Episode 81
Mastering LinkedIn Growth: AI Tools, Videos, and Building Credibility
Ever feel like your LinkedIn profile is just collecting digital dust? You're not alone! In this episode, I chat with Al Kushner, bestselling author and LinkedIn growth strategist, about transforming your professional presence on the platform.
Optimizing Your Profile for Impact
- Why your profile is your digital first impression
- Key elements that make profiles stand out
- The often-overlooked power of recommendations
Content Creation Strategies
- Why video is a game-changer on LinkedIn
- The ideal length for maximum engagement
- How AI can supercharge your content game
Common LinkedIn Pitfalls
- Treating LinkedIn like other social platforms
- The "post and ghost" trap
- Neglecting to update your profile regularly
AI's Role in LinkedIn's Future
- How AI is reshaping content creation
- Potential new features on the horizon
- Balancing AI assistance with authentic engagement
Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, Al's insights will help you make the most of LinkedIn's potential. From crafting compelling content to building meaningful connections, discover how to stand out in the digital professional landscape.
"You don't get a second chance to make a first impression." - Al Kushner
Ready to revamp your LinkedIn strategy? Tune in to learn how to transform your profile from a static resume to a dynamic networking powerhouse!
Al's Book: https://amzn.to/4lsCVCT
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker:That's good. Hey guys, it's a new episode
Speaker:and always I'm going to give you some little tips and
Speaker:tricks that I've actually learned from this. But this week is all
Speaker:about LinkedIn and I have Al and he is the best selling author
Speaker:and sought after LinkedIn growth strategist, Renown
Speaker:on his innovative approach to digital marketing. His
Speaker:groundbreaking book, the AI LinkedIn Advantage has
Speaker:transformed how professionals and businesses leverage
Speaker:artificial intelligence to prioritize their LinkedIn
Speaker:presence. But I've learned so much from this. I've
Speaker:learned just how to optimize my LinkedIn profile, what to do, what
Speaker:not to do. And so my questions for you is,
Speaker:how have you optimized your LinkedIn profile? What areas do you still
Speaker:need to optimize it? And what did you learn out of this that you didn't
Speaker:know about LinkedIn? All right, let's get on to the episode. Thank you.
Speaker:Great to be here. And first question is all my guest is,
Speaker:are you a coffee or tea drinker? Neither. I don't do caffeine.
Speaker:So you just do like straight water or do you have like other things you
Speaker:do? Herbal tea is great. I like robust tea. Um,
Speaker:you know, it depends on the time of day, but I don't need anything to
Speaker:wake me up in the morning. I just wake up naturally, so that's a
Speaker:good thing. My wife is another story, but, you. Know, so she
Speaker:takes all the caffeine for you is what I'm hearing. It is unfortunate, but
Speaker:hey, listen, you gotta work with what you're given and, you know,
Speaker:if it makes it hap. Makes her happy, why not? You know, I'm all for
Speaker:it, but we have a little coffee maker which we use the pods
Speaker:so we don't get the. Unlike a traditional coffee maker where they fills up the
Speaker:whole room with coffee smell, this is just individual. So it's really great. And I
Speaker:use it for other things too. They have one for hot chocolate and one
Speaker:for herbal tea. So it's really quite convenient. And
Speaker:especially when you have guests over there, you give them a lot of options, you
Speaker:know, it's great. So options are always good, but too many
Speaker:options and people go, I don't know what to choose. Just pick one for me.
Speaker:That's why we have a little revolving carousel for different
Speaker:pods. They could choose what they want. You know, we don't have to discriminate. Some
Speaker:people want decaf, other people want regular. People want dark rose, they
Speaker:want light roast. I give them options. So why not make them
Speaker:make them? And I Gave a brief some of your
Speaker:expertise. Can you give our listeners a little bit more about what you do? Well,
Speaker:I'm LinkedIn. I help people
Speaker:optimize their profile. I work with a lot of
Speaker:individuals as well as companies training them to
Speaker:make their, you know, profile more impactful,
Speaker:which is important. I do speaking engagements, so I speak to
Speaker:groups on LinkedIn strategies. So I
Speaker:just basically help people to make it more
Speaker:a platform that's more easy to use and more, more
Speaker:better for what they do. Got you. And how have your
Speaker:approaches to AI and LinkedIn strategy evolved over time in any
Speaker:particular pivotal lessons from the early stages of your career? I would say
Speaker:that AI has been pretty significant in
Speaker:creating content as well as
Speaker:developing different types of strategies that
Speaker:normally were not available years ago. So it's really been a game changer, I
Speaker:think, and a lot of people are really not understanding the
Speaker:process. But I was an early adapter to it, so I found it to be
Speaker:really, you know, a great way to
Speaker:connect with people by using this tool, which saves time.
Speaker:But there are learning curves you need to understand.
Speaker:So it's not a type of tool that, you know, is one size,
Speaker:fit all, you know, you need to really understand the purposes
Speaker:of it and sometimes it makes mistakes. It is evolving,
Speaker:so, but I, I embrace it, so that's a good thing. What makes
Speaker:your approach to LinkedIn strategy distinct from others? I mean, I
Speaker:embrace AI technology whereby others may not
Speaker:necessarily on board with that, you know, and they don't really
Speaker:understand it for the most part. So I'm really became
Speaker:more of a thought leader and I create articles and
Speaker:content to educate people. Why? AI is definitely
Speaker:the future for any type of relationship building, which
Speaker:I think is key for engagement on
Speaker:platforms like LinkedIn, you know, and that's really essential. You know, you
Speaker:relate to either, you know, you, you get with the program
Speaker:or you get left behind. And I wasn't going to be in that situation,
Speaker:so I really took advantage of the different, you
Speaker:know, applications are. Available and how do you
Speaker:incorporate it into LinkedIn strategies to create standout results for clients?
Speaker:Content creation obviously is key also
Speaker:when you are on LinkedIn to focus in on
Speaker:making your profile stand out, you know, because before you do any type
Speaker:of outreach, you really need to understand that people are going to
Speaker:look at your profile and judge you based on that. You only got a few
Speaker:seconds, you know, and they say you don't get a second chance to make a
Speaker:first impression. And that's true. You know, that's something that I find to be
Speaker:Important. So before you do any outreach, you really need to look at your
Speaker:profile and understand what you're
Speaker:presenting, you know, and that really is going to make a difference in terms
Speaker:of the value that you are given to someone,
Speaker:you know, in terms of what you present. I mean, a lot of times
Speaker:they'll judge you based on the amount of followers that you have or the amount
Speaker:of recommendations you have. And people really don't understand if it's important
Speaker:or not, you know, and for me, recommendations are essential,
Speaker:you know, for any type of, you know,
Speaker:trust, you know, when, when dealing with people. Have
Speaker:you looked at your profile at all? Have you thought about anything
Speaker:that might be held for improvement at all? Basically
Speaker:recommendations. Okay, well,
Speaker:touched a nerve there. Yeah, I mean, I got
Speaker:everything pretty much okay. That's the
Speaker:most I already know that's the most that I need to actually focus on a
Speaker:little bit more. I mean, I do create the content, I do use the
Speaker:newsletter like I do use all the features. It's just the one thing that's the
Speaker:older thing of all the other tools that I don't use very well.
Speaker:Well, that's essential, you know, when you're looking at that, you know, updating, you
Speaker:know, portraits, looking at the background images as well
Speaker:are essential. But any recommendations are something a lot of people just
Speaker:seem to ignore or don't know how to do. And I'm very good at, you
Speaker:know, doing that and helping people. And that really is going to build a lot
Speaker:of trust you, you know, because it's about who you say you are and
Speaker:it's social proof, it's third party endorsements that's going to be your key to gain
Speaker:trust. So I work with people to help them develop that and become
Speaker:more proactive in getting that. So that's important. Is there like
Speaker:one good tip you could tell our listeners to like get more recommendations? Because I
Speaker:feel like it's the asking part that stops a lot of people from doing
Speaker:it because you're like, I don't know if I'm ever rejected or not or
Speaker:if I asked the wrong person that really doesn't like me. Well, the ideal way
Speaker:to do it is that if you are working with a client who's very happy
Speaker:with your work, I'd reach out to them and just say, you know, ask
Speaker:them for a couple of kind words, you know, to share that, you know, help
Speaker:them in, you know, in what you did for them. That really makes a
Speaker:difference, you know. So if you have a relationship with someone, they're on LinkedIn
Speaker:you know, it really works out and a lot of times they'll appreciate a recommendation
Speaker:on your part too. So it's usually a win, win situation.
Speaker:And that's something that you really got to be more proactive in doing because that
Speaker:really is going to make a difference, you know, and getting, you know, the
Speaker:trust value that really makes a difference. Are there
Speaker:any surprising or unconventional tactics you employ with LinkedIn
Speaker:that produce significant outcomes? Videos. Videos
Speaker:on LinkedIn are game changer. You know, people post
Speaker:articles, but the fact is, is that you're competing with so
Speaker:many people out there for articles and
Speaker:sometimes people skip that. But videos are getting a lot of more
Speaker:attention than they didn't have before. And LinkedIn is promoting
Speaker:videos with their algorithm. So you'll find you'll get a lot more
Speaker:views by creating video content that really is
Speaker:going to make you set, set yourself apart from the competition.
Speaker:And this is the short videos because they, they've had like two different versions of
Speaker:it. They had like the square version and then they pivoted over to more of
Speaker:the vertical YouTube shorts. LinkedIn, I
Speaker:mean, TikTok and stuff. Well, they have both, you know, so it's still there.
Speaker:But I think if you provide a video
Speaker:and ideally the content should be under 2 minutes,
Speaker:sweet spot is about 90 seconds, enough to get
Speaker:attention and to provide value to whoever you're connecting
Speaker:with and, and that's really what you want to focus on. Keep it under the
Speaker:2 minutes and provide information that would be valuable
Speaker:to the people watching. Oh, and most importantly, have subtitles
Speaker:that people need to understand. Subtitles in your videos
Speaker:are crucial because a lot of people watch videos but they don't have the sound
Speaker:on. So without a subtitle, a lot of times they'll just
Speaker:skip it. So that's something you should have when
Speaker:posting videos. What are some of the other common challenges
Speaker:that clients face with LinkedIn growth? Is it not enough videos? Is
Speaker:it not really caring about your profile? Like, what are
Speaker:the common challenges? Well, being consistent, of course. You know, having
Speaker:newsletters would be ideal. You can do up to five newsletters, I believe,
Speaker:with LinkedIn. So you should optimize that and do it at least once a
Speaker:week if you can, you know, so people get to see you and the
Speaker:algorithm loves it, you know, which is great. Having
Speaker:newsletter, being consistent with that and also using some of the more
Speaker:advanced tools on LinkedIn like Sales Navigator, which
Speaker:allows you to know who's looked at your profile so you can kind of
Speaker:reply back to people who checked out your profile and Ask them. Hey, thanks for
Speaker:stopping by. What drove you to look at my profile? You know, that's
Speaker:something important to have engagement, you know, that's really a
Speaker:good thing to have. What are the misconceptions
Speaker:do people have often with LinkedIn for professional development or branding? Because
Speaker:I see on YouTube like LinkedIn cringe, and there is some cringe on LinkedIn where
Speaker:it's like a little overdone, where it's like, I care about my job
Speaker:this much and normal people are like, okay, you don't care about your job that
Speaker:much. I find it's kind of almost ridiculous that some people treat it
Speaker:like Facebook, you know, and they post like they drink in the morning. Here's my
Speaker:coffee, is what I had for lunch. People don't care on LinkedIn about that,
Speaker:the case, you know, and they really just get so self absorbed, you know,
Speaker:or they're just promoting themselves. You know, that's really something that is a turn
Speaker:off for a lot of people who are on there, you know, and then you're
Speaker:not going to get a lot of traction keeping posting things that are really
Speaker:just narcissistic, if you want to say
Speaker:so. You really got to give value whoever you're posting to. And
Speaker:that's really the key to win on LinkedIn. You know, give value,
Speaker:give more than you receive. That's what you have to do. And should
Speaker:people be commenting more on other people's posts to get them in kind of in
Speaker:the, in the mind's eye or the awareness of you? Because
Speaker:I've seen a lot of people say, like commenting other people's posts that you may
Speaker:want to meet eventually or have a virtual chat or whatever could help as
Speaker:well. Well, commenting is, is, is important, but
Speaker:it's also what you say that is, brings
Speaker:meaning and value. You know, just saying, you know, hey, thanks for sharing,
Speaker:really. It's just, you know, it's almost a default on LinkedIn,
Speaker:you know, itself and that should not be the case. You know, be sincere in
Speaker:your praise, offer, you know,
Speaker:constructive criticism, you know, talk about things that are going to
Speaker:add value to that individual's post. Because a lot of times when
Speaker:people post, they really get very few replies at all, if
Speaker:anything. So if you're posting, you know, make it meaningful, make it
Speaker:count. So you get someone who may decide they'll check out your profile
Speaker:because you left a great comment that, you know, made their day. That's funny
Speaker:because today I just got someone saying, thanks for sharing. I
Speaker:was like, I don't know what to do with this, but okay, yeah. So that's
Speaker:really, that's something that people don't understand. You gotta go beyond that, you know, and
Speaker:there's really, there's no excuse not to do that. So you're better off not
Speaker:saying anything than saying thanks for sharing. So where do you see AI making the
Speaker:biggest impact on LinkedIn marketing in the next five years? Well, I, I
Speaker:certainly see it with content creation. I see it with video
Speaker:creation. This is definitely the, the future of it
Speaker:and it's just going to be a great way to
Speaker:save people a lot of time and energy on posting and,
Speaker:and using a platform compared to the old
Speaker:fashioned method of trying to think of what to say. You know, LinkedIn
Speaker:with Plat, you know, products like ChatGPT
Speaker:could help create ideas for content or ideas for a
Speaker:video that are important for growth.
Speaker:And that's when I see the future is AI, is
Speaker:the future of LinkedIn. So that's important.
Speaker:And do you think like the AI
Speaker:avatars that the script has just come out with will play on it
Speaker:apart as well? Because the script, I think a few weeks ago came out
Speaker:with their actual AI avatars that will, you don't even have to be on the
Speaker:video now. It can kind of mimic you or mimic somebody else. I mean,
Speaker:certainly it's going to, you know, create attention.
Speaker:If you are giving information that's going to be of value, you know,
Speaker:to whoever's going to be watching. Remember, you got to keep it short, you know,
Speaker:make it 90 seconds and you got to grab their attention, you know, just like
Speaker:a movie trailer. If you don't get their attention the first five or 10 seconds,
Speaker:they're not going to watch your video. So regardless of whatever avatar using, if it's
Speaker:boring, you know, or it's not captivating, you're not going to get
Speaker:anyone to watch it. And it's just going to be something that's
Speaker:not ideal. So you got to be really
Speaker:more important to be editing whatever you're doing and
Speaker:making sure that it's going to be something that somebody's going to watch.
Speaker:And if LinkedIn were to adopt new AI features, what,
Speaker:what would you like to see? Well, I would say that,
Speaker:you know, you know, help with creating content would be
Speaker:a good thing to have, you know, whether it's helping
Speaker:with videos, but also,
Speaker:you know, finding people who are active on LinkedIn, you know, a
Speaker:lot of people are really not active and you're sending out messages to
Speaker:people that don't respond and sometimes that could
Speaker:hurt you as a way too because you send a lot of invites and then,
Speaker:you know, get responses or people don't know who you are, you know,
Speaker:that hurts your outreach, you know, so LinkedIn will
Speaker:slow you down or even shut you down because you're doing these things
Speaker:that are not, you know, you know, ideal for
Speaker:LinkedIn, you know, setting their standards as being, you
Speaker:know, professional platform. It becomes a spammer's paradise. And that's not a way
Speaker:to do that. So the, the old way of looking at LinkedIn was
Speaker:basically you just create an account, put up your resume
Speaker:and then you kind of left like it was. There's nothing to do for it.
Speaker:So that's. Yes, I don't get it. You know, that's what people think, you know,
Speaker:and it surprises me and shocks me that so
Speaker:many of these profiles are just lay dormant, you know, or they have images
Speaker:of things years ago, they haven't updated. It's just
Speaker:part of the. Yeah, I guess the people
Speaker:look at it as just, you know, another tool like a resume, but it's not,
Speaker:it's a lot more than that. So you really need to understand it. That's why
Speaker:I wrote in my book, to learn about some of the resources available. There's no
Speaker:reason why you can't be More active on LinkedIn if you use the tools that
Speaker:are available with AI to help you become more proactive
Speaker:and become more to stand out among the crowd. And
Speaker:it's because there's just too many other social media networks that people
Speaker:are, I guess, more or less addicted to. Like, people
Speaker:check Tick Tock all the time, people check Instagram, YouTube,
Speaker:and it's just not in their habit of actually like wanting to
Speaker:engage on LinkedIn. Is that part of the problem? Well, I think the problem is,
Speaker:is that they kind of mesh it all together and they think it's all the
Speaker:same. Like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are all part of the
Speaker:same ecosystem. I mean, it's a social media platform. That's the only thing they have
Speaker:in common. But you know, LinkedIn is known for, you know, business to business
Speaker:type connections, you know, and someone who's posting on Facebook,
Speaker:you know, personal things or should not be posting the same
Speaker:things on LinkedIn, you know, but they do, you know, it's really
Speaker:shocking. But, you know, you have to treat LinkedIn as a professional
Speaker:platform like a, like a networking type of event.
Speaker:And you only have a short period or a short amount of time to
Speaker:engage with someone that, you know, you need to provide value to whatever you're
Speaker:doing, dealing with you Know, you have to give more than you receive. That's how
Speaker:you do it. And most people don't do that. And what advice
Speaker:do you give someone just starting to use LinkedIn and wanting to tap into
Speaker:just growth and AI. Using Simple, you know, you have to have a foundation.
Speaker:And most important foundation is optimizing your profile. You know, before you do
Speaker:any outreach, you really need to focus on your profile, you know, focus
Speaker:on things that matter to most people, you know, when they
Speaker:connect with you, you know, was who your connections are, who you know,
Speaker:you know, any achievements that you have, awards that you've won,
Speaker:any articles that you published, any recognition.
Speaker:These are things that are crucial as part of a profile, you know, and
Speaker:most importantly, recommendations. You know, that's social proof right there, you
Speaker:know, so these things are just part of it. And unless you don't have
Speaker:that established, you know, it doesn't make sense to do any outreach
Speaker:because people are going to judge you quick and not even look at you, you
Speaker:know, because they just look at your profile as something that is, you
Speaker:know, neglected or unprofessional. So you're
Speaker:really going to really optimize your profile, become more of
Speaker:a. To make the most out of LinkedIn, I would say.
Speaker:And people listening to this episode, they're wondering, where can they find you online? To
Speaker:learn more, go on LinkedIn, look under Al Kushner,
Speaker:check out my profile, reach out. I accept most
Speaker:connections. Of course. I have my book
Speaker:available, LinkedIn Advantage, they can get it on
Speaker:Amazon, also available on Spotify Audiobook if they prefer.
Speaker:So these things are available, these resources. Someone
Speaker:should go ahead and, you know, understand more about it and
Speaker:reach out to me if they want to get some more information.
Speaker:Training, I do as well. So I'm happy to help people wherever
Speaker:I can. And any final thoughts for the listeners on that?
Speaker:You know, there are resources I can send people. An ebook
Speaker:is available as resource. Want to connect with me to learn how to
Speaker:some tips on how to optimize a profile that's free. So just reach out
Speaker:on LinkedIn. Happy to help and connect and, you know,
Speaker:just don't give up on LinkedIn. You know, there is
Speaker:a light at the end of the tunnel. You just need to, you know, get
Speaker:your, you know, your home in order by making your
Speaker:profile the best it can be and at that point go forward
Speaker:and, you know, make, you know, positive connections and
Speaker:make sure it'll be at least a week, you know, respond to people
Speaker:in a timely fashion. That's the way to make the most on LinkedIn, don't post
Speaker:and ghost. You know, a lot of people do that and that's not a thing
Speaker:to do. You really gotta like, I don't. Eh, they,
Speaker:they responded. They only wait a week. You know, that's not a thing to do.
Speaker:So just be more proactive with your connections.
Speaker:All right. Thank you, Al for joining Digital Coffee Marketing Brewing, sharing knowledge on AI
Speaker:and LinkedIn. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker:So guys, how was that episode? Was that good? Was that good? What, what did
Speaker:you learn? Let me know in the comments below. As always, always comment because it's
Speaker:always good. But as always, just subscribe to this
Speaker:podcast. Let me know what you think. Who, who I should bring on the guest
Speaker:if you want to in the comments below as well. But make sure
Speaker:your LinkedIn profile is optimized and ready for your
Speaker:needs for your business or finding a new job. And I'll see you next week
Speaker:where I talk to another great thought leader in the PR marketing industry.
Speaker:All right guys, stay safe. Later.
