In today’s episode of the Social Selling Show, Daniel and Will go through all the new LinkedIn features, updates, and changes you probably didn’t know about as well as how they potentially impact your social selling activities.
Featured on this episode:
Resources:
- The Daily Sales LinkedIn Page
- Restream.io – a cloud multi-streaming service
- Will on LinkedIn
Transcript
Will Barron:
Welcome to the Social Selling Show of myself, Will Barron, founder over at salesman.org, and the king, the king of social selling, Daniel Disney. Daniel, how’s it going, mate?
Daniel Disney:
It is going very well, Will. As I’m sure you can tell, I have a new background behind me, which is very exciting. After a few days of a lot of building, I am now pretty much settled into my new home office working space. So quite excited to be recording today in a slightly different setting.
Will Barron:
Let me ask you this. Have you changed your lighting and other things? Because maybe you’re close to the camera as well, but this seems like… Just anyone who’s doing video calls at the moment, to get some feedback on your setup, what have you done differently other than just the background, because you do look better and cleaner and more smart in the new studio?
Daniel Disney:
Yeah. The reality is it’s not too much different. I’m positioned so over here is a window, so I’ve got good natural light coming in, which makes a difference. I don’t have any artificial lights, even though I’ve got three USB lights set up for when I work in the evenings, during the day, the natural lighting is really, really good. So that would be my only advice to people doing this. If you can find a spot near a window, it does help. But if not, it’s not difficult to get USB lights off of Amazon that pretty much do just as good.
Will Barron:
Yeah. I’m going to… because I’ve just got rid of all my lights. This is great content for anyone who’s listening on audio. There we go. I’ve got a whole bunch of these lights as well. They’re like 15 quid and they’re may be another five, 10 quid for the stand. But if you’re not near a window, if you’re in a boxed-off room with no windows, I feel bad for you if you’re working from home in that environment, one. But then two, that is your solution.
The Latest LinkedIn Updates and Features · [01:42]
Will Barron:
Okay. Today’s show, Daniel, somewhat timely. We’re going to talk about the LinkedIn’s latest features and updates. This is totally in your hands. I’m going to just throw it right to you because I have no idea what’s going on, on the LinkedIn platform right this second, because as we were discussing before we clicked record, we’ve got a big webinar coming up today, so I’ve just been head down, preparing that. So Daniel, what are the latest LinkedIn feature and updates, and then I’ll quiz you on them the best I can?
Daniel Disney:
Yeah. I’m sure you’ll quiz me very well, Will. There are a few new features that I have to admit, this is the LinkedIn nerd in me getting very excited that have come out. I’ll start with the one that’s probably the least exciting and hasn’t had the best reception.
Will Barron:
Sure.
Introducing LinkedIn’s Creator Mode? · [02:20]
Daniel Disney:
But we’ll build up because the other two have been fantastic. So the first feature that came out, and we may have teased this, I think lightly before, but it is Creator Mode. So you can now basically turn your profile into, or you switch Creator Mode on and it’s for content creators, people that want to build their brand around the content they share, and what it does is reoptimize the LinkedIn profile and reorganise it to prioritise your content. So it automatically takes your connect button and changes it to a follow button, which is what a content creator would probably push. It brings your featured section higher up on your profile, so it’s not below your summary where it used to be, and it’s designed to help promote your content above other features.
Daniel Disney:
So in theory it sounds pretty good for a content creator. From all the feedback I’ve seen from people using it, it’s had an overly negative implication on engagement. So a lot of people have seen engagement drop in their content instead of grow, which is what you would expect. And a lot of people didn’t like the automatic switch of connect to follow, which just from my opinion, on that subject, I wouldn’t switch your connect button to a follow button until you’ve got at least 20,000 connections. I would look to grow your direct network first and then you can promote followers thereafter. So those were some of the initial feedbacks, not had the best landing. They may tweak it over the coming weeks and months, but certainly one to keep an eye on.
The Reason Behind the Drop in Engagement with LinkedIn’s New Creator Mode · [04:11]
Will Barron:
Sure. So I saw that option when I signed into LinkedIn, I clicked it. I was like, “Ready to rock and roll. Let’s do this. We’re going to create loads of new content. It’s going to give me some new tools.” And then I literally didn’t even realise that it’d done anything to my profile, so that’s how useful it was. But the fact that engagement has gone down is crazy. That’s insane.
Daniel Disney:
I know. Yeah, it’s bizarre. You see this with a lot of new LinkedIn features for whatever reason. I guess it takes time to reprogram the algorithm. It may be that sometimes these things take a few weeks to settle in and once it’s settled it, the algorithm will be tuned to it and maybe engagement will increase. So this is something we can monitor, Will, in the show and keep our listeners up to date with as we go on. I’ll be paying a very close to it and looking at how it’s growing as time goes on. At the moment, my recommendation would be maybe be cautious with using it. Keep an eye out. We’ll keep you posted, and if and when it does become a good tool, we will absolutely encourage you and help you use it properly.
The Benefits of Using LinkedIn’s Creator Mode · [04:55]
Will Barron:
Do we need this tool? I don’t understand what the benefit of it would be, seeing as pretty much everyone on LinkedIn is creating or consuming content.
Daniel Disney:
I think if you’re good at content, number one, if you are producing regular content, you’re creative, you’re building your brand around the content you share, then I think this does help because it will amplify that instead of amplifying your profile in other means. So if you’re pushing for recruitment, marketing, sales, whatever it may be, with this it’s going to really help you grow your brand. So I do think it has benefits, especially for people who want to grow their personal brand on LinkedIn, grow their audience. This will be a good way to do it if they can get it right, and if they can put everything in the right place.
Daniel Disney:
So I do like the idea of it, and I do like… This goes back to a few episodes ago, Will, we talked about the potential of LinkedIn rewarding content creators on the platform in maybe a year or two. This could be the first step towards doing that. So I do hope this will help encourage more content creators, but also raise the standards of content creation on the platform. And if they can make it actually a good feature, then it could be very beneficial.
Comparing the Differences and Similarities Between LinkedIn’s Creator Mode and YouTube’s Partner Programme · [06:09]
Will Barron:
It seems like, you are probably aware of this, Daniel, the audience might not, on YouTube to be part of the partner programme, which clearly where LinkedIn eventually is going to go. They have to if you want to encourage people to create content, they need to pay them in something, pay them in frigging LinkedIn coin, some kind of cryptocurrency. They need to do something about it to get like people myself, even to create more content, Whereas I prioritise YouTube and the podcast side of things.
Will Barron:
YouTube, you have to have, I think it’s a couple thousand followers and say 4,000, 5,000 minutes of content consumed within a set period of time. It almost seems like a creator profile on LinkedIn would be better if you had so many thousand followers, because then LinkedIn themselves know, well you are actually a creator as opposed to someone who’s just clicked a button and is experimenting, and so now all of the LinkedIn data on the creators is totally skewed towards the millions of people at the post once a month, as opposed to the likes of yourself who has a large audience, who’s constantly creating content. And your content makes LinkedIn a valuable platform for people to go on and attend. So it seems like there should really be a differentiation between average Joe who checks LinkedIn once a month versus actual content creators.
Daniel Disney:
I do completely agree, Will. I think they should support both though. I think they should absolutely support people that have built and create good content now, but I really want them to encourage people that are new to it that maybe aren’t creating content to maybe provide more tools or features that can help them build their confidence, make it easier to create and share content, maybe provide prompts. So yeah, you’re right. Maybe there could be different phases or levels of Creator Mode that can support people depending on what part of the journey they’re in. You’re right, there are differences. But I think they should support everyone.
The Frustrations That Arise from LinkedIn’s Lack of a Streaming Feature · [07:58]
Will Barron:
Yeah, because LinkedIn is a bit backwards. I was reinvestigating the live streaming. I was looking at changing. So I currently use restream.io. So you stream to one platform and then that dumps the feed everywhere else. But you can’t directly, unless you can do it from your mobile app perhaps, but then that doesn’t work in a studio environment, I can’t suss out how to just get onto LinkedIn without having to pay for it and go through all these different apps. So they don’t help themselves, they don’t support content creators in perhaps the way that maybe they should.
Daniel Disney:
No, it’s a good point. And just going to the LinkedIn Live thing, that still baffles me, Will, the fact that LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, can’t have live as an in-app feature, whereas Facebook have had it for so many years. I can’t understand. Clearly the technology is there, clearly it’s not massively complicated or out of reach of LinkedIn with its size and revenue turnover. So I have no real understanding of the logic behind it. You are right, there are a lot of things they do that are a little bit backwards, but I still love the platform and I still live in hope that they will change it as time goes on.
Bring Your Professional Story to Life Using LinkedIn Cover Story Videos · [09:03]
Will Barron:
Cool. Okay. So I’ve just been miserable here for the past five minutes. So what else do we have new and exciting on the platform? What other LinkedIn updates do we have?
“The cover story videos, and I love this to no end. So basically, where your profile photo is on your LinkedIn profile, you can now record a 30-second video that people viewing your profile can see, where you can introduce yourself. It makes the profile way more interactive. For a salesperson, this is fantastic. You get to do a micro elevator pitch video in your profile. So instead of them having to read it and look through images and text and keywords and stuff, you could be there talking to them.” – Daniel Disney · [09:25]
Daniel Disney:
Sure. So the big one, I think that really stands out and this is literally a couple of weeks, so this is hot off the press. I would say the smallest percentage of people have started using this, but this is open game for every salesperson, anyone out there using LinkedIn. This is cover story videos, and I love this to no end. So basically, where your profile photo is on your LinkedIn profile, you can now record a 30-second video that people viewing your profile can see, where you can introduce yourself. A, it makes the profile way more interactive. For a salesperson, this is fantastic. You get to do a micro elevator pitch video in your profile. So instead of them having to read it and look through images and text and keywords and stuff, you could be there talking to them. It is just phenomenal.
Daniel Disney:
A few things to note on this. It’s 30 seconds. There is a three-second part of the video at the start that acts as a preview. So Will, you could probably do this right now. If you went on my LinkedIn profile, when you go on it, you will see basically for the first three seconds, I look at the camera and I do a little wave. So instead of jumping in straight away, when you click record and talking, because you can’t hear me when you see the preview, all you’ll see is me just mouthing words. That three seconds is a pause, so just look at the camera, smile, do a wave, whatever it may be, then start to talk because that’s when people would have to click open and listen to it.
Daniel Disney:
But it’s really fantastic. I recorded one about a week and a half ago and I’ve had lots of messages, people complimenting it. And I’ve had a few opportunities, it’s hard to correlate them directly to the cover story yet. That was me. I recorded it on my phone. I lent my phone up on my desk in front of my screen and just recorded it. I have booked time in, in two weeks’ time. There’s a studio here in the UK and they’re going to record a professional cover story for me. I’ve seen them do a couple for people. They’ve jumped on it straight away, but it takes the standard and quality to a level that I physically couldn’t do in my home office studio.
Daniel Disney:
So lots to think about. My recommendation for sales people would be definitely record your own, get one on there quickly. Practise. You might want to do a few takes, but it’s your chance to show your prospects and customers how you can help them look at the account. It’s like a video message basically, but something you can put out to everyone that views your profile, and it might just help you create some more opportunities.
Can You See How Many Views You’ve Had on LinkedIn’s Cover Story? · [11:45]
Will Barron:
Does it tell you how many views you’ve had on that feature in particular?
Daniel Disney:
Not at the moment. That would be a fantastic thing to add to it. Actually, it prompts something they will be adding to the cover story soon. So they are going to add subtitles to it, so people could read what you’re saying, which we know is a big thing on LinkedIn with video and people consuming video content, they might not be able to listen to you. So they will be adding captions. It’s a really good point. You can obviously see who’s viewed your profile, so I can’t see there being a reason why they couldn’t collate that data. It might be something that comes a bit further down the line.
Daniel’s Thoughts on the Things You Should Include in the Cover Story Video · [12:39]
Will Barron:
Sure. Just from a perspective of doing this at scale and sussing out whether it is worth spending hundreds, or for yourself, I don’t know how much it’s costing to go into a studio and record, but it might be worth if you knew that you were getting 20, 50, 100 views a day, it’s well worth going and doing that extra bit of prep. So what should be included within this feature, in this video, Daniel? Is this an opportunity to go, “Hey, I’m Daniel Disney, I do this, this and this. You can find out more information about me in the video below. I want you to click on this, this and this,” or is it an elevator pitch for a product or service? Is it just an opportunity just to get your face, voice and a little bit of personality across? So maybe you don’t pitch anything, just to share a little bit of a personal branding exercise as opposed to a call-to-action exercise. I know this is brand new, so there’s probably no best practise right this second, but what would be a good starting point?
Daniel Disney:
Just to very quickly take a step back, Will, where you mentioned about being able to see the views of your cover story photo. One way you can measure it at the moment is you can check people viewing your profile, and you can make a pretty strong assumption, if someone has viewed your profile, there’s probably going to be a high chance, I would say the majority will have a look at your cover story because it’s new, because it’s the first thing they see. It’s not like they have to scroll down to see it. It is there from the moment it loads. So do look at your profile views. If you’re getting hundreds of views a day, that could be a good way to measure, “Okay. Yes, it’s definitely worth me doing one or maybe investing in a good one.”
Daniel Disney:
Going to your other question in terms of how you do it, pretty much all of the above. So you want it to be an elevator pitch. I wouldn’t go down the making it just about you, unless your brand is less about selling something at this stage. I know some people are building a brand around themselves and not selling anything. Then of course, make it about you. But for the sales people listening to this, I would make it an elevator pitch and just make it super engaging. You’ve got, let’s say 26, 27 seconds to record it minus the intro wave and smile. If you look at mine, you’ll probably get an idea of something. I can’t remember what I said exactly, but it’s like, “Hi, it’s Daniel Disney here. I help sales teams, salespeople, businesses get more business from LinkedIn,” and I really push, “My passion is helping people get more out of the platform. If it’s something you or your sales team are looking to leverage this year, drop me a message and I look forward to chatting you soon.”
Daniel Disney:
So nice, casual, similar to what I would send in a video message or an audio voice note, but it’s the same tips that we’ve talked about in previous messages where, think about your background, think about your lighting, your voice, your microphone, think about what you’re wearing. All those details will have a big impact, which is where sometimes, either going to a studio or finding somewhere that you could record it might be better. Where some of us are still based at home. Maybe you don’t have the best invite at home, so maybe you go into the office and record it. A few little details to think about. I would probably plan what you’re going to say if you’re not confident to ad lib it. Don’t read off a script, but write down what you think you should say, practise it a few times. It shouldn’t take too long though. It’s a very quick video, but I think the impact is going to be big now and it will continue to get bigger.
The Future of LinkedIn Cover Story Videos · [15:36]
Will Barron:
Do you see LinkedIn doing anything else with this? So one thing I see them doing is perhaps in the feed, maybe you can click on the person’s face, their icon and get a popup with that quick introduction video, so that when you’re in the feed, you have to go to people’s profile, you can say, “Oh, this person looks interesting. I’ll click on them,” and then that’ll give you the introduction to them there. Is there anything like that, that you see coming with this shift towards video?
Daniel Disney:
I do. I think LinkedIn is looking at this whole interactivity engagement piece, how they can really drive that, and video like this is pretty much the best way to do it. One thing, just reminded me of, Will, when you were talking about that, going back to Creator Mode, one of the features about it that I will test this week. Actually, I think I’m doing a LinkedIn Live later today. When you’ve got Creator Mode switched on, your background image on your LinkedIn profile will show and stream your LinkedIn live. So again, imagine this, you’ve got your cover story video, your LinkedIn live is now streaming in your banner image behind your profile photo. This is becoming a mega interactive profile.
Daniel Disney:
So again, it’s little things like that. These are all things that will be tweaked and changed and evolved over the coming weeks and months. But Creator Mode has potential, cover story videos is already fantastic and has already landed really well. So it’s exciting. It’s really great to see the platform make it more engaging and interactive and really push video in different ways. It’s kind of the future of LinkedIn. If you think about profiles five, 10 years ago, they’re really evolving.
Is LinkedIn’s Continued Feature Addition Eventually Going to Lead to Bad User Experience? · [17:15]
Will Barron:
This is going to show our age, which is sad because I’m only 35, but at what point does this become Myspace, where you go on someone’s profile, there’s glitter going down the screen, there’s a unicorn following your cursor around as you move it, and then there’s some Papa Roach or Blink-182 or something playing in the background? Which is really frustrating and really annoying when you’re on the platform at three o’clock in the morning because you’re bored and it starts blasting out your speakers? At what point does all of this become bad user experience and just become annoying? Because we’re only one or two steps away from that.
Daniel Disney:
It’s not a bad observation, Will. And I love the thought of you having a cover story with Blink-182 or something in the background. I hope they’re smart enough to avoid some of those traps, but it is funny. And again, showing our age, we both come from that Myspace generation, that there are so many similarities in that whole social networking piece. It just changes it a little bit. I hope LinkedIn keeps that integrity though and doesn’t overload the platform, the profile, the feed. They seem to be keeping it relatively balanced, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find ways to make your profile creative. You could put unicorns in your background image, you can have music in your cover photo. So there are ways you could make it like that, and if that’s your personality, if that’s your personal brand, then all for it. Some people will absolutely buy into it.
LinkedIn Stories: Are They Becoming More or Less Useful Over Time? · [18:46]
Will Barron:
Just to wrap up this episode. There’s a few other features that have launched, I think this year, or I’ve only been aware of them this year anyway. Two that come to mind, LinkedIn Stories. I see them popping up less and less in my notification feed. Now, is this because they’re getting shared and they have less virality around them? Or is it because perhaps I don’t click on them because I don’t really care about people’s LinkedIn stories, and so LinkedIn’s algorithm doesn’t share them with me? There’s there’s come off features we’ll come on to in a second. But LinkedIn Stories, are they still useful or are they becoming less useful over time?
Daniel Disney:
They had a rise in popularity when they launched. People loved them, some people obviously hated them at the start, but they did do quite well at the beginning. They have dropped a lot. But what I found interesting, so a few other content creators, I know that were more active on Stories than most people, have received gifts recently from LinkedIn, thanking them for their support with Stories. Now, that would signal to me they’re not giving up on it and they are trying to push it, if they’re rewarding story creators. So you’re right, it has taken a dip and maybe LinkedIn are looking at ways to try and push it.
“A lot of people struggle to create video content because that’s probably the scariest form of content you could create.” – Daniel Disney · [20:11]
Daniel Disney:
I think going back to your Myspace comment, that is one of features that perhaps was a little bit too personal social compared to professional social. That was a little bit too Facebook and Instagram, and I think the wider LinkedIn network, I’m not sure it was the most beneficial feature for LinkedIn as a platform. Doesn’t mean they should get rid of it. They’ve made their choice. Doesn’t mean it’s not good or has doesn’t have benefits. It does. But I think a lot of people struggle to create video content. That’s probably the scariest form of content you could create. So I think it should continue to push more of the text-based content that I think the wider LinkedIn network enjoy.
Will Barron:
Yeah. Because I guess it’s difficult to consume video content at work unless it’s subtitled because you’re at work, and you’re probably skiving if you’re watching videos at work. We could come up with a few examples to break the rule, but probably you’re skiving. But I like the idea of stories, but I never saw anyone actually pull it off of, I don’t want to watch a vlog of Richard Branson on his island with doing marketing stunts with women in bikinis on jet skis. I don’t really care about any of that. But if there was a business-appropriate vlog or story platform where he was just showing, “Well, this morning, I’ve got this big deal. This is how I prepare for the deal. This is what we do in contract negotiations.” He comes out the room and he’s sweating a little bit, he’s like, “Frigging hell, that was a tough one,” I would consume that on LinkedIn, in a story platform, these short bites.
LinkedIn’s Plan to Appeal to the Younger Generation of Users · [21:20]
Will Barron:
Obviously, Richard Branson is an exception here, but I never really saw anyone use it in a way that I enjoyed consuming. It just wasn’t very entertaining. Is this where LinkedIn’s trying to go from just the academic side of business to the entertainment side, because clearly if you can entertain while educating, you’re going to have way more eyeballs for way longer, and more opportunity to throw ads at them? Is that what LinkedIn’s pushing for with all of this?
Daniel Disney:
I think you’re right. But I have a feeling, again this is you and me showing our age in some way, it could be a way to appeal to younger generations who are bought up on those more feature-heavy platforms like Instagram and Facebook and who enjoy probably creating, sharing, and consuming story-based content. We have to understand they’re the ones that are coming up into the platform, and unfortunately… We’re not that point, but obviously it’s a cycle and they’ve got to make sure it’s tuned to them as well. So it could be to welcome in younger generations, which LinkedIn has struggled to do, to be fair.
Comparing Age Demographics on LinkedIn and Instagram · [22:26]
Will Barron:
Is that true? Do you know that to be true in that demographics on LinkedIn are older than demographics on… Forget TikTok, but on Instagram? Is that a fact?
Daniel Disney:
I don’t have data behind it, but I know from doing a lot of talks at universities and colleges that you get to a certain age group, unless you have a job and the job pushes you into LinkedIn, there’s not many reasons to do it. Some universities are now starting to do it, and it is so powerful for college students, university students who are studying, looking to get into the working world. Again, I would try and look at the data around it. I think at the moment though, I think it’s a fair assumption to make.
The LinkedIn Newsletter · [23:14]
Will Barron:
Yeah. It’s a fair assumption just in case you didn’t know and you’d looked at in the past. Then the final thing I wanted to ask you about, again a feature that’s I was particularly excited about, and then I didn’t get access to it and I’ve not really seen any movement with it moving forward was, I can’t remember how they frame it up now, but like a mailing list. How did that go?
Daniel Disney:
Yeah. Newsletter.
Will Barron:
Is that still a thing? How do I get access to it? Does anyone care about it anymore? Because I signed up for a couple of them, got one email or one newsletter from a few people and then never got anything in my inbox or my notifications box again.
“For everyone that tries to claim LinkedIn articles are dead, LinkedIn is an article-heavy platform. It’s a professional social network and it (articles) is a form of content people do like to consume.” – Daniel Disney · [24:06]
Daniel Disney:
They’ve definitely gone quiet. They are still a thing. They’re still in testing phases. There’s not a way you can get it. I’ve tried. It’s not one of those features they’re opening up very wide at the moment. I do want it to be a thing. I think it has a lot of legs and the people that were testing it, some of them generated more subscribers to their LinkedIn newsletter than they had physical connections or followers, which shows you the demand for it, which is for everyone that tries to claim LinkedIn articles are dead, it’s not just the performance of articles that do really well at the moment, but it’s things like that, that highlight LinkedIn is an article-heavy platform. It’s a professional social network and it is a form of content people do like to consume. So I do think it will come out. We’re getting to the halfway point of this year. I think there could be a rollout late this year, possibly early next year. It’s not going to be really soon.
Will Barron:
Because I follow absolute killer feature in. I might watch this show and think, “Will Barron’s an idiot. I don’t want to follow him. I don’t want to get his bite size. I’m selling medical devices, I don’t want my feed filled up with Will Barron and his ridiculous training content and these videos, and whatever it is. But if there was a Will Barron weekly sales update newsletter, I’d probably subscribe to that because he has good connections. He creates lots of content. He has lots of conversations.” So I feel like there’s a real opportunity for LinkedIn as a platform and for content creators on the platform to create perhaps industry newsletters, as opposed to just the Will Barron Show, which I might not want to follow, but I might want his and his guests’ and co-hosts’ opinions on things.
Will Barron:
So I thought it was a really strong feature from being able to pitch it to an audience of, “Hey, subscribe to this, you’ll get 1, 2, 3.” And you’re also getting in people’s inboxes. So I unsubscribed from every email from every single person from every social media platform, but I do subscribe to a few email newsletters, and I probably would accept a LinkedIn mail blast or newsletter in my inbox, which is the value of being in the inbox and getting through spam filters is increasingly become more and more valuable over time. So it blows my mind that LinkedIn aren’t going full pelt into this.
Daniel Disney:
I think one of the things I’ve started to appreciate, Will, working with some startup software companies is how long and complicated it is to add new features. And even though we’ve got LinkedIn here with all its resources and its size, it also then has the other counterweight, which is the size of the user base. So it’s not easy for them, and they are trying to roll out so many features. So I do think it will come, but I do also sympathise with LinkedIn with nearly a billion users. They’ll probably hit a billion maybe early next year, maybe at the end of this year. That’s an incredible user base and to build it into the platform, test it, it’s not like, “Okay, let’s do this, switch it on and off you go.” They’ve got to make sure it’s right, there’s no glitches, there’s no errors.
Daniel Disney:
So I appreciate that it’s not as simple, but I’m with you, Will. I think newsletter is definitely one of the best new features they’ve put out and I hope it becomes a rolled out feature that again, and we’ll obviously do an episode, hopefully when that happens, that would be an amazing tool for sales people, as you said, for you to provide value to your target prospects and be able to track it and have them subscribe, and that’s a big opportunity.
The Massive Value in Using LinkedIn’s Newsletter · [27:02]
Will Barron:
It’s massive. And just for context, I know I’m going into market mode here for a second. We’ve got a 100,000 plus people, I think it’s 111,000 people on our newsletter over at salesman.org, and there’s no option to sign up for it right now. There hasn’t been for a year or so, because every time we use it, we have to use software to gradually send out the emails, otherwise it crashes the website every time we link to an article. That ability, we built that on the back of the podcast. You, for example, Daniel could build a massive audience and masses of attention, and it’s acute attention as well. It’s not someone scrolling, it’s someone going, “Oh, this is interesting,” or proactively getting a notification and then seeing the content and then sitting and consuming it for five, 10 minutes. That has tremendous value and for anyone who doesn’t get access to the… Is it the newsletter? I keep calling it the wrong thing.
Daniel Disney:
Yeah. It’s called newsletter. Yeah. It’s called newsletter.
LinkedIn Events: Why are They Awesome and Their Impact on Sales Success · [28:00]
Will Barron:
Anyone who does get access to that, you’re crazy if you’re not leveraging that as a tool. Daniel, anything else that we need to cover or anything exciting? Any rumours coming up in LinkedIn land as we go down this update show?
Daniel Disney:
Nothing crazy at the moment. We’ve got some exciting features that we’ve shared today. Probably one of the last tips that I’ll share, which isn’t necessarily a massively new feature, although it did come out last year, is the events feature and platform now on LinkedIn. So you can promote events on there and list them, people can register for events. That is now becoming quite a good sales tool in the way that let’s say you are selling to marketing leaders as an example, if you search the keyword marketing, filter by events, you’re going to see all the events relevant to marketing people.
Will Barron:
Nice.
Daniel Disney:
Now, not only are they good events that you can join and attend, but each event has its own micro community. So there is a central feed to that event within the event page that you can then interact with other people attending the event. It creates this, like I said, micro community, great tool for sales people. So events have evolved over the last 12 to 18 months. The events page really took off last year, and now it’s starting to become a place where I’m starting to recommend to sales people, “That’s somewhere you could be looking for prospects and starting conversations.”
Will Barron:
You need to be on there at least every few weeks or so, and looking for your competitors’ events. What a place to find potential people who perhaps are already pre-qualified. The final stages of making a purchasing decision, you can go in and perhaps, the chance of someone who signed up to a webinar who’s 80% of the way through the buying cycle, it might be difficult to get them and convert them over to you. But what a way to both do customer research, and then also to perhaps pick a few of these suckers up as they’re getting to the end of the buying process to someone else, and educate them and nudge them towards your product or service.
Daniel Disney:
Yeah. It’s a fantastic feature. Again, not brand new, but not something that a lot of salespeople are using. So as with all our episodes, Will, we will keep everyone up to date with all the latest new features as they come, and obviously, ones that are building up in the pipe line. But the moral of today’s episode, I think for everyone is when you see these new things, try them. You get to get ahead of the curve before everyone’s doing it, and you lose that novelty. So if you haven’t got a cover story video, now’s the time to do it. We will keep you posted on Creator Mode. We’ll keep you posted on newsletters and any other new features that come in. But go and try these things. Now’s a good time. They’re new, they’re hot. People are engaging in them. Now’s your chance to get ahead of the competition.
Will Barron:
For sure. Get that first-mover advantage. And with that, we’ll wrap up there. That was Daniel Disney, the king of social selling. My name is Will Barron. I’m the founder at salesman.org, and that was the Social Selling Show.
Daniel Disney:
See you next time.
