 How do I build my network? What are some best practices? Dude, that's awesome. Connect. I'm Emma, and I'm joined with my co-host, Sam. And we're going to talk about LinkedIn. First off, Sam, what is LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a social network where you're able to connect with other professionals all over the world. So Emma, did you know that two professionals join LinkedIn every second? And 50% of Americans with a college degree are on LinkedIn? That's a huge deal. Obviously, LinkedIn has a strong presence for all businesses. Let me ask you, hopping on LinkedIn, what are some things I need to do to get it organized? Well, it's important for you to make sure you describe every role that you had throughout your career, have a very professional headshot, make sure you're a really friendly smile to invite people in, and then also, don't forget about those keywords. Yes, because that will also help you to be found in a search. Also, you really got to think about what's relevant. What would be your target audience or the business you're trying to target? What would they be searching for and what do you want to come up as? Like for me, I do a lot with social media, so I'm definitely looking for people searching for social media. Help social media marketing. They want to know about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. So those are some key words that definitely need to be infused into my LinkedIn. So a question that I get a lot when it comes to LinkedIn, I'm sure you do too, is like, how do I build my network? What are some best practices? And honestly, I'm just taking the approach that I give for social media, which is you don't want to just go and follow some random people just to grow your following. You want to follow people that are relevant to your industry or within your area if you're a local brick and mortar business. When it comes to LinkedIn, does it matter if I know the person or can I just sum it up? Like to me, it makes sense to keep it very relevant like social media, but you're the expert. What? I think it's really important that you have a reason for connecting. You can connect with someone you've never even met, but use the things that are right there in front of you. You have people's description. So you get to learn something about them, they're in your industry, and it's interesting to you and you want to know more, let that person know and that personalized connection request. So don't be too concerned like, oh, I don't know that person and they're gonna think I'm weird. They're there to connect. So it's okay, but make sure you let them know why you want to connect. So that's why LinkedIn always advises, leave a note, you're more likely to connect, right? Exactly. And that's actually true. So with doing my career, I do a lot of traveling and speaking. So I'm meeting essentially strangers all the time and it always catches my eye when someone is connecting with me on LinkedIn and then they say, hey, I'm on your webinar yesterday. Like right away I'm like, dude, that's awesome. Connect. We are now in the same network. So do you advise that? Is that a good practice for everybody listening in? Like, hey, leave a message of why you know this business. Exactly. You wanna make sure that you give them a reason why you're reaching out. Because in all honesty, there's so many people out there that are just hitting the connect button without sending a message. A lot of people do just disregard that. So you wanna make sure you give people a reason to get to know you more. And of course, every so often, you wanna make sure you follow up. Make sure your network is gonna be relevant. So make sure that you're following up with them and a smaller, more relevant network is so much better than a large one that just is not in touch. Same with Facebook. I was just talking about this recently with some local heroes. Cool, cool, cool. You have a large following. Like, yeah, that's social proof, right? Not necessarily. You wanna make sure that you check the hygiene of that list of followers and ensure that they're in fact relevant and pertinent to your network. All right, Sam. I think that it's time that I confess something. I don't post on my LinkedIn and I definitely enjoy what other people do when I consume it, but I don't know, I just don't take the time to do it. Is that a big deal? Is that a big driving force of being on there or is creating content? What are your thoughts? It's really important to create some content because just going from a casual viewer on LinkedIn, creating content makes you stand out. More things that people like, comment or share, it increases your visibility. And the whole point of being on that platform is to be seen. And that's what you want. So you may wanna take your LinkedIn game up, but not you. This is sounding a lot like social media. It is. And it's okay to be personable. You know, yes, LinkedIn is a professional platform, but at the end of the day, it is social media. What's the first word? Social, how people relate and connect with each other. That's what you wanna make sure you do. So don't feel like it's stuffy. LinkedIn has definitely changed over time. It's okay to be personable. Well, I saw a quote though. It said LinkedIn is where humor goes to die. I know what people are talking about with that, but honestly, you make of it what you want. If you wanna be connected with people that like your personality, showcase it. LinkedIn now has video. You can also put yourself on video if you're comfortable with that. Idea, I could add this video to my LinkedIn. Well, I think so. Okay, Emma, so you said you're gonna beef up your LinkedIn game, so let's start to think about the type of content we're gonna create. It's really important. A lot of people think, keep it professional, stay away from things that are like politics and things of that nature. That is important, but at the same time, don't forget, you can't separate your professional and personal. I know, and plus people like to laugh and smile. So it's important. If you're gonna share some personal anecdote, it's okay, but give people some insight behind it. Like, day at the beach, you showcase that you're having fun and you're relaxing, but you can always tie back in the point that you're not all about work. You like to laugh. You like to get away, and it's important so that you don't get burnt out. Very important and a professional. All right, Sam, this has been awesome. I've learned a lot about LinkedIn. I'm a little less intimidated by it, and I'm excited to go on there and update my profile. Just thinking about what I already have in place with my social media, I've got that content calendar to keep my strategy on track. It makes sense to me, correct me if I'm wrong, I need to add my LinkedIn into this content calendar. Absolutely right. You wanna make sure that you have a good goal that's feasible for you of how many people you connect to on a regular basis. I suggest one to two per week start out with that because quality is way better than just quantity. You want these connections to mean something and be significant. That's really building your network in a responsible way. That's a wrap. You just learned how to build your LinkedIn network. Be sure to like this video. Hey, share it on LinkedIn. Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel and ring that bell so you're not the last to know about our next video, and make sure you comment below and let us know what is your go-to message when you're sending those LinkedIn connection requests. This is The Journey. See you next time.