LinkedIn Workshop

DCBKK

Jessica Malnik

HOW I SHOW �UP LESS ON LINKEDIN �AND GET �MORE LEADS

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I DO ALL OF THIS IN �ABOUT 3 HOURS PER WEEK

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I DIDN’T POST DAILY. . .

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NO CRINGEY SELFIES �OR TRAUMA DUMPING. . .

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I DIDN’T TRY TO GO “VIRAL”

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I DIDN’T RESORT �TO QUESTIONABLE GIMMICKS �OR AUTOMATION BOTS

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THANKFULLY, DIDN’T WIND UP �ON R/LINKEDIN LUNATICS 🤞

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BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION FIRST!

STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR ICP

• Focus on intent and buying signals NOT just demographics
• Run a minimum of 3 customer interviews:
• JTBD interviews work great!
• Analyze your customer interviews the 80:20 way using Advanced Data Analysis in ChatGPT Plus
• Use that analysis to generate customer personas

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80/20 CUSTOMER RESEARCH ANALYSIS

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STEP 2: IDENTIFY YOUR KEY THEMES

• What do you want your business to be known for?
• What do you want your personal brand to be known for?
• This will give your content that you post on Linkedin structure and a narrative. So, you aren't all over the place
• FOCUS and NICHING DOWN make it easier to stand out and for people to remember you and what problems you solve. This will keep you top of mind when they have a need

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STEP 2: IDENTIFY YOUR KEY THEMES

Here is an example of some key themes that I use in my business for Linkedin:

• You don’t need more writers. You need more marketers who can write
• AI doesn’t replace human creativity. It amplifies it
• Most brands say they want to produce more thought leadership, but few are willing to put in the work to do this. That’s why thought leadership content is still rare and valuable

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STEP 3: OPTIMIZE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE

Dos:

• Add a cover photo and profile photo
• Have a good and clear headline - clear not clever works best
• Make sure you have up-to-date contact info
• Optimize the featured section
• Make sure it is incredibly easy for someone viewing your profile to know what your company does, how you help solve their pain point, and who you work with
• Get a minimum of 3 recommendations
• Get Linkedin Premium. The lowest plan works fine

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MY CONTENT POSTING FRAMEWORK

ONLY 3 POSTS PER WEEK

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LINKEDIN POSTING FRAMEWORK

• 3 posts per week
• 1 high-level strategy post about the state of your industry
1. An astute observation about the industry you are in. (Ex: Most people in the space do X, here’s why you should do Y instead. And why it works so much better for our team)
2. Big picture post but not so big that it ends up being a “fortune cookie post”
• 1 tactical in the weeds post
• (i.e. “I was talking to a Client about X”)
• This is where you demonstrate your business’s expertise
• 1 “money post”
• Alternate between direct and soft CTAs

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POST 1 – �AN INDUSTRY POST

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POST 2 – �“IN THE WEEDS” POST

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POST 3 – �YOUR MONEY POST

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POST 3 – YOUR MONEY POST

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ENGAGE WITH TARGETED �ACCOUNTS 2-3 HOURS PER WEEK

• Reply to everyone who comments on your post (i.e. Don't be that guy or girl who posts and then never replies back to people who take the time to comment)
• Send a connection request to anyone who likes or comments on your post who might be your ICP or there is another interesting angle that could be worth building a relationship with (For example, potential affiliate, someone who you want to hire, etc). It is helpful if they are a 2nd degree connection but doesn't have to be. If you are doing it right, you should expect a 90%+ connection request accept rate. Note: This will also build your following too
• Engage with anyone who views your profile page ideally by commenting on one of their posts and then send a connection request if they reply or like it
• When first starting out, spend most of that time engaging with posts from folks in your ICP as opposed to publishing your own takes

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LINKEDIN METRICS

SO HOW DO I KNOW IF THIS IS WORKING?

• Leading metrics:
• Conversations started + new post comments, and new newsletter subs (from LI - kinda)
• Lagging Metrics:
• New inbound leads, closed-won deals

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PRACTICAL �TIPS THAT �I’VE LEARNED (USUALLY) �THE HARD WAY

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PRACTICE SAYING YOUR KEY THEMES 20 DIFFERENT WAYS

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• This is the heart of good marketing and also a key piece of resonating deeply with your ICP
• Use storytelling to reinforce key points/takeaways, but don’t just tell stories for the sake of it

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OBSESS ABOUT YOUR KEY TAKEAWAYS NOT YOUR STORY

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It doesn’t matter what story you tell. The only thing that matters is how you weave your key takeaways into that story.

Here is a framework that I learned a few years ago:

• Start with a big idea
• Illustrate it with a story
• Share the solution
• Reiterate the big idea (If you want extra emphasis)

So the story is secondary and there to just tie back the key points of your big idea.

ADD YOUR PERSONALITY & WRITE LIKE A HUMAN

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• ChatGPT, Bard, Claude etc. are great for efficiency. However, the content should SOUND like you wrote it if you want to be effective
• This also applies to comments you post on other people's posts. Unless you have ninja-level prompting skills and a very fine-tuned LLM, everyone will notice when you do this

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SAY THE QUIET STUFF OUT LOUD

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• Be a contrarian or a little edgy
• In my experience, these posts generally have lower “engagement” outward-facing in terms of likes and lower reach but much higher levels of engagement (in the form of comments and new leads)
• Also, you'll likely get some hate in the comments (usually from people who are threatened from you challenging the status quo) but if you are posting it well, you'll also start to see other commenters defend you. Amazing to see and thank those people

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WRITE FOR YOUR ICP NOT THE ALGORITHM

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• The LinkedIn algorithm rewards 101-level vanilla content. Even if/when the post goes viral, it is unlikely to land w/ your ICP
• It is safe, usually very well-known advice, and not memorable. OR if memorable, usually for the wrong reasons
• Don’t try to mimic what the biggest LI influencers are writing (i.e. 50k followers and above). They are playing a different game than you

“THE ALGORITHM”

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DON'T CONFUSE REACH FOR RESONANCE

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• You want to persuade, educate, etc. your ICP so they take one of your desired actions. To do that, you need to resonate deeply with them
• Reach alone won't do that. Write for IMPACT and CONNECTION not information
• Info posts are commodities (and will only get commoditized further with AI)
• Posts that deeply connect and move your audience are rare and will be rewarded in the form of new connections, DMs, leads and $$$

DON’T BE “CRINGE”

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AVOID “FORTUNE COOKIE” LINKEDIN POSTS.

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EXPERIMENT WITH POST TIMES

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• My best performing posts are usually posted at odd hours and not during the US 9-5.)
• They also tend to have longer organic reach (i.e. often several days!)

GET CREATIVE WITH HOW YOU USE LINKS ON LINKEDIN

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• You can either post directly - knowing you will get less reach but it might still be seen by some of your ICP. This is worth it in many cases, especially if you include it in your profile featured section
• Post the link in the comments
• Get a friend or a team member to post it for you in the comments. Or ask a question and you reply and share it in there
• Add the link as the main CTA on your profile (ala Instagram style)

BUILD YOUR OWN DATABASE OF YOUR LINKEDIN CONTENT

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DON’T DELEGATE THIS STUFF…

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• Write your own Linkedin posts for the first 6 months. Ghostwriting is hard and rarely works out unless you have a very dialed-in process and have put in the reps to nail your voice, tone, style, and delivery consistently.
• If you give someone your team access to your account, make sure they use a VPN
• Be careful about what “third party LinkedIn tools” you use, especially if automating anything
• Start VERY SLOW when sending out connection requests or DMs

ENGAGEMENT PODS ARE A WASTE OF TIME.

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• Engagement pods are when you get a group of people to all like and comment on each others’ posts right when it goes live
• What works better than engagement pods, collab with folks in your industry, clients, etc.

FOLLOWING AND COMMENTING ON THE BIGGEST CREATORS

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• Following and commenting on the biggest creators can work but it can also be a giant time suck
• Remember the biggest creators are usually playing a different game than you are as a service business