions.If you see someone asking for
advice or asking for a connection, try to make that
connection. I always try to connect people
(25:04):
without any asking anything in return.
One, I think it's a nice thing to do, but also in terms of a
strategy, things come back, you will get those that karma back.
But besides that, but and most importantly, starting, you want
to start being associated as a positive person, as someone who
contributes, who gives. And then you have an ask.
(25:27):
It's much easier to to get that ask responded as mentioned, if
you have given before. So yeah, build relationships
before you need them. That's maybe my biggest take
away, especially on LinkedIn. Let's say if you see someone,
someone that works at Meta and you want to ask for a referral.
If you send them a message and they haven't never heard from
(25:49):
you, maybe they will not respond, right.
But if you in the past have engaged with their content, have
given them something, have connected, then you ask for that
specific favor, you know what's going to happen, they're going
to do it. So I mean, lean with that.
And and that's the best play to when when you don't need some
what something when you're when you're studying, when you're in
a good position, that's the bestplace to start building those
(26:09):
relationships. You don't want to be that person
that you know, is always selling.
You want to be the opposite. So, so yeah, that's a very
important aspect of LinkedIn. Yeah, yeah.
I always say to the students I interact with the What's the
cornerstone of any good relationship?
And it's trust. So then the question comes, or
how do you foster trust? And to do that, you need to
(26:33):
build a relationship. And a relationship can be built
on a platform like this, as you described.
Doesn't have to be, you know, whole series of coffee chats,
just these little nudges, littlecomments, little interactions
here and there. They accumulate and compound.
And then you're not such a stranger.
And then there's a bit more trust.
And I think this even goes to tobig, to X, to to to any expert.
(26:53):
I think giving is also creating content that's a valuable
without, you know, promoting anything.
And I always tell people the same, you know, if LinkedIn is a
place to do business, to grow professionally, I think that
that's that's clear. But it's the only thing you're
sharing is, you know, selling your courses or or selling your
business or trying to get leads.That's not going to cut it.
(27:14):
Whereas if you do 20 posts aboutyour industry, about your
expertise, about what are you excited about?
And then on the 20th post, you promote something, your
newsletter, your podcast, your company, it's going to be much
more effective. So I think also when it comes to
creating content, give, give, give and then ask because you
want to promote, you want to sell.
That's obviously a part of LinkedIn.
(27:34):
But if I see a feed or someone that is just sharing or
promoting their podcast, their newsletter, their, their digital
courses, like I'm not going to engage.
So it's just the nature of things and people don't want to
be sold. To to your point, I think trust
is the most important thing nowadays and that's how you
build trust. OK #7 possibly the hardest one
(27:56):
and maybe the biggest block or barrier for a lot of people.
And this is consistency. So So what?
What's your take on that with all the creators and people
LinkedIn you deal with? Yeah, I have a more non BS take.
We always hear, you know, about consistency, super important in,
in, in platforms. You want to post every, you
(28:16):
know, every day. I think naturally platforms and
not to get into the algorithm doreward consistency.
And I think that happens everywhere.
But I think it's more a matter of you, where are you in that
journey? So if you've never posted and
you start posting once a month, that's already like a win.
(28:37):
That's already a huge progress. So you don't need to go from
zero to 100. It's more where you are in your
journey. I'm trying not to post 2 two
times a week, which which has been hard, but I wouldn't say go
and go or lean from zero to 100.Post every day is what works for
you, what works for your structure, for your specific.
You know where you are in life. But more importantly, the more
(29:00):
you post, forget about the algorithm that you get better.
You start finding your voice, you start finding your formats.
And like like football, you knowif you shoot 10 times to goal,
you're going to score more goalsthan if you never shoot.
So that's how I would see it, but I honestly think it's more
about quality than quantity. It's not necessarily about going
viral. We all want to see numbers.
(29:21):
We all want to get those, you know, followers and engagement.
I think especially on LinkedIn where you're not getting paid,
let's say for, for the amount ofviews you get, like YouTube
where it's a different monster. You want to reach the right type
of people. The example I always like to
give, I've seen first hand how some of my creators go viral and
(29:45):
nothing happens on the back of that.
Whereas the same creator the week after shared a post, had a
classic LinkedIn engagement of, you know, 50 likes, 10 comments.
But out of that post, I think hegot, you know, a few podcast
invitations, a few partnerships.So again, virality is not a
measure of success is the type of people you're connecting
(30:08):
with, the type of conversations you're having, the type of DMS
you're getting, especially on LinkedIn.
So that's another important aspect that we we forget, we
forget. Yeah, it's, it's such a
interesting one because, you know, even now, like being human
and, and having posted consistently now for for a few
(30:29):
years, even if I don't get, you know, the certain, I think this
is a really good post. And I, and I just think, yeah,
this is going to go. And it doesn't like, it's OK to
feel like that for a few seconds, but then you just check
that self-awareness, that feeling and you go, look, this
isn't what it's about. Like you'd be lying to say that
that isn't there as a desire to a certain extent.
(30:51):
But yeah, the one thing I can absolutely attest to, like
you're saying, is that it's moreif you can do a post that speaks
to that core audience that you're really interested in, it
doesn't, it doesn't need a lot of engagement actually, because
it only takes those one or two good connections you get on the
back of it that can really mean business or whatever.
It might mean a job opportunity.So yeah, it comes in different,
(31:13):
different shapes and sizes for sure.
OK, so we've got three more. The next one is about direct
messages DMS. So how would you recommend using
direct messages? And by the way, the last point,
last thing I want to say is thatLinkedIn is I think we're trying
to do a better job at matching the right content to the right
audiences. So we do hear a lot of, you
know, people saying, you know, engagement has gone down.
(31:35):
My numbers are not as good as before, but it might be the case
that the quality of the people that are seeing your content,
it's actually much higher. And at the end of the day, I
think that's what you want. And also we can talk about the
lyricors, people that are not engaging with your content that
you've never heard about, but they're seeing the content, they
are seeing you as an expert and someday they might come with an
(31:59):
opportunity. So we also forget about that,
about sending that DM again. I would definitely, I put it on
purpose really down on the list because I would suggest doing
this after you've done all of the above, you know, after you
have a good profile, after you've consistently created
content, adding value you've given, right, Send that DM.
And by that, I don't mean spam people or sell whatever you want
(32:22):
to sell to 100 people is if you want to speak to someone, send a
DM. I think people on LinkedIn are
much more positive, are much more willing to engage and to to
give as well. I think I've seen that.
So if you look up to someone, let's say an entrepreneur, a
bigger creator, an expert in your space, A recruiter, you
(32:44):
know, send that message, do it well, of course, you know, add
value. Be mindful of, of their time
and, and of the ask, but take the risk.
First of all, it's not a huge risk.
I'm a big believer of, you know,what's the worst that can happen
type of mentality. But it took me a while to, to
approach this. And now I've been speaking to
footballers, to, you know, people that I've never imagined
(33:06):
having conversations. And a lot of that is because you
just send a message and of course not all of them will
respond, but go for it. Ask for a question.
Maybe people are willing to do 10 times for mentorship.
I think it's, it's a big part of, of LinkedIn.
So definitely go ahead and do that.
And hopefully in the future whenthe other way around happens,
(33:29):
you're also going to do it with,with a younger generation.
So centre DM it's it's my my my my my advice here.
Yeah. And I just to manage
expectations, you know as well, because I think that's something
you can get quite deflated about.
You'll send lots of outbound messages and you'll be like, oh,
like what's wrong? Is it my profile or the content
(33:50):
or But that's just the nature ofthis that you know, you know,
these people to a light extent. You might have had a few
interactions more superficially.So they might respond, they
might not. And actually, like someone might
just be busy and you might miss and they might have just missed
your comment. It might have just got lost in
the in the inbox. And then you follow up two weeks
(34:10):
later and then you just hit the right time at the right moment
and that person responds. So, you know, again, it's like
one of those things that I thinknot to get to pop down.
Yeah, absolutely. And of course, who are you
sending the DM to? But my point being is that if
you don't send the DM, you for sure are not going to get an
answer. Whereas if you send it, you
know, there might be a chance. And, and of course, this sounds
(34:32):
obvious as well, but make sure the message is, you know, how
are you standing out? Similarly to the content piece
above, maybe, you know, do proper research, send a joke,
send something, you know, out-of-the-box, not just say,
hey, I want to get 5 minutes of your time.
It's and we can do a whole othersession on, on, you know, call
DM ING and, and you know how to sell.
And I think Anthony knows more than me, But of course it's an
(34:55):
important consideration as well.Two more left, so experiment
with different formats. So what are we talking here?
Quickly, I think LinkedIn reallylends itself for more formats
than other platforms. I love YouTube.
It's my go to for, you know, watching content, but I I don't,
I wouldn't even know where to start creating a good YouTube
(35:15):
video, right? It's so hard.
It requires you know much more, whereas LinkedIn you can just,
you know, do a text with an image.
You can do video as well, but itin a less polished way.
Actually, you can write an article if you want to go into a
deeper dive, you can do a poll. You can do LinkedIn life if you
want to do some sort of, you know, broadcast.
So there's a lot more flexibility when it comes to
(35:36):
creating content. I'm still a big fan of the old
traditional text based post. That's actually the one that
works the best for me. But again, just knowing that
that's the case, you can play, you can experiment, maybe some
format will resonate more with you, you'll enjoy it more, play
with it, you know, throw pasta to the wall, as they say.
Whereas in other platforms you don't have that in flexibility.
(35:57):
Yeah, for sure. I sometimes do play around with
carousels and different things just to see how they're
performing. And also through those
observations we talked about earlier when you're watching on
your created feed of what's what's working, what's not in
that moment. OK, so we've come to the end #10
of the 10 tips. So what do we have, Danny?
Yeah, I would say start finding your niche and your premise,
(36:18):
what you want to be known for. I think when you are known as
the guy or the girl of X is whenyou made it so he's the, you
know, the guy that does funny love videos or the girl that
talks about, you know, funny work, you know, stories.
You want to start being known assomething.
(36:38):
And I think that's how you want to approach LinkedIn.
Maybe find intersection of some of your curiosities.
Expertise, in my case is, you know, the overlap of sports, the
creator economy and, you know, different ideas.
So that's how I'm trying to position myself on LinkedIn.
And you want to, you know, strive for that.
But yeah, you need to follow allof the previous tips and
(36:59):
hopefully you'll get there. OK, that was fantastic, Danny.
I really appreciate those, those10 tips and all your insights.
And yeah, hopefully some more active users on the platform,
but do drop us a a comment if you have any questions, things
like that. Wherever this podcast is shared,
I'd love to interact with those comments to live true to what's
just been said on this episode. And I'll also add chapters so
(37:21):
you can just skip to any of the 10 points that you need to look
at. All right, Danny, take care and
all the best. Thanks for having me.
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