December 2, 2025 • 50 mins
This week Nicky's joined by one of Australia's leading LinkedIn strategists, Karen Tisdell, as they delve into a question every sales leader and business owner feels: can LinkedIn really be a sales engine, not just a networking afterthought?
Spoiler: yes. But only if you’re using it with strategy, not just scrolling.
In this value-packed episode, we unpack:
- Common mistakes salespeople make on LinkedIn
- What to write (and what not to) in your profile headline
- The three content buckets that actually move the sales needle
- How “bridging statements” and “collecting yeses” can shift a no to a yes
- Karen’s practical, repeatable process for turning cold connections into warm leads
If you want to use LinkedIn as more than a digital CV (and actually turn your activity into conversations that lead to clients) this one’s a must-listen.
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn here.
Learn more about Nicky at nickymiklos.com
Grab The Growth Code™ here!
Get your a copy of Healthy Hustle: The New Blueprint to Thrive in Business & Life at www.healthyhustle.com.au
Contact: 0403 191 404 | hello@nickymiklos.com
Music by Jules Miklos-Woodley
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Hello, it is wonderful to haveyou here again for this week's
(00:30):
episode of Smart Business GrowthPodcast.
And I'm really excited aboutwhat you are going to hear in
today's conversation.
Today, my guest is KarenTisdell, who is one of
Australia's top LinkedInstrategists and profile writers.
She's been named by SMMI as oneof the top eight independent
LinkedIn trainers in AsiaPacific.
(00:52):
And Karen has been trainingsales teams since 2015 on how to
search, prospect, and qualifyleads on LinkedIn.
That is exactly what we divedinto today.
Really targeted from asalesperson perspective, which
let's face it is relevant forsales leaders and business
owners as well.
Really about how can we utilizeLinkedIn as a powerful lead
(01:15):
generation tool.
We talk about the biggestmistakes that salespeople make
on LinkedIn, how to generateleads on LinkedIn.
We go through different contentbucket types that are actually
targeted for salespeople.
So it's very easy and a salesprocess on how to nurture and
engage so you can start to buildrelationships on LinkedIn and
(01:37):
take it offline to reallyqualify and turn them into
high-quality leads and idealclients.
We talked about collectingyeses and explaining how a
bridging sentence can make allthe difference to turn from
being icky and uncomfortable andawkward on LinkedIn to really
nailing it and creating qualityconnections that, again, can
(01:58):
turn into ideal A-playerclients.
Now, Karen has been doing thisfor quite some time.
She is an early adapter ofLinkedIn.
She's written thousands ofprofiles for business owners,
C-suite leaders, and as I said,has been working with sales
teams and salespeople since2015.
She has tracked and continuesto track every major algorithm
(02:19):
shift since LinkedIn's earlydays.
And she she launched herbusiness back in 2009, long
before it was trendy.
So we also touched on howLinkedIn LinkedIn has changed
and you know the old schoolversion of LinkedIn versus,
again, the powerful tool that itcan be for your sales function
and the growth engine in yourbusiness.
(02:41):
So buckle up, enjoy, get thatpen and paper out ready.
You might want to, you mightwant to rewind this episode a
little bit to get certainscripts and approaches that we
go through because it's a goodone.
It's a biggie and enjoy.
Hello, you awesome humans, andwelcome to yet another episode
of the Smart Business GrowthPodcast.
And you already know who we'retalking with today because of
(03:04):
the intro, but I just have togive one of my favorite humans
another shout out.
Karen Tisdell, thank you sovery much for joining us today
to talk all things LinkedIn as asales tool.
Speaker (03:18):
So excited to be with you.
You're one of my favoritehumans, actually.
I've always been obsessed withsales psychology and the science
behind buying behavior.
And that's you know somethingthat's always fascinated you
too.
So super excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
It's such an amazing opportunity when we connect with
like-minded people, awesomehumans doing cool things in the
world, and we can totally geekout on things like sales because
your background is inrecruitment.
You've got quite a distinctsales background, and of course,
now you're working with thisincredible sales tool that is
LinkedIn.
So I want to dive straight inand ask you, what do you think
(03:54):
is the number one mistake thatbusiness owners or salespeople
or sales leaders are actuallymaking when they're trying to
use LinkedIn to generate leadsor sales?
Speaker (04:06):
I believe it's not earning trust.
So I feel that so manysalespeople do not change on
LinkedIn their position title,their headline, the bit that
sits underneath their name fromsales.
So they instantly announcethemselves to their prospects as
somebody who's all aboutbusiness development and all
(04:28):
about sales.
And they often talk in theirprofile about how much money
they've made from sales and howthey've won sales awards and
they've gone on this cruisebecause they won this sales.
I wouldn't want to know as aprospect how much money you've
made from sales.
Instead, what I'd lovesalespeople to do is really
(04:50):
ground themselves in their deepexpertise and realize that their
prospects and their theirpipeline and their past clients
are judging them and areremembering them from their
profile.
So I think that's one of twomistakes.
I think the other one is alsonot to see it as a place where
they can build pipelines.
(05:10):
I think a lot of people thinkof LinkedIn as a place to just
turn up and throw up, and thatmeans creating content.
And actually, it's not acontent creation platform,
despite what LinkedIn would haveyou think, because it's in the
business of selling advertsthese days, not just
subscriptions.
But it's really an address bookwhere you can find everybody
(05:32):
you'd ever want.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I love that because I think, you know, LinkedIn, or I
know that we've had we've hadconversations around this, that
LinkedIn for some people stillhas, I don't know if it's a bad
rap, but like an old school rap.
You know, it's the from thecorporate days when we first
went on LinkedIn, and it'sactually changed so, so much.
And I think, you know,honestly, even if people stop
(05:55):
listening and watching now,which I highly recommend that
you don't do that, but even justthat tip around what is the
tagline?
What is it that you're sayingthat you do?
I know personally when I hadsales coach or sales trainer, I
didn't get as many connections.
People weren't as open totalking to me.
So as soon as I changed it tobe more around the value or the
thing that I'm passionate aboutor the work that I do, not in a
(06:17):
sales y way, there was so muchmore openness.
So that is a very, verypractical tip that people can
implement straight away.
It's almost like if you werewriting an ad for yourself, you
know, like you're you it's it'sI don't know if ad or it's it's
like a creative business card.
It's something that can piquecuriosity and and create that
connection in the first go.
It's the first impression,really.
Speaker (06:39):
It's your first impression and it's often your
last.
You know, people don't look atyour profile as often as you
think, but your headline followsyou everywhere.
So every time you comment onsomebody's post or you DM
people, right at the very top ofyour DMs, people can see your
headline.
So um, if you're sending theman in mail, whatever you're
doing on LinkedIn, that headlinefollows you everywhere.
(07:00):
So instead, talk to the value,talk to the pain, the problem,
the longing, the outcome, andtalk about why this matters.
And don't talk about yourselflike you're not yourself.
You need to be human in a worldof AI and in a world where our
our customers are just so veryinformed these days.
(07:20):
You know, my husband never goesto, you know, a car yard and
asks about the car.
He's already done a virtualdriving experience before he's
even got there.
He often knows more about thecar than the person selling it.
But the person selling it isthere to talk about the value
they can add to that salesprocess.
So it's really important tomake sure that you're really
(07:41):
showing all those things in ahuman way on your profile and in
your messaging as well.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I mean, so again, so many great points in that around
bringing the humanness andHubSpot recently released some
research that really talkedabout the fact that as
salespeople, our role haschanged.
For that very reason, Karen,you know, people not only are
able to Google and have do someresearch, but I mean, we have to
really redefine what is ourrole as a salesperson, um, what
(08:07):
is our role as a connector, asyou know, fulfilling needs for
our clients.
And again, which is why Ithink, you know, if anybody's
listening and watching and stillhas that perception of LinkedIn
as that old school, think abouteverything that's changed
around us as has LinkedIn.
So, what do you think?
This is gonna be a really openquestion.
I know it's it's a big one, butI think there's gonna be so
(08:28):
there's always so much gold thatyou share around this.
How can salespeople really useLinkedIn to generate sales
leads?
Speaker (08:36):
By connecting the people.
Not by following them, not bycreating content.
Content can be awareness, buttypically your content is only
shown to people you're alreadyconnected to.
So you are putting, as mygrandfather would say, you're
putting the cart before thehorse.
If you're thinking, I need tocreate content, I need to create
(08:57):
content.
No, actually, you need aprofile that builds trust.
You need to get the rightpeople, so you need to reach out
and connect to people.
And then that posting is a niceto-do.
Um, and that's where you'rereminding people who you are and
and deepening if and how theythink of you.
So reaching out and connectingand following up with people
(09:21):
that you've connected to.
So don't just connect withpeople and then ignore them.
But I think it's reallyimportant to create, say, a
bridge sentence such as thanksfor connecting, I appreciate it.
Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy,paste, so that you can then go
back to people and say, youknow, I happen to be in your
city, or um, I found aninteresting statistic about your
(09:44):
your space that that I thinkyou might enjoy as well.
This is this is the articlebelow, this is, you know, one
sentence headline about it, youknow, sort of so that you're
you're building thoserelationships constantly, both
with prospects, but also peoplewho are in your ecosystem.
So who are the people who arealso selling to those same
clients?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I love that.
I talk about that as A playersand B players.
So A players are your potentialdirect clients that you can
service and help.
B players, they might be an Aplayer as well, but they also
are connected to your A players,to your ideal clients.
And that's what you're reallybig on is creating that network.
And again, it's about how we'rehaving conversations on
LinkedIn.
(10:25):
A good thing that I often thinkabout, because I get stuck.
I mean, you're the expert inthis, and I've we've worked
together, you know, for actuallya number of years now.
Um, and I often think when Ihave when I go to comment or I
send a message, if this personwas standing right in front of
me, if we're in a networkingevent or I've just met them,
they're standing right in frontof me, what would I say to them?
(10:46):
And then I try and writesomething so it feels a little
bit more human connected.
Because, you know, are thereany other tips in terms of what
do we actually say?
Because I think the other thingis sometimes, yes, we connect
and then there might be aninitial message, but then
sometimes it's a bit people canget a bit gun shy around, well,
what do I do next?
And you did give a couple oftips there, but any tips on how
(11:08):
we really start thatconversation and then transition
it offline because ultimatelythat's kind of the goal, isn't
it?
Speaker (11:15):
It is, and I'm sure with your mind, you've got just
to put you on the spot here,you've got some statistics
around how many touch points itit takes.
And um, and and I'd love tohear how many it is.
But I think it's not just youknow connecting with somebody
and then reaching out andsaying, Hey, do you want to buy?
It's a a bridge sentence.
So thanks for connecting.
I appreciate it.
And not expecting a responseback.
(11:37):
Um, sometimes you'll get athumbs up.
I I frequently get a thumbs upto that or a little smiley face.
Typically, I just get crickets.
And then I'll drop in anotherthing, such as a positive
statistic.
So positive statistic abouttheir industry, and I it's just
and it'll be three to fivewords, just seeing this about,
you know, X is growing by thispercent.
(11:58):
Thought you might find thebelow article or a podcast or
something interesting, ordropped below.
And again, no expectation of aresponse.
And then another one might bethere's an industry event going
on.
Um, we've not met, um, but weare connected on LinkedIn.
It'd be nice to put a face tothe name.
Ignore the fact you can alreadysee their face on LinkedIn.
(12:18):
It's nice to put a face to thename.
Are you going to be at thatevent?
Um, or I'm interstate.
Um, I do a lot of interstatetrouble with my work doing
LinkedIn training.
And I always find it mucheasier to catch up with people
interstate than I do people inmy hometown of Sydney,
Australia.
It's so much easier to catchup.
I'm like, I'm only in Adelaideor Brisbane or wherever for a
(12:42):
few days.
Do you have any chance I cancatch up?
So it's sort of a number oftouch points over time, which
are low pressure.
Now, how many, how many touchpoints do you need until people
buy?
What's the stats around that?
I bet you've got it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I know that there's, so there is, you know, the law
of seven, which is reallypopular around, you know, you
need to see something seventimes.
It's a marketing stat,actually, before you buy, but
also it's also relevant for umlearning and development.
So we need to see or hearsomething seven times before we
actually really learn it.
The other interesting stat thatI throw out a lot is uh we need
(13:17):
five follow-up touch pointswhen we're doing our follow-ups.
But we've got to rememberthat's a warm to hot prospect.
So in this instant, I thinkwhat's really critical in what
you just said is you might notget a response.
You might get crickets.
It doesn't actually mean thatit hasn't worked and it does,
it's not a bad thing.
I'm sure we're gonna get toLinkedIn voice notes in a little
(13:37):
bit uh further and in theconversation.
But when I share or we we tryand I say, you know, send a
LinkedIn voice note or send amessage, and then the person
comes up to me, a client back tome, a client coachy, comes back
and says, Oh, it didn't work.
I'm like, okay, cool.
So how many did you do?
Karen, you would get this allthe time.
All the time.
Speaker (13:55):
I tried LinkedIn once, I didn't get any clients.
And I'm like, what do you meantry?
I put it exactly.
One voice note, like what?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Exactly.
It's like you have to do so.
Oh, maybe I did it five timesand no one was.
This is about we need to createprocesses to make it simple.
Like Karen, you said, yourbridging sentence, I love the
terminology of that.
You can copy and paste it.
So it can be, you could do 20um bridging sentences in 15
minutes.
That's a reality, you know,because it's it's it's easy and
(14:22):
it's repeatable.
And then as you're nurturingthat conversation, uh, then you
can get a bit more tailored.
Because I'm even thinking ifyou're strategic about targeting
an industry, then you've got areally cool stat for that
industry.
And then you're putting in yourcalendar two weeks later,
because we don't want to bedesperate or, you know, be
guided by you a week, two weeks,three later.
Here's a cool stat.
(14:43):
Here's what I thought.
So you can actually stillcreate a process.
So it's really tired, it's nottime intensive.
And you're warming up.
And even if they don't respondto that, that's okay because
you're still top of mind forthem.
And again, you know, I love theif you are in town or the
meeting, because I find thatit's really easy.
And one of the things I'malways saying is make that
message, especially the bridgingmessage, really short, as short
(15:06):
as possible.
And a lot of people will go to,hey, I've got this really cool
thing.
Do you want my thing?
Right?
Even if it's a free thing, evenif it's a lead magnet or a kit
or I don't know, somethingreally cool, we can go in too
hard too quick, can't we?
Speaker (15:21):
Definitely go in too hard too quick.
I do believe that when peopleopen their LinkedIn inbox, uh
their messages section, we'reactually bracing ourselves to be
sold to much like we open ouremails in the morning.
We're bracing ourselves for allthose subscriptions we haven't
unsubscribed from.
We're bracing ourselves for allthose sales messages.
(15:41):
So you want to go reallyslowly.
So I wouldn't go every coupleof weeks, I would literally go
every couple of months.
Think about short and you woulddo it in person and night sort
of double or triple it.
It's really slow, which is Iknow really annoying and not
what people want to hear.
Oh, so two weeks is too soon,too desperate.
It is.
(16:01):
You could do an initial one.
So you leave a thanks forconnecting, I appreciate it, and
then two weeks later, leave apositive statistic.
But you don't then want tomessage another two weeks after
that.
You want to then leave it amonth or two and say there's an
industry event, or you know, isthere somebody I can introduce
you to, or sort of, you know, orhere's something, you know, is
(16:24):
there something that I can giveyou?
My company is holding awebinar.
It's an information session onXYZ.
Would you be interested in thelink?
Don't thrust the link onsomebody because they will
perceive that.
You think you're being generousand saving yourself time.
So you don't have to go backwhen they say yes and paste in
(16:45):
the link.
You think you're savingyourself time, but they're
perceiving it as, you know,you've you've you're thrusting
things on people.
You need to ask for permission.
You need to ask.
It's really important.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Which is such a big part of solution selling,
relationship selling.
And so I guess also in that,what that means is you've got a
higher qualified, um, I'm gonnasay lead or prospect, but not
even so much yet, butinteraction, a higher qualified
interaction.
Because if they're saying, yes,I'd like the information,
they're actually genuinelycurious about it rather than
(17:19):
that whole spray and pray.
You know, I might have sent itto a hundred people, but not one
single person is actuallyinterested in that message.
And something you've taught mein the past that has worked
really well around this is alsoputting something in that
message around, you know, I hatespam.
So just let me know if you wantthe link.
Again, how would you say it?
Or, you know, promise nospamming from here.
A bit of lightness and humor.
(17:40):
So think about your ownpersonality, you know, as a
salesperson.
And by the way, if you're abusiness owner, leader,
listening, sales leaderlistening to this, you're still
a salesperson.
We all have a role to play interms of how we're using
LinkedIn in in this way.
Um, so bring some personalityand some lightness whilst
keeping it short, I think, andand minimizing those lengths.
(18:00):
Love that.
No expectation.
Create a process around it.
How am I being human?
Thoughts on, because I'veactually shared this with a few
clients and there's someresistance.
Thoughts on one of thoseinitial messages after the
bridging message, or maybe thebridging message is it, doing
either a video.
So I've seen that you can dovideos now, or a voice note.
(18:22):
There's been probably moreresistance to video, but in
fact, there's not a lot ofuptake, I would say, in voice
notes or video.
Yet I know when I do it,particularly if it's a little
bit warmer, I get a greatresponse.
And by great response, just tomanage that expectation, that's
a couple of people respondingand say, wow, that was really
cool.
I haven't seen a voice note.
Yes, I'd love to.
Great response doesn't meaneven 50%, right?
(18:45):
Like it's it's that's not kindof the point here.
So I've just throwing a lot atyou.
Karen, take from that.
Speaker (18:52):
Where will we go from here?
Absolutely.
I mean, just gonna go backthere.
Something that you and I oftengeek out about is the psychology
behind all of this.
If you get a thumbs up or youget a yes, then that's changing
how they're feeling about you.
I was taught in sales, so I Iused to be in recruitment,
hardcore sales recruitment.
Um, so we're I'm pimpingpeople.
(19:13):
And this was in the 1990s, so Igot so much sales tracking.
The 1900s, you probably would1990s, not 1900s, not quite.
But that is the 1900s.
Aren't you seeing all thememes?
Well, they're that old now.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Anyway, that's another conversation.
Speaker (19:31):
So, you know, we were always sort of taught, or I was
taught, you know, you want tocollect yeses as much as
possible because, and when yousay the word yes, you actually
feel different than when you saythe word no, you know, so it's
all about collecting thoseyeses.
You know, let me know, youknow, if you'd like this, if
you'd like that.
So it's all about sort ofcollecting those yeses, part of
that IKEA effect of, you know,if they build it, part of them
(19:53):
building it will make them loveit more.
So I think that's a reallyyeah, really important step to
um to keep in mind in terms ofhow you're messaging and that
silence doesn't mean thatthey're not interested.
It just means that they don'tcheck LinkedIn very often.
They don't have the budget yet,the pain isn't big enough yet,
(20:13):
the longing isn't big enoughyet, they're hungry, they've got
other demands, and they just,you know, they saw your message
and thought that looksinteresting, and they didn't get
back to replying.
So it's never a no, it's just anot yet, and I think that's
really important to keep in ourmind.
And uh, what was your questionafter as I geek out about all of
this?
Oh my gosh, what did youoriginally ask?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Video, thank you.
Yes, I had to think for amoment.
Videos and voice notes.
Yeah, absolutely.
A quick interruption to thispodcast episode.
I'm really curious, do you wantto close more sales in less
time?
If the answer is yes, which Ihope that it is, then you need
to get your hands on the growthcode.
It is going to give you threeproven frameworks and tools that
(20:57):
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All you have to do is head downto the show notes and click the
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Speaker (21:08):
Now, I forgot to check in on the demographic of your
audience.
So, um, like whereaboutsthey're located.
But as somebody who's aLinkedIn trainer has been doing
LinkedIn training now for comingup to 16 years.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah.
Speaker (21:20):
And I'm connected to LinkedIn trainers all over the
world, many of whom do a lot ofsales training.
I know for a fact thatAmerica's got a really high
appetite for video.
So if you're a salesperson inthe US, in the States, and you
are not doing video, I'm sorry,but you are behind the ball
because I know, I know that mypeers are in the US, LinkedIn
(21:45):
trainers in the US, they areteaching sales teams all the
time and it's doing really well.
Here in Australia, we'reactually a lot more
conservative, so it tends to beon the phone.
You can only record voice noteson the phone.
It tends to be voice notes.
Okay.
There is a huge resistance toit, and I I don't know why.
I don't know why us Australianstend to not get in our own way.
(22:08):
I think that's why you do sowell, Nikki, because you're
always about helping people toget their teams to not get in
their own way.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker (22:15):
I don't know why people don't like it.
Voice notes are reallypowerful.
Things to remember on the voicenotes.
Um, again, just to deep diveinto the psychology, I've
noticed that when I'm trainingpeople on how to do a voice
note, don't start with, hi, it'syou know, Karen Tisdell here.
If you start with your name,like I've heard people practice
(22:36):
with me, when they start withtheir name, their voice starts
constricting.
And I'm like, I can hear you'realmost bracing yourself for
like this is so uncomfortable.
So don't say, you know, justpretend you already know the
person, jump straight into it.
Very cool.
And also you want to love bombthem.
So what I mean by love bomb isyou want to really dial up your
(23:01):
warmth.
So uh Dan Nelkin, stunningwriter, uh copywriter, marketing
copywriter, he says marketingis warmth.
So you really want to show alot of warmth, a lot of humanity
in your voice.
You know, you really want todial up that personality.
I can feel myself doing it nowin my voice.
So I'm really like oozingwarmth.
You know, you're reallyexaggerating how you speak.
(23:23):
So you're really building thatconnection through your voice.
You're making your voice almosta caricature of itself.
And that will distract you fromthinking about, you know,
everything else going on.
Don't worry about going, uh,um, uh, you know, like all of
that's great because youactually don't want to sound too
polished.
You want to sound human.
You want to start with them andend with them.
(23:45):
And voice notes are verypowerful because trust in the
written word has been decliningsince the 1970s.
We do not trust what we read.
I believe we also braceourselves being sold to.
But when we hear something,we're more inclined to believe
it to be true.
So trust in voice isincreasing, which is why we've
(24:06):
got so many people, so manycybersecurity people and stuff.
Like they're targeting one ofthe biggest things that people
are targeting at the moment isphoning people and trying to do
doji sales on voice.
We trust voice implicitly.
I think it's because of ourGPS.
When all of our instincts aresaying turn left and the GPS
says turn right, we turn right.
So voice is a really powerfultool, but you need to uh you
(24:30):
need to not get in your own wayand just do it.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah.
It's the law of familiarity,isn't it?
And even when you say, I lovethe term collecting yeses, which
is the law of consistency,because the more that we do say
yes, the more like likely we areto continue to say yes.
We are invested in that.
And it's really interestingthat there's a bit of a
difference with the US.
And I would say, and I'm gonnaput it out there, come on, team,
(24:53):
let's still do some videos.
Because the law of familiarityeven increases there.
But I do think, yeah, there isthis uh almost resistance.
Is it cheesy?
It's almost like, is it toocheesy?
But I would also say to that,don't make it cheesy.
Like be genuine, be authentic,be you, and therefore it is a
true connection.
Trust in the word declining,not surprising, with AI, with
(25:16):
Chat GPT, and all thesedifferent, you know, tools that
we can use to write scripts.
So I think another reallyimportant message for everyone
to take away is actually theless polished and the less
perfect it is, even better.
I had somebody actually do avideo for me, and I'm pretty
sure they were a LinkedInperson.
I can't remember their name,but um one thing that they said
(25:39):
if you're gonna do this, here'sa top tip.
Okay, so if you can do a voicenote, well, that is uh unique
anyway, because you're doing itin the message.
But you can do a video, say, onLoom.
I'm a big fan of Loom.
You all know this.
That's another thing that we'vegot to embrace.
You can do a video somewhereelse and still put it into
LinkedIn chat.
If you're going to do that, Imean, I know you'll agree with
this, Karen.
Please don't say, hey there.
(26:01):
Hey there.
I just, I'm like, okay, you'veobviously good on you because
you've recorded this video andyou're sending it to 20 people,
but I immediately didn't feelthe connection.
I would rather if that personsaid, Hi, Nikki, I'm recording
you a quick video because Iwanted to introduce myself and I
hope you're having a freakingawesome day.
(26:21):
Like it actually just could be,right?
That simple.
Speaker (26:25):
Yeah, it's it is, it's really important.
And when you say don't becheesy, I think you so somebody
here realistic in my mind, uh,LinkedIn uh train Angus Grady in
the UK.
And and and uh, dear Angus, ifyou're listening to this, he can
be quite cheesy, but it reallyworks.
So he actually quite literallyholds a piece of paper that
literally says the person'sname.
(26:46):
And he's like, Yes! And that'sa still image of the video.
So you're like, okay, it'sclearly for me because he's
written Karen Tisdell on it, youknow, and it is really cheesy.
And he's like, I hope thiscaught your attention.
Just wanted to jump into yourinbox and just say how thrilled
I am to be connected to you, youknow, as someone who's got real
(27:06):
expertise in your industry andyour space around this, you
know, I'm really thrilled to beconnected.
Just want to jump in and sayhi, you know, let me know if you
ever want to know more about,you know, pipes or whatever.
Like, you know, it's just yes,yes.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
And I think that's a really important uh reminder.
Remember, if you're doingLinkedIn voice notes, it is
literally uh you've got athree-step, it's it's is it take
us through that.
From your words, we'll bebetter.
Speaker (27:30):
Absolutely.
So you can only do it on yourLinkedIn um phone.
So um, so you've got to havethe app on your phone.
You've got to be connected tothe person.
A really great time to do it iswhen you have just connected to
them.
So you don't have to have justconnected to them yesterday or
whatever, but they are a new-ishconnection.
(27:50):
Maybe even actually they'relike three, four months old, but
you've never spoken to thembefore.
So you're connected to them.
Um, so you bring up theirprofile.
I brought up yours.
I click on message, and then atthe very bottom here, I've got
a little microphone.
I click on that once and itbrings up a blue dot.
I depress the blue dot and itstarts recording a message.
I've only got one minute.
(28:11):
One minute, which is so good.
So good.
If I don't like what I say, Ijust delete it.
Really important to notoverthink it in that.
Don't record your voice noteand then listen to it and then
send it.
Otherwise, every voice note'sgonna take you three or four
minutes.
Just smash it out.
Done is better than perfect.
Being human is fine.
(28:32):
Um, I love, uh I'm glad itresonated with you that
expression bridge sentences.
So I will typically start withthem and end with them.
Really thrilled to be connectedto you because I said, not
because like in my prospect, butyou know, I find it interesting
and do this or whatever.
So something about them, and Iend with something that is about
them, but often about the citythey're in, the weather in that
(28:55):
area, or something happening, orsomething, something like that.
So it's sort of about them, butit's a bit broader at the end.
In the middle, I do a I don'tknow if you had a chance to have
a look at my profile.
Um, but if you did, you mighthave noticed I and then I
describe what I do.
So that's my bridge.
I don't know if you had achance to look at my profile.
(29:16):
And that's my bridge to thentalk about what I do very
briefly, and it just kind ofslips out.
You know, so that's your thing,you know, let me know.
Anyway, just wanted to reachout and say thanks so much for
connecting.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah.
Okay, I love it.
So if we're creating a processout of this, we're connecting.
We're doing high-qualityconnections, we're actually
doing a little bit ofintentional searching for who do
we want to be connected from?
An A player, ideal client, or Bplayer, increasing network and
can be connected to idealclient.
We're reaching out and doingconnections every week.
We're then sending a bridgingmessage, the bridging message or
(29:51):
sentence, bridging sentence,which could be a handwritten,
handwritten, wow, I'm reallyfrom the 1900s, which could be a
typed out, great to beconnected, really appreciate it.
Or that's where you could do avoice note or a video with the
same kind of script that Karenwas talking about.
Potentially two weeks later,you might share a little
something.
It could be an invite to anevent.
It could be a here's a coolstat.
(30:12):
Here's a great resource.
Typically, not something thatyou've necessarily created
yourself so that it's not ickysalesy.
So it's not your lead magnetyet.
It's not, and then maybe it'salmost like the rules of two.
And then two months later, youcan then come back and you know,
something else that you can addvalue or invite them to
something, or I'm in your town.
Speaker (30:31):
Invite them to an event, your company's doing
something like that.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
But don't thrust the link on them.
And don't thrust the link onthem.
I also think mix it up.
You know, if you sent a voicenote last time and you didn't
get a response, maybe do ahandwritten a handwritten, what
is with me in handwriting today?
Do a how I'm going with it, doa written res do a written
message the next time.
I think it's always really goodto get creative and mix it up
as well.
So, Karen, what are yourthoughts on?
(30:54):
We can look at who's viewed ourprofile, which I think is a
really valuable place to look.
What are your thoughts on howcan we, like, is there a
potential to look at who'sviewed our profile to
potentially um nurture that leada little bit quicker?
Knowing that, because the bowthe barrier I get to around this
(31:15):
is they're probably looking atmy profile because I've sent
them a connection request, notnecessarily because they're an
active potential buyer, but someof them might be.
So, how do we weed through thatso it actually doesn't become
icky?
You know, you viewed myprofile.
Well, yeah, because you sent mea connection request.
Speaker (31:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I just have a habit.
So I'm I'm all for likeyourself, I'm all for habits and
routines, you know, structureskeep us moving forward.
So I'm all for um doing asearch through your network.
And I'd love to return to howyou do a search because
everybody may be thinking, oh mygosh, now I've got to pay for
sales navigator.
You don't.
Yep.
Oh, that was another question.
(31:54):
Yep.
Yeah.
So um, so having the same timeevery week, every week, and once
a fortnight you're doing thesearch.
Alternate fortnight, you'resending those bridging
sentences.
You're managing your LinkedIninbox, which is I I know a bit
clunky, by noticing it.
Look at your DMs and noticethat you can actually star
(32:17):
messages.
So you're starring messages,you're marking them as unread so
that you've got a, oh, who do Ifollow up on?
I can't even navigate my inbox,you know.
So to have a your own system,whether it's marking them as
unread or starring the ones youneed to return to.
Um, so something like that, andmaking sure that you're
archiving them as well.
So click on the three dots onthe right and archive the
(32:39):
messages.
Don't ever delete them, archivethem so you've got that message
stream.
So if you can't manage yourinbox, the best process in the
world is gonna fall apart, fallapart.
So make sure you're managingthat correctly.
Right.
You don't have to aim for azero inbox, but just make sure
that you're using star, unread,and archive.
Yeah.
Otherwise, you're not gonnaknow who you're returning back
(33:00):
to.
You can keep spreadsheets andstuff like that, but if you can
keep it all nice in one place,the whole point of those
messages are to try and movepeople off platform.
So you want to have as manycontacts as you can in that
ecosystem.
So A players, B players, Cplayers.
So that you are the one in theindustry and you know everybody
(33:20):
because the more connectionsyou've got who are in industry,
the more your second network is.
So your first connections,those are all people you already
know.
Your second connections, you'vegot connections in common.
Second network, you've gotconnections in common.
Your third network, you don'thave anybody in common.
Really low trust.
So it'll be like a snowball, ifyou're like, rolling down a
(33:41):
hill.
It's gonna get bigger andbigger and bigger the more
connections you get.
So making sure that you arealways growing that network, you
are always reaching out and youare always being just really
light touch and really humanwith your interactions.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yep, beautiful.
So the star is like definitelysomething I'd for sure need to
start doing.
In mails.
Let's talk about in mailbecause I don't know about you,
but when I receive an email,immediately I don't even read
it.
To me, it screams sales.
But is that just my perception?
Or so I always think send amessage from the main message,
(34:20):
not from an in mail.
Speaker (34:22):
Yeah.
So another thing I neglected tomanage is you've actually now
got two inboxes on LinkedIn.
So you've also got you've gotyour LinkedIn message box, but
if you look closely, you've alsogot something called other.
So you could always puteverybody that you want to
respond to back in other.
I've set my other up so thatthe messages I don't want to
(34:43):
hear or don't want to see, suchas in mails, automatically go
into my other.
You might have a differentsystem.
So um, or no system yet.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Um I feel like it automatically does that for me.
It's so intuitive, it knowsthat I don't want to see those
messages.
Speaker (34:58):
And just put the in mails straight in other.
And I think actually it startedhappening to me automatically,
and then I got a couple land,and I was just like, no, put
them in other.
So um, I don't like in mails.
To me, they just scream sales.
But I was speaking to somebodyrecently, a salesperson, and
they use loads, they max outtheir um in mails.
(35:20):
They've got a premium account,so you get loads of in mails.
They max them out and they wona massive deal with Qantas, our
airlines here in Australia.
Wow.
Through an in mail, yeah.
So um, yeah, so they made asale through an in mail
LinkedIn.
Look, so I it is possible,apparently, but um, I just
always feel it's it's sales-y.
(35:41):
I also feel that sendingsomebody an in mail instantly
scream sales to me, and alsoyou'll forget that if you're
connected to them, you canautomatically message them.
So you want those connectionsbecause it's never a no, it's a
not yet.
You know, you want to have notjust sales today and sales
(36:01):
tomorrow, but sales next weekand next month and the month
after that and the year afterthat.
You know, you you don't want itto be a finite number.
So if we think about wherepeople are at in their buying
journey, not everybody's readyto buy at the right time.
So you want to make sure thatyou're not missing any
opportunities by having allthose connections.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
So really it's about understanding and bringing this
concept of the cold, warm, andhot nurture to LinkedIn as well.
So this is such a, I mean, youknow, what are the tool really
where we can actually nurtureall types of leads?
When we're looking at sending aconnection request, message or
no message in the connectionrequest?
Speaker (36:40):
If you don't have LinkedIn Premium, you don't have
any options around this.
So personalized messages forpeople who are on LinkedIn free,
right now only two a month.
Wow.
So I know it's um, but thishasn't created what LinkedIn had
hoped it would create.
Um, I believe that LinkedInwere, you know, because it's
(37:03):
it's a money-making machine, ofcourse.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah.
Speaker (37:05):
Um, and so I think that they hoped that by reducing the
number of personalized invites,more people would pay for
premium.
I'm sure some people have, butit's also normalized the act of
not leaving a message when youreach out to somebody.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I think human behavior haschanged as well.
When I look at how my teenagersinteract and I and I a lot of a
(37:29):
lot of the young people, youknow, there's a huge reticence
these days around talking topeople face to face.
There's a huge reticence aroundhaving a phone call.
People are mediating thingsthrough really short text
messages and WhatsApp and thelike.
So we're becoming more, we'rebecoming shyer while
counterintuitively alsolonelier.
(37:49):
So I think we need to realizethat if we are sending a
personalized message, it can'tactually be too personal because
you it'll feel creepy topeople.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yes.
Well, again, it comes down tothe human connection.
Speaker (38:03):
Yeah, it does.
It does.
So when people have uhremarking on things in my
profile, such as where I'vestudied and stuff like that, I'm
like, did you just put myprofile into AI and say creep?
Like, you know what I mean?
I'm like, did you really readthat?
Yeah, I know.
I'm like, oh, it feels creepyand weird.
So so I think people are alsofeeling a bit creeped out.
So don't feel you need to.
I know I'm fencing on thisquestion.
(38:24):
I'm not giving a yes-no on thisbecause um it it doesn't matter
if you don't personalize thatinvite for most prospects.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Yeah.
Speaker (38:34):
LinkedIn are putting out stats saying you have to
personalize because you'll get ahigher acceptance rate.
LinkedIn are putting out thatstat.
They're not showing theevidence.
Who knows?
So long as you follow it upwith that second message, and
that second message isn't aninstant sales pitch, otherwise,
they will disconnect you fromyou, block you, and potentially
(38:55):
report you.
So that's why you want to goreally chip.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
I did almost go to LinkedIn jail once, excuse me.
Um, so I've been very carefuluh since then.
Again, what I'm really hearingwith all of this is would we do
it at a networking event?
You know, would we have goneand looked at their website?
Well, maybe when before we meetthem, but we wouldn't then kind
of verbatim, here's the thingsI loved about your website, be
great to shake your hand andmeet you right now.
(39:20):
Um, you know, short, sharp,sweet, some character, some
genuineness if you are going towrite a message.
Mix it up, do some without, dosome with, kind of see for
yourself what the results are.
And even this whole, becauseagain, I see it so much.
People are rushing to sendthrough whatever that thing is
that they sell or the offer ordiscover meeting.
It's like, why are they gonnasay yes?
(39:41):
Would they say yes to you ifyou were um if you were standing
in front of them?
So I do want to reiterate thatbecause as you sort of alluded
to before, and I get it becauseI'm an impatient person.
I'm like, what's the quickprocess?
But actually, we're dealingwith humans here, even though it
is online, it is as though weare in person.
(40:01):
So there's got to be somethinginteresting, meaningful, of
value, piques their curiosityfor them to actually move from
on, you know, LinkedIn to um ameeting or a catch up or coming
to an event or a phone call orwhatever else it might be.
Uh so look, LinkedIn is can getvery cloud uh crowded as well.
And we've talked about somereally good practical strategies
(40:24):
on how to engage and nurtureand use LinkedIn as a tool.
We've not really even touchedon content.
I do have uh a quick questionaround that because I I tend to
see salespeople, that's notwhere business owners, that's
where their mind goes to first.
I need to create content.
Salespeople, that doesn't evenkind of even register, I think,
for them somewhat.
And obviously, we need to havea half decent bio.
(40:46):
It doesn't have to be thefanciest, but I guess what's the
minimum that a salespersonneeds to do in terms of making
sure that their bio isprofessional enough that it
sets, you know, good enoughmessage and for content,
creating content, becausethey're not necessarily
marketers, you know.
But is it a critical importantpart of LinkedIn to generate
(41:07):
leads?
Speaker (41:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
So uh on that profile piece,don't talk about sales, don't
talk about business development,don't talk about that world
trip that you were given for thevolume of sales that you made.
Talk about your expertise andyour passion and your genuine
interest in the industry thatyou're in.
(41:28):
Talk about the pain, theproblems, talk to some case
studies, some of the differenceyou've made and why you enjoy it
and what you like about it.
You want to show that this isthe sort of thing that you're an
expert in, that you're readinglots about, so that your very
well-informed customer who'salso read a lot about it,
doesn't have to keep reading.
(41:48):
Yeah.
They can just go, great, I'veread a lot.
That lines up with what thisperson's saying.
I feel trust.
And we have a lot ofconnections in common.
I feel trust.
With that creating contentpiece, I'm seeing two different
types of content to divide itinto two buckets.
So, one, there is that thoughtleadership content.
So that's where you can createtips and show what actually for
(42:11):
salespeople you could even havea third.
So you're sharing tips andinformation on uh frequently
asked questions.
So, what are your frequentlyasked questions?
What are your FAQs?
Ask your customer service team.
In fact, get them to BCC you ontheir emails.
What are the frequently askedquestions that you get?
That's what you create contentabout.
(42:32):
Great.
The second type of content I'mseeing quite a lot is really
emotional content and reallypersonal content.
And that's where you have togo.
What's my role in theorganization?
How would my organization feelabout this?
Don't make it political.
You know, is this okay for meto say?
And if you can, try and make itquirky personal.
So I did quite well with uh apiece that I wrote ages ago.
(42:56):
Um, and I just happened tomention that as a child of the
1980s, because I am that old aswe've established earlier today.
I I used to do roller skating.
I was one of those rollerskating girls.
And um and so you can so seethat, can't you?
Speaker 1 (43:09):
And um I do, I love it.
I'm jealous.
I'm roller skating.
unknown (43:14):
Do it.
I love that.
Speaker (43:15):
Yeah, I didn't do that.
I was totally out there.
And so I mentioned that in apost.
So something about, you know,the dog you had, roller skating.
Yeah, you know, though, youknow still be light,
entertaining.
Something light andentertaining, but make it into a
metaphor.
Use AI to make it into ametaphor or to weave it into a
story or something that's aboutyour work.
(43:36):
You don't want to make it allpersonal, otherwise, you're
confusing how it is your thoughtor.
Yep.
Um, the third piece of contentthat I think salespeople can put
out is really by sharing casestudies, you've got permission
to share, um, and also bylooking at what's happening in
your industry.
So this is similar to thoughtleadership in that it's it's
asking, answering frequentlyasked questions, but it may just
(44:00):
be an event that you've goneto.
Take pictures of all of thespeakers, reiterate their key
points, like be the spokespersonfor your industry.
So not just your company, notjust your FAQs, but what's
happening more broadly.
And if you can always make yourthose types of content, we
think about this as you know,number three type of content,
(44:23):
then that is, you know, makingit about other people, other
things, other movers, othershakers.
Make your customers the hero.
Jump on and do a quick videowith them.
You know, make them like, youknow, make them famous, talk
about it.
There are a lot of beautiful uhengineers doing some really
great work on LinkedIn, and oneof them is in Western Australia,
(44:46):
and he does something to dowith I kid you not, pipes.
And these pipes are massive andthey travel around Australia on
on road trains, and he doesvideo sh footage with like a
drone of these pipes just goingthrough different places and
things like that.
And the amount of clicks thesethis content gets is huge.
Anybody in the buildingconstruction sales, that sort of
(45:10):
stuff, people love seeingtunnels being built, they love
behind the scenes.
I know it sounds really weird,people love it.
Get out your phone, shoot aquick video.
Just check with Malarketing.
Are we allowed to show this?
You know, because they mighthave a fit if you do a video and
nobody's wearing their safetyhats or something.
Oh, yeah.
Just check with the legalities,you know, is this all all
(45:30):
right?
But um, those are the sort ofpieces of content.
But in terms of your success,remember that you really do need
to reach out.
And on LinkedIn, you've gotthose search.
So in the top left-hand corner,you've got a search bar on
LinkedIn, and it's not just fornames.
You can put one keyword inthere and then look on your
screen for all filters.
(45:52):
And I say look on your screenbecause I reckon in 2026,
probably 2027 is definitely,they're gonna move that all
filters button.
So that all filters button iswhere you can search by
industry, you can search by jobtitle right at the very bottom.
I need to pay sales navigator.
(46:12):
Yes.
Yep.
And you can also search bycompany, you know.
So if you bring up a companypage on LinkedIn, just hover
over where it says employees andyou can click on that, and
again, you can click on allfilters.
But that all filters buttonI've seen on some profiles has
moved.
So I reckon LinkedIn areprobably gonna move it
permanently later in the year.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
They keep they're keeping us on our toes, that's
for sure.
I love the intention behindeven searching for a company and
then adding multiple people inthat company because again, that
creates that second connectiontrust factor.
I feel like, Karen, we're gonnahave to do a part two of this
because there's still so muchthat we can, you know, kind of
(46:54):
talk about.
But I feel like this is there'sthere's so much in what we
talked about today in terms ofcreating a nurture and
engagement strategy.
Uh, quickly on posting, howoften, what's the minimum for
some a salesperson to post?
Once a week.
Speaker (47:08):
Once a week before I think if you do a week habit,
like just once a week, what'shappening this week?
Speaker 1 (47:14):
And even I'm thinking the personal, because some
people might be resistant tothat, particularly if we've been
on LinkedIn for a while andwe're transitioning to it's not
a corporate, you know, it'sactually this is a part of your
professional brand and creatingconnection.
But I even think that categorycould be a behind the scenes,
you know, behind the scenesphoto of I'm like in the store,
(47:35):
in the work, in the warehouse,walking to a client appointment,
you know, like you out in thewild.
So people are getting to knowwho you are.
But again, it's not toopersonal if you're starting to
warm up to this.
Speaker (47:47):
And you're showing the values of your of the
organization as well.
And you've got to remember alot of buyers are buying for
values.
Um, you know, it's reallyinteresting how um how people
will go, you know, I don't wantto buy from that company.
Like they want switch, they dothis, they don't have nice
values, you know.
True.
You're somebody with a bunch ofintegrity.
So if you see people onLinkedIn and they're going, you
(48:10):
know, oh my gosh, we're justcelebrating that so-and-so's had
a birthday or whatever, likeyou might go, oh my gosh, really
putting this on LinkedIn, butyou know, and then you do a
piece about the values of theorganization.
That's what I love aboutworking here.
You're not talking about thisis all of us on the yacht at
Sydney Harbor celebrating ourmassive sales year.
You're talking about thevalues, the feeling, what the
(48:30):
organization cares about.
Show all that behind the scenesstuff.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
Amazing.
There are so many good tacticalthings for salespeople and all
of us to really take away.
So if if if somebody'slistening and watching,
thinking, oh, where do I start?
What's one action that they cantake in the next 24 hours that
you think would be reallyvaluable for them?
Speaker (48:51):
Change your job title on LinkedIn from sales to
something something expert.
Be an expert, be a specialist.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Value value.
Simple and so powerful.
Thank you so much, Karen.
Now, no surprises, people canfind you on LinkedIn.
And you are extremely generouswith resources, FAQs.
You have so many, so manytidbits.
So, where do you want people tocome and friendly stalk you?
Speaker (49:18):
Yeah, come and find me on LinkedIn.
Click more or the three buttonson my profile and click
connect.
Don't just follow me.
And I do.
I've got tons of free stuff.
Tons and tons and tons of freestuff.
So if there's anything you'rewondering, let me know.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
You're so generous with your time and thank you for
sharing your knowledge.
And also, I'm going to put anextra challenge out there to you
beautiful people.
Why not send Karen or me orboth of us a LinkedIn voice
note?
Extra bonus points for you.
And actually, if you do that, Iwill send you a copy of my
book, first person to do that ofHealthy Hustle.
(49:49):
So if Karen or I, first personto get a voice note or a video,
I mean, you know, then I'm gonnasend you a copy of my book.
Uh, thank you so much forjoining us for this episode.
It is filled to the brim withso many practical strategies,
tools, techniques for us toreally utilize LinkedIn as an
amazing sales tool that it is.
(50:10):
Karen, thank you for joining usonce again.
And I reckon we book in a parttwo in a few months so we can go
even deeper.
Have a great day, everybody.
Thanks so much.
Hello, it is wonderful to haveyou here again for this week's
(00:30):
episode of Smart Business GrowthPodcast.
And I'm really excited aboutwhat you are going to hear in
today's conversation.
Today, my guest is KarenTisdell, who is one of
Australia's top LinkedInstrategists and profile writers.
She's been named by SMMI as oneof the top eight independent
LinkedIn trainers in AsiaPacific.
(00:52):
And Karen has been trainingsales teams since 2015 on how to
search, prospect, and qualifyleads on LinkedIn.
That is exactly what we divedinto today.
Really targeted from asalesperson perspective, which
let's face it is relevant forsales leaders and business
owners as well.
Really about how can we utilizeLinkedIn as a powerful lead
(01:15):
generation tool.
We talk about the biggestmistakes that salespeople make
on LinkedIn, how to generateleads on LinkedIn.
We go through different contentbucket types that are actually
targeted for salespeople.
So it's very easy and a salesprocess on how to nurture and
engage so you can start to buildrelationships on LinkedIn and
(01:37):
take it offline to reallyqualify and turn them into
high-quality leads and idealclients.
We talked about collectingyeses and explaining how a
bridging sentence can make allthe difference to turn from
being icky and uncomfortable andawkward on LinkedIn to really
nailing it and creating qualityconnections that, again, can
(01:58):
turn into ideal A-playerclients.
Now, Karen has been doing thisfor quite some time.
She is an early adapter ofLinkedIn.
She's written thousands ofprofiles for business owners,
C-suite leaders, and as I said,has been working with sales
teams and salespeople since2015.
She has tracked and continuesto track every major algorithm
(02:19):
shift since LinkedIn's earlydays.
And she she launched herbusiness back in 2009, long
before it was trendy.
So we also touched on howLinkedIn LinkedIn has changed
and you know the old schoolversion of LinkedIn versus,
again, the powerful tool that itcan be for your sales function
and the growth engine in yourbusiness.
(02:41):
So buckle up, enjoy, get thatpen and paper out ready.
You might want to, you mightwant to rewind this episode a
little bit to get certainscripts and approaches that we
go through because it's a goodone.
It's a biggie and enjoy.
Hello, you awesome humans, andwelcome to yet another episode
of the Smart Business GrowthPodcast.
And you already know who we'retalking with today because of
(03:04):
the intro, but I just have togive one of my favorite humans
another shout out.
Karen Tisdell, thank you sovery much for joining us today
to talk all things LinkedIn as asales tool.
Speaker (03:18):
So excited to be with you.
You're one of my favoritehumans, actually.
I've always been obsessed withsales psychology and the science
behind buying behavior.
And that's you know somethingthat's always fascinated you
too.
So super excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
It's such an amazing opportunity when we connect with
like-minded people, awesomehumans doing cool things in the
world, and we can totally geekout on things like sales because
your background is inrecruitment.
You've got quite a distinctsales background, and of course,
now you're working with thisincredible sales tool that is
LinkedIn.
So I want to dive straight inand ask you, what do you think
(03:54):
is the number one mistake thatbusiness owners or salespeople
or sales leaders are actuallymaking when they're trying to
use LinkedIn to generate leadsor sales?
Speaker (04:06):
I believe it's not earning trust.
So I feel that so manysalespeople do not change on
LinkedIn their position title,their headline, the bit that
sits underneath their name fromsales.
So they instantly announcethemselves to their prospects as
somebody who's all aboutbusiness development and all
(04:28):
about sales.
And they often talk in theirprofile about how much money
they've made from sales and howthey've won sales awards and
they've gone on this cruisebecause they won this sales.
I wouldn't want to know as aprospect how much money you've
made from sales.
Instead, what I'd lovesalespeople to do is really
(04:50):
ground themselves in their deepexpertise and realize that their
prospects and their theirpipeline and their past clients
are judging them and areremembering them from their
profile.
So I think that's one of twomistakes.
I think the other one is alsonot to see it as a place where
they can build pipelines.
(05:10):
I think a lot of people thinkof LinkedIn as a place to just
turn up and throw up, and thatmeans creating content.
And actually, it's not acontent creation platform,
despite what LinkedIn would haveyou think, because it's in the
business of selling advertsthese days, not just
subscriptions.
But it's really an address bookwhere you can find everybody
(05:32):
you'd ever want.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I love that because I think, you know, LinkedIn, or I
know that we've had we've hadconversations around this, that
LinkedIn for some people stillhas, I don't know if it's a bad
rap, but like an old school rap.
You know, it's the from thecorporate days when we first
went on LinkedIn, and it'sactually changed so, so much.
And I think, you know,honestly, even if people stop
(05:55):
listening and watching now,which I highly recommend that
you don't do that, but even justthat tip around what is the
tagline?
What is it that you're sayingthat you do?
I know personally when I hadsales coach or sales trainer, I
didn't get as many connections.
People weren't as open totalking to me.
So as soon as I changed it tobe more around the value or the
thing that I'm passionate aboutor the work that I do, not in a
(06:17):
sales y way, there was so muchmore openness.
So that is a very, verypractical tip that people can
implement straight away.
It's almost like if you werewriting an ad for yourself, you
know, like you're you it's it'sI don't know if ad or it's it's
like a creative business card.
It's something that can piquecuriosity and and create that
connection in the first go.
It's the first impression,really.
Speaker (06:39):
It's your first impression and it's often your
last.
You know, people don't look atyour profile as often as you
think, but your headline followsyou everywhere.
So every time you comment onsomebody's post or you DM
people, right at the very top ofyour DMs, people can see your
headline.
So um, if you're sending theman in mail, whatever you're
doing on LinkedIn, that headlinefollows you everywhere.
(07:00):
So instead, talk to the value,talk to the pain, the problem,
the longing, the outcome, andtalk about why this matters.
And don't talk about yourselflike you're not yourself.
You need to be human in a worldof AI and in a world where our
our customers are just so veryinformed these days.
(07:20):
You know, my husband never goesto, you know, a car yard and
asks about the car.
He's already done a virtualdriving experience before he's
even got there.
He often knows more about thecar than the person selling it.
But the person selling it isthere to talk about the value
they can add to that salesprocess.
So it's really important tomake sure that you're really
(07:41):
showing all those things in ahuman way on your profile and in
your messaging as well.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I mean, so again, so many great points in that around
bringing the humanness andHubSpot recently released some
research that really talkedabout the fact that as
salespeople, our role haschanged.
For that very reason, Karen,you know, people not only are
able to Google and have do someresearch, but I mean, we have to
really redefine what is ourrole as a salesperson, um, what
(08:07):
is our role as a connector, asyou know, fulfilling needs for
our clients.
And again, which is why Ithink, you know, if anybody's
listening and watching and stillhas that perception of LinkedIn
as that old school, think abouteverything that's changed
around us as has LinkedIn.
So, what do you think?
This is gonna be a really openquestion.
I know it's it's a big one, butI think there's gonna be so
(08:28):
there's always so much gold thatyou share around this.
How can salespeople really useLinkedIn to generate sales
leads?
Speaker (08:36):
By connecting the people.
Not by following them, not bycreating content.
Content can be awareness, buttypically your content is only
shown to people you're alreadyconnected to.
So you are putting, as mygrandfather would say, you're
putting the cart before thehorse.
If you're thinking, I need tocreate content, I need to create
(08:57):
content.
No, actually, you need aprofile that builds trust.
You need to get the rightpeople, so you need to reach out
and connect to people.
And then that posting is a niceto-do.
Um, and that's where you'rereminding people who you are and
and deepening if and how theythink of you.
So reaching out and connectingand following up with people
(09:21):
that you've connected to.
So don't just connect withpeople and then ignore them.
But I think it's reallyimportant to create, say, a
bridge sentence such as thanksfor connecting, I appreciate it.
Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy,paste, so that you can then go
back to people and say, youknow, I happen to be in your
city, or um, I found aninteresting statistic about your
(09:44):
your space that that I thinkyou might enjoy as well.
This is this is the articlebelow, this is, you know, one
sentence headline about it, youknow, sort of so that you're
you're building thoserelationships constantly, both
with prospects, but also peoplewho are in your ecosystem.
So who are the people who arealso selling to those same
clients?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I love that.
I talk about that as A playersand B players.
So A players are your potentialdirect clients that you can
service and help.
B players, they might be an Aplayer as well, but they also
are connected to your A players,to your ideal clients.
And that's what you're reallybig on is creating that network.
And again, it's about how we'rehaving conversations on
LinkedIn.
(10:25):
A good thing that I often thinkabout, because I get stuck.
I mean, you're the expert inthis, and I've we've worked
together, you know, for actuallya number of years now.
Um, and I often think when Ihave when I go to comment or I
send a message, if this personwas standing right in front of
me, if we're in a networkingevent or I've just met them,
they're standing right in frontof me, what would I say to them?
(10:46):
And then I try and writesomething so it feels a little
bit more human connected.
Because, you know, are thereany other tips in terms of what
do we actually say?
Because I think the other thingis sometimes, yes, we connect
and then there might be aninitial message, but then
sometimes it's a bit people canget a bit gun shy around, well,
what do I do next?
And you did give a couple oftips there, but any tips on how
(11:08):
we really start thatconversation and then transition
it offline because ultimatelythat's kind of the goal, isn't
it?
Speaker (11:15):
It is, and I'm sure with your mind, you've got just
to put you on the spot here,you've got some statistics
around how many touch points itit takes.
And um, and and I'd love tohear how many it is.
But I think it's not just youknow connecting with somebody
and then reaching out andsaying, Hey, do you want to buy?
It's a a bridge sentence.
So thanks for connecting.
I appreciate it.
And not expecting a responseback.
(11:37):
Um, sometimes you'll get athumbs up.
I I frequently get a thumbs upto that or a little smiley face.
Typically, I just get crickets.
And then I'll drop in anotherthing, such as a positive
statistic.
So positive statistic abouttheir industry, and I it's just
and it'll be three to fivewords, just seeing this about,
you know, X is growing by thispercent.
(11:58):
Thought you might find thebelow article or a podcast or
something interesting, ordropped below.
And again, no expectation of aresponse.
And then another one might bethere's an industry event going
on.
Um, we've not met, um, but weare connected on LinkedIn.
It'd be nice to put a face tothe name.
Ignore the fact you can alreadysee their face on LinkedIn.
(12:18):
It's nice to put a face to thename.
Are you going to be at thatevent?
Um, or I'm interstate.
Um, I do a lot of interstatetrouble with my work doing
LinkedIn training.
And I always find it mucheasier to catch up with people
interstate than I do people inmy hometown of Sydney,
Australia.
It's so much easier to catchup.
I'm like, I'm only in Adelaideor Brisbane or wherever for a
(12:42):
few days.
Do you have any chance I cancatch up?
So it's sort of a number oftouch points over time, which
are low pressure.
Now, how many, how many touchpoints do you need until people
buy?
What's the stats around that?
I bet you've got it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I know that there's, so there is, you know, the law
of seven, which is reallypopular around, you know, you
need to see something seventimes.
It's a marketing stat,actually, before you buy, but
also it's also relevant for umlearning and development.
So we need to see or hearsomething seven times before we
actually really learn it.
The other interesting stat thatI throw out a lot is uh we need
(13:17):
five follow-up touch pointswhen we're doing our follow-ups.
But we've got to rememberthat's a warm to hot prospect.
So in this instant, I thinkwhat's really critical in what
you just said is you might notget a response.
You might get crickets.
It doesn't actually mean thatit hasn't worked and it does,
it's not a bad thing.
I'm sure we're gonna get toLinkedIn voice notes in a little
(13:37):
bit uh further and in theconversation.
But when I share or we we tryand I say, you know, send a
LinkedIn voice note or send amessage, and then the person
comes up to me, a client back tome, a client coachy, comes back
and says, Oh, it didn't work.
I'm like, okay, cool.
So how many did you do?
Karen, you would get this allthe time.
All the time.
Speaker (13:55):
I tried LinkedIn once, I didn't get any clients.
And I'm like, what do you meantry?
I put it exactly.
One voice note, like what?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Exactly.
It's like you have to do so.
Oh, maybe I did it five timesand no one was.
This is about we need to createprocesses to make it simple.
Like Karen, you said, yourbridging sentence, I love the
terminology of that.
You can copy and paste it.
So it can be, you could do 20um bridging sentences in 15
minutes.
That's a reality, you know,because it's it's it's easy and
(14:22):
it's repeatable.
And then as you're nurturingthat conversation, uh, then you
can get a bit more tailored.
Because I'm even thinking ifyou're strategic about targeting
an industry, then you've got areally cool stat for that
industry.
And then you're putting in yourcalendar two weeks later,
because we don't want to bedesperate or, you know, be
guided by you a week, two weeks,three later.
Here's a cool stat.
(14:43):
Here's what I thought.
So you can actually stillcreate a process.
So it's really tired, it's nottime intensive.
And you're warming up.
And even if they don't respondto that, that's okay because
you're still top of mind forthem.
And again, you know, I love theif you are in town or the
meeting, because I find thatit's really easy.
And one of the things I'malways saying is make that
message, especially the bridgingmessage, really short, as short
(15:06):
as possible.
And a lot of people will go to,hey, I've got this really cool
thing.
Do you want my thing?
Right?
Even if it's a free thing, evenif it's a lead magnet or a kit
or I don't know, somethingreally cool, we can go in too
hard too quick, can't we?
Speaker (15:21):
Definitely go in too hard too quick.
I do believe that when peopleopen their LinkedIn inbox, uh
their messages section, we'reactually bracing ourselves to be
sold to much like we open ouremails in the morning.
We're bracing ourselves for allthose subscriptions we haven't
unsubscribed from.
We're bracing ourselves for allthose sales messages.
(15:41):
So you want to go reallyslowly.
So I wouldn't go every coupleof weeks, I would literally go
every couple of months.
Think about short and you woulddo it in person and night sort
of double or triple it.
It's really slow, which is Iknow really annoying and not
what people want to hear.
Oh, so two weeks is too soon,too desperate.
It is.
(16:01):
You could do an initial one.
So you leave a thanks forconnecting, I appreciate it, and
then two weeks later, leave apositive statistic.
But you don't then want tomessage another two weeks after
that.
You want to then leave it amonth or two and say there's an
industry event, or you know, isthere somebody I can introduce
you to, or sort of, you know, orhere's something, you know, is
(16:24):
there something that I can giveyou?
My company is holding awebinar.
It's an information session onXYZ.
Would you be interested in thelink?
Don't thrust the link onsomebody because they will
perceive that.
You think you're being generousand saving yourself time.
So you don't have to go backwhen they say yes and paste in
(16:45):
the link.
You think you're savingyourself time, but they're
perceiving it as, you know,you've you've you're thrusting
things on people.
You need to ask for permission.
You need to ask.
It's really important.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Which is such a big part of solution selling,
relationship selling.
And so I guess also in that,what that means is you've got a
higher qualified, um, I'm gonnasay lead or prospect, but not
even so much yet, butinteraction, a higher qualified
interaction.
Because if they're saying, yes,I'd like the information,
they're actually genuinelycurious about it rather than
(17:19):
that whole spray and pray.
You know, I might have sent itto a hundred people, but not one
single person is actuallyinterested in that message.
And something you've taught mein the past that has worked
really well around this is alsoputting something in that
message around, you know, I hatespam.
So just let me know if you wantthe link.
Again, how would you say it?
Or, you know, promise nospamming from here.
A bit of lightness and humor.
(17:40):
So think about your ownpersonality, you know, as a
salesperson.
And by the way, if you're abusiness owner, leader,
listening, sales leaderlistening to this, you're still
a salesperson.
We all have a role to play interms of how we're using
LinkedIn in in this way.
Um, so bring some personalityand some lightness whilst
keeping it short, I think, andand minimizing those lengths.
(18:00):
Love that.
No expectation.
Create a process around it.
How am I being human?
Thoughts on, because I'veactually shared this with a few
clients and there's someresistance.
Thoughts on one of thoseinitial messages after the
bridging message, or maybe thebridging message is it, doing
either a video.
So I've seen that you can dovideos now, or a voice note.
(18:22):
There's been probably moreresistance to video, but in
fact, there's not a lot ofuptake, I would say, in voice
notes or video.
Yet I know when I do it,particularly if it's a little
bit warmer, I get a greatresponse.
And by great response, just tomanage that expectation, that's
a couple of people respondingand say, wow, that was really
cool.
I haven't seen a voice note.
Yes, I'd love to.
Great response doesn't meaneven 50%, right?
(18:45):
Like it's it's that's not kindof the point here.
So I've just throwing a lot atyou.
Karen, take from that.
Speaker (18:52):
Where will we go from here?
Absolutely.
I mean, just gonna go backthere.
Something that you and I oftengeek out about is the psychology
behind all of this.
If you get a thumbs up or youget a yes, then that's changing
how they're feeling about you.
I was taught in sales, so I Iused to be in recruitment,
hardcore sales recruitment.
Um, so we're I'm pimpingpeople.
(19:13):
And this was in the 1990s, so Igot so much sales tracking.
The 1900s, you probably would1990s, not 1900s, not quite.
But that is the 1900s.
Aren't you seeing all thememes?
Well, they're that old now.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Anyway, that's another conversation.
Speaker (19:31):
So, you know, we were always sort of taught, or I was
taught, you know, you want tocollect yeses as much as
possible because, and when yousay the word yes, you actually
feel different than when you saythe word no, you know, so it's
all about collecting thoseyeses.
You know, let me know, youknow, if you'd like this, if
you'd like that.
So it's all about sort ofcollecting those yeses, part of
that IKEA effect of, you know,if they build it, part of them
(19:53):
building it will make them loveit more.
So I think that's a reallyyeah, really important step to
um to keep in mind in terms ofhow you're messaging and that
silence doesn't mean thatthey're not interested.
It just means that they don'tcheck LinkedIn very often.
They don't have the budget yet,the pain isn't big enough yet,
(20:13):
the longing isn't big enoughyet, they're hungry, they've got
other demands, and they just,you know, they saw your message
and thought that looksinteresting, and they didn't get
back to replying.
So it's never a no, it's just anot yet, and I think that's
really important to keep in ourmind.
And uh, what was your questionafter as I geek out about all of
this?
Oh my gosh, what did youoriginally ask?
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Video, thank you.
Yes, I had to think for amoment.
Videos and voice notes.
Yeah, absolutely.
A quick interruption to thispodcast episode.
I'm really curious, do you wantto close more sales in less
time?
If the answer is yes, which Ihope that it is, then you need
to get your hands on the growthcode.
It is going to give you threeproven frameworks and tools that
(20:57):
will help future-proof yourbusiness and scale with clarity.
All you have to do is head downto the show notes and click the
link below.
Speaker (21:08):
Now, I forgot to check in on the demographic of your
audience.
So, um, like whereaboutsthey're located.
But as somebody who's aLinkedIn trainer has been doing
LinkedIn training now for comingup to 16 years.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah.
Speaker (21:20):
And I'm connected to LinkedIn trainers all over the
world, many of whom do a lot ofsales training.
I know for a fact thatAmerica's got a really high
appetite for video.
So if you're a salesperson inthe US, in the States, and you
are not doing video, I'm sorry,but you are behind the ball
because I know, I know that mypeers are in the US, LinkedIn
(21:45):
trainers in the US, they areteaching sales teams all the
time and it's doing really well.
Here in Australia, we'reactually a lot more
conservative, so it tends to beon the phone.
You can only record voice noteson the phone.
It tends to be voice notes.
Okay.
There is a huge resistance toit, and I I don't know why.
I don't know why us Australianstend to not get in our own way.
(22:08):
I think that's why you do sowell, Nikki, because you're
always about helping people toget their teams to not get in
their own way.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker (22:15):
I don't know why people don't like it.
Voice notes are reallypowerful.
Things to remember on the voicenotes.
Um, again, just to deep diveinto the psychology, I've
noticed that when I'm trainingpeople on how to do a voice
note, don't start with, hi, it'syou know, Karen Tisdell here.
If you start with your name,like I've heard people practice
(22:36):
with me, when they start withtheir name, their voice starts
constricting.
And I'm like, I can hear you'realmost bracing yourself for
like this is so uncomfortable.
So don't say, you know, justpretend you already know the
person, jump straight into it.
Very cool.
And also you want to love bombthem.
So what I mean by love bomb isyou want to really dial up your
(23:01):
warmth.
So uh Dan Nelkin, stunningwriter, uh copywriter, marketing
copywriter, he says marketingis warmth.
So you really want to show alot of warmth, a lot of humanity
in your voice.
You know, you really want todial up that personality.
I can feel myself doing it nowin my voice.
So I'm really like oozingwarmth.
You know, you're reallyexaggerating how you speak.
(23:23):
So you're really building thatconnection through your voice.
You're making your voice almosta caricature of itself.
And that will distract you fromthinking about, you know,
everything else going on.
Don't worry about going, uh,um, uh, you know, like all of
that's great because youactually don't want to sound too
polished.
You want to sound human.
You want to start with them andend with them.
(23:45):
And voice notes are verypowerful because trust in the
written word has been decliningsince the 1970s.
We do not trust what we read.
I believe we also braceourselves being sold to.
But when we hear something,we're more inclined to believe
it to be true.
So trust in voice isincreasing, which is why we've
(24:06):
got so many people, so manycybersecurity people and stuff.
Like they're targeting one ofthe biggest things that people
are targeting at the moment isphoning people and trying to do
doji sales on voice.
We trust voice implicitly.
I think it's because of ourGPS.
When all of our instincts aresaying turn left and the GPS
says turn right, we turn right.
So voice is a really powerfultool, but you need to uh you
(24:30):
need to not get in your own wayand just do it.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah.
It's the law of familiarity,isn't it?
And even when you say, I lovethe term collecting yeses, which
is the law of consistency,because the more that we do say
yes, the more like likely we areto continue to say yes.
We are invested in that.
And it's really interestingthat there's a bit of a
difference with the US.
And I would say, and I'm gonnaput it out there, come on, team,
(24:53):
let's still do some videos.
Because the law of familiarityeven increases there.
But I do think, yeah, there isthis uh almost resistance.
Is it cheesy?
It's almost like, is it toocheesy?
But I would also say to that,don't make it cheesy.
Like be genuine, be authentic,be you, and therefore it is a
true connection.
Trust in the word declining,not surprising, with AI, with
(25:16):
Chat GPT, and all thesedifferent, you know, tools that
we can use to write scripts.
So I think another reallyimportant message for everyone
to take away is actually theless polished and the less
perfect it is, even better.
I had somebody actually do avideo for me, and I'm pretty
sure they were a LinkedInperson.
I can't remember their name,but um one thing that they said
(25:39):
if you're gonna do this, here'sa top tip.
Okay, so if you can do a voicenote, well, that is uh unique
anyway, because you're doing itin the message.
But you can do a video, say, onLoom.
I'm a big fan of Loom.
You all know this.
That's another thing that we'vegot to embrace.
You can do a video somewhereelse and still put it into
LinkedIn chat.
If you're going to do that, Imean, I know you'll agree with
this, Karen.
Please don't say, hey there.
(26:01):
Hey there.
I just, I'm like, okay, you'veobviously good on you because
you've recorded this video andyou're sending it to 20 people,
but I immediately didn't feelthe connection.
I would rather if that personsaid, Hi, Nikki, I'm recording
you a quick video because Iwanted to introduce myself and I
hope you're having a freakingawesome day.
(26:21):
Like it actually just could be,right?
That simple.
Speaker (26:25):
Yeah, it's it is, it's really important.
And when you say don't becheesy, I think you so somebody
here realistic in my mind, uh,LinkedIn uh train Angus Grady in
the UK.
And and and uh, dear Angus, ifyou're listening to this, he can
be quite cheesy, but it reallyworks.
So he actually quite literallyholds a piece of paper that
literally says the person'sname.
(26:46):
And he's like, Yes! And that'sa still image of the video.
So you're like, okay, it'sclearly for me because he's
written Karen Tisdell on it, youknow, and it is really cheesy.
And he's like, I hope thiscaught your attention.
Just wanted to jump into yourinbox and just say how thrilled
I am to be connected to you, youknow, as someone who's got real
(27:06):
expertise in your industry andyour space around this, you
know, I'm really thrilled to beconnected.
Just want to jump in and sayhi, you know, let me know if you
ever want to know more about,you know, pipes or whatever.
Like, you know, it's just yes,yes.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
And I think that's a really important uh reminder.
Remember, if you're doingLinkedIn voice notes, it is
literally uh you've got athree-step, it's it's is it take
us through that.
From your words, we'll bebetter.
Speaker (27:30):
Absolutely.
So you can only do it on yourLinkedIn um phone.
So um, so you've got to havethe app on your phone.
You've got to be connected tothe person.
A really great time to do it iswhen you have just connected to
them.
So you don't have to have justconnected to them yesterday or
whatever, but they are a new-ishconnection.
(27:50):
Maybe even actually they'relike three, four months old, but
you've never spoken to thembefore.
So you're connected to them.
Um, so you bring up theirprofile.
I brought up yours.
I click on message, and then atthe very bottom here, I've got
a little microphone.
I click on that once and itbrings up a blue dot.
I depress the blue dot and itstarts recording a message.
I've only got one minute.
(28:11):
One minute, which is so good.
So good.
If I don't like what I say, Ijust delete it.
Really important to notoverthink it in that.
Don't record your voice noteand then listen to it and then
send it.
Otherwise, every voice note'sgonna take you three or four
minutes.
Just smash it out.
Done is better than perfect.
Being human is fine.
(28:32):
Um, I love, uh I'm glad itresonated with you that
expression bridge sentences.
So I will typically start withthem and end with them.
Really thrilled to be connectedto you because I said, not
because like in my prospect, butyou know, I find it interesting
and do this or whatever.
So something about them, and Iend with something that is about
them, but often about the citythey're in, the weather in that
(28:55):
area, or something happening, orsomething, something like that.
So it's sort of about them, butit's a bit broader at the end.
In the middle, I do a I don'tknow if you had a chance to have
a look at my profile.
Um, but if you did, you mighthave noticed I and then I
describe what I do.
So that's my bridge.
I don't know if you had achance to look at my profile.
(29:16):
And that's my bridge to thentalk about what I do very
briefly, and it just kind ofslips out.
You know, so that's your thing,you know, let me know.
Anyway, just wanted to reachout and say thanks so much for
connecting.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah.
Okay, I love it.
So if we're creating a processout of this, we're connecting.
We're doing high-qualityconnections, we're actually
doing a little bit ofintentional searching for who do
we want to be connected from?
An A player, ideal client, or Bplayer, increasing network and
can be connected to idealclient.
We're reaching out and doingconnections every week.
We're then sending a bridgingmessage, the bridging message or
(29:51):
sentence, bridging sentence,which could be a handwritten,
handwritten, wow, I'm reallyfrom the 1900s, which could be a
typed out, great to beconnected, really appreciate it.
Or that's where you could do avoice note or a video with the
same kind of script that Karenwas talking about.
Potentially two weeks later,you might share a little
something.
It could be an invite to anevent.
It could be a here's a coolstat.
(30:12):
Here's a great resource.
Typically, not something thatyou've necessarily created
yourself so that it's not ickysalesy.
So it's not your lead magnetyet.
It's not, and then maybe it'salmost like the rules of two.
And then two months later, youcan then come back and you know,
something else that you can addvalue or invite them to
something, or I'm in your town.
Speaker (30:31):
Invite them to an event, your company's doing
something like that.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
But don't thrust the link on them.
And don't thrust the link onthem.
I also think mix it up.
You know, if you sent a voicenote last time and you didn't
get a response, maybe do ahandwritten a handwritten, what
is with me in handwriting today?
Do a how I'm going with it, doa written res do a written
message the next time.
I think it's always really goodto get creative and mix it up
as well.
So, Karen, what are yourthoughts on?
(30:54):
We can look at who's viewed ourprofile, which I think is a
really valuable place to look.
What are your thoughts on howcan we, like, is there a
potential to look at who'sviewed our profile to
potentially um nurture that leada little bit quicker?
Knowing that, because the bowthe barrier I get to around this
(31:15):
is they're probably looking atmy profile because I've sent
them a connection request, notnecessarily because they're an
active potential buyer, but someof them might be.
So, how do we weed through thatso it actually doesn't become
icky?
You know, you viewed myprofile.
Well, yeah, because you sent mea connection request.
Speaker (31:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I just have a habit.
So I'm I'm all for likeyourself, I'm all for habits and
routines, you know, structureskeep us moving forward.
So I'm all for um doing asearch through your network.
And I'd love to return to howyou do a search because
everybody may be thinking, oh mygosh, now I've got to pay for
sales navigator.
You don't.
Yep.
Oh, that was another question.
(31:54):
Yep.
Yeah.
So um, so having the same timeevery week, every week, and once
a fortnight you're doing thesearch.
Alternate fortnight, you'resending those bridging
sentences.
You're managing your LinkedIninbox, which is I I know a bit
clunky, by noticing it.
Look at your DMs and noticethat you can actually star
(32:17):
messages.
So you're starring messages,you're marking them as unread so
that you've got a, oh, who do Ifollow up on?
I can't even navigate my inbox,you know.
So to have a your own system,whether it's marking them as
unread or starring the ones youneed to return to.
Um, so something like that, andmaking sure that you're
archiving them as well.
So click on the three dots onthe right and archive the
(32:39):
messages.
Don't ever delete them, archivethem so you've got that message
stream.
So if you can't manage yourinbox, the best process in the
world is gonna fall apart, fallapart.
So make sure you're managingthat correctly.
Right.
You don't have to aim for azero inbox, but just make sure
that you're using star, unread,and archive.
Yeah.
Otherwise, you're not gonnaknow who you're returning back
(33:00):
to.
You can keep spreadsheets andstuff like that, but if you can
keep it all nice in one place,the whole point of those
messages are to try and movepeople off platform.
So you want to have as manycontacts as you can in that
ecosystem.
So A players, B players, Cplayers.
So that you are the one in theindustry and you know everybody
(33:20):
because the more connectionsyou've got who are in industry,
the more your second network is.
So your first connections,those are all people you already
know.
Your second connections, you'vegot connections in common.
Second network, you've gotconnections in common.
Your third network, you don'thave anybody in common.
Really low trust.
So it'll be like a snowball, ifyou're like, rolling down a
(33:41):
hill.
It's gonna get bigger andbigger and bigger the more
connections you get.
So making sure that you arealways growing that network, you
are always reaching out and youare always being just really
light touch and really humanwith your interactions.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yep, beautiful.
So the star is like definitelysomething I'd for sure need to
start doing.
In mails.
Let's talk about in mailbecause I don't know about you,
but when I receive an email,immediately I don't even read
it.
To me, it screams sales.
But is that just my perception?
Or so I always think send amessage from the main message,
(34:20):
not from an in mail.
Speaker (34:22):
Yeah.
So another thing I neglected tomanage is you've actually now
got two inboxes on LinkedIn.
So you've also got you've gotyour LinkedIn message box, but
if you look closely, you've alsogot something called other.
So you could always puteverybody that you want to
respond to back in other.
I've set my other up so thatthe messages I don't want to
(34:43):
hear or don't want to see, suchas in mails, automatically go
into my other.
You might have a differentsystem.
So um, or no system yet.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Um I feel like it automatically does that for me.
It's so intuitive, it knowsthat I don't want to see those
messages.
Speaker (34:58):
And just put the in mails straight in other.
And I think actually it startedhappening to me automatically,
and then I got a couple land,and I was just like, no, put
them in other.
So um, I don't like in mails.
To me, they just scream sales.
But I was speaking to somebodyrecently, a salesperson, and
they use loads, they max outtheir um in mails.
(35:20):
They've got a premium account,so you get loads of in mails.
They max them out and they wona massive deal with Qantas, our
airlines here in Australia.
Wow.
Through an in mail, yeah.
So um, yeah, so they made asale through an in mail
LinkedIn.
Look, so I it is possible,apparently, but um, I just
always feel it's it's sales-y.
(35:41):
I also feel that sendingsomebody an in mail instantly
scream sales to me, and alsoyou'll forget that if you're
connected to them, you canautomatically message them.
So you want those connectionsbecause it's never a no, it's a
not yet.
You know, you want to have notjust sales today and sales
(36:01):
tomorrow, but sales next weekand next month and the month
after that and the year afterthat.
You know, you you don't want itto be a finite number.
So if we think about wherepeople are at in their buying
journey, not everybody's readyto buy at the right time.
So you want to make sure thatyou're not missing any
opportunities by having allthose connections.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
So really it's about understanding and bringing this
concept of the cold, warm, andhot nurture to LinkedIn as well.
So this is such a, I mean, youknow, what are the tool really
where we can actually nurtureall types of leads?
When we're looking at sending aconnection request, message or
no message in the connectionrequest?
Speaker (36:40):
If you don't have LinkedIn Premium, you don't have
any options around this.
So personalized messages forpeople who are on LinkedIn free,
right now only two a month.
Wow.
So I know it's um, but thishasn't created what LinkedIn had
hoped it would create.
Um, I believe that LinkedInwere, you know, because it's
(37:03):
it's a money-making machine, ofcourse.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah.
Speaker (37:05):
Um, and so I think that they hoped that by reducing the
number of personalized invites,more people would pay for
premium.
I'm sure some people have, butit's also normalized the act of
not leaving a message when youreach out to somebody.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I think human behavior haschanged as well.
When I look at how my teenagersinteract and I and I a lot of a
(37:29):
lot of the young people, youknow, there's a huge reticence
these days around talking topeople face to face.
There's a huge reticence aroundhaving a phone call.
People are mediating thingsthrough really short text
messages and WhatsApp and thelike.
So we're becoming more, we'rebecoming shyer while
counterintuitively alsolonelier.
(37:49):
So I think we need to realizethat if we are sending a
personalized message, it can'tactually be too personal because
you it'll feel creepy topeople.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yes.
Well, again, it comes down tothe human connection.
Speaker (38:03):
Yeah, it does.
It does.
So when people have uhremarking on things in my
profile, such as where I'vestudied and stuff like that, I'm
like, did you just put myprofile into AI and say creep?
Like, you know what I mean?
I'm like, did you really readthat?
Yeah, I know.
I'm like, oh, it feels creepyand weird.
So so I think people are alsofeeling a bit creeped out.
So don't feel you need to.
I know I'm fencing on thisquestion.
(38:24):
I'm not giving a yes-no on thisbecause um it it doesn't matter
if you don't personalize thatinvite for most prospects.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Yeah.
Speaker (38:34):
LinkedIn are putting out stats saying you have to
personalize because you'll get ahigher acceptance rate.
LinkedIn are putting out thatstat.
They're not showing theevidence.
Who knows?
So long as you follow it upwith that second message, and
that second message isn't aninstant sales pitch, otherwise,
they will disconnect you fromyou, block you, and potentially
(38:55):
report you.
So that's why you want to goreally chip.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
I did almost go to LinkedIn jail once, excuse me.
Um, so I've been very carefuluh since then.
Again, what I'm really hearingwith all of this is would we do
it at a networking event?
You know, would we have goneand looked at their website?
Well, maybe when before we meetthem, but we wouldn't then kind
of verbatim, here's the thingsI loved about your website, be
great to shake your hand andmeet you right now.
(39:20):
Um, you know, short, sharp,sweet, some character, some
genuineness if you are going towrite a message.
Mix it up, do some without, dosome with, kind of see for
yourself what the results are.
And even this whole, becauseagain, I see it so much.
People are rushing to sendthrough whatever that thing is
that they sell or the offer ordiscover meeting.
It's like, why are they gonnasay yes?
(39:41):
Would they say yes to you ifyou were um if you were standing
in front of them?
So I do want to reiterate thatbecause as you sort of alluded
to before, and I get it becauseI'm an impatient person.
I'm like, what's the quickprocess?
But actually, we're dealingwith humans here, even though it
is online, it is as though weare in person.
(40:01):
So there's got to be somethinginteresting, meaningful, of
value, piques their curiosityfor them to actually move from
on, you know, LinkedIn to um ameeting or a catch up or coming
to an event or a phone call orwhatever else it might be.
Uh so look, LinkedIn is can getvery cloud uh crowded as well.
And we've talked about somereally good practical strategies
(40:24):
on how to engage and nurtureand use LinkedIn as a tool.
We've not really even touchedon content.
I do have uh a quick questionaround that because I I tend to
see salespeople, that's notwhere business owners, that's
where their mind goes to first.
I need to create content.
Salespeople, that doesn't evenkind of even register, I think,
for them somewhat.
And obviously, we need to havea half decent bio.
(40:46):
It doesn't have to be thefanciest, but I guess what's the
minimum that a salespersonneeds to do in terms of making
sure that their bio isprofessional enough that it
sets, you know, good enoughmessage and for content,
creating content, becausethey're not necessarily
marketers, you know.
But is it a critical importantpart of LinkedIn to generate
(41:07):
leads?
Speaker (41:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
So uh on that profile piece,don't talk about sales, don't
talk about business development,don't talk about that world
trip that you were given for thevolume of sales that you made.
Talk about your expertise andyour passion and your genuine
interest in the industry thatyou're in.
(41:28):
Talk about the pain, theproblems, talk to some case
studies, some of the differenceyou've made and why you enjoy it
and what you like about it.
You want to show that this isthe sort of thing that you're an
expert in, that you're readinglots about, so that your very
well-informed customer who'salso read a lot about it,
doesn't have to keep reading.
(41:48):
Yeah.
They can just go, great, I'veread a lot.
That lines up with what thisperson's saying.
I feel trust.
And we have a lot ofconnections in common.
I feel trust.
With that creating contentpiece, I'm seeing two different
types of content to divide itinto two buckets.
So, one, there is that thoughtleadership content.
So that's where you can createtips and show what actually for
(42:11):
salespeople you could even havea third.
So you're sharing tips andinformation on uh frequently
asked questions.
So, what are your frequentlyasked questions?
What are your FAQs?
Ask your customer service team.
In fact, get them to BCC you ontheir emails.
What are the frequently askedquestions that you get?
That's what you create contentabout.
(42:32):
Great.
The second type of content I'mseeing quite a lot is really
emotional content and reallypersonal content.
And that's where you have togo.
What's my role in theorganization?
How would my organization feelabout this?
Don't make it political.
You know, is this okay for meto say?
And if you can, try and make itquirky personal.
So I did quite well with uh apiece that I wrote ages ago.
(42:56):
Um, and I just happened tomention that as a child of the
1980s, because I am that old aswe've established earlier today.
I I used to do roller skating.
I was one of those rollerskating girls.
And um and so you can so seethat, can't you?
Speaker 1 (43:09):
And um I do, I love it.
I'm jealous.
I'm roller skating.
unknown (43:14):
Do it.
I love that.
Speaker (43:15):
Yeah, I didn't do that.
I was totally out there.
And so I mentioned that in apost.
So something about, you know,the dog you had, roller skating.
Yeah, you know, though, youknow still be light,
entertaining.
Something light andentertaining, but make it into a
metaphor.
Use AI to make it into ametaphor or to weave it into a
story or something that's aboutyour work.
(43:36):
You don't want to make it allpersonal, otherwise, you're
confusing how it is your thoughtor.
Yep.
Um, the third piece of contentthat I think salespeople can put
out is really by sharing casestudies, you've got permission
to share, um, and also bylooking at what's happening in
your industry.
So this is similar to thoughtleadership in that it's it's
asking, answering frequentlyasked questions, but it may just
(44:00):
be an event that you've goneto.
Take pictures of all of thespeakers, reiterate their key
points, like be the spokespersonfor your industry.
So not just your company, notjust your FAQs, but what's
happening more broadly.
And if you can always make yourthose types of content, we
think about this as you know,number three type of content,
(44:23):
then that is, you know, makingit about other people, other
things, other movers, othershakers.
Make your customers the hero.
Jump on and do a quick videowith them.
You know, make them like, youknow, make them famous, talk
about it.
There are a lot of beautiful uhengineers doing some really
great work on LinkedIn, and oneof them is in Western Australia,
(44:46):
and he does something to dowith I kid you not, pipes.
And these pipes are massive andthey travel around Australia on
on road trains, and he doesvideo sh footage with like a
drone of these pipes just goingthrough different places and
things like that.
And the amount of clicks thesethis content gets is huge.
Anybody in the buildingconstruction sales, that sort of
(45:10):
stuff, people love seeingtunnels being built, they love
behind the scenes.
I know it sounds really weird,people love it.
Get out your phone, shoot aquick video.
Just check with Malarketing.
Are we allowed to show this?
You know, because they mighthave a fit if you do a video and
nobody's wearing their safetyhats or something.
Oh, yeah.
Just check with the legalities,you know, is this all all
(45:30):
right?
But um, those are the sort ofpieces of content.
But in terms of your success,remember that you really do need
to reach out.
And on LinkedIn, you've gotthose search.
So in the top left-hand corner,you've got a search bar on
LinkedIn, and it's not just fornames.
You can put one keyword inthere and then look on your
screen for all filters.
(45:52):
And I say look on your screenbecause I reckon in 2026,
probably 2027 is definitely,they're gonna move that all
filters button.
So that all filters button iswhere you can search by
industry, you can search by jobtitle right at the very bottom.
I need to pay sales navigator.
(46:12):
Yes.
Yep.
And you can also search bycompany, you know.
So if you bring up a companypage on LinkedIn, just hover
over where it says employees andyou can click on that, and
again, you can click on allfilters.
But that all filters buttonI've seen on some profiles has
moved.
So I reckon LinkedIn areprobably gonna move it
permanently later in the year.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
They keep they're keeping us on our toes, that's
for sure.
I love the intention behindeven searching for a company and
then adding multiple people inthat company because again, that
creates that second connectiontrust factor.
I feel like, Karen, we're gonnahave to do a part two of this
because there's still so muchthat we can, you know, kind of
(46:54):
talk about.
But I feel like this is there'sthere's so much in what we
talked about today in terms ofcreating a nurture and
engagement strategy.
Uh, quickly on posting, howoften, what's the minimum for
some a salesperson to post?
Once a week.
Speaker (47:08):
Once a week before I think if you do a week habit,
like just once a week, what'shappening this week?
Speaker 1 (47:14):
And even I'm thinking the personal, because some
people might be resistant tothat, particularly if we've been
on LinkedIn for a while andwe're transitioning to it's not
a corporate, you know, it'sactually this is a part of your
professional brand and creatingconnection.
But I even think that categorycould be a behind the scenes,
you know, behind the scenesphoto of I'm like in the store,
(47:35):
in the work, in the warehouse,walking to a client appointment,
you know, like you out in thewild.
So people are getting to knowwho you are.
But again, it's not toopersonal if you're starting to
warm up to this.
Speaker (47:47):
And you're showing the values of your of the
organization as well.
And you've got to remember alot of buyers are buying for
values.
Um, you know, it's reallyinteresting how um how people
will go, you know, I don't wantto buy from that company.
Like they want switch, they dothis, they don't have nice
values, you know.
True.
You're somebody with a bunch ofintegrity.
So if you see people onLinkedIn and they're going, you
(48:10):
know, oh my gosh, we're justcelebrating that so-and-so's had
a birthday or whatever, likeyou might go, oh my gosh, really
putting this on LinkedIn, butyou know, and then you do a
piece about the values of theorganization.
That's what I love aboutworking here.
You're not talking about thisis all of us on the yacht at
Sydney Harbor celebrating ourmassive sales year.
You're talking about thevalues, the feeling, what the
(48:30):
organization cares about.
Show all that behind the scenesstuff.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
Amazing.
There are so many good tacticalthings for salespeople and all
of us to really take away.
So if if if somebody'slistening and watching,
thinking, oh, where do I start?
What's one action that they cantake in the next 24 hours that
you think would be reallyvaluable for them?
Speaker (48:51):
Change your job title on LinkedIn from sales to
something something expert.
Be an expert, be a specialist.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Value value.
Simple and so powerful.
Thank you so much, Karen.
Now, no surprises, people canfind you on LinkedIn.
And you are extremely generouswith resources, FAQs.
You have so many, so manytidbits.
So, where do you want people tocome and friendly stalk you?
Speaker (49:18):
Yeah, come and find me on LinkedIn.
Click more or the three buttonson my profile and click
connect.
Don't just follow me.
And I do.
I've got tons of free stuff.
Tons and tons and tons of freestuff.
So if there's anything you'rewondering, let me know.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
You're so generous with your time and thank you for
sharing your knowledge.
And also, I'm going to put anextra challenge out there to you
beautiful people.
Why not send Karen or me orboth of us a LinkedIn voice
note?
Extra bonus points for you.
And actually, if you do that, Iwill send you a copy of my
book, first person to do that ofHealthy Hustle.
(49:49):
So if Karen or I, first personto get a voice note or a video,
I mean, you know, then I'm gonnasend you a copy of my book.
Uh, thank you so much forjoining us for this episode.
It is filled to the brim withso many practical strategies,
tools, techniques for us toreally utilize LinkedIn as an
amazing sales tool that it is.
(50:10):
Karen, thank you for joining usonce again.
And I reckon we book in a parttwo in a few months so we can go
even deeper.
Have a great day, everybody.
Thanks so much.
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