In this episode, I challenge the perception that LinkedIn is just a boring platform for job hunting. Instead, Lousie Brogan reveals how it can be a powerful tool for mid-career professionals to connect with like-minded individuals worldwide, share experiences, and gain valuable insights. Louise explains how to revamp your LinkedIn feed and profile. 

[01:30] Do you think LinkedIn is somewhere to go to apply for jobs? Do you find it a little.boring? Let me convince you otherwise.

[04:03] What are the missed opportunities on LinkedIn?

[07:42] What are some practical ideas on what you can do to get started being more interesting and interested on LinkedIn? 

Speaker Links:

Louise's LinkedIn Daily Activity Checklist - https://louisebrogan.com/download

Next Steps:

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment. It's a 30-minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down. I call it Derailed and it's a fabulous place to begin a joy-at-work redesign.

https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/derailed

If you think LinkedIn is a bit of a dull place where you just go

to find jobs, you might be missing out.

According to Louise Brogan, a fabulous LinkedIn consultant from

my homeland, Northern Ireland.

She says there are ways to use LinkedIn without exposing your soul

or treating it like a dating site.

Louise gives insights in a really lighthearted way, but packs a punch

with practical recommendations to grow your network in a way that feels

real, make it easier to get discovered for your next role, and allow you to

connect genuinely with like minds to help you do that more easily, she's

offering a free download on the do's and don'ts for professionals on LinkedIn

that you'll find in the show notes.

Let's dive in.

Hi, my name is Louise Brogan.

I'm the host of LinkedIn with Louise.

Which is a podcast and YouTube channel all about how to use LinkedIn.

I love helping people raise their profile and visibility on LinkedIn.

Do you think LinkedIn is somewhere you just go to get jobs

and it's a little bit boring?

I'm hoping to convince you otherwise today.

LinkedIn to me is a place that you go to, to connect with people who are interested

in the same topics and conversations as you, who have gone through the same

challenges you have gone through and are sharing helpful tips and advice

on how to deal with those challenges.

And yes, of course, it's somewhere you can go to find your next career move or

your next promotion, but if that's all you're using it for, you are missing out.

With over 1 billion people having LinkedIn accounts, it is the water

cooler feature that takes you beyond just the people that you might meet

in your local city networking events.

It is connecting you with people from all across the world who

work in the same space as you, who have the same issues as you.

And it's just a brilliant place to build relationships.

I have met so many amazing people from North America.

From Barbados to Portugal, to Luxembourg, to Australia, who are like minded with me.

They might be the same age as me, they might be a different age to me,

but we're having conversations and we are sharing experiences that are

enriching our lives on both sides.

If you're thinking, what on earth is she talking about, that's not

what LinkedIn looks like to me.

Then I suggest that you do two things today, number one, go to your

LinkedIn account and look at all the people who are boring in your

newsfeed and start to unfollow them.

Over on my YouTube channel.

You can find out how to unfollow people.

Just look for LinkedIn with Louise and type in, how do I unfollow somebody?

So unfollow those people in your newsfeed and start looking

for people who are interesting.

There might be somebody who you really admire, like an author or a podcaster.

If you're following those people, who is commenting on their content?

Because those people are obviously interested in that person as well.

And this could be the person that you would have a great conversation with.

So connect with those people and let's change up your

experience of LinkedIn, please.

All right.

The second question I want to talk about is the missed opportunities on LinkedIn.

So if we're going to be on LinkedIn, I want you to be visible.

How do you get visible on LinkedIn?

And this, remember, this is your professional network.

It is not your dating website, it is your professional network.

So how do you get visible in a professional way?

It's really simple.

Make sure that you actually do optimize your LinkedIn profile.

So that if I looked at it, it would be a recent photograph of you.

Your headline would tell me what it is that you do, who you work with, and

that I would read your about section.

I would think, Oh, this sounds like somebody I'd like to have a coffee with.

Or, if we're at a conference, I'm happy to sit down beside them for the next speaker.

So do optimize your profile.

But then the next step is in order to get people to look at your profile

and see you and want to connect with you and have those conversations,

You have got to raise your head above the parapet and leave some comments.

Imagine we're at a conference together.

So I've just met you.

We've, we arrived at the same time.

We hung up our coats in the cloakroom.

We've got our coffee.

We're both heading to the same room to see the same speaker.

What would a natural thing to be would be to say hello.

You'd say, hello.

Oh, are you going to see this person too?

Oh, so am I.

Have you heard them speak before?

Yes.

I saw them once in Boston.

Duh duh, duh, duh, duh.

You're having a conversation and LinkedIn is exactly the same.

You wouldn't walk through that whole conference, sit down beside me,

find out we're at the same talks all day and we're on the train

home and not speak, would you?

Because that's a real missed opportunity and I don't want you

to miss an opportunity like that.

Look for people who look interesting, connect with them, have conversations

and get visible on LinkedIn simply by interacting and engaging on content, so

it could be video, could be posts, could be LinkedIn lives, could be audio, but

comment on those posts and be seen by the people that you want to connect with.

We are human beings and we connect with other human beings.

You do all the work on your LinkedIn profile, nobody is going

to just pop up and say, Hey, do you want to go for coffee?

If they don't actually know who you are, the way to get seen on

LinkedIn is by posting comments, posting your own posts, which might

be a step too far for some of you.

But start with commenting on other people's posts.

And if you want a friendly person to practice on, you can

come and comment on my posts.

My name is Louise Brogan.

If you type in Louise Brogan into LinkedIn and you look for the one that

says I'm a LinkedIn consultant, you can come and connect with me and you

can practice by commenting on my posts.

But also let me know that you heard me.

At the joy at work summit, and then I will know to be nice.

I'm not always nice.

I'm always nice on LinkedIn.

But I will be friendly and I will hold your hand and I

will respond to your comment.

And then hello, you're off to the races.

Hooray.

Okay.

So practical ideas on what you could actually do.

In your career, whatever industry you're working in, what do

people ask about that industry?

Or, if you are mid career, think about the person who is coming up behind

you and they're, where you were five years ago, what would that version

of you like to have known about?

Maybe you could share local networking events that you go

to that you think are good.

Maybe you could talk about the books that you've read that have

helped you within your industry.

Your activity on LinkedIn, yes, it's about getting you visible, but when you

come at LinkedIn from a place of how can I help other people in my industry

or people who are in my space, then it becomes an easier way to approach it.

Again, think about the whole way you look at LinkedIn.

Is going to an industry conference in person.

Your personal profile is you walking about the conference, meeting

people, having conversations.

When you go to your industry conference, you make sure that you

are dressed appropriately and you're putting your best foot forward.

That means on LinkedIn, having your profile up to date and optimized.

And when we look at it, we understand.

What you do, what you're interested in, and we see the full picture.

At the conference, AKA at LinkedIn, start to have conversations with people.

If you, again, if you go and see a speaker and you really what they said.

Wouldn't it be amazing to go up to them afterwards and let them know that?

Do that on LinkedIn.

People are generally really polite and supportive on LinkedIn.

And the statistics, easy for you to say are that about 95 percent of us never

comment or post anything on LinkedIn.

So it is such a platform to be seen by the people you want to be seen by

and to raise your profile and connect with people who you could find your

next mentor, or you could find someone to do a podcast with, but you have got

to connect and have conversations with people, no shying away from it but

practical advice, optimize your profile.

Make sure it reflects who you are, start to connect with people, have conversations

with them and start commenting on other people's posts and unfollow people

who are boring and you will see a big change in how you approach LinkedIn.

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my

Life Satisfaction Assessment.

It's a 30 minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas

of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you time.

I call it D.

It's a fabulous place to begin a joy at work redesign.