Your Digital Marketing Coach with Neal Schaffer

Introducing Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth

• Neal Schaffer • Episode 378

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In this episode we are diving into the secrets of maximizing LinkedIn for business growth. I introduces my new book, Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: A Practical Guide to Building Your Brand and Driving Results, which officially published on September 17, 2024.

Whether you're a seasoned marketer, entrepreneur, or just looking to enhance your LinkedIn game, this episode promises to provide actionable tips and expert advice to help you thrive. Tune in for a sneak peek of my new book and a wealth of knowledge on leveraging LinkedIn for your business success!

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Speaker 1:

maximizing LinkedIn for personal and business growth. What do you need to know today to make better use of your LinkedIn time? Well, I'm going to introduce my fifth and latest book to you, which is going to cover all of that, but you got to stay listening to this next episode of the your Digital Marketing Coach Podcast digital social media content, influencer marketing, blogging, podcasting, vlogging, tick-tocking, linkedin, twitter, facebook, instagram, youtube, seo, sem, ppc, email marketing.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot to cover. Whether you're a marketing professional, entrepreneur or business owner, you need someone you can rely on for expert advice. Good thing you've got Neil on your side, because Neil Schaefer is your digital marketing coach, helping you grow your business with digital-first marketing, one episode at a time.

Speaker 1:

This is your digital marketing coach and this is Neil Schaefer. Hey everybody, this is your digital coach, neil Schaefer, and welcome to my podcast and your home for anything and everything digital content, influencers, social media marketing all of the digital threads that you need to cover in order to be successful with your business. The digital threads that you need to cover in order to be successful with your business leveraging digital and social media. This is episode number 378. And today I'm going to talk about my upcoming book, which, well, when this publishes, it will probably be the first day of publication. But before I get to that, I always like to share some industry news, which I am following, and wanted to share my own opinions and feedback with you. So, first of all, openai is releasing new AI models. I believe the code name is Strawberry or something like that, but we have O1 Preview and O1 Mini. I have yet to gain access to these and I think, as you begin leveraging ChatGPT more and more, you find that sometimes it isn't good at analyzing deeper information or basically asking a more complex question based on multiple deliverables and analysis of multiple data points. At least that's what I've found. So I think if you're a beginner, well you know, life goes on as usual, but if you're already getting savvy and leveraging these tools on a daily basis, these are definitely things to be looking for. If you don't know, these models represent an upgrade in reasoning, logic, contextual understanding, and they are designed to handle those more complex tasks that I talk about, and they are noted to be able to improve accuracy in generating responses and interpreting nuanced information. So definitely, you know, keep your eyes peeled on what OpenAI continues to evolve, and obviously they are still the giant. I know that a lot of people talk about Claude by Anthropik, which Amazon is a big investor in as well, and definitely, you know, stay tuned for more info on them as well, but ChachiBT definitely is the one I also want to share with you.

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An interesting marketing survey that came out that said nearly half of US consumers feel ignored by marketers. 44% specifically express the sentiment, and, despite the use of targeted ads that is marketers we love to do 67% of people dislike feeling trailed by brands, while 70 percent find these ads irrelevant. Right, we never know why someone comes to your website, but just because you retarget them, it doesn't mean that they are necessarily interested in what you have or your ads are irrelevant to them. That's something that you're going to have to make the call on. You know, the disconnect here highlights how out of touch many marketers are with their audiences, even when leveraging data. So there are opportunities to stand out, to connect. But unless you are in better relationship, better communication with your customers, you will never know. And that is really a point that I talk about in Digital Threads, which is going to be released October 1st. Hopefully the pre-sales page for that is going to be up as well by the time that you download this episode. But email gives you a chance to develop a more intimate relationship and really to find out what your customers are interested in. If you find out what your customers are interested in, hopefully you can expand upon that to target other consumers who are not your customers. Hopefully you can expand upon that to target other consumers who are not your customers, but maybe in a way that they feel that you are not ignoring them, that you are aligned with their interests. So you know, at the end of the day, consumers prefer companies that connect with them on a values-based level and are willing to pay more for this authenticity. So rethink the way that you are digitally communicating with customers and prospects Email, obviously, but social media also is a great way to do this and leveraging brand ambassadors.

Speaker 1:

These are all things that I have dedicated chapters for in Digital Threads, so make sure that you get that when it comes out. If you weren't part of my Kickstarter campaign, all right, so not a lot of news in digital marketing, but those are the two things that I focused on. And, by the way, if you are not a subscriber to my newsletter, these insights were already shared last week, so make sure you go over to neilschafercom slash newsletter so that you can be the first to get all of my insights and all of the latest content that I publish across the internet, along with other recommended reads. And if you had bought my upcoming book on LinkedIn that I'm going to talk about today on pre-order and sent me the proof of purchase, you would have been invited today to an exclusive special webinar on LinkedIn. So make sure you sign up to the list so that you get informed of all these things, because sometimes, by the time I announce it on the podcast, it's already too late, as it is in this case. All right, personal update. Well, we have digital threads coming. No-transcript in the next two weeks as I prepare for the official launch.

Speaker 1:

This episode is really about the launch of my fifth book, which is Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth. Now, if you have been a subscriber to my newsletter or you've been over to my website, I have always promoted the annual update of a free lead magnet or ebook that I had called Maximizing LinkedIn for Business, and what I decided to do was extend the content. I added more than 50% more content. In fact, I think it's 75% more content. So a 10,000 word free PDF is now about 17,500 words. I added a lot of new information, including my advice on leveraging AI in LinkedIn, and I am now putting this on sale for 99 cents ebook only and, like I said, it is available on all the major retailers. I do plan to expand this. I have had a beta reading team and, once again, if you were with my newsletter, you would have found out about this, but I've had a few dozen people give me a lot of good feedback and I am going to be fleshing out maybe two or three more chapters, so I foresee this, in the next month or two, becoming a 20,000-word book, in which case I will be raising the price and have a paperback and audiobook for that as well.

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So, for those of you that don't know, I used to be known as the LinkedIn expert. I published two books on LinkedIn back in 2009 and 2011. And I still see the same evergreen content out there and I still see a lot of people with a lot of questions about LinkedIn and I have a lot of perspective, I have history and I have a lot of fresh ideas to offer. And that is why, even though I am publishing digital threads because I already had a lot of content to work with and I wanted to celebrate the 15th anniversary of publishing my first book, which was called Windmill Networking Understanding, leveraging and Maximizing LinkedIn For those that might remember I thought this would be a great opportunity to share my latest thoughts and really serve a new generation of professionals, marketers, entrepreneurs and business owners that want to leverage LinkedIn better. Since being on pre-sale, we have been consistently number one in a number of categories home-based business, advertising, home-based business sales and selling. Writing skills and advertising been the number one new release in advertising. I'm looking at Amazon right now, number one new release in small business sales and selling. So really excited by the traction and I thank you all If you have pre-ordered my book.

Speaker 1:

I cannot thank you enough, but I'm really excited to share this with you and to get your feedback. Now that you know that I'm not going to say it is a beta book. It is a book, but I will be fleshing out more content and I would love to hear your feedback if you think something is missing from it. So let's talk more about this book, because I want to give you some advice without your having to read the book. Through this podcast, I'm hoping to share with you some of the most important takeaways from the book. By the way, it is called Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth a practical guide to building your brand and driving results, and, like I said, you can find it everywhere, and if you can't find it, please let me know. I will definitely point you in the right direction. So let me read you the introduction and I think that'll give you a better feel, and then I'll cover a few points.

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Since writing two books on LinkedIn more than a decade ago Windmill Networking Maximizing LinkedIn and Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing I have used this book to keep my past readers, as well as present community, educated on best practices when using LinkedIn for business. As a digital sales and marketing expert, my goal has always been to help other people prosper through the effective use of this powerful medium. As the needs and trends of its users continue to change with demographic shifts, the growing amount of non-professional content emerging on the platform and the various features introduced by LinkedIn over time, this book will show you which older LinkedIn practices still work, as well as the new things you can use to leverage the power of LinkedIn to further your career and benefit your business. You'll notice that I focus both on professional branding and the business benefits in this ebook. Before proceeding forward, please connect with me on LinkedIn linkedincom slash in slash, neil Schaefer, and let me know you came from this ebook when you send me your invitation, and I already want to thank some of you that have already connected with me through the book. Obviously, if you'd like some additional help after reading this book, you can join my group coaching community so that I have the opportunity to answer any digital social media marketing questions you have and help you to move your business forward. We still have a few spots open. Go to neilschafercom slash membership. So I want to share with you.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to read chapter one in its entirety, because I think this really gives you a good backdrop. Now there are 10 chapters, so I'm going to read you 10% of the book, beginning with understanding LinkedIn's impact today. Chapter two is how LinkedIn is used today for business, and understanding that will give you a better field for the various ways in which you can leverage it. Chapter three is all about your profile. Chapter four build your network. Chapter five establishing credibility through recommendations. Chapter six engaging on LinkedIn building relationships through interaction. Chapter seven prospecting on LinkedIn finding and connecting with potential clients. Chapter eight chapter eight is a pretty heavy chapter which is all about creating content that resonates on LinkedIn. Chapter nine is the brand new leveraging AI to enhance your LinkedIn Really excited to share that with you. And then chapter 10 is all about creating a LinkedIn playbook building a daily routine for success. So let me read you this first chapter and I think that's going to give you a really, really good idea about the book about LinkedIn in addition to that introduction.

Speaker 1:

So chapter 1, linkedin Statistics Understanding the Platform's Impact. Let's first look at LinkedIn by the numbers to understand its power. I include these numbers to share my perspective on LinkedIn to help you gain the most out of reading this book, so please do not skip ahead. If you ever see me speak on LinkedIn, I always start or on really any social or digital media, I always start with mindset. But before we get the mindset, we have to be on the same level of understanding with how powerful these networks are, and it often comes from understanding the numbers and the data the way that I see them. So I digress, but that is why I want to share this chapter with you.

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So LinkedIn has been around since 2003, about the same time Facebook emerged. That is where the similarities end. While Facebook began as a social network requiring you to have a college email address, linkedin grew from the connections of its founding team of professionals. This led to Facebook being a more open network of friends, while LinkedIn continued to use a privacy feature, degrees of connectedness and restrictions on the expansion of networks. This has had several effects on their statistics, as you can imagine. Not the biggest social network, but highly influential. Since expanding trusted networks isn't a free-for-all, linkedin has stayed much smaller than Facebook.

Speaker 1:

In fact, there are only about 1 billion users worldwide, according to LinkedIn's search. The breakdown of users by geography is the United States. This data is actually from last month, august 2024, 215 million users in the United States. That is a lot of users for one country. When you consider the United States population, well over 50% of Americans have a LinkedIn profile. India is second with 124 million. Brazil third 73 million. United Kingdom fourth with 38 million Once again, a good portion of their population. France, 32 million. Indonesia, 30 million. United Kingdom fourth with 38 million Once again, a good portion of their population France, 32 million. Indonesia, 30 million, canada 24 million, mexico 24 million, italy with 21 million and Spain with 20 million.

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So if you want to collaborate, network, sell to those countries. Obviously there are a lot of people there on LinkedIn that you could reach out to and connect with. Now, 1 billion users to me sounds like a lot, but if you are involved in social media marketing, you know that that is in contrast to Facebook's nearly 3 billion members. Even newer, instagram already has 2 billion members and the newest social network, tiktok, has already reached 1.5 billion. So LinkedIn lags and that's why they are not the sexy social network compared to the TikTok, the Instagram or the Facebook. Now, when compared to Facebook users by country, interestingly enough, according to this data, linkedin has more users in the United States, united Kingdom and France than Facebook does. So, while Facebook is truly a global platform, linkedin continues to have a relative strength in the United States and parts of Western Europe, a platform focused on professionals.

Speaker 1:

With that said, linkedin is a very, very special social network. Unlike nearly all the other players, linkedin is the only platform that continues to be focused on business and professional networking. It's where professionals go to showcase their personal brand, promote their companies and do business. Traditionally, linkedin has been a social network that mainly attracts professionals and businesses who are interested in growing their careers. While LinkedIn originally grew as a place to connect with hiring managers and be found for that dream job, it has become more than that and now also attracts the engagement of professionals looking for an outlet for professional networking. It is said that 53% of college graduates in the United States are now members of LinkedIn Decision makers and business leaders.

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If you're looking to do business with other professionals or project your corporate image where it matters, this is one of the best digital platforms to do so, because, according to LinkedIn statistics, four out of five LinkedIn members drive business decisions. Now, that is an interesting stat. How important are those business decisions? We don't know, but if you consider that 99% of businesses are small businesses, and if you think of all the small business owners that might be part of LinkedIn, that data starts to make a little bit more sense. Linkedin is also the most used social media platform among Fortune 500 companies, with 98% of executives at these companies using LinkedIn. It should come as no surprise, then, that 80% of B2B leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn. It should come as no surprise, then, that 80% of B2B leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn. There are also millions of LinkedIn users who are in positions which may be beneficial to you. Sales professionals have access to corporate buyers, and marketers have access to influencers A wealthy user base.

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Did you know that 50% of LinkedIn users in the United States have an annual household income of $75,000? And 53% of Americans who make more than $100,000 per year use LinkedIn? This shows the high level of not just wealth but professionalism in the LinkedIn demographic and obviously hints at the wealth that this demographic has. With LinkedIn users more likely to belong to high-income brackets. You get a feel as to its user base, including many who have substantial purchasing power and investment capacity.

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Linkedin's content, visibility and organic reach what makes LinkedIn especially powerful for the business person is the relatively high reach that your content can achieve here. For instance, did you know that LinkedIn content receives 15 times more impressions than job postings? It's a data, and in the book you'll be able to see the link to the source of that data if you're curious. This is a sign that not only is LinkedIn not just about jobs, but its members also actively engage with relevant professional content. Also, compared to other more popular social networks, linkedin users don't seem to publish as much as the average user does on a platform like Facebook. This leads to a supply and demand imbalance that is favorable for those LinkedIn users that publish content. This reflects in the average life of a LinkedIn post in the feed, which lasts for 24 hours, exponentially longer than the lifespan of a Facebook post, which is just a little over one hour. And once again, the source for this data is included in the end notes in my book. Besides that, linkedin consistently ranks as the most trusted social media platform by consumers. Linkedin users trust the content that they see and this, indirectly, can help you become a more trusted authority in your field.

Speaker 1:

Linkedin stands apart from other social networks with its exclusive focus on professionals and business leaders. Unlike platforms like Facebook, instagram or Twitter, strike through X. Linkedin is not a melting pot of society, but a curated community of individuals driven by professional growth, career development and business opportunities. This distinction creates a fertile ground for meaningful connections, thought leadership and business development, especially for those who actively publish and engage with content on the platform. Understanding LinkedIn's unique demographic and strategic advantages is the first step towards harnessing its full potential. As we move forward, we'll explore how businesses and professionals are leveraging LinkedIn in innovative ways, unlocking opportunities that can drive real world success. Let's dive into these practical use cases to uncover how you can maximize LinkedIn for your professional and business goals.

Speaker 1:

I hope you enjoyed the reading of introduction and chapter one. Like I said, maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth by Neil Schafer is available pretty much wherever books are sold right now, ebook only launch price of 99 cents. Get it while you can at this very inexpensive price, and if you can't find it at your bookstore, please email me. I would love to guide you to where you can find it in whatever country you are in, but for instance, obviously Amazon, barnes, noble, google Play, apple Books, kobo, writing Life or Kobo. Those are some of the many places where the book is currently available. So I will be shifting gears from maximizing LinkedIn for business growth to digital threads on upcoming podcast episodes. But I do hope you'll take advantage of this opportunity to sort of tap in to my advice at a very, very low price and if you do, I would love to hear your feedback. Feel free to reach out to me and really, if you have feedback for anything I talk about here, neil at neilschafercom, and if you haven't, I do hope that you will hit that subscribe button.

Speaker 1:

We have a lot of great interviews coming up. As you know, half of my episodes are solo recordings and half of them are interviews. Looking at the schedule, we have none other than John Janch. John Janch is known as the duct tape marketing guru. He founded duct tape marketing and we are going to be talking all about fractional CMOs, something that I do and something that I think a lot of you have expressed interest in, whether you want to become a fractional CMO or you're considering working with a fractional CMO, considering working with a fractional CMO.

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We're going to be talking with Andy Lambert. Andy is a product manager for Adobe Express, but he's also the founder of Content or co-founder of Content Cal, a social media scheduling tool, and we're going to be talking a lot about B2B social media and social media advocacy. We have Dennis Yu, who's known as the king of Facebook ads. He's going to be talking about your personal brand on Google, which was a really fun topic. We have Dan Gingas talking about customer experience marketing. Nancy Harhut, who is the author of Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, talking about counterintuitive marketing. Michelle Garrett, who is an expert on PR for small business. Now a lot of great interviews coming up, so make sure you hit the subscribe button and I will be at you again in the coming week. That's all there is for this episode. This is your digital marketing coach, neil Schafer, signing off.

Speaker 2:

You've been listening to your digital marketing coach. Questions, comments, requests, links go to podcastneilschafercom. Get the show notes to this and 200 plus podcast episodes at neilschafercom to tap into the 400 plus blog posts that Neil has published to support your business. While you're there, check out Neil's digital first group coaching membership community if you or your business needs a little helping hand. See you next time on your digital marketing coach.