Over the next little while, I’ll be publishing some blog posts looking at businesses I’ve helped or inspired, and how they’ve successfully used LinkedIn to facilitate growth. I’ll be whipping out the magnifying glass, highlighting what they did right and how they amped up their awareness trajectory. I love real-life stories of individuals kicking their professional goals after using the right tools and strategies on LinkedIn, sparking endless marketing and relationship networking potential.
Wagga Wagga-based businesswoman Jo Palmer connects employers with the best candidates for a job regardless of where they live. Her company, Pointer Remote Roles, provides a recruitment platform where thousands of qualified Australians have the opportunity to work remotely.
Jo started following me online looking for digital marketing tips and said my daily LinkedIn advice helped grow her network. Jo cites nuggets of wisdom such as, “craft a LinkedIn profile that doesn’t read like a sales pitch” resonated and motivated her to sit down and nut out the things that her clients valued about her and how she communicates these on her profile.
After evaluating Jo’s LinkedIn strategies, I have pulled the following takeaways which can be applied to any business or brand.
Develop your story
Jo has successfully developed her brand’s story, using her own emotional connection to those living regionally and rurally, and the identity she wants to build for her business. As a regionally based mum and business owner, she knows all too well the hardships faced by qualified men and women, who might be shackled by geography with limited corporate opportunities. She also understands the challenges faced by businesses who don’t know how to access remote staff or are afraid of taking the leap for the first time. Now that Jo knows her story inside out, she isn’t afraid to approach the big guns on LinkedIn. “In 2011 an American girlfriend told me LinkedIn was the future; a one-stop shop where everyone would one day find their jobs,” Jo said. “I was pretty sceptical. When I launched Pointer in 2016, I realised LinkedIn was a gold mine to contact people. What Instagram has been for celebrities; LinkedIn is for businesses; you can go straight to the top. You can directly connect with CEOs, and even if they don’t respond to you, you see their content. You have a chance to pop up in their feed, and if you’re commenting on things, they can’t actually escape you.”
Have real conversations
I’m emphatic about the need to have real conversations in order to secure a real connection. Instead of thinking of the sales funnel every time you look at your social media, focus on your authenticity and connecting with an engaged community. You want to channel your expertise, insight, and passion towards your audience. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, focus on doing what you do well. Jo has taken this message to heart. “I’ve been trying to humanise our tech business as I find that LinkedIn can be a little buttoned up at times,” she said. “I use emojis, and I feel that letting my personality come out on my posts and comments have been getting a great reaction and boosting my traction. I always reply to comments and that way I show up in others feeds, broadening my network.”
Provide relevant and quality content that has real value
In the digital sphere, content is king. But I’m not talking about a maelstrom of meaningless copy. You need to build brand integrity by curating relevant and robust content which your audience actually wants to consume – helping to develop your relationship and in turn, grow more engagement, followers and brand awareness. For the time-poor, Jo doesn’t believe content creation equates being chained to the keyboard. “We don’t create a lot of content ourselves; we share articles or content that fits our brief and targets,” Jo said. “When sharing, I tag the article’s writer or business. It’s a great way to be visible. What I’m finding really interesting is I’ve recently started using hashtags on LinkedIn more effectively, and I’ve been contacted by a number of previously unknown (to me) businesses and now have five or six paid speaking gigs.”
We are delighted for Jo - she has developed a clear LinkedIn strategy that has worked for her and Pointer Remote Role. It is manageable and authentic - Nice work :-)