Being The Life Of The LinkedIn Party

What I focus on with my book “LinkedIn Riches” and the associated training I offer is helping small business owners, coaches, and consultants use LinkedIn to generate more leads, sales, and revenue. I stumbled onto LinkedIn when I was working as an employee and I had the itch to strike out on my own.

I knew I was an entrepreneur at heart so I left my job and started my own marketing agency with just one client. What I found was that LinkedIn was a treasure trove of contacts for me to grow my new business.

I was able to generate over $135,000 within 90 days and I never looked back. I see LinkedIn as the most powerful marketing tool available in the world. I like to focus on the “fun” elements of LinkedIn like being personable and marketing to your audience on a 1-1 basis.

Having a hook goes a long way to being memorable on the platform and in life. I can’t escape that my last name “Nemo” reminds everyone of their favorite cartoon fish. I embrace it, I love that little guy, and I love when I’m “found” be new clients! No matter what service you offer, having some more attention will work in your favor.

One aspect of the site that confuses a lot of users is the status update. We know what kinds of statuses we’d write on website’s like Facebook or Twitter, but no one’s sure what is “ok” for LinkedIn.

The biggest thing you have to understand here is that the status updates are front and center on the platform.

 

How To Make Your Statuses “Pop” With A Little Help From Pop Culture Gifs

The number one mistake I see with status updates is people treating them as dumping grounds for sales pitches. They come off as spammy and inauthentic.

Status updates are actually the area to be very personable and to brand yourself.

As I scroll through my updates on LinkedIn it’s easy for me to get overwhelmed. When you’re scrolling, what usually catches your attention? Images right? Definitely. If I wanted to link to a webinar that I’m running LinkedIn will usually auto-populate the link with a thumbnail image from your site.

We can do better than that.

If you “x out” the thumbnail you can then add an image separately that will appear full size in your update. This makes my updates more eye-catching and stops people who are stuck in a mindless scroll.

Now at least I have a chance to convert some eyeballs over to my offer.

The only thing better than a still photo is a photo that moves! I use Buffer to manage my social media and schedule posts that way. Within Buffer, you have access to Giphy. If you’re not familiar with Giphy they’re one of the largest gif libraries online.

Gifs are too much fun. They have become a big part of internet culture and can help you express your point in a deeper way. There are gifs of everything, but many of them are clips taken from pop culture.

I love them! If pop culture’s not your style, there’s plenty of others to choose from.

Using gifs is free and you can search Giphy’s library by keyword. It’s a great way to spice up your updates and help brand yourself.

 

Action Steps

  1. Use your status updates to be personal and brand yourself, don’t just send out sales pitches.
  2. Use eye-catching photos on your updates when you use links by canceling out the auto-populated thumbnail and adding in your own images.
  3. Use a third-party app like Buffer to have access to Giphy in order to use fun, animated gifs.

 

Result You Will Achieve

Higher engagement on your LinkedIn status updates by using photos and gifs with your posts.

Mentor: John Nemo

Founder at LinkedIn Riches. John is a LinkedIn expert trainer, an award winning PR director and a social media consultant.

This article is based on an EHQ interview with the mentor.