When you think about a social platform, your thoughts probably don’t automatically jump to LinkedIn. But you might need to reconsider how important it can be for you.
You could be a person in a corporate position looking to stand out and get a better job. Or maybe you’re an entrepreneur looking to drive business.
Whatever you are, LinkedIn is the often overlooked social platform that can really help you achieve your goals.
We have an amazing speaker for you today, Michaela Alexis. She is talking about all things LinkedIn with us. We discuss how to customize your profiles, how to stand out from the crowd, how to create content, and how to generate sales.
Michaela is a millennial, a LinkedIn trainer, a keynote speaker, and an author. She helps businesses and audiences (as she would say) shine on LinkedIn.
She calls herself “The espresso fueled LinkedIn creator”, which I love. She shares a lot of her personality in everything she does. She had her first viral article hit on LinkedIn back in 2016, and she’s been creating content like that ever since.
She’s gone from a few hundred to over 150,000 followers on LinkedIn, garnering multiple millions of views, comments, and general love along the way.
HOW MICHAELA USES LINKEDIN FOR BRANDING
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:03:29] LinkedIn is something that I love diving into. I like finding people that talk about all the different platforms, but I feel like LinkedIn gets neglected. It’s not as fancy.
It’s been around for a long time, but I think the opportunity there has really changed the past couple of years.
How are you using LinkedIn these days? Where can people find you?
Michaela Alexis: [00:04:03] How am I using LinkedIn these days? I kind of have a weird strategy. I shouldn’t say weird, because I think it works incredibly well. Something that’s interesting about me is the fact that I have a personal brand, but I also run LinkedIn training services.
FIGURE OUT YOUR AUDIENCE
That was kind of an issue for me as I started working solo. I’ve had LinkedIn since about 2011, so my audience includes my first boss, my first coworkers, my mom’s friends. I’ve got everybody on there.
I started to notice over time, especially as I started working solo that every time I posted, people were following me for all different reasons. However, for the most part, they were kind of split into two.
There’s one group that was following me because they wanted that inspirational, motivational content that I was putting out, or they were interested in milestones. They wanted to see where I was at, what I was up to.
Then I had another group or another segment of my audience that was following me because they wanted more to learn more about how to leverage LinkedIn.
Every time I posted, I was alienating part of that group. For me, the solution really became what if I gave people a specific place where they could follow or be part of where I can share that LinkedIn training content?
That was where I housed my LinkedIn training content was on a LinkedIn page, a company page.
USE LINKEDIN TO NETWORK
Then I started to use my personal brand as a kind of handshake. I like to think of LinkedIn as the world’s largest networking. It has almost 700 million users. I don’t know if you saw that, but the stats are just ridiculous, especially right now.
I imagined myself going into that networking event. I’m just shaking hands and I’m sharing who I am, what’s important to me, what I’m consuming, what I’m all about, all of those things.
Then hopefully if people like and trust me, they’re going to visit my profile. They’re going to follow my page and that’s where they can see my products and services.
That’s how I’ve been using it. My strategy from the very beginning has always just been storytelling, just sharing what I’m up to, what’s important to me, what I value most, whether that’s in photo and text posts.
I have been loving live video. I’ve been running this series called Love and Coffee Live, where I’m bringing on these motivational inspirational guests to share buzzworthy conversations.
That’s been really fun. Then of course, as I mentioned, my LinkedIn page is where I house all of my products and services.
HOW LINKEDIN HAS CHANGED
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:06:32] There’s a lot going on there. I feel like the majority of people aren’t using LinkedIn like you are using LinkedIn. I don’t think people think of it like that, that this is a place you go to consume content. Have you seen that changing? When did that change for you?
Michaela Alexis: [00:06:58] Yeah. The thing about LinkedIn that’s unique is that it didn’t start off like a Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram, all these places where the idea was that you create content and that’s how you connect with people.
In fact, if you watch earlier interviews with Reed Hoffman or any of the founders of LinkedIn, they really kind of expected it to be a digital Rolodex. A place where instead of having a million business cards, you put them into one place where you can reach out to people really efficiently.
That’s why you see things on the profile, you see connections. It’s about 500+ because they assume that people might have 500 people within their networks.
THE FOCUS HAS SHIFTED
Over time, obviously, people have decided what they’re going to use the platform for. A big part of that was to connect with people and share stories about experiences.
I was one of the first creators on the LinkedIn platform. I started creating content in 2016. It was tough back then because it was still a very stale, conservative platform.
People didn’t like that I used photos and videos and stories. They kind of were like, it’s not Facebook, it’s not Instagram, all these things.
However, for me, I felt like there was such a gap in the market. We’re not just spending nine to five at our jobs anymore. This is a huge part of our identity. This is a huge part of our lives. If I’m going through these things, other people are probably going through them too.
I started sharing some of the conversations I knew people were having, but they weren’t having them on LinkedIn out of fear of rejection, failure, being laid off, the stigma of looking for a job, all of those things. I kind of grew my network from there.
I don’t even know where I was going with that train of thought, but I was using it much differently than other people might.
Over time, once LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft, (that’s where I was going,) the culture really started to shift from this idea of being a digital Rolodex to almost being an online global workplace where people were starting to feel more comfortable with jumping into video and sharing a little bit more personality on the platform.
LINKED IN IS A PLACE TO CONSUME CONTENT
One of the first things that I tell people if you have not been on LinkedIn in years (which is quite a few people,) jump on the platform and see what’s happening. You’re going to see a whole bunch of creative content that you probably wouldn’t expect from LinkedIn.
You’re right, it’s not the sexiest platform. I like to think of it as a cardigan of social media, but it is what you make it. From the very beginning, people told me, “Michaela, people don’t read anymore.” That’s the first thing that I heard.
Well, I created all sorts of viral articles on the platform and people were consuming content. It’s just that they weren’t consuming boring content. People wanted something different. Same thing with video now. It really is a space where you can be creative.
I like to think of myself almost like a career vlogger or blogger. Rather than being a YouTuber where they talk about everyday life, I talk about everyday life in terms of the business world. Does that make sense?
SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
I do hope that there are more people that feel the courage to get out there and create. The business world is lacking so many perspectives. Look at all the things that are happening in the world right now. Race, we’re talking about public health, we have all these big issues.
Everybody has different experiences and the only way that we learn and grow is to hear every perspective.
There was one person, Shantelle, who I love dearly. Before she was a creator, she actually entered a contest that I had hosted years ago when LinkedIn video first came out.
We started this campaign called #Let’s Get Honest, where we encouraged people to get on camera and share a challenge or vulnerability that they’ve had to overcome in their careers.
We thought that maybe one or two or five people might get on and share a video. That campaign reached over 26 million users on the platform. The prize for submitting your story was like a one-on-one session with me to help people with their personal brand.
YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED ON LINKEDIN
The winner of that contest, Shantelle, was part of the differently-abled community. She talked about being a job seeker, having to check off the box of having a physical disability, and how that hurt job chances.
I got on a phone call with her and said, “There is no way that somebody that has not been in that position is going to understand that. You need to get out there. You have a duty to share that perspective with people.”
How great would this world be, especially if you think of the people that have been in the business world for 10, 20, 30, 40 years? Even if you’re retired, get on LinkedIn and share a video about what you’ve learned, because you’re fast-tracking somebody else’s growth. It’s really super rewarding.
WHY YOU SHOULD CREATE ON LINKEDIN
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:12:44] What is the value of becoming someone who shares their voice, who shares information and content on a platform like this? What’s the value of using this platform?
Michaela Alexis: [00:13:06] For me in the very beginning, it really was (and I think this is the most sustainable way to grow) being of service. When I started on the LinkedIn platform, my first article that went viral was how I landed my dream job in two weeks on LinkedIn.
There was no intention of that going viral or people even really caring about it. I was just a job seeker and I had found a better strategy for doing things. I wanted to share that strategy with other job seekers.
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WANT TO HELP OTHERS
This is probably something that you’ve heard again and again; creators, especially those long term creators, sharing content because they were missing something they wish somebody else had told them. They wanted to help one other person, and it ended up helping thousands or millions.
Then you get hooked to that feeling of helping and impacting other people. I think beyond just the fun of impacting people and having that be super rewarding, there are lots of business reasons to be a creator.
Number one, the reality is that we buy from people that we know, like, and trust. We know that, right? We are all emotional buyers. We cannot make decisions without emotions involved in it.
That is one major reason, and I think that there are so many people (especially in the business world) that lead with what they do and what they offer rather than taking a step back and saying, “Hey, this is who I am.”
I can’t buy from you. I can’t trust you. I don’t know who you are. Those little things offline, you know how we do small talk? We all kind of complain about small talk. Why do we do this? Well, that’s actually innate. That’s a human tendency.
LINKEDIN RECREATES SOCIAL NETWORKING
It’s kind of like, (it’s a really gross example,) but like those monkeys that take bugs off of each other. It’s a concept called social grooming.
What you’re doing is you’re trying to figure out if the person that you’re speaking to is safe and approachable, if they’re somebody that you can work with. They’re safe to be around. The same thing is going to be true for LinkedIn.
We’re in the middle of the pandemic. You don’t have those face to face conversations. Video is actually more essential right now than ever before because now you need to replicate what you were doing offline and doing it online.
That usually is the mindset shift that works especially for those old-school business people that are used to going to networking events and saying, “Ah, social media, who cares about social media?”
Just understanding that people need that in order to make a decision. You wouldn’t go into an office and just put down your proposal and just sit there, fold your arms and wait for them to sign it. That would be crazy.
Yet that’s what people are doing on LinkedIn. They’re leading with, “These are the awards that I’ve won. This is my experience. Hire me, buy from me.” Hang on, I don’t even know who you are!
Again, think of it as the world’s largest networking event, just going out and shaking hands, introduce yourself. That’s the easiest thing for people that say, “Okay Michaela, I really like the idea of sharing video on LinkedIn, but I don’t know what to do.” Get on camera and introduce yourself like my first video.
YOU GROW THROUGH CHALLENGES
I’m a huge introvert. People don’t know that I used to be agoraphobic. To this day, when I speak on stage, I usually will break out in hives up to my ear lobes. In my very first video on LinkedIn, I had hives all the way up.
I thought, maybe I should change into a turtleneck so people can’t see it. Then I thought about it. I don’t want people to have that perspective of me. I don’t want to be perfect. I don’t want people to think that I’m not approachable and that I’m not a huge klutz, like I am.
I just got on camera and I pointed it out. I said, “Look, I had been putting off doing a video on LinkedIn. I’ve been writing content forever, but this is a different level of vulnerability. I’m super nervous. You can see all my nervous hives. My hair’s a mess right now, but I just wanted to get on here and say hello.”
I just wanted to do something that scares me because I really believe that this is how we grow. Share those lessons. Just point out the fact that you’re nervous. That’s been a strategy of mine as a creator, and even as a speaker.
I’ll get on stage sometimes and say, “Oh my God, there are so many of you. Why are there so many of you?” It really puts people at ease and all of a sudden, it’s not me presenting and speaking at you, I’m speaking to you.
HOW TO BEST USE LINKEDIN
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:17:30] I love that. When you were getting started and you saw the power of this tool, what was going on in your head? Was it a slow shift? What did you start to do differently to get good at it?
Michaela Alexis: [00:17:54] I could say it would sound like an overnight kind of thing, but I think it’s all these really small steps. When we really look back it really is these small steps that you take every day. However, for me, my moment of transformation (or my aha moment) really came when I was laid off.
I was 29 years old, and a month before my 30th birthday was laid off from a startup that I was working at. I looked around. I don’t know about you, but I started to imagine myself at the ages my parents were at.
I’m thinking about my parents. My mom and my dad were married. They had kids, they had the house, they both had stable careers. I didn’t even have money to pay my bills. I had to call my mom and ask to loan me money until my unemployment insurance kicked in.
That’s where I was at. I thought “I’m not any further ahead now than I was a decade ago. Something has to shift here. I’ve got to do something differently.”
YOU ARE BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
I started thinking about it and thought everybody is telling you to send out a whole bunch of resumes. Just live on Indeed, send out all these resumes and wait for opportunities. That’s bullshit, right?
For us, everything has changed. We’re not competing with one or two other people. We’re competing with a stack of resumes. Who does that strategy work for? It works for the people that are potentially hiring us.
It’s a two-way relationship when you work for a business and you are truly a great worker. It’s a relationship.
I started thinking about that. What if I use the same strategy as a marketer that I use for businesses, which is inbound marketing where I share what the company is all about. I share valuable resources and I attract the right clients or customers to meet the right businesses.
I started originally sharing content about social media and marketing. Then I shifted into sharing experiences that I was having as a job seeker.
PEOPLE ON LINKEDIN DO CARE
That blew my mind because I was shocked that people I didn’t know and I had never met were all of a sudden inviting me in for interviews. They were invested in my story, sending me messages asking, “Hey, did you interview anywhere else today?”
That was my first aha moment where I thought something’s weird here because everyone is telling me that community is dead. People don’t care about each other like they used to. What I’m noticing is that community is not dead. It just looks a little bit different than it used to. That was huge for me.
Then when my first article went viral, that was my second aha moment. I thought, this thing took me half an hour. It’s probably the least amount of time that I’ve ever spent on any sort of content that I’ve ever created, and I went from a few hundred to 13,000 connections in a week.
It was massive. My analytics wouldn’t work on LinkedIn for an entire week. I couldn’t open it, it just kept shutting down. I looked at that and asked, what was it about this thing that made people feel compelled to connect? Not just read it, but connect with me.
It was helpful, relatable, and it was conversational. That, as a marketer, was my second realization that there’s something missing here. I started doing research.
YOU CAN NOW SHARE PERSONALITY
What blew my mind might not blow yours, but I looked at the research. Everybody is still telling me there’s a personal self, then the professional self. You don’t share your personality and your personal brand on LinkedIn.
I look at the research of what people were consuming in terms of articles. Number three on that list was self-esteem.
I thought we’re so full of it. We’re saying one thing, but we’re consuming very differently. Let me just try to share these conversations that nobody else is talking about. That really resonated with people.
WHERE TO FIND MICHAELA
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:21:57] That definitely resonates with me too. I love that you’re here helping and teaching other people how to do it as well. How do people find you the easiest?
Michaela Alexis: [00:22:53] The easiest way is probably by email. Honestly, I love my email inbox. It’s just michaela@michaelalinked.in
I know it’s really cheesy, but branding, right? Then I’ve got my website, which is mickalexis.com. Then I’m always hanging out on LinkedIn and I’m super approachable. Please feel free to connect.
SPECIFIC WAYS TO MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:23:19] What are some things when you teach that people say, “Oh, I never thought of that.”
Michaela Alexis: [00:23:50] Probably the biggest area of growth for most people (it sounds boring,) but it’s your LinkedIn profile.
We like to get to the sexy stuff. How do I do videos? When do I put it out? What editing tool do you use?
Hang on a sec. If you’re going out and you’re creating great content, it’s not going to matter if you go back to your social media home, which is your LinkedIn profile, and it’s not connecting with the person.
Building a really strong, solid foundation is super important. I always tell clients and ask them, are you converting on your LinkedIn profile? If the answer is no, then that’s where we’re going to start.
RELATED: Build your personal brand with the Content Marketing Starter Guide.
MAKE YOUR MESSAGE CLEAR
Unless you’re telling me that you have a steady stream of opportunities coming in through your LinkedIn profile, we’re starting there. I think that that’s probably the biggest area.
There are lots of ways that you can optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract the right audience, the right people, and the right opportunities.
Number one is just being really clear about who you are and who you serve. I think that’s where most people fall down, using things like your background image, your profile photo, using your headline.
A lot of people have their headline set to where they work rather than who they are and who they help. It’s all about impact. We like to think, well, it’s my profile. No, it’s not a journal. This isn’t yours. It doesn’t actually belong to you unless you don’t want leads or opportunities.
If you don’t want leads and opportunities, just ignore everything that I’m saying. But if you do, you need to remember that we are all very, very self-centered.
Someone is going to visit your profile and the first thing, actually, the only thing that we’re going to ask is, “Is this somebody that I should connect with? Is this somebody that I can work with or should buy from?”
They’re trying to figure out basically what is in it for them. If it is somebody that you want to work with or you want to buy from you, you need to be crystal clear about that.
DON’T COMPLICATE YOUR PROFILE
With my clients, we get down real deep. We’ll say, “I serve Canadian clients like this, and it’s the XYZ formula. I help X do/understand Y so that they can Z.”
That’s the benefit of what you offer. That’s super important. Visually, you want to show what you’re doing.
If you look at my background image, just to give you an example, I think one of my photos is me with a LinkedIn coffee mug. That’s signifying that I offer LinkedIn training. Then the other one is me on stage. It shows that I’m a speaker.
We’ve got to make it stupid-simple for people. I like to imagine people on LinkedIn. They’ve got their coffee in one hand. They’re on the LinkedIn app on the other hand. They’re on their way to the next meeting or next zoom call.
SHOW WHAT YOU DO
In a split second, you have to give them the information that they need in order to make the decision of whether or not to reach out to you or take that next step with you.
It feels silly, right? As a marketer that feels silly to say, “Oh, I’m a speaker. I’m just going to write that I’m a speaker.”
No, show that you’re a speaker. Share recommendations and quotes from audience members. Share that you a speaker ten, twenty, thirty times throughout your profile. Make it crystal clear who you’re speaking to.
I actually break it down. I put what I offer; my services for event planners, what I offer for individuals, what I offer for businesses.
My formula for summaries is always who you are, why you do what you do (because you got to make that emotional connection with the person,) and what you offer, your services. Or if you’re a job seeker, that could be your skills.
DON’T FORGET CALLS TO ACTION
Then how to get in touch. That’s a big one, any call to action at the end. What do you want that person to do? Remember again that LinkedIn started as a digital Rolodex.
If you’re working with a clientele that’s a little bit older or comes from that space where they were going to networking events in-person, they’re not used to social media. They are not going to connect with people that they don’t know.
In fact, marketers and salespeople tend to be the only weirdos. We say, “We’re open books, everybody.” However, if they’re not in that space, they might not do that. You need to be really clear that you are open to connecting with people that you haven’t met in person. “Send me a private message on LinkedIn.” That’s all you have to put.
UTILIZE VIDEO ON LINKEDIN
Adding these little things are really helpful. We talked about earlier trying to find ways to create that personal touch with the person that visits. Adding in a video version of your summary has been really effective for my business.
I actually have a landing page for it. You click on the link. It’s a five-minute video. I walk through who I am, why I do what I do, my story, and who I can help. Then at the bottom of the video, it asks, “Okay, what do you want to do next?”
Then it has an offer. You can take my three-hour course for free. You can send me a private message on LinkedIn. It’s going to bring you back to my profile. Or you can book a 15-minute call with me and we can jump on a zoom call together. That’s great because I’m creating that human touch with people.
Look for those opportunities to sprinkle your personality. That’s going to be the difference between you and however many people that are in the same field.
REMEMBER TO BE SUCCINCT
I think most of us go with the assumption that people care about us enough that they’re willing to read through a profile. I don’t believe I’m that important. Again, I imagine that person on their coffee break. They’ve got their phone in their other hand. They’re literally just clicking on my profile.
They’re probably going to click off. They’re probably not going to scroll down. In one second, just by looking without scrolling down, do they know who I am, who I can serve, and how I can serve them?
If the answer is no, then there’s work to do there. Sometimes, especially as marketers, we love to overcomplicate things because it makes us feel good. It’s kind of an ego move to say, “Look, my job is not that simple.”
Get over that because effective marketing is just basically answering the question: What does my prospect need to know in order to make the decision to work with me or buy from me?
Just asking myself just that has been such a game-changer for my business, because now all of a sudden, all of my content is just to address those questions.
PRE-QUALIFY YOUR AUDIENCE
What has happened since then is that my calls went from me picking up the phone and people saying, “Yeah, I’ve been following you for a really long time. What kind of services are you offering now?” and getting into those conversations about the nitty-gritty, trying to figure out if we’re the right match, all of those things.
Now I get on a call with somebody, and it’s about availability pricing, that’s it. That’s where you want to be as a marketer. You don’t want to be spending all of your time on the phone because people aren’t really sure.
Guess what? Those are the people that are brave that are connecting with you. Most people that aren’t really sure, you know what they’re doing? They’re going to the next profile because they’re not going to reach out to people unless they know for sure.
I like to think of it in terms of how can I pre-qualify my audience?
BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND ON LINKEDIN
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:31:59] Be somebody that stands out, not just scrolled past. Especially these days, if you’re working for someone else, it’s possible that there’s someone else out there who is ready to take your job for the same price or less.
We like to feel that we are irreplaceable, but most of us aren’t, especially if you’re working for someone else.
Let’s talk about how you create job security for yourself, or, (if you’re ready to switch and you’re tired of working for someone else,) how do you pivot? What are some ideas that you have for building your personal brand and protecting yourself?
YOU HAVE A UNIQUE STORY
Michaela Alexis: [00:32:46] First things first. I think everybody’s special. I really do. I have learned as a marketer, especially on LinkedIn, that really and truly the one super-power that everybody has is their story.
That is the one game-changer on your profile, those things that nobody else can replace. That’s why, when I talk about that formula for your summary, why sharing why I do what I do is the most important part. In fact, if you notice in my summary, I share my story.
My story is kind of ridiculous. I talk about how I wanted to be the tooth fairy when I was younger. I got really upset because I realized that it wasn’t a real job, so then I became the next best thing, which is creating content and teaching people the magic of LinkedIn.
I also get to wear glittery costumes on stage so it’s a win-win for everybody,
Those stories are important because even those little things give people insight into who we are. We love to know those career stories that people tell, the fairytales where it was meant to be.
SHOW THAT YOU CARE
I always use this example. If you’re having brain surgery and you have two doctors, you have one question. Why do you do what you do? You have to choose one of the doctors.
If you asked one doctor and they said, “You know, when I was younger, I had pneumonia and I went to the hospital. I was there for weeks and I was so overwhelmed with the care that I got, that I wanted to dedicate my life to taking care of other people.”
Then you ask the other person and they say, “I just really wanted a yacht,” who would you want performing brain surgery?
Yes, not all of us are doing brain surgery. I understand that, but it’s this idea of building a connection with your audience. I think that whether you are working at a place and you’re good where you are, you’re thinking about pivoting or you’re ready to go full force and start building a personal brand, it really starts with your story.
For a lot of us, you think about it. It’s the hardest part because so many of us are going around every single day and we’re just barreling through life.
What this requires you to do is take a step back and start putting the pieces of your career together and connecting the dots.
How did I get to where I am? When did this happen? Why did this happen?
DISCOVER YOUR WHY POWER
I hear a lot of clients and their original answer is, “Well, security. Money.” They’ll say all of these things, but I say, “That’s not an answer, because there are lots of things that you can do for money. Why is it this one thing?”
Usually, there is some why that drives people. People need to know what that is. Like I mentioned, finding those personal touches of video.
I really like to put in a gift. I’ve never seen anybody else do that on their LinkedIn summary. I share my story, and then you’ll notice underneath my story I say, “Slow that scroll. I want to give you a gift.”
It’s a real gift. It’s a three-hour course that I offer for free. That generates between ten to twenty leads for me per day. Why do I do that? Two reasons. Number one, I like to think that I’m opening the door.
That section is me opening the door, shaking the person’s hand, introducing myself. I thought, well, if I had a prospect that came to my office, what would I do? I would probably offer them tea, coffee, water.
FIND WAYS TO SHINE ONLINE
What’s the digital equivalent of that? Finding some sort of gift, whether it’s getting on a phone call and sharing your expertise, inviting people to a free webinar series. However, make it a real gift, not 15% off something. That’s not a gift.
Then it also activates reciprocity, meaning when you give something to somebody, they feel inclined to give something back in return.
That, from a marketing perspective, is really brilliant because then when you talk about your services or your skills and what you offer, then people are going to be more inclined to reach out to you.
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:36:51] I love that, the idea that what you put out there is people’s first experience with you. At the end of the day, if you want to stand out, you have to realize that the relationship you have with your potential customer or even your next potential employer might start before the resume.
Everyone looks the same on paper. I expect everyone to be qualified to begin with, but beyond that, how do you stand out? What have you created that shows you have a passion and are someone others want to work with?
Michaela Alexis: [00:37:39] It’s funny because I didn’t even think about this, but it just sparked my brain when you said that. If everybody is qualified for a job, then why do we have job interviews?
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE A STRONG BRAND
Part of it, yes, is to ask a little bit more about experiences, that sort of thing. However, a big part of it is to figure out if the culture is a fit, right? A really good test of whether or not you have a strong, well-communicated personal brand is to try and land a client or land a job without having those interview culture questions.
My last, the last job I ever worked, I did go in for an interview, but I will tell you that they were already ready to offer me the job. They looked through my recommendations, contacted those people. (I don’t know how ethical this is, but that’s fine because I loved the job.)
They reached out to those people that had left me recommendations, so by the time I had come in, we’re just hanging out. That is where you should want to be.
You should be addressing not just “These are my qualifications,” but “These are the things that matter to me. This is what’s important to me. These are my values.”
We talk a lot about corporate values. You’ll notice, if you have a website and you work for a business or you have a business, one of the most popular pages is the About Us section.
We want to see the people that work at the organization. We want to know what the company is all about, their mission, their values, all those things.
Well, we need to start thinking about that for ourselves as personal brands. Are we clearly communicating our values, our mission with other people and businesses that we plan to work for?
LINKEDIN GIVES YOU OPTIONS
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:39:22] I love that because if they’re not already excited about you before the point of contact, then you’re spending all your time trying to convince them to be excited about you.
Michaela Alexis: [00:39:32] That’s a culture issue too. I know that I was raised with this idea of you just need to find a job and you should be happy for whatever job you find. Now things are shifting. You can work for yourself. There are more options.
There is the gig economy where you can be an Uber driver and then you can be an artist by day. You have choices now. Understanding that you have choices and that there’s a relationship there is really, really important rather than just taking whatever comes your way.
LEARN MORE FROM MICHAELA
Brandon Birkmeyer: [00:40:08] Yeah. I couldn’t agree more. I think that’s a great place to leave people wanting more.
If you want to figure out how to get people excited before they make that point of contact with you, excited about what you have to offer because you’ve set your profile up the right way, I’d recommend you get out there, you connect with Mikayla, you see what she has to offer.
Go to mickalexis.com and all the other places that we’ve listed in the show notes that we’ve talked about on the show to connect with her.
From my audience and from me to you, thank you for coming on today.
Michaela Alexis: [00:40:44] Thank you so much. My coffee’s wearing off, so it’s a good time to stop. Cheers.
CONNECT WITH MICHAELA
Website: mickalexis.com
LinkedIn: michaelaalexis
Twitter: mickalexis
Instagram: mickalexis
Email: michaela@michaelalinked.in
MORE ADVICE AND INTERVIEWS
If you’d like more content about how to build your personal brand, check out my free Content Marketing Starter Guide.
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Talk soon!