Are you considering giving up on LinkedIn? When times get tough, it's easy to think that LinkedIn is a waste of time and give up. But LinkedIn B2B Expert Michelle J Raymond addresses the challenges businesses face during tough times and explains why abandoning LinkedIn is the worst possible choice.

Michelle shares a practical 15-minute daily plan to boost LinkedIn activity through posting, commenting, and direct messaging. By being consistent and proactive, businesses can maintain visibility and thrive even in challenging market conditions.

Listen till the end for actionable advice to stay top of mind with B2B buyers and decision-makers.

Key moments in this episode - 

00:00 The Importance of Staying Active on LinkedIn

03:50 Current Market Conditions and LinkedIn's Role

05:17 The Power of Consistency on LinkedIn

08:11 Your 15-Minute Daily LinkedIn Plan

10:35 Taking Control of Your LinkedIn Success

11:39 Take Action and Share Success

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE J RAYMOND

• Michelle J Raymond on LinkedIn
• Book a free intro call
• https://socialmediaforb2bgrowthpodcast.com/
• B2B Growth Co newsletter

Today's episode is sponsored by Metricool. Make sure to register for a FREE Metricool account today. Use Code MICHELLE30 to try any Premium Plan FREE for 30 days. 

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When business gets tough, most people panic, go quiet and cut back on LinkedIn,

but in truth, that's the worst possible thing that you could do right now.

When business gets tough, the tough get LinkedIning.

G'Day everyone.

It's Coach Michelle J Raymond, your trusted guide for building your

brand and your business on LinkedIn.

And shout out to the listeners that picked up on my dated reference in the intro.

Do you remember the song "When the going gets Tough, the Tough Get Going?" Yep.

I'm showing my age.

Shout out to the Gen Xs and beyond.

That is a song that really stood out for me when I was thinking about planning this

episode because I appreciate right now that it feels really tough on LinkedIn.

And I'm also hearing and experiencing for myself that it is tough in business.

There aren't as many opportunities flying around for reasons that are probably

well and truly out of our controls.

And for me it has been a bit of a, a mind game to try and not want to throw in

the towel and throw this whole LinkedIn thing away just like everybody else.

Like I'm human at the end of the day.

And the thing that kind of just keeps coming back to me is that I know deep

in my heart that if I show up and do the work, then it is going to be me that is

winning those opportunities out there.

And there might be fewer available or reduced budgets, but I'm gonna

be added onto those shortlists, not the person who becomes invisible.

So if you are someone that has thrown your hands in the air, walked away and

given up, then I really want you to listen all the way to the end of this episode.

'cause we've gotta talk about this, especially if you have identified that

your target audience is on LinkedIn.

So we're going to go through what's going on right now and more importantly

what do I think that you can be doing on LinkedIn to win the lion's share

of opportunities that are out there?

So we'll talk about this after a quick word from our podcast sponsors, Metricool.

Let's have a quick reality check.

The world is a pretty crazy place.

Financially I think people are struggling in lots of different ways.

There's a lot of uncertainty out in the world, and I think people are

scaling back their teams or their budgets, and that's the reality that

we're kind of living in right now.

What I see then is a lot of people and clients that reach out to me are the

people that are saying, you know what?

I don't know that this is for me.

I think LinkedIn's a waste of time.

I'm not getting the opportunities like I used to.

Therefore LinkedIn is broken and I actually don't think that it's LinkedIn

is broken in this particular case.

I think that there's just market conditions that are impacting

what's going on on the platform.

Now, I experience this in my own business.

Typically what happens is while the rest of the world goes on their summer

vacations, my inquiries drop off.

'cause a lot of the work I do is with overseas markets in Europe and the US.

And I expect that by this time of year, things normally pick up, and

they're just not, not in the same way that they have historically.

I have been seeing posts from people who have had their own business for

quite some time who are now taking roles in corporate land so that

they've got that comfort and security that comes with a regular paycheck.

So I can see the market conditions are tough.

But the thing that I want to remind people of is that LinkedIn is still the

platform where people come to do business.

We still have B2B buyers and decision makers, scrolling,

researching, looking for information.

And from that perspective, it's important that we stay top of mind

so that they don't forget about us.

Because as they create their short lists, remember, everyone in the world

seems to have a list of three companies when they go to get quotes quite often.

Are you going to be on that list of three?

And if you're invisible or out of mind because people can't recall the last

time that they ever saw you or heard from your brand, then you are not

gonna make it onto that short list.

So of course it becomes this self-fulfilling prophecy where you

are out of mind, you don't get on the list, you then blame LinkedIn

because your business isn't growing.

When really what's happening is you've just disappeared out of people's

minds and I actually think it's those that are willing to keep showing

up and do the work consistently, regardless of the shakeup that's

going on on LinkedIn or in the world.

It's those people who are top of mind, who are being included in those buying

decisions, who are being shortlisted on those lists of businesses that

companies will potentially work with.

And I actually think.

That it's those people who are not necessarily the best at what they

do, but they show up consistently that are winning more and more.

So my question to you is, are you showing up enough on LinkedIn or are you hiding in

the shadows, sitting on the bench, waiting for the world to change, the conditions

of the markets to change, so that you'll then get active when times are easier?

Now, even as I say that out loud, I'm sure that many of you're going,

oh, Michelle, I don't really do that.

Really?

Because I have recently, I think there's a part of me that was almost

convinced because of all the content that's out there on LinkedIn, that

it's a time that it's all too hard.

My content's not getting seen by as many people.

It's all doom and gloom, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I nearly bought into that.

I've been doing this for such a long time on LinkedIn, I should know better.

I had a career in B2B sales for 20 years where I have worked through

times like this for other people, and I know the solution is to get

up and keep going and be proactive and take things into my own hands.

So after this break, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna give you your

tough times on LinkedIn Plan your habits that you're gonna build in 15

minutes a day to make sure that you stay top of mind with the buyers that

are out there right now, that do have opportunities so that your competitors

don't steal them away from you.

Let's get into your tough times on LinkedIn plan.

I want you to give me 15 minutes a day.

That is all I am asking for.

This is not something where intensity and blowing out for hours and hours

is going to give you better results, but with that 15 minutes, I want it

in your calendar, making sure you set reminders and you keep yourself

accountable to show up and do the work.

Can we do that?

Amazing.

Now that you've got that there, what are you gonna do in those 15 minutes?

You are going to be proactive and take steps one, to train the algorithm like

we talked about in last week's episode, but number two, to make sure that the

activity that you'll take aligns with your business goals, that it is getting

you towards where you are headed and you are taking strategic actions.

So what can you be doing?

Obviously posting, commenting and sending direct messages are the three

main things, and I did an episode on this recently on how to do them well

and what proportions, so go back and listen to that if you want more detail.

But the fun fact is the more you can comment, get a post done and send direct

messages to stay top of mind that's kind of the trifecta of, of activities that

you need to do within that 15 minutes.

If you can smash it out and get more done, even better.

There's no limits.

For those of you who are going, but Michelle said, I can only do 15 minutes.

You got more time, put it in.

But I just don't want this to be something that is so overwhelming that

you never get around to actually doing it.

Repeat consistency will beat intensity, especially when what we're looking at is

over the long term, not just something that you do for the next week or two.

This is ongoing forever and ever and ever, and it is these growth habits

that will have a bigger impact on your business growth on LinkedIn

than any short bursts of activity.

Being proactive, getting out there, getting active, taking things

into your own hands and not just sitting on the sidelines is how

you are going to win at LinkedIn, and I know it seems obvious, right?

I talk about this stuff all the time on every podcast, pretty

much, for the last few years.

But I think right now, if your mindset is LinkedIn is broken,

LinkedIn doesn't work for you.

There's no opportunities out there.

You need to flick that switch.

Get your head back in the game and start winning those opportunities.

Because when you take things into your own hands and don't give up, I

know that this can happen for you.

And if it is happening when you get back in there, please let

me know about your successes.

I wanna cheer you guys on, especially the people that listen to the episodes,

take the action and get the wins.

Will you share those with me?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers.