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How to Use LinkedIn Like a Big Networking Event with Deanna Russo Ep 131

• Brenda Meller • Season 1 • Episode 131

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A live chat with Brenda Meller and Deanna Russo on "How To Use LinkedIn Like a  Big Networking Event"

Originally aired: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 12:05 pm ET.

Connect with Deanna:
➡️ Website: https://leverageupllc.com/
➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannarusso1/

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**************************************
My name is Brenda Meller. I'm a LinkedIn coach, consultant, speaker, and author. My company is Meller Marketing and I help business professionals get a bigger slice of the LinkedIn pie.

Visit mellermarketing.com

Let's connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brendameller
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Speaker 1:

Today I have with me Deanna Russo.

Speaker 2:

Hey Deanna, how are you?

Speaker 1:

doing today.

Speaker 2:

Hi, brenda, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's a delight. And we were talking in the pre-show about the fact that we've been talking for literally I know well over a year about having you come on, and for a while I had a backlog of people scheduled and I said I need to take a little break. And then you reached back out to me again, probably six months ago, and said, hey, can we get back onto the track? And I'm like, of course we can. So I'm delighted that you're finally here and look at us.

Speaker 2:

We color coordinated, we were like I know we didn't even call each other. This is pretty cool. It's all pink.

Speaker 1:

We didn't. Yeah, hey, and as we are getting started, I want to welcome our community that might be watching us right now. Could you drop a comment and let us know if you are watching us live or maybe you're watching this in replay later? I found that having the comments coming in does one of two things. One is it lets us know who's watching it's always fun to see the names and the faces that are coming in and second, it lets us know that the live stream is picking up, and I just saw Elizabeth Walker's comment coming over from LinkedIn over to StreamRd. So thank you, elizabeth, for leading the pack there and yeah, we are going to have a full room.

Speaker 1:

We were talking about that too, deanna, how you and I we both are LinkedIn trainers and coaches and where you and I are both a part of the community of people that we support each other. We lift each other up. We don't. I don't see you as competition. I see you as coopetition. I see you as somebody who is definitely a cheerleader for others in the community as well, and I have featured Deanna on my LinkedIn rockstar list. For those of you who've been following me a while, you'll recall that was a list I did for many years and then I ran out of steam for it. But Deanna made the list and she was on for multiple editions there. So, deanna, for folks that are watching that don't know too much about you, why don't you take a minute and tell us a little bit about who you are?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Thank you so much, brenda. Yeah, this is really exciting. I'm very enthusiastic about this opportunity.

Speaker 2:

So, basically, a little bit about me. I have been on LinkedIn since back in 2008, but in 2018 is when I really kicked it into full gear, because I was in a sales job and that company wanted me to use LinkedIn in order to bring in new business sales, new business hand in hand. But what they wanted me to do and what I ended up doing with it were two totally different things. I was one of those people who was cold call pitching Yep, you've gotten those direct messages, I'm sure. Yep, and I pivoted into why don't we create content so that people can get to know you and like you and trust you and have conversations in the comments, and that's what it's all about is really, I haven't looked back.

Speaker 2:

In fact, some of those people that I cold call pitched are still connected with me and sometimes I say thank you when they show up. Yeah, they're still connected, even though they got that spammy email or spammy message. So, yeah, and I've been. I started leverage up in 2020. And basically, I took my strategy that helped me grow from 400 to 11,018 months. Now I'm closing in on 30,000 followers on LinkedIn and I teach yep, I teach the strategy because it doesn't have to be complicated, it doesn't have to be overwhelming, if you know what you're supposed to be doing and you have a game plan for making it all work.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome and completely agree with you, and you and I share very similar philosophies with regards to what this whole thing is all about, and you can see the topic here today, which is how to use LinkedIn like a big networking event, and we're definitely you and I are using it as a big networking event today because we're bringing in so many of our friends people like Annette Richman and Jeff Young and Meryl Cass and I see so many great people in the room here today and I know what people will continue to drop in as we get our conversation started. So I'll just remind our audience don't be shy, drop a comment in and let us know that you're watching. We always love and appreciate seeing the names that are coming in on the audience, and we're going to just start by jumping into this conversation. So, deanna, we're going to talk today about how to use LinkedIn like a big networking event, so there might be people coming into this chat because they don't know how to do that, so what advice do you have for them?

Speaker 2:

I think when you're meeting strangers, whether it's business or personal, it's all about getting to know them, getting to like them and getting to trust them. And so when you're getting to know people on LinkedIn, it is the exact same thing In the profile. If they walk away with a really good no aspect and they know you better by reading your profile, then you can check the box. When you're having conversations on LinkedIn, if they get to like you better because of some comment that you dropped on somebody else's post or their own post, then they get to like you better. And then in the conversations that you're having with your content and I bring conversations in there because it doesn't have to be you speaking on a podium to the people, it can be you talking so that the people relate with you.

Speaker 2:

So really it's about shaking hands with your content, but in the content that's how they get to trust you, because they get a sense from that content that you really know what you're talking about. So that's how it all works is know in the profile, like in the conversations, and trust in the content. So it's still the same three things. You're just taking it into LinkedIn and basically walking into that crowded room that you don't know anybody and start to smile and start to get to know people and you're going to find who resonates with you and who you need to work and earn that trust.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I want to ask you a question as it relates to, like, getting into the comments, because there's many people who might be watching this right now that are introverts and I am an introvert at heart and I will always be an introvert at heart and when you talk about going into a live networking event and going up to someone and saying something, I always get like a little bit of that hunk pitter patter, like that nervousness, this anxiety, especially when you walk in a room and you feel like everyone already knows someone in the room. They're already in smaller group conversations and sometimes closed circles where you can't even get into the middle of it. Now it's different on LinkedIn, because we can just jump in the comments and there's not clicks and things that are for me. You can just jump in there, but there might be someone watching right now, deanna. That's like nervous. What do I say? What do I say in comments? What advice do you have for them?

Speaker 2:

Tell that person in the comments exactly what you would say in person, because if you just go with the great post or love it or something that's just two to three words, they really can't get to know and like you that way. So really it is about making a sentence or a series of sentences that allows them in, and then keep in mind that when you comment it is not just the people who post that piece of content who see your comments. It's really a spiderweb effect. Your comments are going to go out to multiple different levels of audiences because of what you write. So if you think about the power of your words not to make it more scary, but if you just start with a sentence or two and then build it, honestly what I found with commenting is the more you do it, the easier it gets. It's just like riding a bike.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I love your analogy of what would you say in person. If you and I were standing next to each other and you just read what you posted in person, I wouldn't say great post and then pat you on the head and walk away, which is what you're doing when you like a post. You're basically patting them on the head.

Speaker 3:

You wouldn't say great post and walk away and be like what was that? Are you okay, deanna? Are you all right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's really about telling that person what you liked about that post or why it resonated, what part of that post. I'll go into comments when I see a post that.

Speaker 2:

I like, and I'll even say my favorite part is, or the part that resonated with me the most is because it shows that you're actually paying attention. It shows that you're, that you really want, that you're committed, and that's what it's about. If you're really committed to having conversations in the comments, then you're going to put your best foot forward. One of the other excuses I hear from people is that I just don't have the time to comment, but you have the time to react, so it's just a few extra seconds to write something, as opposed to just going to the thumbs up or the hearts or the clapping emoji. Right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and so we're talking today about how to use LinkedIn as a big networking event and we're talking about some analogies of in-person networking versus virtual networking on LinkedIn. And I'm curious, deanna, I'm sure you've seen people make mistakes with comments, and we talked about one already, which is just saying great post and then walking away from it. What are some other mistakes that you see, or maybe some faux pas that you see people making when they're getting into comments?

Speaker 2:

I think one of the things that people need to keep in mind is that it is really a conversation and that if you want that person to see that comment, tagging that person really makes a difference. Yes, you can comment without a tag too, and most of the time, the people who comment but then if you're responding to somebody else's comments in the conversation, then you want to make sure that you're tagging the person that you're talking to too. So that's important, and it's just the at symbol and then all of the names pop up there, so it's really very simple to tag. The other thing that I've seen is people who don't reply to comments. I posted about this recently that if you aren't replying to comments whether it's your post or whether it's someone else's post that they're trying to have a conversation with you it can be like a one-sided conversation. It's like Deanna talking to herself as opposed to Deanna talking to Brenda, and I do that as a mom of three. I have plenty of conversations to myself as a mom of three.

Speaker 1:

I have plenty of conversations to myself, but I want on LinkedIn to be responded to. It would almost be like in the beginning of the show I said, hey, look at that, we're both wearing similar color pink shirts.

Speaker 3:

It'd be like.

Speaker 1:

You going?

Speaker 3:

yeah, I was just having a conversation. I just told you I like the color of your shirt. You can't acknowledge me.

Speaker 1:

And I feel a little bit snubbed, and I think the other part is it's not just that person who might feel like gosh, you just didn't respond to me, but it's like everyone else is like she's not responding, and there's a lot more people that are using AI and tools now for automation. Do you have any thoughts there? Do you ever see people commenting in your posts using what looks like or is clearly an AI generated response and if so, what do you do with those?

Speaker 2:

I have, and really I think that the majority of the people on LinkedIn are still human.

Speaker 2:

So those are the people that you pay attention to Same with people using AI pictures as their profile picture too. I've added it to my checklist Do not use AI. Really, we want to see you. We want because if you're not showing us yourself and you're showing us one, that's super filtered, when you show up on Zoom with someone, it's going to look totally different. Same thing with conversations People want to know that the comments that you're posting are your words. It's not a robot's words. It's not something that you're copying and pasting from ChatGPT, so it's really let's go back to use your words and because they want to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a really good point. I completely agree and I feel like we can always sense when some and you can tell on photos there's something a little off about it. They look just a little bit too perfect or a little bit animated or something in there, and I think in comments we can tell our spidey sense is picking up on the AI tools that are in here. We're talking about how to use LinkedIn like a big networking event and you've given us some great tips so far on commenting and getting into conversations. What about connecting with people? Do you have any advice for people on making new connections with individuals on LinkedIn?

Speaker 2:

One of the best things that LinkedIn has done in recent years is created the follow button. If there is any doubts in your mind, just follow first, because connections are really the people I save for when I want to send a direct message or there is a potential for sending a direct message to that person. If there is any question mark in your head, I always encourage people to follow. First test the waters and then, once you find that you see that there is no more question marks, then you can then connect. You can send a connection request, and often what I'll see is if I follow someone, they'll send me a connection request. So I'll have to then check it out. But it's really you have to go back to thinking about why are you on LinkedIn? Who are the people you're trying to connect to? Does this make sense? Those are the questions to ask yourself as you're getting those connection requests or if you're sending them to other people.

Speaker 1:

And I'm curious too. You talked earlier about you're growing your following and I think you said you're up to 30,000 followers, Followers are a little bit different than connections, but I'm guessing that your connections are growing as well. So what's your advice to people if they're using LinkedIn like a big networking event about whether or not to accept any and all invitations, or what criteria would you give them to think about when deciding whether or not to accept an invitation?

Speaker 2:

This is why the profile and the activity are so important, because in order to know and trust people, the profile has to answer some of the questions. If you're going to that prospective connections profile and you just don't understand why they're there or what they're doing, then it doesn't make sense to connect. To be completely honest, it doesn't. It is about getting those questions answered. If you go to the activity section and then you see reposts or just reactions all the way through, how can someone get to know and like you, if there's nothing there for them? There has to be a give and take, there has to be handshaking and you're not giving that. If all you're doing is reacting to posts and all you're doing is reposting with none of your other thoughts, there's none of your thoughts that are there, it's hard. It's hard to really do that.

Speaker 1:

So profile and activity are really good, good ways to know that they're worth connecting to or not no-transcript advice that you're giving people, and if so, there might be someone watching who's using the free basic version, who's hitting up against this roadblock right now. Maybe they don't want to upgrade yet. Any advice for them?

Speaker 2:

I actually have the free version and so I've come across this. If I am at a networking event and we exchange cards and we have conversations, I don't necessarily need to send a personalized invite within the next 24 hours, because that person will remember me to that perspective connection Maybe it was I've actually personalized it with your comment on this person's post brought me to you. Those are the types of things that you really want to personalize so that they know why you're connecting. So it's really you have to go with case by case basis. I don't think it's five right now. I am pretty sure it's 10. I'm really sure it's 10. And I've even encountered ones that I've seen. I feel like it's more than 10 at some places. But yeah, they're really trying to encourage people to go to more of the premium, to have more of the personalized invites available, and if there's any question, that person can then send you a direct message. Why do you want to connect to? So there's all of that. But yeah, there's definitely a limit these days.

Speaker 1:

So you got to figure out what makes the most sense and when to send that invite for a living for her business, and she is using the free, basic version of LinkedIn, and I think that speaks volumes about the power of using all of the free features that LinkedIn has to offer.

Speaker 1:

You don't you may not need to upgrade to premium. You might, but you might be considering doing that, and I love the platform and LinkedIn is a business and I get that. They have to stay in business and we are helping people to use the platform, which, in turn, helps LinkedIn to deliver ads to them. So I feel like we're helping and supporting from a revenue generating standpoint, but I do want people to keep in mind. There are techniques and strategies, some of which Deanna talked about today, that you can use, that you can still grow your network even without adding a personal note, and I would guess in those instances, deanna, when you've met someone in person and you've just had a conversation, you know they're going to accept it, you don't waste the invitation, so to speak. You don't waste the personal note on them.

Speaker 1:

But then, after they accept it, are you then messaging them back or what's happening as a next step?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I believe that if you don't have a next step after that, then that person just sits in limbo. So it's really about figuring out what makes the most sense. Does a another face to face conversation make sense? Does another zoom conversation make sense? Does another phone call? Or maybe that person just needs to follow you for a while and then you touch base and you say in another few weeks you've been following me for a while, we met face to face. Does this make sense? To have another conversation? And always ask, because it's not like you pressuring that person into another conversation, that's just okay. What do you think? What do you think about this?

Speaker 1:

It's almost like if you meet somebody and we're here talking about using LinkedIn like a big networking event. If you were to meet somebody in person at a networking event and you have a whole conversation with them, would it make sense at that point to say, hey Deanne, I've really enjoyed chatting with you. How about we meet for coffee next week? And sometimes in my mind I'm like there's something that we talked about where there might be a collaboration or referral opportunity back and forth, like it might make sense, but otherwise I might go.

Speaker 3:

What didn't we just meet, Like, why do you want to meet again?

Speaker 1:

There's nothing more yet to meet with you on and I feel like sometimes people they're trying to rush that relationship building process to generate new business on LinkedIn through their connections, through messaging Would you agree with that, Deanna, in anything you'd want to add.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I would say that when it boils down to building the relationship, it doesn't need to happen within a matter of days. It doesn't need to happen within a matter of days. It doesn't need to happen within a matter of weeks. Sometimes relationships need to grow and be built over a period of time. So you're right. What else if you had a really nice conversation? Yes, it might make sense if there was collaboration talked about, if there was something that was discussed that was very definitive. But if there wasn't and if it was more chitchat, then maybe that doesn't make the most sense.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I feel like sometimes those people I wonder if they have like a goal or a quota, like I need to meet with five people for coffee or lunch this week, and was I just one of the five? And as opposed to there, it made sense, like when they ask absolutely, absolutely, we should meet for coffee because we got to continue this conversation. We just started getting into it and we need to continue it. Speaking of conversation, I want to invite our audience to join our conversation and we've got such a lively event here today and I'm seeing our chat and our comments are just really lit up on here. So I want to see if there's any questions or comments that are coming in here. Yeah, john, we are definitely on point with our coloring today. We literally did not reach out to the other person. She showed up and I was like oh, look at this, it worked out perfect.

Speaker 1:

And, by the way, if you're not already following John Esperian, by the way, for podcast listeners it's E-S-P-I-R-I-A-N. Make sure to do yourself a favor and follow him. He's always got such great gems on here. And, laura, the funny thing is Deanna and I, prior to today, we've never talked.

Speaker 2:

I mean you came into one of one or two of my audio rooms.

Speaker 3:

I was going to say maybe in an audio room or maybe in a Zoom group call, but this is like we don't chat that often.

Speaker 1:

No, and the beauty of LinkedIn, and we're treating LinkedIn like a big networking event. If you do it right, it feels like when we came into the call today.

Speaker 3:

I'm like how have you been? We've never talked before. How have you been Like, why would I say that Right?

Speaker 2:

It's really just about getting to know people. That's what it is. If you cannot get to know someone without having some sort of interaction and with the profile, that is your first impression. For everybody who's visiting your profile, that's your first impression. If there is any question marks in your head about Ooh, people are looking at my profile, then there's no point in being skeptical or being just like cringy about it. It's just you go. You should be proud of everything you're putting out there, whether it's your profile, whether it's your conversations and whether it's your content. Be proud of it because wear it like a banner, because I have told people, brenda this before If you do not brag about yourself and sell yourself, then who will?

Speaker 3:

Who will?

Speaker 2:

Right, that's really what it boils down to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, completely agree, and I think you get comfortable with that and maybe more comfortable over time. Speaking of bragging, I want to just brag on you for a second. I see Meryl in here. Is this a thing? Deanna's denizens Is that like a thing?

Speaker 2:

It was a fan club from my audio rooms. Yes, yes, annalise Vance had a little fan club going on.

Speaker 1:

I love it, and I see a mention of Bobby Umer on here. You're part of the Thought Leadership Branding Club and are you still doing the weekly events with his?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I stopped the weekly audio rooms at the end of the year, taking a break from them. I may come back at some point, but now I'm having other fun with other people's events and showing up at other and having good conversations, and I'm not. I don't have to host it and create the event and all that behind the scenes fun. That goes on.

Speaker 1:

It can be a lot of work, but it's definitely a good learning curve to go through For those of you if you are looking to amp up your networking game and really to grow your presence as a thought leader.

Speaker 3:

audio events can be a way to do it.

Speaker 1:

Laura just dropped a comment and she says that she also has the free version of LinkedIn and she does that. She reaches out and engages with her posts too. She said that works pretty well. Thoughts on that technique, deanna, as it relates to using the free version, connecting with new people and adding comments to their posts.

Speaker 2:

First, I think that without commenting you are missing opportunities. That really commenting brings in a lot more opportunities and creates a lot more of the like factor and allows people to get to like you a lot better than not commenting. So if there's one thing you're going to take away from this is I need to comment more than I can say. Job well done.

Speaker 2:

I can check the box because it's really that commenting makes a huge difference. It really does. Honestly, brenda, if you think about the face-to-face networking event, who goes into a face-to-face networking event and does a? And?

Speaker 1:

then leave yes, and literally or doesn't talk to anybody, goes and sits in the back of the room, gets their cup of coffee, listens to the speaker and leaves no one does that no?

Speaker 2:

you have to get out of your comfort zone and talk to people. That's what it's all about. That's what it's and connecting Honestly. If you do not feel comfortable connecting with people, then don't. If you really want to just follow people, that's okay too. You're going to find that you're going to connect when it makes the most sense, when it makes the most sense to you. I always say you, do you. I'm not going to tell you to do X, y and Z, or A, b and C. You have to do you what you feel more comfortable with, because no matter what I say or no matter what you say, then they're not going to follow what you're doing if they don't feel comfortable with it.

Speaker 1:

And I think all of us who work in the LinkedIn community, trainers and coaches and I see G who's in comments- right now in doing something like this, you come into a live event. You can do exactly what G just said. Hey, just say popping in a quick and if you're watching this right now and you haven't left a comment yet, join in the comments, because it's a really great way of building visibility for yourself in the live chat in the playback as well, and it really just helps to build up your visibility.

Speaker 1:

And what I love about what you just said too, deanna, is like all of us in the LinkedIn training community, we all have slightly different perspectives and I see Jeff Young in here as well, so I always like to think of the analogy is we're all looking through a kaleidoscope at LinkedIn and we all have slightly different angles. There's going to be some things that overlap. There's philosophies that you and I and she and Jeff and John will share, but then there's slightly different nuances to the approach that we take as well.

Speaker 1:

And we all have different insights. And I'm glad Jeff was watching Jeff, because I'm still hearing from people five and 10. It's either five or 10. I don't know if they've said I don't think they've tried six and seven and eight. I think it's either five.

Speaker 3:

Maybe they're testing it out.

Speaker 1:

I think they're still testing that out, but I agree with you, it's on the whim of LinkedIn until they land on the number. So I don't know if there's still more testing as needed at this point, but we'll continue to watch and look at what might be happening there.

Speaker 2:

And it's not the best idea as a free person, someone on the free version of LinkedIn, to just send lots of personalized invites within the first two weeks of the month, because then you're stuck.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, then you want to spread those out. I'm trying to guide people to use them strategically, like use them if you think there's a chance they won't accept it and if they're the type of person that connection would be aligning with your business goals or your career goals. On LinkedIn, speaking of business, I see Elizabeth. It looks like she might be one of your clients. She says, yeah, that was a huge draw for me when asking Deanna about coaching, the fact that she uses the free version. So there you go, got business from someone using the free version, and I love that you are teaching this to your clients, deanna, as well. Anything you'd like to add to that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that it doesn't have to come down to the dollars and cents. If you want to go to premium, if you want to take it the next step, do it.

Speaker 2:

Try it out I always tell people about LinkedIn premium that you can test it out for an entire month to see if it makes sense to you and use that trial. But if you don't, you can do and get to all of your goals on LinkedIn without spending the money on premium or sales navigator or recruiter or any of the other tools. And you know, what I found also, brenda, is people who are investing all of that they might not have all of the fundamentals down first. There might be more questions, there might be more empty spaces that need to be filled. So really, if you're thinking about that, make sure that you're doing everything else as far as fundamentals go, that you have a really optimized profile, that you're having good conversations, that you're creating that content, because it may not even work for you and it might be waste of money if you don't, if you're not doing all of the other fundamentals.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. And I got to ask are you a Swifty by any chance?

Speaker 2:

My two daughters are?

Speaker 3:

I got a blank space. I was hearing the pen click in my head as you were saying. I didn't even make the connection.

Speaker 1:

This is the week that I had the big album. Like my daughter, she's 12. So she went to sleep before midnight when the album was released. But she got up at six o'clock that morning and she was like binge listening to the music before as I was working outside over the weekend.

Speaker 2:

And yeah, so I got to hear the entire, almost the entire album, but then after a while I asked her to turn over the channel. I'm like there is not one upbeat song on this entire.

Speaker 3:

Well, you know what the beauty of it is.

Speaker 1:

And I love the brand that Taylor Swift has created for herself and, I believe, the name of the album, and if I'm wrong, correct me on this, but it's like the Tortured Poets Society or is that right?

Speaker 3:

Poets Department, I think, oh, tortured Poets Department.

Speaker 1:

So when you create an album called the Tortured Poets Department. You've now set the bar, for every song has to feel like it belongs with that album. You can't do a happy-go-lucky pop, shake-it-off song with that album. You go with deep and you go with obscure and read between the lines and like all this. I love it, and I think that's something that we all can do on LinkedIn as well, when you've created a personal brand for yourself and you go to a networking event and they're serving pie people are going to come up to me and go Brenda, did you see the pie?

Speaker 3:

Did you see the pie over there? And that's something that I think for you.

Speaker 1:

I'm remembering, like a purple squirrel, was that something that you were using for a long time.

Speaker 3:

Am I remembering correctly?

Speaker 2:

I actually did a video on Friday because someone commented how did this whole purple squirrel because someone commented how did this whole purple squirrel? So I recorded another video and posted it last week and I said this is how it all started. So I was in that sales position, small IT startup that someone one of my coworkers said to me oh, that position is a purple squirrel. And I said, wait, what is a purple squirrel? And he told me and then I'm like this needs to go on LinkedIn. And then next thing I am creating a whole like following of people that are calling me a purple squirrel magnet because I posted a video that got so much traction and that was 2019, brenda.

Speaker 2:

Wow really it's going to show number one, the power of posting content, number two, the power of posting videos, and number three, that people will remember what they remember, because that was nothing that I like set out to do, it was just inspired by a conversation, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Isn't it funny. I see some comments coming in. People are talking about Annalise and I can't think of her last name. But then I saw a second comment from Jeff Young. He said he's a Deanna's denizen and he's also a member of Annalise's army, so it looks like you both have your subgroup.

Speaker 3:

Apparently, we both have a following. Yes.

Speaker 1:

What's Annalise's last name? I don't know if she's on the show right now and I want to make sure I tag her in the comments.

Speaker 2:

Annalise Vance Annalise.

Speaker 3:

Vance yes, someone make sure, if you're watching right now.

Speaker 1:

Tag her in comments so she knows we're talking about her, because it's always fun when you're like. They talked about me on a show earlier, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she is fabulous. She is a fantastic person, one of those like really amazing humans who got to know me through networking group that we're both part of success champions networking and then she started coming and visiting my content. We became friends. We met face to face last year it was almost a year ago that we met face to face. I got to hold her kids. She's got two little ones and so she's juggling mommy's CEO and these two adorable little kiddos and yeah, and then she was a regular in my audio room all the way through. But, yeah, it's been pretty awesome getting to know her and this would not have happened without LinkedIn, right, without the power of LinkedIn.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to go back to and I was scrolling through the comments. I didn't mean to pull this one up on screen, but now I got to pull it up and I feel like Taylor's really brilliant in so many ways in her performances and her ability. Honestly, she went from a young teenager to now a young adult and she didn't go into that inappropriate phase that we see so many artists go through. She's always been very appropriate in what she does. As a mom, I always feel comfortable having my daughter watch her.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, me too I love, she brings things in here and we just in my car I just upgraded to Sirius Satellite Radio and my daughter's she's got a channel and I'm like, what channel number is it 13.?

Speaker 3:

Like. Why would I'm like as?

Speaker 1:

soon as she said I'm like, why wouldn't I'm like? As soon as she said I'm like, why wouldn't I think about? But inside the video she will drop in like little clues and easter eggs and things for us to stumble upon where it's like she's winking to us. And Collette said she brought Ethan Hawke from Dead Poets Society. I haven't watched that movie in years.

Speaker 1:

I've got to re-watch it again but when we were watching the video over the weekend, my husband was like oh my gosh, that was brilliant. And I, like I don't remember the reference from the movie Exactly, but yeah, is that the video that that came out on Friday? Yes, it's the black and white one and I think it's the only video so far that's been released, if anyone's watching and they know different, they'll let us know, I'm sure. But yeah, then I need to watch it.

Speaker 2:

I need to watch it. I didn't even put the two and two together. Dead.

Speaker 3:

Polar.

Speaker 2:

Society like I need to find the video, the movie, so that my girls can watch it now. It is a really great movie. That is a really outstanding one of Robin Williams' best movies I think At least, but yeah yeah, I didn't even put the two and two together, so I want to bring in one, maybe one last comment, and then we're going to start to wrap this up here.

Speaker 1:

So, Susie, thank you so much for joining us. Susie, susie's asking a question. Deanna, what would you say? The etiquette is on people connecting but then not replying to you, even though you're not selling, just saying hi. Would you message again or leave it?

Speaker 2:

I would leave it. I would leave it because but I also keep in mind that the way LinkedIn has the direct messages set up, it messages get lost. They do. Yeah, maybe another message if you really want to start a conversation with that person in direct message. I sent you this message last week just making sure you got it, that's all. And that way you're not pushing them. But I know that LinkedIn does not keep that very well organized. I love that. I mean star direct messages. That's pretty cool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, if you remember to star them and then you got to sort by the starred message. But what I might add to that is, susie, like what I would do is, if I have added a personal note when I sent them an invitation, that's message number one. After they accept, I would reply back and I might say thanks for accepting. Let me know if you have any LinkedIn questions. At that point I've sent them two messages. If they don't respond, I take that as a non-response. It's almost like we're playing tennis and I've served two balls over the net and you haven't returned a serve yet.

Speaker 1:

If there's somebody that I feel would really be a good prospect or lead or referral partner for me, I might then go to their comments and add a thoughtful comment to their post which shows them I'm being supportive of them and it's like, hey, I'm still here, but without messaging them again. But I love your point, deanna, on they might have meant to respond and they didn't. And every now and again I get somebody who was like what happened to you? Like you said you were going to respond, and they almost like they get a little agitated or irritated with me and I'm like, whoa, what'd you say? I just forgot. It happens with the best of us that are on here.

Speaker 2:

It's just like a text. You may think that you sent that text and yet you didn't. It's so similar.

Speaker 3:

So that happens All the time. I'm like I meant to reply. Do I get points for that?

Speaker 1:

I just forgot about it and I'm going to pull up your LinkedIn profile right now and I see that you've got. The little purple squirrel is one of the images in your top pedographic there, deanna, and are you open to connecting with people who are watching the live or listening to the podcast on a playback and, if so, any instructions you'd like to give them?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Just send me a connection request. Say, saw Brenda's live, heard you on Brenda's podcast, so that I know where you're coming from. That will really help because the connections LinkedIn does cap the number of connections, so I am being a little bit more conscious as far as who I'm connecting with, because the followers are is not a number that is capped, so that can go up to I don't know how long, but it's, but connections are capped. So yeah, that would. I would appreciate it if you say how you found me.

Speaker 1:

And, by the way, john just dropped into comments. I just saw this. He says, in terms of the add a personal note with the free version, some are in. John's really a good source for this stuff LinkedIn. He says some people have five, some people have 10, some people have 20. That's interesting and some aren't limited at all. So maybe they're testing across the spectrum, different levels, and they're trying. I'm guessing they're looking at user sentiment how annoyed are people and how? Also, how much of a lift are we seeing to premium based on these different levels? Because the people that are getting five may never be doing it anyway. So it doesn't really mean anything. But if you give me 10 and now you've wet my appetite and what a powerful connection can look like, maybe that would be more of a trigger to upgrade. So that's good to know. But in the case of Deanna, if you have the ability to personalize an invite, do so. If not, comment on the chat here today and then go and invite her, right?

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, I will go back through all of the comments and make sure that I see all of the comments on Brenda's Live from today. And yeah, I am more than welcome to connect with people who are listening. Here's my website leverageupllccom. I have a services page on this website that outlines each and every service and the price. It is one of the best things that you can do as a business owner is to put your prices right on the website because then there is less like unknown going into that initial call. They already know how much. They might have more questions as far as what it entails, but it's really good. I advise everybody to put the prices on their website.

Speaker 2:

But there are a few services. One is my group community, if you want to be part of the Leverage Up group, and then I offer profile review calls. I offer the triangle strategy where I teach you the profile, engagement and content. That's done in six weeks. And then I work with companies and teams to get everyone on board with profile review calls and we do group sessions on engagement and content. And, yeah, a lot of just knowledge that is transferred. But the knowledge comes with homework. There is some homework, it's not just I'm going to get you on Zoom and then you don't have to do anything. You really have to do the work in order to see the results.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Good point and the people that are listening some of these might be going. Wait a minute. Deanna does things similar to Brenda. Why would Brenda bring Deanna on the show? Isn't she sending people away from her? No, because some people I'm going to use my daughter's analogy Some people don't vibe with me. Some people may not vibe with Deanna. They may vibe with me better and I'm of the, the coopetition model, the abundance mentality, the restaurant row analogy, or rising tide lifts all boats. How many analogies can I jump in here ourselves, with people that do similar work, we actually do better together. So and I think that gets us back to like a big networking event, if you were to see one of your competitors, your coopetition at a networking event, hopefully you are striking up conversations with them. You never know when you can refer business back and forth or you can help to supplement each other in there.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. They are just. In the end, we're all humans and we're all trying to make this work, and so it's really about relating with that person. Find the people that you relate with. Find your vibe. I love it. Find your vibe, find your tribe. That's what it's all about in the end.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. So thank you so much for joining us, deanna, and I would I normally would say any final comments for us on using LinkedIn like a big networking event, but you just gave us that. So let me end with a different question. I might start to ask my other guests the same question as well. I'm going to put you on the spot here. This show is called enthusiastically self-employed, and I sense that from you, so tell us what drives you to be enthusiastically self-employed.

Speaker 2:

I think when I'm able to help people, it makes a really big difference in my mindset knowing that people are getting something out of the advice that I'm giving, the coaching I'm doing when people give me. I just had a recommendation that came in this morning from someone that was in one of my presentations that I gave a few weeks ago and it just that lights my heart, that keeps me going. It's when people are getting stuff out of it, because I don't expect every single person to get something out of it, but if one person, one person, gets it, then the job's done, job well done, and I bring a lot more enthusiasm and smiles to the next person I talk to.

Speaker 1:

There you go, deanna. This was such a delight. Thank you for your patience and allowing me to get you booked a little bit further in the future. I know we wanted to do this a little bit earlier, but I'm glad that we were able to sync up our calendars, and I just want to thank you so much for joining me here today.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, Brenda. It's been an awesome experience. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

It's been so much fun. And hey, for our audience, if you enjoyed the conversation, I want you to remember that Deanna and I do not get performance reviews anymore. We rely on your comments. If you enjoyed it, make sure you let us know in chat before you leave here today If we didn't get a chance to bring your comments or responses on screen. We will definitely follow up with you.

Speaker 1:

And if you want to be like an overachiever, go ahead and click to share the video as soon as it's done playing here on LinkedIn. It's a really great technique, especially if you're struggling with content on LinkedIn you haven't yet posted in the past week or in the past month or even in the past year. Just click to share the video along and tell people why they should watch it. Make sure, when you do so, you tag Deanna and myself in there, make sure you use a little at sign and then our names will pop up in the drop down field. That way, we'll get notified that you did share the post along and we will definitely jump into comments. With that said, I want to thank you all so much for watching. Have a great weekend and we will see you all on.

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Brenda Meller

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