October 13, 2025 • 38 mins
If you’ve written off LinkedIn as just a place for resumes and recruiters, this episode will make you think again. Writer and LinkedIn strategist Kayla Ihrig joins me to talk about how small businesses and service providers are quietly building traction—not through flashy posts, but through genuine conversations and a profile that speaks clearly to the right people.
We cover why comments can be more powerful than content, what updates make your profile more discoverable, and how to build a high-quality network that leads to media features, referrals, and clients. If social media has felt noisy and exhausting lately, LinkedIn’s simpler, slower pace might be exactly what your business needs.
Find out what's missing in your marketing! This free quiz will tell you where your funnel is leaking, and how to fix it! Click here to take it!
- Show Notes
- Apply to be featured on My Weekly Marketing!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Janice Hostager (00:04):
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business, and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business, and
life in between.
Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
Let me ask you this.
(00:29):
When you hear LinkedIn, what doyou picture?
Maybe recruiters, resumes, lotsof people you used to work
with?
All corporate, right?
If so, you're not alone.
A lot of small business owners,I think, totally overlook
LinkedIn, or they feel like it'snot worth their time.
And I must confess, I was oneof those people, even though I
(00:50):
am in the B2B space.
But really, LinkedIn has becomeone of the most powerful
platforms for service-basedbusinesses to get in front of
decision makers and their dreamclients.
That's why I brought in today'sguest, Kayla Ihrig.
Kayla is a LinkedIn expert whoknows how to use it in a
powerful way.
She's gotten media features,clients, and even snagged a book
(01:13):
deal by posting on LinkedIn.
Not only does she use theplatform for herself, but she
turns to LinkedIn to findexperts for articles that she's
writing for publications such asHubSpot, Success Magazine, and
others.
Now, I know you might bethinking that you don't need to
look at another social mediaplatform, but before you check
out, listen to this episode anddecide if LinkedIn maybe isn't
(01:35):
worth it for you to look into.
Here's my conversation withKayla.
Hey, welcome, Kayla, to MyWeekly Marketing.
I'm so glad to have you here.
Kayla Ihrig (01:45):
I'm so glad to be here.
Thanks, Janice.
Janice Hostager (01:48):
So, how did you discover the value of LinkedIn?
A lot of small business owners,I think, think about LinkedIn
and they think, "Oh, it's forcorporate - the corporate
world," or "It's for jobhunting", or whatever.
But tell me a little bit abouthow you figured out the value i
n LinkedIn.
Kayla Ihrig (02:05):
Yeah, if you have only used LinkedIn as an
employee, yeah, it can feel likea kind of a creepy meetup of
all your ex-colleagues when youopen it.
That it's just can feeluncomfortable whenever you've
been self-employed and you'veleft that world.
So I totally get that itdoesn't feel like the cool place
to be for a lot ofentrepreneurs.
But I started posting on therejust kind of out of curiosity.
(02:28):
I think that a lot of peoplewho do marketing tire of certain
platforms.
It's kind of an emotional cyclewhere you're like really
feeling Instagram for a whileand then you feel burnt out on
the, you know, every platformhas its kind of headaches and
you kind of- and then you trysomething new - not that you
give up, but you just keeptesting different mediums.
(02:48):
And that's how I got intoLinkedIn.
I was enjoying it as a breakfrom Instagram for a little
while.
And I, of course, I had all myold colleagues there.
And that was, you know, youlook and you think I'm not
really interested in what I'mseeing.
Then if you spend more time -and not that I didn't have great
ex-colleagues, let's just makesure that's clear.
But you don't want to hearabout old work projects whenever
(03:10):
you've left the company foryears.
And then I discovered thiswhole other side of the
algorithm where people werecreating content for LinkedIn
and building whole businessesand brands and finding clients.
And it was so authentic in thatI just fell in love.
And that was back in 2022 thatI got really invested.
(03:30):
And it's still one of myfavorite platforms online.
Janice Hostager (03:35):
So you mentioned like publishing on
LinkedIn, and I'll get to thatin a bit.
But when I think of socialmedia, and typically when I work
with my clients, I really focuson social media and the
awareness stage.
Not that it can't be used forother parts of the funnel or
what I call the Trail to theSale, but is that still the
case?
Like do you use it most oftenin the awareness stage, or do
(03:55):
you use it in consideration orthe closing?
And I you I know you use it alittle different way too,
because of your job, basically,or your business.
Kayla Ihrig (04:02):
Yeah.
To market my business, I usedLinkedIn really is relationship
marketing.
So it's less about publishingcontent that targets people at
different phases and points ofthe funnel, and more about
meeting people and makingconnections with.
I look at three groups ofpeople that I recommend you
connect with (04:22):
thought leaders, peers, and potential clients.
And the engagement there ismuch more impactful.
The commenting, the DMs, thehopping on coffee chats.
That's a term you'll see onLinkedIn, a 15-minute video
chat.
That is where it's much lessabout posting and much more
about the conversation.
Janice Hostager (04:43):
Interesting.
So is that like a featurewithin LinkedIn, a coffee chat,
like a video call?
Kayla Ihrig (04:48):
It's not.
It's actually just a part ofLinkedIn culture as it's
developed.
Janice Hostager (04:53):
Okay.
That's interesting.
So, what do you feel like isreally working now on LinkedIn?
Like are there shifts or trendsor something that are really
working a lot?
Kayla Ihrig (05:03):
Yeah, comments are the big secret, if you could
call it that, on LinkedIn.
That, posting your own contenthas a lot of value and it has
its place and it's important.
But commenting is bigger thanyour posts ever will be.
So whenever you comment,whenever you post your own
content, let's say you'll your-those posts will get hundreds,
(05:24):
maybe thousands of impressions.
But whenever you spend thatsame period of time commenting
on other people's posts, thosewill get tens of thousands of
impressions.
And LinkedIn actually tells youhow many impressions your
comments are getting.
It values comments so much.
Janice Hostager (05:40):
Oh, that's interesting.
Because yeah, I think that'strue.
You kind of get on LinkedIn,and I might throw a thumbs up at
somebody who got a promotionor, you know, whatever, or
celebrated a birthday orsomething like that.
But I think you're right.
And I think the problem that Ihad personally with LinkedIn and
when I'm working with clientsis that people don't check it
(06:01):
quite as often as they do, say,Instagram or Facebook, or some
of the other places that theyhave friends and family on,
right?
So they tend to check it maybeweekly or, you know, sometimes
honestly, I'm not a hugeLinkedIn user.
So it might a month might go bybefore I, you know, go on and
start scrolling on there.
Kayla Ihrig (06:19):
A lot of people are like that.
Yeah.
Janice Hostager (06:22):
Yeah.
So do you feel like is thereenough traffic on there to kind
of make the time for LinkedIn?
Kayla Ihrig (06:31):
Yeah, you're actually touching on something
that I think sets LinkedIn apartin a big way from other
platforms, and that's thatLinkedIn is huge, but it is not
crowded.
People are not producingcontent on LinkedIn in the same
way that they are on any otherplatform.
So I think the number is, Ithink it's less than 1% of users
post daily.
And a lot of people post ontheir Instagram stories on other
(06:54):
social platforms daily.
That's a huge percentage ofpeople who are engaging in that
way.
So LinkedIn is a stage with ahuge audience and not that many
people at the mic, if you liketo think of it that way.
And you can see this reflectedin the algorithm that you'll see
posts that are old.
Every once in a while, thealgorithm is testing something,
and I'll see a post that's like12 weeks old on the feed.
(07:16):
And that's because there's notenough content to fulfill, to
satisfy the demand.
Janice Hostager (07:22):
That's really interesting.
And I think, you know, that'sthat's a good point too, is that
we tend to gravitate toward thereally popular platforms,
knowing that our post gets verylittle, especially from a
business page, it's gonna getvery little engagement, unless
we're a big have a big followingand so on, or really learn to
(07:42):
work the algorithm, right?
So the thing that I think weneed to keep in mind is that
it's a really big pie.
So even though only a smallpercentage of your audience
might be on LinkedIn, that'sstill a lot of people, right?
Kayla Ihrig (07:55):
Yes.
And you might be noticed byother people that are potential
clients as well.
I use LinkedIn to get clients.
I'm a marketer and an SEOwriter and a journalist.
So I use LinkedIn to findclients and I also use it as a
writer for these publications.
For example, I write a lot forHubSpot, and I need to find
experts to feature in stories.
(08:16):
And I use LinkedIn, it's mybest tool for finding people.
But a lot of people's accountsare not optimized.
They're not, you know, if youare an SEO writer, you need to
say that in your profile so Ican discover you.
It's also a search engine.
And then your profile is alanding page for what you do.
And even if you haven't usedyour account lately, I bet you
(08:37):
would be shocked to see how manypeople have looked at your
profile.
LinkedIn will tell you thatnumber in the last 90 days.
I think- I would encourageeveryone to go check that number
after they're done listening.
And you might be very surprisedhow many eyeballs a stagnant
LinkedIn profile is getting you.
And even if you just improveyour profile today to be a
little bit more, I mean, you caneven forget attractive, just
(09:00):
current.
Is it reflecting your currentoffers, current freebies?
That is a huge leap forward inwhat you're doing with that real
estate.
Janice Hostager (09:10):
So I want to ask how to optimize a LinkedIn
profile.
Like what should we be lookingat?
And also, I what- years ago Iwas told that you need to have
500 connections to even getfound on there.
Is that a myth or is that true?
Kayla Ihrig (09:25):
I want to say that's a myth.
I've actually never heard thatmyth.
Janice Hostager (09:27):
Oh, okay.
LinkedIn has been shifting awayfrom connection count and more
towards follower count.
So if you switch your profilefrom like a normal individual
profile to a creator profile,LinkedIn will allow people to
follow you.
And that's something Irecommend everyone does because
you'll get a lot of connectionrequests from random people that
(09:48):
you don't need or want toaccept.
But collecting followers frompeople who are interested in
your work, that has value.
Although followers are not theend-all be-all, I think people
love to celebrate how manyfollowers they have on
platforms.
But I feel like with LinkedIn,I'm bragging about how few
followers I have and how muchI've gotten with that.
(10:08):
Like with under 4,000followers, I've gotten clients,
media features, a book deal,friends.
I mean, I feel like I wouldlike to think I'm like living
the LinkedIn dream and I'm doingit with a small account and
I've never gone viral.
I think that's just theopportunity at hand that
everyone has.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's interesting.
(10:29):
So talk to me.
Tell me, first of all, abouthow do you optimize your
profile?
What should be on everybody'sprofile that they might not be
doing?
Kayla Ihrig (10:38):
Straightforward keywords.
Sometimes you'll see a tip tocall yourself like instead of
just saying that you're like anHR manager, it'll be like an HR
wizard or something and be kindof cute.
Don't be cute.
You can't find people.
No one knows whenever I'mlooking for HR.
And I these are specificexamples because I have written
(10:58):
so many articles where I needreally specific experience.
I want someone who's managedteams, someone who's overseeing,
you know, venture capital, andall these cutesy descriptive uh
job titles, yeah, they lose youopportunities.
And focusing on not the amountthat you write, but just being
descriptive.
It's kind of like it's not badto approach it like a resume,
(11:20):
whenever you think of that.
Like, what did I do in thisrole?
What results did I get?
Just keep it simple.
I think that that's the biggestmistake people make is that
they say way too much or theystart telling like a narrative
when people aren't reading yourjob descriptions.
But it does help add keywordsto your post.
And if someone from the medialike me is looking, I do look to
(11:41):
see, oh, okay, they did managepaid ads, they did manage team,
they did oversee 100 million inventure capital.
You need to have somequantifiers on there, but your
job description or your pastexperience is not the biggest
thing to focus on, but youshould fill it out.
So you look like a real person.
There's a lot of fake accountson LinkedIn.
Those are actually one of thethree questions I ask whenever
(12:03):
I'm looking for someone tofeature in the media.
I'm asking, are they real?
Do they actually have theexperience that I need?
And um, oh gosh, what's thethird question?
Now that's embarrassing.
I have them written down.
Oh, and it can I contact them?
Because not everyone checkstheir LinkedIn every day.
I'll get messages from people.
I'm like, I really need to geta response by end of day
(12:26):
tomorrow if you want to befeatured in this magazine
feature.
And three months later, they'relike, oh man, is it too late?
Yes.
Yes, it's too late.
So having your email and yourcontact info.
I know people think thatthey're gonna get spammed if
they add their personal or theirwork email.
Spammers can get your emailanyway.
(12:46):
So you might as well be open tothe authentic opportunities
that come by.
Janice Hostager (12:51):
That's a really good point.
So, what about business pages?
Like, so I have a personalpage, of course, and then I have
my business page, and I feellike it doesn't get the
engagement at all that mypersonal page would get.
You know, if I didn't update onmy personal page, it's gonna
get a whole lot more engagement.
Do you feel is that just myperception, or is that actually
(13:13):
the way it is?
Kayla Ihrig (13:14):
No, you're right on the money.
People are much more interestedin what individuals say than
what companies say.
That's kind of inherent.
I think a lot of us feel thatway.
Like Bill Gates, sure, tell uswhat he's saying.
But Microsoft, who's gonna readthat?
It's a lot less compelling.
So I would not focus at all ona business page and focus on you
and your personal brand.
So that's what you're reallypushing.
(13:35):
And it's not your business, youknow, it's you as
the individual that stands infront of the business you've
created and not pushing yourbusiness.
Like sometimes people will putin their name, you know, Kayla
Ihrig, founder of Writing fromNowhere.
It just be Kayla, you're that'sme, by the way.
That's what I'm referring to.
(13:56):
Just be yourself.
And also don't put stuff in thename section anyway, beyond
your name, or your account canbe suspended because people
don't, they don't want youstuffing in your your company.
Oh I put an emoji in my name,and I could have had my account
accidentally suspended for that.
I didn't, it didn't happen tome, but one of my friends worked
(14:18):
for LinkedIn and she told me,uh, you can if it didn't happen,
you can leave it there, butdon't add another emoji.
Because it can be, yeah, thatcan be an issue.
Janice Hostager (14:29):
Interesting.
Okay, okay.
So, what mistakes do you seethat a lot of small business
owners are making on theirprofiles that maybe push away
potential clients?
Kayla Ihrig (14:39):
I think that they're failing to share the
really big questions, likeanswer those big questions
first.
What does this person offer?
Oh, they're a social mediamarket agency, but which
platforms and how do I see theirpackages?
It needs to be very easy forpeople to see what do you do and
how do I get in contact withthem about it?
So having a freebie, if youhave one displayed really
(15:02):
prominently on your banner andin your headline, and then the
first link in your feature, ormaybe you want to skip the
freebie and it goes straight todiscovery call.
Having that really clear whatshould someone do if they want
to work with you?
Don't make people guess orstruggle.
Janice Hostager (15:18):
Yeah, it cuts down on the friction if you have
something available rightthere.
So they don't have to go findyour website page, click over to
it, see what's on your site,and try and find something just
to find out more about you.
That's a really good tip.
Kayla Ihrig (15:33):
Yeah.
And the featured section, Ishould say, it's like the pinned
posts on other platforms.
So those are the top links thatyou have.
And um that also your banner,those are the prime real estate
on your account and yourheadline, just to kind of
outline the terminology.
So the headline is an additionto your name.
So whenever you comment onsomeone's post, or whenever you
(15:57):
comment at all, whenever youshow up on people's feeds on the
home feed, you're gonna haveyour photo, name, and your
headline.
Janice Hostager (16:04):
Okay.
Kayla Ihrig (16:04):
So for example, my headline is "Kayla Ihrig," um,
"Freelance Writer," "Get a freeLinkedIn audit." So I do
LinkedIn audits from theperspective of the media helping
people be more attractive forthese features.
So that's my- I display thatvery prominently, but you can
put that whatever you want inwriting your headline.
Janice Hostager (16:25):
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
So it's basically your yourtitle.
Kayla Ihrig (16:29):
Yeah.
And it's not a job title.
I mean, you can say founder ofsomething, but I focus on, for
mine personally, what am Idoing?
I'm a writer and I might bereaching out to you because I'm
writing and I want to featureyou.
This is how I use LinkedIn.
So that's how I've shaped it.
But it can, it should reflectwhat's most important to you
right now.
And the headline can and shouldchange.
(16:49):
It's not chiseled in stone, andit's very normal to update that
as you have new offers.
Janice Hostager (16:56):
Okay.
Okay.
So just kind of going off on abrief tangent here, as a writer,
if let's say I want my businessto be picked up by somebody
who's looking for a quote from amarketing strategist, for
example, how would I make myprofile attractive to that?
Just keywords alone?
Or is there, should I befollowing reporters?
Kayla Ihrig (17:16):
You do not have to follow anyone.
I would want to be really clearon the fact that this is a real
profile.
I know I said that earlier, butI don't think people realize
how many bots, bots areeverywhere.
How much, what percent?
I don't know, what percentageof social media is just bots
now, but it is sophisticated.
I once had an entire emailexchange with someone that was a
bot.
And uh I knew that it was a botbecause they replied to a very
(17:41):
complicated email in like 30seconds with a whole response.
I knew only AI could write thatfast.
But they had websites, they hada LinkedIn, it was very
compelling.
Janice Hostager (17:50):
Really?
Kayla Ihrig (17:50):
So that is where um I'm I'm really looking.
And to see if you're real, Ireally like to see multiple
pictures of you.
So not one super glossyheadshot.
I appreciate seeing multiplephotos.
And if you go on LinkedIn andyou haven't been there, you
don't hang out there normally.
You'll probably be surprised byhow many selfies you see.
(18:11):
Just a casual picture.
Like a casual picture of youworking at your computer on a
Tuesday gets more traction thanheadshots because it feels very
real and it makes people feellike they really know you.
If they see a new picture ofyour face every week, it's
almost the feeling like yourcolleagues.
I like that to me is thefeeling being self- you know,
(18:32):
whenever you're self-employedlong enough, you are happy to
see the same people hanging outof the virtual water cooler.
Janice Hostager (18:39):
Right.
Um, so are is there a place toadd photos other than the
profile photo or just to rotatethe one photo that you have each
week or every so often?
Is that what you're saying?
Or are there places?
Kayla Ihrig (18:53):
I would say in your posts, post pictures of your
face.
Whenever you're sharing updatesor just trying to uh talk, you
know, initiate conversation,starting that kind of
relationship building, like theposting side of LinkedIn, which
again should never be, itshouldn't even be 50-50 with
commenting.
It should be less than 50% ofwhat you're doing if you're
trying to use the platform.
(19:15):
I would encourage you to try topost pictures of your face or
your workspace.
It doesn't have to be yourface.
I'm connected with um quite afew uh marketers, I think mostly
of women who wear burkas andthere, I don't see their face,
but I see their work, I seetheir eyes, I see their
workplace, I see theirbreakfast, and I still feel very
(19:37):
connected to them becausethey're sharing bits of them.
So if you're shy or you're nota selfies person, it's okay.
But I would encourage you toshare some part of your week or
day.
Janice Hostager (19:47):
Okay.
So that's really different fromhow it used to be.
Even a few years ago, it waslike, okay, when you're on
LinkedIn, you need to bebuttoned up.
You know, it's like don't betaking a, you know, a selfie and
putting it on there.
You need to have a professionalimage taken and it needs to
look all spiffy.
But I love what you're saying,though, is that, and this is one
(20:07):
thing that I always say to myB2B clients is that no matter if
you're working with acorporation or not, you're still
working with people.
And people relate to people.
And so that's kind of what Ihear you're saying is that it
doesn't matter if who it is thatyou're talking to, you want to
be talking to a human being.
Kayla Ihrig (20:25):
Yes, absolutely.
And you said something that Ithink segues beautifully into uh
don't use AI.
Don't use AI to write for youon LinkedIn.
People don't like it.
They can tell.
We can tell right away.
And it's not the M-dash.
As a writer, I just want to saythat M-dashes are normal to
use.
I'm afraid to use M-dashes nowbecause everyone assumes it's
(20:45):
ChatGPT, but you know whyChatGPT uses M-dashes?
It's because it trained onjournalism and journalists use
M-dash.
Janice Hostager (20:55):
Okay.
Yeah.
Kayla Ihrig (20:57):
It's a personal vendetta that I just had to get
out there.
Janice Hostager (21:00):
No, I am a lover of M-dashes myself.
And um, I have noticed thattoo, that people, or certain
words too that Chat GPT hasstarted using that I used to
use.
And now I'm afraid to presentsomething like that for that
same reason.
So that's kind of funny.
Kayla Ihrig (21:16):
We're the real victims here.
Janice Hostager (21:18):
Right.
Kayla Ihrig (21:20):
Yeah, some people will use bots though to comment
for them.
And it's just really bad.
And people block you becausenobody wants it on their feed.
So just as a little warning,yeah.
Janice Hostager (21:32):
Yeah, yeah.
And actually, yesterday I wason LinkedIn and I had a DM from
somebody that said they wantedto get a contract.
They wanted a proposal.
Yes.
That's the word.
Um, and uh so I started diggingin their profile a little bit.
And this was somebody who livedapparently lived in LA and
(21:53):
worked for Gucci.
And I was like, I don't thinkso.
Gucci's not looking for aproposal from somebody, you
know, in Austin, Texas.
So yeah, so yeah, you'reabsolutely right.
There it's easy to spot peoplewho are not real people if you
know what to look for.
And this definitely just didn'tfeel right to, yeah, trust your
gut, you know.
Kayla Ihrig (22:14):
To address why some people use AI on LinkedIn, I
think some people feel like theyare not well spoken enough,
articulate enough.
If you're not a native Englishspeaker and you're engaging in
English, first of all, respect.
And second of all, no one isnitpicking at all.
Janice Hostager (22:32):
Right.
Kayla Ihrig (22:32):
So that's what I see in the media world where
people are, I tell people, youknow, I need a quote, but it
can't be AI, you have to writeit.
And then they a lot of peopleuse it out of insecurity.
Like they wrote it and thenthey told ChatGPT, please make
it sound better.
And you don't need to, first ofall, it's not making it sound
better.
It's making it sound generic.
(22:52):
And second of all, it's whatyou say is good enough.
I think people feel reallyinsecure.
And it is, it's like walkinginto a networking event where
you don't know anybody, and thenyou just like walk up to a
circle of people and chime in.
And it will feel uncomfortableat first, and a part that will
go away whenever you do it,because you'll get to know
people and they'll get to knowyou.
And it it'll be authentic andit'll feel like real people that
(23:16):
you know, and it won't feelscary forever.
Janice Hostager (23:20):
Yeah, yeah.
I think it goes back to thattime where LinkedIn was a very
buttoned-up place that youreally had to talk
professionally, writeprofessionally, because you were
being judged, especially byrecruiters and such, you know,
they want to know that you'rearticulate enough to be able to
put a paragraph together.
And I've met some CEOs whocannot put a decent paragraph
(23:41):
together, you know, that reallystruggle with that part of it.
Not that they don't have othergifts, but I 100% agree.
I think you turning Chat GPT,people can tell for sure.
And it probably doesn't do youany favors in the long run.
Kayla Ihrig (23:54):
And it atrophies your skills anyway.
I think one of the big reasonsyou'll see a lot of people say
that they started writing onLinkedIn every day just to
improve their writing.
To become a better copywriter.
It's instantaneous.
As a, I mean, if you focus, ifyou if any part of your job
involves writing to persuadepeople to do something,
LinkedIn's the place.
(24:15):
You can write every day and yousee, is it performing well?
Is it not?
Are people engaged?
Do people react to?
Are people commenting?
I mean, it sharpens you uhincredibly.
It's like copywriting class.
Janice Hostager (24:28):
Right.
Okay, okay.
So let's talk about that alittle bit.
Now there's LinkedInpublishing.
Is that what you're referringto, writing on LinkedIn?
Kayla Ihrig (24:36):
Whenever you publish a post.
So not writing an article, butjust making a post whenever you
open up the home feed and itsays like, hey, what are you
thinking or whatever it asksyou?
And then you can post apicture, a poll, et cetera.
Carousels.
It has all the formats thatother social platforms have.
But I would encourage people tostart with real photos of
themselves or what they're doingand some text.
Janice Hostager (24:59):
Okay.
Okay.
So do you post differentcontent than you would say on
Instagram?
Kayla Ihrig (25:04):
I do.
It's very casual on LinkedIn.
Um, that is my focus.
It's focus on conversation.
Um, people know the people whoI'm connected with already,
because I've been active on theplatform for years, they know
what I'm about.
And it's really about people, Ithink, just remembering who I
am and my work.
And a lot of marketing orconnecting people is just
(25:26):
remembering that people exist.
And a big payoff of LinkedInis peer-to-peer networking,
where back in the day I used tobe a Pinterest marketer, and I
still do Pinterest marketing,but it's not alone.
It's only like as a part of alarger brand strategy for
clients.
And people would tag me, oh,Kayla knows Pinterest, you know,
that peer-to-peer of peoplepulling you into conversations.
(25:50):
I think the peer-to-peer groupis one of the most important.
I would not focus exclusivelyon down, not down, but you know,
when down the food chains arewrong, came across wrong.
But there's like thoughtleaders, peers, potential
clients.
And I would say that thoughtleaders and peers are gonna be a
(26:11):
really fruitful place for you.
And potential clients willcome, but you're not like
fishing for them with everypost.
Janice Hostager (26:18):
Right, right.
That's where it gets kind ofannoying when you have a lot of
people that uh ask to connectwith you and then immediately
send you a message to dobusiness with them kind of
thing, too.
So I think that's anotherreason why, you know, I've been
kind of turned off by LinkedInis that people will just blanket
everybody that's on their listor that is in their follower
(26:40):
list with uh trying to make asale and it feels icky, right?
Kayla Ihrig (26:46):
Yes, it is icky.
Janice Hostager (26:48):
So if someone doesn't want to post every day,
right?
I'm assuming that most people,most of us don't post every day.
I shouldn't assume that, but alot of us don't have time to
post every day on any of theplatforms.
How often should they beposting realistically?
Kayla Ihrig (27:04):
I think that if I would say comment as many days
of the week as you can, even ifit's for five or ten minutes.
And posting, you could postonce a month just to show that
your account's active in thatway.
Posts are not going to be thehuge thing.
It's not gonna bring the massesto your profile the way
(27:26):
commenting will.
And I actually pulled up a nicequote here.
I know I've talked aboutcommenting a lot.
It probably sounds like I'mdroning on, but Jasmin Alic is
one of the top LinkedIncreators.
And he recently shared, I wrotethis down.
Whenever he was growing hisaccount, he spent 95% of his
time supporting other posts whenhe was growing.
And he described the result asan unignorable presence.
Janice Hostager (27:51):
Interesting.
That is a great quote.
Kayla Ihrig (27:53):
Yeah, and he's very cool, and everyone should
follow Jay right away.
I will have a link to creatorswho are active on the platform
who you can follow and learnfrom and engage.
And those comment sections aregoing to be full of other people
who are active on the platformand interested in connecting.
Janice Hostager (28:10):
That's that's a great tip.
Because I'd never I'd neverthought about that before.
Like the commenting part of it.
Yeah.
So would you say that originalcontent, not necessarily
repurposing content that you'reputting on Instagram, for
example?
Like on Instagram, when I havea new podcast, I might put a
video of our conversation today.
(28:30):
Is that something that youwould or wouldn't post on
LinkedIn?
Kayla Ihrig (28:35):
I think that if you're already active and on
LinkedIn, it's fine to post thatkind of content.
But if you haven't postedanything in a long time and then
you suddenly drop a carouselwith like 10 tips to improve
your website privacy policy pageor something, people are gonna
be like, huh?
What does she talk about?
Because people have justforgotten.
(28:55):
And uh, it's a little bit likesending an email, whenever you
haven't sent an email to yourlist in a long time.
Everybody has probably madethat mistake at one point where
they're like ghost to their listfor a year.
Or maybe I'm it's just me.
Janice Hostager (29:07):
No, yeah.
Kayla Ihrig (29:08):
Okay, it's not just me.
Good.
And then you email it, and thenimmediately, like, four people
mark it as spam, and you'relike, no, no, no.
You double opted in.
You just forgot who I am, andnow you're uncomfortable because
I'm promoting something.
Janice Hostager (29:23):
Okay, one last question, and then I want to go
to like a rapid fire quiz herefor you.
So if you could give listenerslike one LinkedIn quick win that
they could apply right awaythis week, what would that be?
Kayla Ihrig (29:36):
Go update your profile and make it look like a
landing page for whatever youwant to book now more than
anything.
What is your top priority?
Make your profile your landingpage for that.
Janice Hostager (29:48):
Awesome.
Love it, love it.
Okay, let's see here.
Uh LinkedIn Rapid Fire Round.
Okay, here we go.
Kayla Ihrig (29:57):
I'm excited.
Janice Hostager (29:58):
Deep breath.
Okay.
What's one underrated featurethat on LinkedIn that most
people aren't using?
Pulls.
Mmm.
Great.
Great way to get engagement,right?
Kayla Ihrig (30:11):
Yeah, it's fun.
It doesn't even have to besuper serious.
It could be about when you'reworking.
I did one once.
You know, do pets or do theyhelp you make working from home
better or worse?
That was like one of my topposts of the year.
Just getting people to engagein the comments, sharing
pictures of their cat.
Janice Hostager (30:28):
Love it.
Great idea.
Connection requests.
Do you include a note or nonote?
Kayla Ihrig (30:33):
Always include a note and don't send it from your
phone or it automatically sendswithout the note.
Send it from your computer.
Janice Hostager (30:40):
Oh, really?
Okay.
Even if you know, let's say Ijust met somebody and I know
them.
Kayla Ihrig (30:47):
If they actually if they definitely know you, I
would say to let it go.
But if this per if it's cold,you always need.
Yeah.
And let people know what you doin those connection requests as
well.
If I can elaborate a little onthat.
Say, like, hey, I see that youdo personal branding.
I'm, you know, an SEO writer.
I'm really working on mypersonal brand right now.
So I'm really excited to learnfrom you.
(31:08):
It tells them about you withoutmaking it about you.
Janice Hostager (31:13):
Love it.
And it it also elevates theirstatus.
Kayla Ihrig (31:17):
Yes.
And always making it clear.
I'm excited for us to learnfrom each other.
Yeah.
I always think make it clearthat it's mutually beneficial,
that you're not looking to takefrom them.
Like you're not going to send aconnection request and then
immediately be like, hey, can Ican I talk to you about this
thing?
Don't approach people with yourhand out.
Janice Hostager (31:35):
Right, right.
Yeah.
Get ready to give.
Okay.
The biggest link LinkedIn myththat you wish small business
owners would stop believing.
Kayla Ihrig (31:43):
Oh, it's like a digital resume.
And it's very stuffy.
It's fun if you follow theright people.
Give it a week of curating yourfeed with the links in the
description, and it will feelfriendly and fun.
Janice Hostager (31:55):
One type of post that you wish people would
stop making on LinkedIn.
Kayla Ihrig (32:00):
Oh gosh.
Press releases.
Well, oh, I I don't thinkanyone in your and maybe none of
your listeners are.
I guess people who share comp-who share company press releases
like copy and pasting the textas a post.
I think that's a little..
Janice Hostager (32:16):
It doesn't really benefit them and just
turns people off.
Yeah.
Hashtags.
Worth it?
Not worth it?
Kayla Ihrig (32:24):
Not anymore.
Not anymore.
There's a big study of thealgorithm, and posts with
hashtags got less reach thanthose without.
And I wish I could remember thename of the person who did the
study.
So I'm sorry I can't attributethat correctly.
But yeah.
Janice Hostager (32:37):
Good to know, okay.
Kayla Ihrig (32:38):
2025, they're not recommended.
Janice Hostager (32:41):
They're gone.
Okay.
But still SEO.
Kayla Ihrig (32:44):
Yes.
Making it clear what you'retalking about.
Janice Hostager (32:47):
In the post, is SEO-
In the post too. Yeah, five tipsfor your website.
Five things your website'sprivacy policy page is missing.
Right?
That those are keywords.
It's not always like smackingpeople in the face with the
topic.
It's also just clear, likeclear language uses keywords
naturally.
(33:07):
So don't, if that feelsoverwhelming, don't overthink
it.
Okay.
One simple way to get moreengagement on your post this
week.
Kayla Ihrig (33:16):
Comment for 15 minutes before you post.
Kind of prime the algorithm andthen continue.
Like if you were had 30minutes, I would say comment for
30 minutes, post, comment for15 or sorry, for 15 minutes to
make 30 minutes total.
Janice Hostager (33:33):
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
Okay.
A LinkedIn trend that you thinkis here to stay.
Kayla Ihrig (33:39):
Oh, um, short form videos, I think, are probably
going to stick around.
They were on the platform, thenthey were gone, and now they're
back.
So I think they'll probably behere to stay.
Janice Hostager (33:49):
One thing that you should never do in a
LinkedIn DM, which I have anopinion on this one.
Kayla Ihrig (33:55):
Oh, I wonder if we're thinking the same thing.
Um pitch people right away.
Oh, I know.
Pitch people on the servicethat they offer.
I just got pitched on SEOservices.
It's 30 seconds.
You'll see I also offer SEOservices.
We could have been friends, wecould have been peers, and now I
feel like cheap.
(34:15):
Cheap DM.
Janice Hostager (34:18):
And this might be your own, but your favorite
success story of someone that'sgrowing their business on
LinkedIn.
Kayla Ihrig (34:24):
Oh gosh.
It's hard to think.
I know if anyone, I'vereferenced him a couple times
out, but Jasmin Alic, he goes byJay, he's a great success story
that he was, I think he was ahigh school teacher in Bosnia.
And now he's one of LinkedIn'stop voices.
And he even did a like a tourin the US where he, like flew to
(34:44):
the US, and like went aroundand had LinkedIn meetups all
over the country.
And I went to Bosnia and I methim.
I was just traveling there andhe drove three hours to meet me.
He was just the most I thoughton any other platform, if
someone said that they wouldmeet me from like Instagram, I'd
be scared.
We're gonna meet in a publicplace.
It wouldn't feel comfortable.
But yeah, I think yeah, JasminAlic is probably the great
(35:08):
success story.
Yeah.
Janice Hostager (35:09):
That's really interesting.
You connected with him onLinkedIn in advance, and then
you reached out to him becauseyou were in Bosnia and you're
like, "Hey!"
Kayla Ihrig (35:16):
Yeah.
Janice Hostager (35:16):
Wanna meet for coffee kind of thing?
Kayla Ihrig (35:18):
I found Jay- I was featuring him as a source and
one of an expert source of oneof my HubSpot articles or
GoDaddy, one of my GoDaddyarticles.
And then we just stayedconnected and kind of chatted
and commented back and forth foryears.
And then I sent him a messagethat I was gonna be in Bosnia.
I think he said, like, "Oh, onTuesday, I'll be there." And he
said, "Where?" Uh and I toldMostar, he said, "I live on the
other side of the country, butI'll be there." And he, well, I
(35:41):
don't know how if it was theother side.
But he drove for hours to comeand it was fun.
He took me and my husband outfor lunch, and then he drove us
around and showed us the sights.
Janice Hostager (35:49):
That's awesome.
Kayla Ihrig (35:50):
LinkedIn's magic.
It's pure magic.
Janice Hostager (35:52):
Yeah, love it.
Where can people find out moreabout you?
Kayla Ihrig (35:56):
You can find out more on my LinkedIn profile.
Everyone can send me aconnection request.
Let me know that you came fromthe podcast, and I'll accept.
I don't accept podcast orrequests with no note if I don't
know you.
So just say hi.
And on my website as well,writingfromnowhere.com.
Janice Hostager (36:12):
Love it.
Thank you so much, Kayla.
I have learned a lot.
And I know my listenersprobably have too.
So I appreciate you taking thetime.
Kayla Ihrig (36:20):
Yeah, thanks for so much for having me.
This was a lot of fun.
Janice Hostager (36:24):
I don't know about you, but I'm going to be
going right back to my office tobe logging into LinkedIn to
check my profile and commentingon more posts.
And by the way, if we haven'tconnected on LinkedIn, please
look me up.
I'd love to connect with youthere.
I hope today's conversationshowed you just how much
potential is waiting there forsmall business owners like you
(36:45):
and me.
If you love this conversation,don't forget to hit follow on
the podcast so you never missanother episode.
And hey, share this one with abusiness friend who could use
some help on LinkedIn too.
After all, a rising tide liftsall boats.
For more information aboutanything we talked about today,
visit myweeklymarketing dot comforward slash 129.
(37:06):
Thanks so much for joining metoday.
I'll see you next time.
Bye for now.
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business, and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business, and
life in between.
Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
Let me ask you this.
(00:29):
When you hear LinkedIn, what doyou picture?
Maybe recruiters, resumes, lotsof people you used to work
with?
All corporate, right?
If so, you're not alone.
A lot of small business owners,I think, totally overlook
LinkedIn, or they feel like it'snot worth their time.
And I must confess, I was oneof those people, even though I
(00:50):
am in the B2B space.
But really, LinkedIn has becomeone of the most powerful
platforms for service-basedbusinesses to get in front of
decision makers and their dreamclients.
That's why I brought in today'sguest, Kayla Ihrig.
Kayla is a LinkedIn expert whoknows how to use it in a
powerful way.
She's gotten media features,clients, and even snagged a book
(01:13):
deal by posting on LinkedIn.
Not only does she use theplatform for herself, but she
turns to LinkedIn to findexperts for articles that she's
writing for publications such asHubSpot, Success Magazine, and
others.
Now, I know you might bethinking that you don't need to
look at another social mediaplatform, but before you check
out, listen to this episode anddecide if LinkedIn maybe isn't
(01:35):
worth it for you to look into.
Here's my conversation withKayla.
Hey, welcome, Kayla, to MyWeekly Marketing.
I'm so glad to have you here.
Kayla Ihrig (01:45):
I'm so glad to be here.
Thanks, Janice.
Janice Hostager (01:48):
So, how did you discover the value of LinkedIn?
A lot of small business owners,I think, think about LinkedIn
and they think, "Oh, it's forcorporate - the corporate
world," or "It's for jobhunting", or whatever.
But tell me a little bit abouthow you figured out the value i
n LinkedIn.
Kayla Ihrig (02:05):
Yeah, if you have only used LinkedIn as an
employee, yeah, it can feel likea kind of a creepy meetup of
all your ex-colleagues when youopen it.
That it's just can feeluncomfortable whenever you've
been self-employed and you'veleft that world.
So I totally get that itdoesn't feel like the cool place
to be for a lot ofentrepreneurs.
But I started posting on therejust kind of out of curiosity.
(02:28):
I think that a lot of peoplewho do marketing tire of certain
platforms.
It's kind of an emotional cyclewhere you're like really
feeling Instagram for a whileand then you feel burnt out on
the, you know, every platformhas its kind of headaches and
you kind of- and then you trysomething new - not that you
give up, but you just keeptesting different mediums.
(02:48):
And that's how I got intoLinkedIn.
I was enjoying it as a breakfrom Instagram for a little
while.
And I, of course, I had all myold colleagues there.
And that was, you know, youlook and you think I'm not
really interested in what I'mseeing.
Then if you spend more time -and not that I didn't have great
ex-colleagues, let's just makesure that's clear.
But you don't want to hearabout old work projects whenever
(03:10):
you've left the company foryears.
And then I discovered thiswhole other side of the
algorithm where people werecreating content for LinkedIn
and building whole businessesand brands and finding clients.
And it was so authentic in thatI just fell in love.
And that was back in 2022 thatI got really invested.
(03:30):
And it's still one of myfavorite platforms online.
Janice Hostager (03:35):
So you mentioned like publishing on
LinkedIn, and I'll get to thatin a bit.
But when I think of socialmedia, and typically when I work
with my clients, I really focuson social media and the
awareness stage.
Not that it can't be used forother parts of the funnel or
what I call the Trail to theSale, but is that still the
case?
Like do you use it most oftenin the awareness stage, or do
(03:55):
you use it in consideration orthe closing?
And I you I know you use it alittle different way too,
because of your job, basically,or your business.
Kayla Ihrig (04:02):
Yeah.
To market my business, I usedLinkedIn really is relationship
marketing.
So it's less about publishingcontent that targets people at
different phases and points ofthe funnel, and more about
meeting people and makingconnections with.
I look at three groups ofpeople that I recommend you
connect with (04:22):
thought leaders, peers, and potential clients.
And the engagement there ismuch more impactful.
The commenting, the DMs, thehopping on coffee chats.
That's a term you'll see onLinkedIn, a 15-minute video
chat.
That is where it's much lessabout posting and much more
about the conversation.
Janice Hostager (04:43):
Interesting.
So is that like a featurewithin LinkedIn, a coffee chat,
like a video call?
Kayla Ihrig (04:48):
It's not.
It's actually just a part ofLinkedIn culture as it's
developed.
Janice Hostager (04:53):
Okay.
That's interesting.
So, what do you feel like isreally working now on LinkedIn?
Like are there shifts or trendsor something that are really
working a lot?
Kayla Ihrig (05:03):
Yeah, comments are the big secret, if you could
call it that, on LinkedIn.
That, posting your own contenthas a lot of value and it has
its place and it's important.
But commenting is bigger thanyour posts ever will be.
So whenever you comment,whenever you post your own
content, let's say you'll your-those posts will get hundreds,
(05:24):
maybe thousands of impressions.
But whenever you spend thatsame period of time commenting
on other people's posts, thosewill get tens of thousands of
impressions.
And LinkedIn actually tells youhow many impressions your
comments are getting.
It values comments so much.
Janice Hostager (05:40):
Oh, that's interesting.
Because yeah, I think that'strue.
You kind of get on LinkedIn,and I might throw a thumbs up at
somebody who got a promotionor, you know, whatever, or
celebrated a birthday orsomething like that.
But I think you're right.
And I think the problem that Ihad personally with LinkedIn and
when I'm working with clientsis that people don't check it
(06:01):
quite as often as they do, say,Instagram or Facebook, or some
of the other places that theyhave friends and family on,
right?
So they tend to check it maybeweekly or, you know, sometimes
honestly, I'm not a hugeLinkedIn user.
So it might a month might go bybefore I, you know, go on and
start scrolling on there.
Kayla Ihrig (06:19):
A lot of people are like that.
Yeah.
Janice Hostager (06:22):
Yeah.
So do you feel like is thereenough traffic on there to kind
of make the time for LinkedIn?
Kayla Ihrig (06:31):
Yeah, you're actually touching on something
that I think sets LinkedIn apartin a big way from other
platforms, and that's thatLinkedIn is huge, but it is not
crowded.
People are not producingcontent on LinkedIn in the same
way that they are on any otherplatform.
So I think the number is, Ithink it's less than 1% of users
post daily.
And a lot of people post ontheir Instagram stories on other
(06:54):
social platforms daily.
That's a huge percentage ofpeople who are engaging in that
way.
So LinkedIn is a stage with ahuge audience and not that many
people at the mic, if you liketo think of it that way.
And you can see this reflectedin the algorithm that you'll see
posts that are old.
Every once in a while, thealgorithm is testing something,
and I'll see a post that's like12 weeks old on the feed.
(07:16):
And that's because there's notenough content to fulfill, to
satisfy the demand.
Janice Hostager (07:22):
That's really interesting.
And I think, you know, that'sthat's a good point too, is that
we tend to gravitate toward thereally popular platforms,
knowing that our post gets verylittle, especially from a
business page, it's gonna getvery little engagement, unless
we're a big have a big followingand so on, or really learn to
(07:42):
work the algorithm, right?
So the thing that I think weneed to keep in mind is that
it's a really big pie.
So even though only a smallpercentage of your audience
might be on LinkedIn, that'sstill a lot of people, right?
Kayla Ihrig (07:55):
Yes.
And you might be noticed byother people that are potential
clients as well.
I use LinkedIn to get clients.
I'm a marketer and an SEOwriter and a journalist.
So I use LinkedIn to findclients and I also use it as a
writer for these publications.
For example, I write a lot forHubSpot, and I need to find
experts to feature in stories.
(08:16):
And I use LinkedIn, it's mybest tool for finding people.
But a lot of people's accountsare not optimized.
They're not, you know, if youare an SEO writer, you need to
say that in your profile so Ican discover you.
It's also a search engine.
And then your profile is alanding page for what you do.
And even if you haven't usedyour account lately, I bet you
(08:37):
would be shocked to see how manypeople have looked at your
profile.
LinkedIn will tell you thatnumber in the last 90 days.
I think- I would encourageeveryone to go check that number
after they're done listening.
And you might be very surprisedhow many eyeballs a stagnant
LinkedIn profile is getting you.
And even if you just improveyour profile today to be a
little bit more, I mean, you caneven forget attractive, just
(09:00):
current.
Is it reflecting your currentoffers, current freebies?
That is a huge leap forward inwhat you're doing with that real
estate.
Janice Hostager (09:10):
So I want to ask how to optimize a LinkedIn
profile.
Like what should we be lookingat?
And also, I what- years ago Iwas told that you need to have
500 connections to even getfound on there.
Is that a myth or is that true?
Kayla Ihrig (09:25):
I want to say that's a myth.
I've actually never heard thatmyth.
Janice Hostager (09:27):
Oh, okay.
LinkedIn has been shifting awayfrom connection count and more
towards follower count.
So if you switch your profilefrom like a normal individual
profile to a creator profile,LinkedIn will allow people to
follow you.
And that's something Irecommend everyone does because
you'll get a lot of connectionrequests from random people that
(09:48):
you don't need or want toaccept.
But collecting followers frompeople who are interested in
your work, that has value.
Although followers are not theend-all be-all, I think people
love to celebrate how manyfollowers they have on
platforms.
But I feel like with LinkedIn,I'm bragging about how few
followers I have and how muchI've gotten with that.
(10:08):
Like with under 4,000followers, I've gotten clients,
media features, a book deal,friends.
I mean, I feel like I wouldlike to think I'm like living
the LinkedIn dream and I'm doingit with a small account and
I've never gone viral.
I think that's just theopportunity at hand that
everyone has.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's interesting.
(10:29):
So talk to me.
Tell me, first of all, abouthow do you optimize your
profile?
What should be on everybody'sprofile that they might not be
doing?
Kayla Ihrig (10:38):
Straightforward keywords.
Sometimes you'll see a tip tocall yourself like instead of
just saying that you're like anHR manager, it'll be like an HR
wizard or something and be kindof cute.
Don't be cute.
You can't find people.
No one knows whenever I'mlooking for HR.
And I these are specificexamples because I have written
(10:58):
so many articles where I needreally specific experience.
I want someone who's managedteams, someone who's overseeing,
you know, venture capital, andall these cutesy descriptive uh
job titles, yeah, they lose youopportunities.
And focusing on not the amountthat you write, but just being
descriptive.
It's kind of like it's not badto approach it like a resume,
(11:20):
whenever you think of that.
Like, what did I do in thisrole?
What results did I get?
Just keep it simple.
I think that that's the biggestmistake people make is that
they say way too much or theystart telling like a narrative
when people aren't reading yourjob descriptions.
But it does help add keywordsto your post.
And if someone from the medialike me is looking, I do look to
(11:41):
see, oh, okay, they did managepaid ads, they did manage team,
they did oversee 100 million inventure capital.
You need to have somequantifiers on there, but your
job description or your pastexperience is not the biggest
thing to focus on, but youshould fill it out.
So you look like a real person.
There's a lot of fake accountson LinkedIn.
Those are actually one of thethree questions I ask whenever
(12:03):
I'm looking for someone tofeature in the media.
I'm asking, are they real?
Do they actually have theexperience that I need?
And um, oh gosh, what's thethird question?
Now that's embarrassing.
I have them written down.
Oh, and it can I contact them?
Because not everyone checkstheir LinkedIn every day.
I'll get messages from people.
I'm like, I really need to geta response by end of day
(12:26):
tomorrow if you want to befeatured in this magazine
feature.
And three months later, they'relike, oh man, is it too late?
Yes.
Yes, it's too late.
So having your email and yourcontact info.
I know people think thatthey're gonna get spammed if
they add their personal or theirwork email.
Spammers can get your emailanyway.
(12:46):
So you might as well be open tothe authentic opportunities
that come by.
Janice Hostager (12:51):
That's a really good point.
So, what about business pages?
Like, so I have a personalpage, of course, and then I have
my business page, and I feellike it doesn't get the
engagement at all that mypersonal page would get.
You know, if I didn't update onmy personal page, it's gonna
get a whole lot more engagement.
Do you feel is that just myperception, or is that actually
(13:13):
the way it is?
Kayla Ihrig (13:14):
No, you're right on the money.
People are much more interestedin what individuals say than
what companies say.
That's kind of inherent.
I think a lot of us feel thatway.
Like Bill Gates, sure, tell uswhat he's saying.
But Microsoft, who's gonna readthat?
It's a lot less compelling.
So I would not focus at all ona business page and focus on you
and your personal brand.
So that's what you're reallypushing.
(13:35):
And it's not your business, youknow, it's you as
the individual that stands infront of the business you've
created and not pushing yourbusiness.
Like sometimes people will putin their name, you know, Kayla
Ihrig, founder of Writing fromNowhere.
It just be Kayla, you're that'sme, by the way.
That's what I'm referring to.
(13:56):
Just be yourself.
And also don't put stuff in thename section anyway, beyond
your name, or your account canbe suspended because people
don't, they don't want youstuffing in your your company.
Oh I put an emoji in my name,and I could have had my account
accidentally suspended for that.
I didn't, it didn't happen tome, but one of my friends worked
(14:18):
for LinkedIn and she told me,uh, you can if it didn't happen,
you can leave it there, butdon't add another emoji.
Because it can be, yeah, thatcan be an issue.
Janice Hostager (14:29):
Interesting.
Okay, okay.
So, what mistakes do you seethat a lot of small business
owners are making on theirprofiles that maybe push away
potential clients?
Kayla Ihrig (14:39):
I think that they're failing to share the
really big questions, likeanswer those big questions
first.
What does this person offer?
Oh, they're a social mediamarket agency, but which
platforms and how do I see theirpackages?
It needs to be very easy forpeople to see what do you do and
how do I get in contact withthem about it?
So having a freebie, if youhave one displayed really
(15:02):
prominently on your banner andin your headline, and then the
first link in your feature, ormaybe you want to skip the
freebie and it goes straight todiscovery call.
Having that really clear whatshould someone do if they want
to work with you?
Don't make people guess orstruggle.
Janice Hostager (15:18):
Yeah, it cuts down on the friction if you have
something available rightthere.
So they don't have to go findyour website page, click over to
it, see what's on your site,and try and find something just
to find out more about you.
That's a really good tip.
Kayla Ihrig (15:33):
Yeah.
And the featured section, Ishould say, it's like the pinned
posts on other platforms.
So those are the top links thatyou have.
And um that also your banner,those are the prime real estate
on your account and yourheadline, just to kind of
outline the terminology.
So the headline is an additionto your name.
So whenever you comment onsomeone's post, or whenever you
(15:57):
comment at all, whenever youshow up on people's feeds on the
home feed, you're gonna haveyour photo, name, and your
headline.
Janice Hostager (16:04):
Okay.
Kayla Ihrig (16:04):
So for example, my headline is "Kayla Ihrig," um,
"Freelance Writer," "Get a freeLinkedIn audit." So I do
LinkedIn audits from theperspective of the media helping
people be more attractive forthese features.
So that's my- I display thatvery prominently, but you can
put that whatever you want inwriting your headline.
Janice Hostager (16:25):
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
So it's basically your yourtitle.
Kayla Ihrig (16:29):
Yeah.
And it's not a job title.
I mean, you can say founder ofsomething, but I focus on, for
mine personally, what am Idoing?
I'm a writer and I might bereaching out to you because I'm
writing and I want to featureyou.
This is how I use LinkedIn.
So that's how I've shaped it.
But it can, it should reflectwhat's most important to you
right now.
And the headline can and shouldchange.
(16:49):
It's not chiseled in stone, andit's very normal to update that
as you have new offers.
Janice Hostager (16:56):
Okay.
Okay.
So just kind of going off on abrief tangent here, as a writer,
if let's say I want my businessto be picked up by somebody
who's looking for a quote from amarketing strategist, for
example, how would I make myprofile attractive to that?
Just keywords alone?
Or is there, should I befollowing reporters?
Kayla Ihrig (17:16):
You do not have to follow anyone.
I would want to be really clearon the fact that this is a real
profile.
I know I said that earlier, butI don't think people realize
how many bots, bots areeverywhere.
How much, what percent?
I don't know, what percentageof social media is just bots
now, but it is sophisticated.
I once had an entire emailexchange with someone that was a
bot.
And uh I knew that it was a botbecause they replied to a very
(17:41):
complicated email in like 30seconds with a whole response.
I knew only AI could write thatfast.
But they had websites, they hada LinkedIn, it was very
compelling.
Janice Hostager (17:50):
Really?
Kayla Ihrig (17:50):
So that is where um I'm I'm really looking.
And to see if you're real, Ireally like to see multiple
pictures of you.
So not one super glossyheadshot.
I appreciate seeing multiplephotos.
And if you go on LinkedIn andyou haven't been there, you
don't hang out there normally.
You'll probably be surprised byhow many selfies you see.
(18:11):
Just a casual picture.
Like a casual picture of youworking at your computer on a
Tuesday gets more traction thanheadshots because it feels very
real and it makes people feellike they really know you.
If they see a new picture ofyour face every week, it's
almost the feeling like yourcolleagues.
I like that to me is thefeeling being self- you know,
(18:32):
whenever you're self-employedlong enough, you are happy to
see the same people hanging outof the virtual water cooler.
Janice Hostager (18:39):
Right.
Um, so are is there a place toadd photos other than the
profile photo or just to rotatethe one photo that you have each
week or every so often?
Is that what you're saying?
Or are there places?
Kayla Ihrig (18:53):
I would say in your posts, post pictures of your
face.
Whenever you're sharing updatesor just trying to uh talk, you
know, initiate conversation,starting that kind of
relationship building, like theposting side of LinkedIn, which
again should never be, itshouldn't even be 50-50 with
commenting.
It should be less than 50% ofwhat you're doing if you're
trying to use the platform.
(19:15):
I would encourage you to try topost pictures of your face or
your workspace.
It doesn't have to be yourface.
I'm connected with um quite afew uh marketers, I think mostly
of women who wear burkas andthere, I don't see their face,
but I see their work, I seetheir eyes, I see their
workplace, I see theirbreakfast, and I still feel very
(19:37):
connected to them becausethey're sharing bits of them.
So if you're shy or you're nota selfies person, it's okay.
But I would encourage you toshare some part of your week or
day.
Janice Hostager (19:47):
Okay.
So that's really different fromhow it used to be.
Even a few years ago, it waslike, okay, when you're on
LinkedIn, you need to bebuttoned up.
You know, it's like don't betaking a, you know, a selfie and
putting it on there.
You need to have a professionalimage taken and it needs to
look all spiffy.
But I love what you're saying,though, is that, and this is one
(20:07):
thing that I always say to myB2B clients is that no matter if
you're working with acorporation or not, you're still
working with people.
And people relate to people.
And so that's kind of what Ihear you're saying is that it
doesn't matter if who it is thatyou're talking to, you want to
be talking to a human being.
Kayla Ihrig (20:25):
Yes, absolutely.
And you said something that Ithink segues beautifully into uh
don't use AI.
Don't use AI to write for youon LinkedIn.
People don't like it.
They can tell.
We can tell right away.
And it's not the M-dash.
As a writer, I just want to saythat M-dashes are normal to
use.
I'm afraid to use M-dashes nowbecause everyone assumes it's
(20:45):
ChatGPT, but you know whyChatGPT uses M-dashes?
It's because it trained onjournalism and journalists use
M-dash.
Janice Hostager (20:55):
Okay.
Yeah.
Kayla Ihrig (20:57):
It's a personal vendetta that I just had to get
out there.
Janice Hostager (21:00):
No, I am a lover of M-dashes myself.
And um, I have noticed thattoo, that people, or certain
words too that Chat GPT hasstarted using that I used to
use.
And now I'm afraid to presentsomething like that for that
same reason.
So that's kind of funny.
Kayla Ihrig (21:16):
We're the real victims here.
Janice Hostager (21:18):
Right.
Kayla Ihrig (21:20):
Yeah, some people will use bots though to comment
for them.
And it's just really bad.
And people block you becausenobody wants it on their feed.
So just as a little warning,yeah.
Janice Hostager (21:32):
Yeah, yeah.
And actually, yesterday I wason LinkedIn and I had a DM from
somebody that said they wantedto get a contract.
They wanted a proposal.
Yes.
That's the word.
Um, and uh so I started diggingin their profile a little bit.
And this was somebody who livedapparently lived in LA and
(21:53):
worked for Gucci.
And I was like, I don't thinkso.
Gucci's not looking for aproposal from somebody, you
know, in Austin, Texas.
So yeah, so yeah, you'reabsolutely right.
There it's easy to spot peoplewho are not real people if you
know what to look for.
And this definitely just didn'tfeel right to, yeah, trust your
gut, you know.
Kayla Ihrig (22:14):
To address why some people use AI on LinkedIn, I
think some people feel like theyare not well spoken enough,
articulate enough.
If you're not a native Englishspeaker and you're engaging in
English, first of all, respect.
And second of all, no one isnitpicking at all.
Janice Hostager (22:32):
Right.
Kayla Ihrig (22:32):
So that's what I see in the media world where
people are, I tell people, youknow, I need a quote, but it
can't be AI, you have to writeit.
And then they a lot of peopleuse it out of insecurity.
Like they wrote it and thenthey told ChatGPT, please make
it sound better.
And you don't need to, first ofall, it's not making it sound
better.
It's making it sound generic.
(22:52):
And second of all, it's whatyou say is good enough.
I think people feel reallyinsecure.
And it is, it's like walkinginto a networking event where
you don't know anybody, and thenyou just like walk up to a
circle of people and chime in.
And it will feel uncomfortableat first, and a part that will
go away whenever you do it,because you'll get to know
people and they'll get to knowyou.
And it it'll be authentic andit'll feel like real people that
(23:16):
you know, and it won't feelscary forever.
Janice Hostager (23:20):
Yeah, yeah.
I think it goes back to thattime where LinkedIn was a very
buttoned-up place that youreally had to talk
professionally, writeprofessionally, because you were
being judged, especially byrecruiters and such, you know,
they want to know that you'rearticulate enough to be able to
put a paragraph together.
And I've met some CEOs whocannot put a decent paragraph
(23:41):
together, you know, that reallystruggle with that part of it.
Not that they don't have othergifts, but I 100% agree.
I think you turning Chat GPT,people can tell for sure.
And it probably doesn't do youany favors in the long run.
Kayla Ihrig (23:54):
And it atrophies your skills anyway.
I think one of the big reasonsyou'll see a lot of people say
that they started writing onLinkedIn every day just to
improve their writing.
To become a better copywriter.
It's instantaneous.
As a, I mean, if you focus, ifyou if any part of your job
involves writing to persuadepeople to do something,
LinkedIn's the place.
(24:15):
You can write every day and yousee, is it performing well?
Is it not?
Are people engaged?
Do people react to?
Are people commenting?
I mean, it sharpens you uhincredibly.
It's like copywriting class.
Janice Hostager (24:28):
Right.
Okay, okay.
So let's talk about that alittle bit.
Now there's LinkedInpublishing.
Is that what you're referringto, writing on LinkedIn?
Kayla Ihrig (24:36):
Whenever you publish a post.
So not writing an article, butjust making a post whenever you
open up the home feed and itsays like, hey, what are you
thinking or whatever it asksyou?
And then you can post apicture, a poll, et cetera.
Carousels.
It has all the formats thatother social platforms have.
But I would encourage people tostart with real photos of
themselves or what they're doingand some text.
Janice Hostager (24:59):
Okay.
Okay.
So do you post differentcontent than you would say on
Instagram?
Kayla Ihrig (25:04):
I do.
It's very casual on LinkedIn.
Um, that is my focus.
It's focus on conversation.
Um, people know the people whoI'm connected with already,
because I've been active on theplatform for years, they know
what I'm about.
And it's really about people, Ithink, just remembering who I
am and my work.
And a lot of marketing orconnecting people is just
(25:26):
remembering that people exist.
And a big payoff of LinkedInis peer-to-peer networking,
where back in the day I used tobe a Pinterest marketer, and I
still do Pinterest marketing,but it's not alone.
It's only like as a part of alarger brand strategy for
clients.
And people would tag me, oh,Kayla knows Pinterest, you know,
that peer-to-peer of peoplepulling you into conversations.
(25:50):
I think the peer-to-peer groupis one of the most important.
I would not focus exclusivelyon down, not down, but you know,
when down the food chains arewrong, came across wrong.
But there's like thoughtleaders, peers, potential
clients.
And I would say that thoughtleaders and peers are gonna be a
(26:11):
really fruitful place for you.
And potential clients willcome, but you're not like
fishing for them with everypost.
Janice Hostager (26:18):
Right, right.
That's where it gets kind ofannoying when you have a lot of
people that uh ask to connectwith you and then immediately
send you a message to dobusiness with them kind of
thing, too.
So I think that's anotherreason why, you know, I've been
kind of turned off by LinkedInis that people will just blanket
everybody that's on their listor that is in their follower
(26:40):
list with uh trying to make asale and it feels icky, right?
Kayla Ihrig (26:46):
Yes, it is icky.
Janice Hostager (26:48):
So if someone doesn't want to post every day,
right?
I'm assuming that most people,most of us don't post every day.
I shouldn't assume that, but alot of us don't have time to
post every day on any of theplatforms.
How often should they beposting realistically?
Kayla Ihrig (27:04):
I think that if I would say comment as many days
of the week as you can, even ifit's for five or ten minutes.
And posting, you could postonce a month just to show that
your account's active in thatway.
Posts are not going to be thehuge thing.
It's not gonna bring the massesto your profile the way
(27:26):
commenting will.
And I actually pulled up a nicequote here.
I know I've talked aboutcommenting a lot.
It probably sounds like I'mdroning on, but Jasmin Alic is
one of the top LinkedIncreators.
And he recently shared, I wrotethis down.
Whenever he was growing hisaccount, he spent 95% of his
time supporting other posts whenhe was growing.
And he described the result asan unignorable presence.
Janice Hostager (27:51):
Interesting.
That is a great quote.
Kayla Ihrig (27:53):
Yeah, and he's very cool, and everyone should
follow Jay right away.
I will have a link to creatorswho are active on the platform
who you can follow and learnfrom and engage.
And those comment sections aregoing to be full of other people
who are active on the platformand interested in connecting.
Janice Hostager (28:10):
That's that's a great tip.
Because I'd never I'd neverthought about that before.
Like the commenting part of it.
Yeah.
So would you say that originalcontent, not necessarily
repurposing content that you'reputting on Instagram, for
example?
Like on Instagram, when I havea new podcast, I might put a
video of our conversation today.
(28:30):
Is that something that youwould or wouldn't post on
LinkedIn?
Kayla Ihrig (28:35):
I think that if you're already active and on
LinkedIn, it's fine to post thatkind of content.
But if you haven't postedanything in a long time and then
you suddenly drop a carouselwith like 10 tips to improve
your website privacy policy pageor something, people are gonna
be like, huh?
What does she talk about?
Because people have justforgotten.
(28:55):
And uh, it's a little bit likesending an email, whenever you
haven't sent an email to yourlist in a long time.
Everybody has probably madethat mistake at one point where
they're like ghost to their listfor a year.
Or maybe I'm it's just me.
Janice Hostager (29:07):
No, yeah.
Kayla Ihrig (29:08):
Okay, it's not just me.
Good.
And then you email it, and thenimmediately, like, four people
mark it as spam, and you'relike, no, no, no.
You double opted in.
You just forgot who I am, andnow you're uncomfortable because
I'm promoting something.
Janice Hostager (29:23):
Okay, one last question, and then I want to go
to like a rapid fire quiz herefor you.
So if you could give listenerslike one LinkedIn quick win that
they could apply right awaythis week, what would that be?
Kayla Ihrig (29:36):
Go update your profile and make it look like a
landing page for whatever youwant to book now more than
anything.
What is your top priority?
Make your profile your landingpage for that.
Janice Hostager (29:48):
Awesome.
Love it, love it.
Okay, let's see here.
Uh LinkedIn Rapid Fire Round.
Okay, here we go.
Kayla Ihrig (29:57):
I'm excited.
Janice Hostager (29:58):
Deep breath.
Okay.
What's one underrated featurethat on LinkedIn that most
people aren't using?
Pulls.
Mmm.
Great.
Great way to get engagement,right?
Kayla Ihrig (30:11):
Yeah, it's fun.
It doesn't even have to besuper serious.
It could be about when you'reworking.
I did one once.
You know, do pets or do theyhelp you make working from home
better or worse?
That was like one of my topposts of the year.
Just getting people to engagein the comments, sharing
pictures of their cat.
Janice Hostager (30:28):
Love it.
Great idea.
Connection requests.
Do you include a note or nonote?
Kayla Ihrig (30:33):
Always include a note and don't send it from your
phone or it automatically sendswithout the note.
Send it from your computer.
Janice Hostager (30:40):
Oh, really?
Okay.
Even if you know, let's say Ijust met somebody and I know
them.
Kayla Ihrig (30:47):
If they actually if they definitely know you, I
would say to let it go.
But if this per if it's cold,you always need.
Yeah.
And let people know what you doin those connection requests as
well.
If I can elaborate a little onthat.
Say, like, hey, I see that youdo personal branding.
I'm, you know, an SEO writer.
I'm really working on mypersonal brand right now.
So I'm really excited to learnfrom you.
(31:08):
It tells them about you withoutmaking it about you.
Janice Hostager (31:13):
Love it.
And it it also elevates theirstatus.
Kayla Ihrig (31:17):
Yes.
And always making it clear.
I'm excited for us to learnfrom each other.
Yeah.
I always think make it clearthat it's mutually beneficial,
that you're not looking to takefrom them.
Like you're not going to send aconnection request and then
immediately be like, hey, can Ican I talk to you about this
thing?
Don't approach people with yourhand out.
Janice Hostager (31:35):
Right, right.
Yeah.
Get ready to give.
Okay.
The biggest link LinkedIn myththat you wish small business
owners would stop believing.
Kayla Ihrig (31:43):
Oh, it's like a digital resume.
And it's very stuffy.
It's fun if you follow theright people.
Give it a week of curating yourfeed with the links in the
description, and it will feelfriendly and fun.
Janice Hostager (31:55):
One type of post that you wish people would
stop making on LinkedIn.
Kayla Ihrig (32:00):
Oh gosh.
Press releases.
Well, oh, I I don't thinkanyone in your and maybe none of
your listeners are.
I guess people who share comp-who share company press releases
like copy and pasting the textas a post.
I think that's a little..
Janice Hostager (32:16):
It doesn't really benefit them and just
turns people off.
Yeah.
Hashtags.
Worth it?
Not worth it?
Kayla Ihrig (32:24):
Not anymore.
Not anymore.
There's a big study of thealgorithm, and posts with
hashtags got less reach thanthose without.
And I wish I could remember thename of the person who did the
study.
So I'm sorry I can't attributethat correctly.
But yeah.
Janice Hostager (32:37):
Good to know, okay.
Kayla Ihrig (32:38):
2025, they're not recommended.
Janice Hostager (32:41):
They're gone.
Okay.
But still SEO.
Kayla Ihrig (32:44):
Yes.
Making it clear what you'retalking about.
Janice Hostager (32:47):
In the post, is SEO-
In the post too. Yeah, five tipsfor your website.
Five things your website'sprivacy policy page is missing.
Right?
That those are keywords.
It's not always like smackingpeople in the face with the
topic.
It's also just clear, likeclear language uses keywords
naturally.
(33:07):
So don't, if that feelsoverwhelming, don't overthink
it.
Okay.
One simple way to get moreengagement on your post this
week.
Kayla Ihrig (33:16):
Comment for 15 minutes before you post.
Kind of prime the algorithm andthen continue.
Like if you were had 30minutes, I would say comment for
30 minutes, post, comment for15 or sorry, for 15 minutes to
make 30 minutes total.
Janice Hostager (33:33):
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
Okay.
A LinkedIn trend that you thinkis here to stay.
Kayla Ihrig (33:39):
Oh, um, short form videos, I think, are probably
going to stick around.
They were on the platform, thenthey were gone, and now they're
back.
So I think they'll probably behere to stay.
Janice Hostager (33:49):
One thing that you should never do in a
LinkedIn DM, which I have anopinion on this one.
Kayla Ihrig (33:55):
Oh, I wonder if we're thinking the same thing.
Um pitch people right away.
Oh, I know.
Pitch people on the servicethat they offer.
I just got pitched on SEOservices.
It's 30 seconds.
You'll see I also offer SEOservices.
We could have been friends, wecould have been peers, and now I
feel like cheap.
(34:15):
Cheap DM.
Janice Hostager (34:18):
And this might be your own, but your favorite
success story of someone that'sgrowing their business on
LinkedIn.
Kayla Ihrig (34:24):
Oh gosh.
It's hard to think.
I know if anyone, I'vereferenced him a couple times
out, but Jasmin Alic, he goes byJay, he's a great success story
that he was, I think he was ahigh school teacher in Bosnia.
And now he's one of LinkedIn'stop voices.
And he even did a like a tourin the US where he, like flew to
(34:44):
the US, and like went aroundand had LinkedIn meetups all
over the country.
And I went to Bosnia and I methim.
I was just traveling there andhe drove three hours to meet me.
He was just the most I thoughton any other platform, if
someone said that they wouldmeet me from like Instagram, I'd
be scared.
We're gonna meet in a publicplace.
It wouldn't feel comfortable.
But yeah, I think yeah, JasminAlic is probably the great
(35:08):
success story.
Yeah.
Janice Hostager (35:09):
That's really interesting.
You connected with him onLinkedIn in advance, and then
you reached out to him becauseyou were in Bosnia and you're
like, "Hey!"
Kayla Ihrig (35:16):
Yeah.
Janice Hostager (35:16):
Wanna meet for coffee kind of thing?
Kayla Ihrig (35:18):
I found Jay- I was featuring him as a source and
one of an expert source of oneof my HubSpot articles or
GoDaddy, one of my GoDaddyarticles.
And then we just stayedconnected and kind of chatted
and commented back and forth foryears.
And then I sent him a messagethat I was gonna be in Bosnia.
I think he said, like, "Oh, onTuesday, I'll be there." And he
said, "Where?" Uh and I toldMostar, he said, "I live on the
other side of the country, butI'll be there." And he, well, I
(35:41):
don't know how if it was theother side.
But he drove for hours to comeand it was fun.
He took me and my husband outfor lunch, and then he drove us
around and showed us the sights.
Janice Hostager (35:49):
That's awesome.
Kayla Ihrig (35:50):
LinkedIn's magic.
It's pure magic.
Janice Hostager (35:52):
Yeah, love it.
Where can people find out moreabout you?
Kayla Ihrig (35:56):
You can find out more on my LinkedIn profile.
Everyone can send me aconnection request.
Let me know that you came fromthe podcast, and I'll accept.
I don't accept podcast orrequests with no note if I don't
know you.
So just say hi.
And on my website as well,writingfromnowhere.com.
Janice Hostager (36:12):
Love it.
Thank you so much, Kayla.
I have learned a lot.
And I know my listenersprobably have too.
So I appreciate you taking thetime.
Kayla Ihrig (36:20):
Yeah, thanks for so much for having me.
This was a lot of fun.
Janice Hostager (36:24):
I don't know about you, but I'm going to be
going right back to my office tobe logging into LinkedIn to
check my profile and commentingon more posts.
And by the way, if we haven'tconnected on LinkedIn, please
look me up.
I'd love to connect with youthere.
I hope today's conversationshowed you just how much
potential is waiting there forsmall business owners like you
(36:45):
and me.
If you love this conversation,don't forget to hit follow on
the podcast so you never missanother episode.
And hey, share this one with abusiness friend who could use
some help on LinkedIn too.
After all, a rising tide liftsall boats.
For more information aboutanything we talked about today,
visit myweeklymarketing dot comforward slash 129.
(37:06):
Thanks so much for joining metoday.
I'll see you next time.
Bye for now.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com