How to Make an Impact on LinkedIn with Elaine Walsh-McGrath
In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Elaine Walsh-McGrath, LinkedIn Expert.
We had a brilliant chat about how to use LinkedIn to make an impact with your podcast AND your business.
Elaine shares her wealth of knowledge as a marketer and LinkedIn Expert.
The tips she shares are:
Make your Headline and About section stand out
Have a Well-balanced Content strategy
Commenting insightfully for wider reach
Daily life – showing you’re a human!
It’s all about Consistency
About Elaine
I help my clients land more clients. I show them how to improve their B2B Marketing on LinkedIn so that they can generate more high-quality leads for their business.
This is a handy checklist of actions that you should take on LinkedIn to help you to use it to generate leads. It comes with a tutorial.
https://elainewalshmcgrath.lpages.co/linkedin-to-leads-checklist/
Website:
https://www.elainewalshmcgrath.com/
Connect on LinkedIn:
Transcript of episode
Rachael Botfield: [00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to podcasting one on one with Rachel. This podcast is for busy female entrepreneurs who run their own businesses and want to start a podcast or who may already have a podcast. I want to share practical information and tips on how you can get your podcast started and managing it along the way.
I'll also be interviewing other female podcast hosts to give you real insight into what it's like. Have
Hey everyone, and welcome to the second episode of season three and I have the wonderful Elaine Walsh McGrath with me. Elaine is a LinkedIn expert. She helps her clients land more clients by showing them how [00:01:00] to improve their B2B marketing on LinkedIn. So they can generate more high quality leads for their business.
And she is just a wonderful human being. I always have such great conversations with you, Elaine. Come away laughing. So I'm very, very pleased to have you and sharing your expertise on the show. So welcome. Oh,
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: thank you so much for having me, Rachel. It's so funny. Like. Do you know when people tell you you're really fun that you're, you kind of go, Oh God, like, is that okay?
You know, but yeah, it is. It comes up a lot, you know, Oh, Elaine, you make LinkedIn fun. And it's like, gosh, You absolutely do. I'll take
Rachael Botfield: that. Yeah. Well, when you, you did your time recording the masterclass you always, I've been, that's the second one that I've been to. And you do make it fun. And I like your sharing and then you're not sharing.
You shared it. I really like that. And I think you do keep people engaged. There's a lot of chat people putting things in the chat as well, because I know sometimes it can be difficult to get that [00:02:00] engagement. When you're doing those kinds of sessions, so yeah, it's a great testament to your, your style of just generally being fun and making things fun.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: My mum will be so delighted that the money that she spent on speech and drama when I was six was well spent.
Rachael Botfield: Absolutely. You can, you can see that shining through from your six year old self.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: It stood, it stood, it stood to me, you know, like.
Rachael Botfield: Absolutely. So why don't you tell us a little bit more about what you do and obviously focusing on LinkedIn, which for all of our listeners here, I think is a really important tool to use for their business.
LinkedIn isn't the place that I once thought it was when I first started, it's just a place to have your CV and be very corporate. That's my impression of LinkedIn. When I first kind of really Join the online world. And it's just not like that at [00:03:00] all. And I found it. In fact, I focus all my marketing efforts on LinkedIn now, rather than kind of getting caught up with Facebook and Instagram as well, which I know are very, very valuable tools.
But for me, LinkedIn seems to be the best place. So that is why I wanted to get you here to share your tips. So how did you, I know you've got lots of marketing experience. How did you get around to kind of niche you down to LinkedIn?
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Well, here's the thing. I used LinkedIn for years. So rewind the clock, not quite as far back as when I was six because the internet didn't exist then.
Anyhow, I worked in advertising for donkey's years. And we started using LinkedIn, like probably back in like 2008, 2009 to like, just see like, like what our clients were doing, like, Starting to kind of do some outreach to them at that stage. Fast forward to me, working as a Client Services Director for a digital agency.
I was using LinkedIn to help [00:04:00] them to build awareness of the awards that we were winning and to gain clients. So I've been using it that long. But, you know, I think that in actual fact it is so much It's richer now, you know, I think, thankfully, like the rest of the world, we have a broader a more inclusive idea of professionalism and what it means to be a professional.
And I am glad when I see that be represented on LinkedIn so kind of long story short, obviously, 10 years ago, working as a client service director, I used it. Then in 2017, I had my little lady, Síofra, and she had a diagnosis of Down syndrome. So I was after my pretend maternity leave, sure I was a consultant.
So like, maternity leave, what's that, you know? But when I decided, oh, I better go back to [00:05:00] work, I was like, okay, what am I going to do? You know? And I went on a journey of figuring out, okay, how can I use the 25 years of marketing skills that I have in a way that helps others? Because I had a huge reawakening when I had Chiefra of wanting to help more people.
And like, I loved working in advertising. I loved the creativity of it. I loved the fun of us, but just the container in which I delivered it just didn't work for me. So so I, I, I started helping people with their marketing. I started helping coaching service based businesses and coaches in their marketing.
But, I just came back to LinkedIn because I found. That some of the other platforms, they change so much, like honestly, sometimes week to week. And for, for service based businesses, for coaches, I just find sometimes they were tired of [00:06:00] like dancing around and pointing at screens, you know, or, you know, they just didn't seem right to them.
And what I found and I loved about LinkedIn was that people are open to doing business, you know like they're more commercial. I'm sure there's commerciality on all the other platforms, don't get me wrong, but that business-to-business environment is clearly there on LinkedIn, and I think that well, I've seen it with my clients.
Like, they thrive on LinkedIn. They feel that they can be genuinely both themselves, which is, is the departure, I think. But also that they can be open about the fact that they're there for business, you know, and that's what I love. It's not just a CV thing anymore. And certainly, that's one of the things that I'd love to talk to you about when it comes to sharing some essential tips around how you can differentiate between maybe the LinkedIn that you used to find a job, [00:07:00] if that was where you were at.
And let's say you've left the corporate world and you're now going, okay, I either want to use the, my corporate skills in, in a consultancy way, or perhaps you're going for a complete change into like coaching or something completely different. It is, it is possible to use LinkedIn to find clients, but you've just got to do it in a certain way.
Rachael Botfield: Yeah. I had the same impression when I started. Like I just said before, of using LinkedIn in that way. And I think to a sense, some, like you say, people coming from that corporate world into the online space, it's a bit of a shock that it's perhaps not that way. And there is a bit of a learning curve, I think with.
I mean, any social media when you're looking at it from a different perspective as a business owner. And I know that pretty much most of the listeners here have their, or want to do, either want to do a podcast for their business or have a podcast for their business. And [00:08:00] LinkedIn. You may already use LinkedIn, and I think, like you say, it's open for professionals, everyone is there.
Yes, we wanna make connections. Yes, we wanna build those relationships, but we are there ultimately for our businesses and to help other people out there. And I feel like maybe Instagram hasn't got the same kind of vibe, but that, that might just be me. But I know, I know that people use Instagram as well, but I, I feel for me and my business, it's, it's a much better.
Much better platform. And so, yes, I wanted you to, to share some tips for the listeners, for everybody out there and to help really know what you can do. So we all want to promote our podcast and market our business. Obviously your podcast is part of your marketing for your whole business and the things that you can do to help.
Increase your visibility and to get eyes on to your business and your, and your podcast. I know we've been through these tips and you've got some great ideas here for people, so I'll let you, [00:09:00] let you take it away.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: No problem at all. Well, listen, the first thing I suppose that we've just touched on is the fact that perhaps when you came to LinkedIn originally.
Or when you've talked to other people about LinkedIn, you've considered it to be used like a job interview kind of platform. But when you're filling out your profile and your headline as a business, you need to approach it in a completely different way. So when you want to make sure that you are promoting your podcast, and I know this might seem really obvious and basic.
But you need to make sure that you put podcasts in your headline, right? Because The first tip that I have for you is to create like what I call a show stopping headline because that follows you the whole way around LinkedIn's every time you comment, it just pops up [00:10:00] like not just your name, but the first few words of your headline.
So whatever your podcast is about, whatever your business is about, you need to make sure that the result for your client is the first thing. Those first few letters, that big results that you deliver has to be those first few words and make sure that you've got podcaster in there. And make sure that you've got it in your about section as well because people are searching on LinkedIn and some of my clients, one of my clients is a presentation skills trainer.
She gets loads of requests for proposals and she gets loads of business from LinkedIn because people search. So you've got to make sure that instead of what you used to do, if that was you, if you were in corporate, you need to make sure that you don't just have something like. account director or like just watch out for something that's too generic.
At the [00:11:00] same time, don't go, don't go too far into super duper creativity. Because. It's got to be what people search for. So it's got to kind of straddle both, you know, so really focus the first thing that everybody should do when they're thinking about being on LinkedIn or even if they've been on LinkedIn for a while and maybe not working for them is get on your profile.
And think about it from your client's perspective and your listener's perspective and make sure that it speaks to them.
Rachael Botfield: What you write in your about section is picked up, isn't it, when, when you search for things. So having those kind of key words in there, and I know the term kind of keywords is bandied around quite a lot.
And it's always like, well, what keywords? And it's sometimes it can be hard to think of them. But like you say, putting your. self in your, in the mind of your ideal [00:12:00] listener, your ideal client, and think, so when they land on your page or when they're searching, you'll, you will be pulled up as something that they would be interested in and looking at.
Cause that's kind of like quite disappointing if you're looking for somebody and you find them and you go there and you can't quite find the information. You think, Oh, okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe they didn't do that. Or maybe they don't have a podcast. So I have a couple of actual people that I've landed on, but I know if I had a podcast or someone has said that I couldn't find the link to it, I couldn't see anything anywhere.
It's like, how do I get to that? Cause some that might stop somebody. I was like, well, I ended up going to their website and doing it that way, but to make it as easy as possible is least clicks. Cause I know there's the what's that section, the featured section, like using, using that section as well.
So make it as easy as possible for somebody to, you know, know everything about you.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Totally. Totally, Rachael. Like, here's the thing, right, again, so I know I'm speaking a lot to people who might have [00:13:00] tried it years ago and come back, so excuse me for anybody who's just starting, so please forgive me, but like, but like sometimes people when they start out, they just they sign up to stuff and they're in their first job and maybe that's when they started using LinkedIn.
They put in like their hotmail address and like, it like. Maybe they don't even check that anymore. Like it's those things that are stopping you from getting business. Like it's the basics. It's getting your headline right. Check that your contact info is right. Then of course, like if you've got a podcast that you're using to promote your business, then fine.
What I always say is this is my way of doing about sections. Okay. Start with a situation at the top of your about section that people can go as a client. Oh, yes. Gosh, that person, that is the problem that I'm struggling with. Like open up maybe with a question or like a moment. Oh, this person [00:14:00] gets me.
Then work your keywords in and work your experience in. And then. Mention your podcast or mention, like, so for example, I often say, or I do say in my about section, like, these are the ways that you can work with me. And if you are in a place where you just want to hang out on my list, that's fine. Here's a webinar you could watch.
Here's, here's a, my checklist, you know and you can put, here's my podcast. Now, here's the thing. Those links aren't clickable in your about section. So it has to be a really simple link that somebody could write out. So it would have to be something like elainewalshmcgrath. com backslash podcast. It would have to be something they could easily type out.
But as you say, if you have a creator account, so it can't be your, your ordinary account. It has to be a creator account. Then you have the option of having featured content on your about [00:15:00] section. So if you've got a podcast, you are a creator, you should have You should have that selected. So make sure that you do that.
And also know that I believe that LinkedIn are going to flip soon for everyone having creator profiles and then for the standard profile for you to actually have to change it back to the other one.
Rachael Botfield: I had heard something about that as well. I mean, I've had a creator profile for a while.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Yeah, me too. Me too.
And, but when I thought about it again from the other side, cause I was doing I was doing like pros and cons. Some of the the pros of having the other one is that the initial button rather than be follow is connect. So if you're a person who doesn't really do any content, you're better off without a creator profile.
You're better off having like an amazing headline. an amazing about section and like if you're not creating then just keep the other one but largely [00:16:00] like honestly I don't know why you wouldn't be creating content to be honest.
Rachael Botfield: Absolutely because you wouldn't if you're If you have a podcast for your business and you're not creating content, there's kind of a bit of a missing link there.
It's part of, you know, a big part. Obviously you have to do the content and you have to create the content yourself, get everything edited to go out there. But like a crucial last step is promoting your podcast and making sure that everybody knows about it. The next door neighbor, your mom. People used to work with, everybody knows about your podcast and that is an important, a very important part because you are creating all this stuff and you should be putting it out there.
Look, don't be shy about, you know, putting it out there. Oh listen, I
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: completely agree. And, if you think about it, like the democratization of media, it like has allowed people like you and I. To have a voice to have a platform [00:17:00] and so I started off my working life in media where I was a TV buyer and like it costs thousands, sometimes millions to have a TV campaign, it costs thousands to have a radio campaign, whereas if you have a business, you've got to create content, you, you have to, you have to prioritize it. It's especially if you want to scale you have to be able to have someone sending marketing messages to your audience when like you're doing other things, you know, because otherwise you're missing a trick.
Rachael Botfield: Absolutely. I think it's a great place. I know social media can be hard sometimes and it's hard to show up, but for small business owners like us and, and like my listeners or like you guys who were listening. It's such a great opportunity to have this space where it is essentially free apart from your time to, [00:18:00] to promote yourself and market yourself out there and what, and the content and the people that you can reach is, you know, not like you could even 10 years ago.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Exactly. And so that brings me neatly to another tip, actually, which is the content can be super easy. Like it really can. And like in podcasts on LinkedIn, you've got like a beautiful marriage, a beautiful marriage. Okay. Because essentially you need to have one algorithmic platform. What do I mean by that?
I mean that. , it's not necessarily searchable, okay, in terms of the content. It comes out depending on the algorithm. You see it depending on LinkedIn's algorithm. Same thing, Instagram, Facebook, they're all algorithmic platforms, TikTok to an extent, but it's moving towards search.
Podcasts are searchable. They're evergreen. And so that should be your second, [00:19:00] equal second, might I add, choice. So you've got to have, if you want to have like a well balanced content strategy, it's got to have like an algorithm platform, such as LinkedIn and an evergreen platform, such as a podcast. Okay.
Obviously you can have a blog or YouTube as well, but like podcasts are so flipping easy. Now within that, you've got to have just three pillars in your content. So this is what I talk to is my tip number two for LinkedIn. Stop being so transactional in your content. Okay. Yes, LinkedIn is commercial. Yes.
Everyone wants to hear what you have to sell, but they only want to know if it works for them, if it's going to make their lives better. So just be aware of putting too much content out there that is self serving. So as much as. LinkedIn is a more commercial environment. People are, are using a [00:20:00] part of their brain when they're scrolling that is quite switched off.
So you need to make it really easy for people to recognize as they scroll that this is for them. So I always say three pillars, just for three pillars break it down to that. Make sure pillar one is all about like, Really, their desires, their wants, what they want to achieve in life. It's really all about them.
100%. Number two is your conversion pillar, which is actually about what you sell, but only if it helps them and they're in the market for it. And the number three is actually about you and your value sets and you know, why you do what you do either as a business, as an organization or as a person. They should be your three pillars.
And you know, so even when you're planning your podcast with somebody like Rachel. You've got to be thinking, okay, well, how can I, [00:21:00] you know, balance that out? And so maybe your, maybe all your podcast is going to be in either pillar two or three in terms of conversion or values. Well, then you've got to think from a LinkedIn algorithm perspective.
What's your your reach one going to be until just make sure that it's well balanced out. Yeah.
Rachael Botfield: I think that some podcasts and marketing I've seen mostly from men, really, this is me on a podcast. Listen to me on a podcast, like same as if you would say for your business, this is me coming. You know, we all have a similar type of place, but that was like trying to make when you're talking about your podcast showing your ideal listener, you know, what benefit, what value you are adding to their lives with listening to your podcast. So I, for example, try to pick out some key takeaways that I know that my audience will. But really this is, [00:22:00] you know, key information for them or sharing a funny anecdote about something that happened in during the interview or something that I've learned and I do learn in every guest I have, you're so knowledgeable about LinkedIn.
I'm already thinking about revamping my headline of my about sector thinking, Oh, I haven't checked it out for a while. So I think that those things you can keep coming back to and keep refining, but Trying to think a little bit outside of the box and making sure you aren't just kind of talking about yourself.
You're talking about, even though your podcast is by you, you're the benefits that you're bringing and the value that you're adding to them.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Well, and here's what you're going to love. Tip number three, because, and I know everyone who's listening is going to be like, woohoo, because, fine, you're going to share your podcast grand.
Okay. Then this [00:23:00] counts as content on LinkedIn. The thing that I'm just about to tell you counts as content. It will actually raise your visibility is commenting. Insightfully with kindness and love on other people's posts, like that actually counts, right? Because remember what I said in tip number one, that was all about your headline.
So now imagine you're going to someone who is category adjacent. So like Rachel might come over and see something that I post and like we're category adjacent. We work in marketing. But I'm not working in the same space in terms of the podcast space as Rachel and vice versa. So we can both comment on each other's posts and reach new audience just by commenting.
I mean, honestly. So that way. Frickin love. And also the other thing I love is let's say I shared Rachel's post where let's say I share for me, for example, people who I [00:24:00] love to hang out with on LinkedIn are copywriters. I always learn so much or graphic designers or, you know, people like that. They just make me think about things in a different way or like photographers.
And so quite often I will share their posts. So not only am I getting. You know, they appreciate it because I would appreciate anybody who shared my post. So you get their love, but also you get access to so many more eyeballs and you're just sharing. Like that could be like one of your three posts a week, just sharing somebody else's post.
Now you can't just go share. You've got to have a perspective. So you have to go, you know, Gosh, what Chase Dimmond said here is so insightful because he says that like, you know, it should be human to human marketing, not B2B marketing, you know, so change out your letters. You've got to explain it.[00:25:00]
But Transcribed Still, come on now, you're not doing anything. You're not like, I mean, yeah, you have to think and write a little bit, but that's easy. So that is my other big tip is, in terms of making it easy, is share and show love to people who are category adjacent and just think about it in real life.
Like if somebody says to you, gosh, Like if someone refers you or recommends you, don't you love it? Like you love it.
Rachael Botfield: Oh, absolutely. I absolutely love it. I love it when people comment on my posts. It's like, yeah, I, yeah, it's a lovely feeling. It's nice. I think that is definitely, I mean, some people's LinkedIn strategies, often if they don't create anything is to, they just comment, go to other people's, you know, they seek out the comments and that could give you just as good engagement as if you were creating your own because you know, you are contributing to the platform you are [00:26:00] seeking out.
Other people that are your peers or people that are, are your ideal clients. And like you say, your headline follows you around everywhere. And, you know, it could be a great opportunity. It's a great opportunity then for people then to be coming back and seeing, so I know one tip. Who is it? Haley Hudson.
Mark, one of my best is is a VA and she's the most awesome VA and talking about looking at, so finding some people that are, you know, maybe your ideal client and looking in the comments and seeing what other people are saying and thinking, actually, could I join that conversation? Could I, would this person, Oh, this person looks like, you know, we could look at their content and it's just like another way to kind of spread out your network as well.
And that could again, help you reach people that you may not have reached. And, and commenting in that way. So that's a great tip. Yeah,
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: exactly. Right. My other tip number four is about daily life. So just work your content, like show people what you do. Like, what, [00:27:00] what life means to you, like and that comes back to what we were talking about at the top of the of this episode is just about like being yourself on LinkedIn, you know, and that it has changed, you know, it's not like, here is this five page report anymore.
Like, sure. That's useful. That's useful. But like, It's to an extent, it's not going to bring, it's not going to convert many sales, I don't think. You know, it might, it might identify you as being credible and having authority, but people actually want to see your process, not like in a graph or an infographic for the love of God.
They just want to see you actually like living your framework, you know, they want to see you like filling in your spreadsheet, or they want to see you like the books that you read or that you would recommend, like, or they want to see [00:28:00] you like one, one of my most popular posts has been me greeting your clients.
Well, I just literally put up a camera stand. And I just filmed myself genuinely greeting one of my new clients and obviously cut out all the audio and cut it down and put it with a good tune. But like, you know, like it's, it's that B roll footage that people want to see. They want to see an insight into.
Like what it is like to work with you. So you know, or what your podcast is about, or, you know, they just want to see another aspect of you. So just do what you're already doing, like film your process, you know? Yeah.
Rachael Botfield: I think on authenticity, you want that to come across in your podcast as well. And we've talked about this with different guests as well, you know, being yourself.
And if perhaps you're finding it difficult on social media, like if you're not. Kind of being [00:29:00] yourself on LinkedIn, say, but then you are on your podcast, the kind of two don't match. So it's making sure that you're trying, you know, you're being yourself. through everything that you're doing with your business, your marketing, you know, your podcast is part of that marketing.
And I mean, this is what I think makes podcasting really powerful as well, is that you are giving people that precursor as well to what you're like, especially if you're a coach, you're showing your personality, you're showing, you're sharing your knowledge. And I know I've spoken to a couple of the coaches that have podcasts for their business, and it is, it can help be a decider for someone wanting to.
to work with you because they can hear your voice. They know what you're like, and they know whether they would get on with you or not, if the case may be. And then if you're, whatever you're doing on LinkedIn is just kind of like backing that up. They're both kind of like two pieces you can use together for your marketing, for everyone to get to know.
And also, like you say, B Roll, doing a podcast, I mean, I don't really do enough of [00:30:00] this, like recording. Recording myself doing a podcast or doing editing. I did do some videos of editing, but that could be a great addition to your content and showing you creating your podcast, coming up with ideas that does make great information.
And like with this podcast, you know, I have female podcast hosts that come on. and talk about their insights and everything like that. So those are really valuable information for other people out there that are like you. So having that out there would also help connect you in a community with other female business owners that have that podcast as well.
So that, you know, just increases, you know, your network and your connections and everything.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Honestly, a hundred percent. And then here's the thing, like with podcasts, you could always do like the bits that didn't make it into the episode. You know what I mean? Oh,
Rachael Botfield: for my client, I do for Hannah. And she had when she used to have a co host when they first started and they always used to go, hello, Rachel.
We had a whole video of like, love moments to my podcast. And I was [00:31:00] like, Oh my God, I absolutely love this. I edited it together. I was like, this feels a bit self serving, but I loved it. I love, and I loved listening to the episodes when I was editing it and they'd always say a little hello to me and, and they had some bloopers and things like that.
So we, that was a really fun thing. And they, and, and their messaging for their podcast as well, because it's all about showing up solo, which is the name of the podcast and being yourself. And, you know, They can do this. And if you make mistakes, you know, we don't cut a lot out. It's very raw. And Hannah's just such a pro in it, though.
It's, you know, if they can do it, you can do it as well. And showing that human side of them and that that part of this is what it is being a business owner. You know, it isn't about being perfect. It's about being you and embracing that and bringing that in in a way that you may not have been able to do in your corporate employed role.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Yeah. And this is it. You've got to throw off the corporate robot. You know, the corporate language, you know, clear [00:32:00] is better than clever. Like so. But in terms of this tip, in terms of like daily life, just show like. Another really popular post that I honestly went off like a frog in a sock was this pic, this, this video I did of me going to school with Chifra, who's my daughter, and at the time she doesn't need it as much now, but at the time she needed a wheelchair.
And so I was just showing that like, there I was with the wheelchair and the school bike and she was walking ahead. I'm like, that just, that blows people's minds because they're like. And kids are so funny because kids will just go, Why isn't she in the wheelchair? You know, and their mothers or their fathers are just like, Oh, or their relevant adult is like, Oh my God, like, Shut your mouth!
And I'm like, well, sometimes she needs it, and sometimes she doesn't, you know? And That like on Instagram got like 45,000 views and Wow. [00:33:00] And on LinkedIn it was huge as well. And so, so, so, so I know were they my perfect clients? No, but what it did was that lift in reach meant Mm-Hmm, that my perfect clients, 'cause my account got so heated.
They also then were attracted to the posts that were relevant to them. And so it did bring in ultimately clients towards me, even though like. Probably most people who liked it, but we're possibly also carers, you know, and do you know what, I am happy for other carers to see me leading a different life than is normal.
You know what I mean? So, yeah. So do it. If you're the same, just show up as yourself, apart from anything else, you won't be so exhausted. Number five, then. My final tip is consistency, and I don't mean, so let me just be really clear about [00:34:00] consistency. Don't be consistently bad. You know, like, like, you know, you got to use a bit of common sense here with these tips, right?
Like when people say, you know, You should post every, like, like three posts a week, bippity boop. You know, I often get questions like saying, like, oh Elaine, like what time should I post? How many posts should I have? And I say, and honestly, this used to be my I know it drove people mad then, it drives people mad now.
It depends, okay? Like if you aren't posting at all, then one, try one a week, it's better than none. If you are working with Rachel, like, then you've got her posts and then just add another one in sharey one, right? You know, so like, make it easy for yourself, but be [00:35:00] consistently good. Don't be consistently bad.
Like, make sure that you spend the effort figuring out your messaging, your ideal client, that you've got their words in. Like what you're doing and then make sure that it's good enough and post that, you know, make sure that you've spent time getting your colors right and so that you're consistent as well in your look and feel so that like When something does like take off that you get the credit for it, you know, like you and your business.
And then the next post that you post gets that effect, that halo effect, because you've spent time doing it. And my final thing on this is. Scheduler versus non schedule posts. Like, that's another question I get asked. Oh, but Elaine, the algorithm favours, favours live posting. Great, but like, does the [00:36:00] algorithm favour nothing?
Because, like, I always say zero times zero equals zero, everybody. Like, you know, if you're not going to post because you're like, oh, suddenly on a call or, you know, and you're like me and you, you know, you might have like a really like crazy different schedule, then Just use a scheduler, like, you know, LinkedIn has one finally.
I
Rachael Botfield: know, I love that. Yeah, right? Just schedule! I use it all the time, that is what I use now, the scheduler in LinkedIn. Because also, what I found frustrating about using Buffer was that I couldn't mention people. And especially when I was sharing my guest episodes, I couldn't mention. I had to go back in and I was like, right, I'm just going to forget.
So actually That is an absolute godsend for me so I can schedule all my posts ahead. I can mention the people I want to mention and I think that is fantastic. So that's what I use. And I think if I was to post [00:37:00] native, I mean, I do do the odd native post. Sometimes if I haven't been organized, I have to organize one of my posts or something comes up like I want to share an event or I found a post that I'm really interested in that I want to share.
Then I will just do that kind of like ad hoc, but then I've got the kind of core posts I like to share. But yeah, getting ahead. And that is same with your podcast. You can, if you've done your episodes and you've got your marketing for the episodes, you can schedule those right up ahead. Those are all going to go out and then you can just get the other bits and pieces in around them.
And I love what you said about what's consistent for you and what works for you because yes, quote unquote, buddy rabbit ears here, like saying you must post or you should post this. And it isn't practical for everybody. Everyone's schedule changes. Everyone works in their business differently. And if you can, if you're great at.
You know, native posting, or you only want to do one a week. That's, you know, that's what works for you and your business. I think, and I also say this for people with their podcasts, like one of the first [00:38:00] things I will say is about, you know, can you fit a podcast into your business? Because it is a big commitment, whether you're outsourcing parts of it or all of it or not, you know, you still have to do the content.
You still have to record it. So if you don't have time for that, Or with your mar the rest of your marketing, you need to, you know, have a bit of a, you know, look at the business and make sure you, you are able to do that so you're not burning yourself out because there's no point bringing something on if you're going to ultimately be a detriment to yourself and your business.
'cause you know, we are all busy and we've got other commitments and we all know it's not, you know, as wonderful as is being a business owner and a podcast host, it is. Bloody hard sometimes. So don't kind of make it harder for yourself. Try and find, and you can add more in, you can evolve. I love the fact that especially with podcasting, I like to.
It evolves over time. It has its peaks and its troughs. But I think the most important thing is that you are making it right for you and your business. And then you just communicate [00:39:00] that and talk and that people really, I also love hearing what's actually going on in someone's business. The downs as well as the ups, you know, not saying you have to bear your soul, but you know, everybody gets it.
Well, they should get it that rule, especially as women and generally having to deal with the kids and things as well, their pressure and people want you to succeed. People are not ultimately rooting for you to not succeed when it comes to your business and things. So I think that comes as part of being yourself and being authentic and getting that out there and people are just.
I just really admire that when I see those kind of posts and things. I didn't get a podcast episode out for Christmas cause that I wanted to, and I was like, Oh God, but then you think actually, no one's probably that bothered about it apart from me. But again, you know, it's that's life happened and I just couldn't do it.
So then it comes out. In January and it's, it's not the end of the
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: world. Yeah, exactly. You've got to, you've [00:40:00] got to make your marketing work for you, but you've got to market your business and anyone who says anything otherwise is just not aware that their actions are marketing, if I'm honest, because your business has to be marketed, you know, otherwise it's not going to be as successful as an, as it could be.
So
Rachael Botfield: yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Being visible is really important. Thank you so much for all those tips. I've learned some, so much good things as well. I'm going to imprint. I'm sure everyone listening is going to love your tips. And also I'd love you to tell us a little bit more about how you help your clients, because I know that some of the people listening might be interested in working with you.
on LinkedIn. So do you want to share a little bit? Cause I know you've got a few things a cooking. Well, you
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: know, I've got a few things in the pot. So yeah, people work one to one with me in that aspect of things. It's really bespoke, you know, I have a group program called LinkedIn to [00:41:00] leads. That brings people through sorting out their profile.
getting their content right, understanding how to reach into the DMs without feeling like yucky and how to sell because that I, I, I always say, you know, quite often people's programs stop right at the lead part, you know, what are they going to do with the lead? You know, so let's get onto the discovery calls and also let's show the LinkedIn events.
And then I also have a lovely content membership, which is called Let's Get Visible. It's really positive. It's a lovely group of people who want to build their visibility on LinkedIn and at different times of the year, I run what I call an accelerator. What that means is the. The content that's there in, in the membership that you can have as the minute you buy it.
Every so, like every so often, but no, at fixed [00:42:00] times in the year, as schedules allow we run it live. So for four weeks. Which normally stretches to five because I have monthly calls. We go through the material like live together. So I know the next one is coming in April and it kind of happens maybe every two to three months when we do that.
And I also do do workshops within that structure. And finally, I have a lovely little course called how to create a show stopping LinkedIn headline. And so it really just focuses down on that one particular area. But at the same time, as much as it does focus down on that one area, what you'll find is by doing the thinking for that, because it's all about sorting out your niche and figuring out your big results.
It'll probably help you to sort out quite a few bits and pieces on top of that. So that's me, [00:43:00] you know?
Rachael Botfield: Yeah. Also, yeah, you're right. When you start thinking about your business in that way, it's a really good exercise to do, isn't it? To help refine it down. I think that getting in the mind of your idle client or your idle listener, all those kind of things, that's such a good exercise to do and to regularly kind of keep doing them to make sure.
Well, sometimes I felt my last seat before I did my season two of the podcast. I felt like I was drifting a little bit, like maybe I wasn't getting so, you know, specific to the people that I wanted to reach. So when I was planning this season, I wanted to make sure that I'm giving, you know, adding value to the things that I know that these ladies want to hear to help them.
launch their podcasts and things that will help people move forward with their podcast. So I was trying to get really specific. So it was a really good exercise to kind of refresh yourself with. And yeah, you're, you're the how to sell without the ick. That's, I went to Elaine's awesome masterclass, like I mentioned earlier.
And it's just, that is, I think when people mention sales, there's always that, Oh, but I [00:44:00] don't want to be I don't want to have that ick factor. So it's definitely a great thing to be learning about. And you are such a great teacher. You've given us so much great advice here. I was going to ask you where you hung out most, but I'm guessing it's, as I always ask everybody.
So I will pop. All of Elaine's links in the show notes, so you can easily find her there. I know she has what's your, you have a tip sheet, don't you? I do.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: I have a LinkedIn to Leeds check sheet, which is essentially 10 actions that you can take to uplevel your LinkedIn activity. Some you'll be delighted to hear, you need to just do once.
And then other tips require a bit more of a regular revisit. But it's really handy, it's a one sheet it's a PDF, you can stick it on your wall. And also it comes with a tutorial, so I talk through it so that you're not just left with this thing. Like, oh great, that's great Elaine, this checklist, but what am I going to do with it [00:45:00] now?
Like, talk through every single step of the way so that so that you will actually, you'll actually be able to use it properly,
Rachael Botfield: you know. Oh, brilliant. Well, we'll put all the links in the show notes, like I said, and thank you so much Elaine for coming on. It's been absolutely wonderful to chat with you today.
Elaine Walsh-McGrath: Thank you so much, Rachel. It's been an absolute pleasure and thank you so much for having
Rachael Botfield: me. Thanks everyone for listening. We'll catch you next time. Thanks for listening to the show. If you'd like to connect with me or get in touch, then head on over to my website. If you liked the episode, then I'd love it if you could leave me a review in your chosen podcast app.
Your feedback is much appreciated. See you next time.