249. Why LinkedIn feels fake, with Nick Power

23:38And so everybody's online. And so I think there was just sort of this like all the all the uh all the elements came together to be like okay people need this right they need to be weird online again and so for me i tend to think of i i really don't love the whole concept of weird linkedin as like a group of people or a hashtag or like even a movement to me it's it's about everybody is weird like everybody everybody is weird i'm weird you're weird the people who are listening to this podcast are weird whether they want to admit it or not and so i think it it was sort of this okay everybody has permission to do that here and we're not going to treat this place like a monitored space anymore where mom and dad are watching everything we say and we're trying to sell shit to people all the time.

24:32And, you know, we are sort of burying our personality and not saying things that we care about. Like, I think there was a lot of people who were ready for this to happen and dying for it to happen, frankly. So when you say, you know, LinkedIn was kind of this unusable platform before, I think a lot of people felt like that. And, you know, taking the mask off was very easy for a lot of people. And just it all it took was a handful of people to be like, yeah, I'm taking mine off first kind of thing. So what have we learned so far? Nick destroyed this myth that professionalism means polishing yourself into something robotic.

25:12This idea that if you're honest online, you're weak. If you swear, you're reckless. If you talk about burnout, you're oversharing. Of course, the irony is that this so-called unprofessional behavior is exactly why people trust him. So after the break, Nick is getting practical. you're going to learn exactly how you can write posts that go viral what type of posts do well and how to walk that fine line between ignoring trolls and also encouraging engagement don't go

25:38Leanne:anywhere and i know there'll be business owners leaders listening that are thinking i would love to show up online in this way that feels more human i would love to present my organization in a way that really resonates with people. As a marketer, what advice would you give them in terms of approaching this way of creating content specifically on LinkedIn? Because I think that is where a lot of you say the B2B marketing happens. For me, at least, it comes down to your values and sort of your moral compass. And it sounds cheesy, but, you know, if you are sharing things about yourself to get eyeballs on your company, if you are you know using um your personal trauma or whatever to get you know likes and impressions and stuff like that i think that's when we cross into the like oh this is icky performative you know stuff like that it's important for me to speak on the things that i speak on because they're important to me right like those are things i care about whether i had a job or not I'd care about those things.

26:44For me, the things I tend to write about are like mental health, parenting, big tech, um, uh, writing, like finding a voice, um, dealing with, you know, being a quiet person, which I've, I've really worked on a lot on myself recently and try to kind of get out of that by writing more. Like these are things that I care about genuinely. And so it's important for me to be like, I want to hear what other people think about them. I want to know if other people are struggling with those things or if they've thought about them. And so I think that when you look at the entire concept of LinkedIn, but also just networking or just connecting with other people, people want to work with people they know, like, and trust.

27:30They want to, and again, another cliche there, but I think that the only way to do that is to reveal the things you really care about and start to speak on those things. And so when we talk about, you know, um, a business owner or a founder or whatever, showing that part of themselves online, to me, it's about starting with, okay, what are the things I really care about? Like, what are the, what are the things that I value? And what are my opinions on those things that, you know, I feel comfortable speaking on? because those are the things that people will then become comfortable with around me, you know, to speak on and know me as a real person, not just like this corporate shill or this like, you know, empty facade of a business owner.

28:19Leanne:There are some formats, some topics, some ways of writing that you know are more than likely going to perform really well. Can you give us any little insider secrets? Sure. so one thing is obviously i i write short you know very very uh short form content and so i've found that the shorter your content the better tends to be the case um in terms of like more people reading it and the way i think about that is you know if you hand someone a book or a newspaper they'll be like oh cool i'll read this later like i'll save this for later or they might skim it maybe if you're lucky if you hand them a fortune cookie they're going to read that fortune cookie right then and there every single time um and so you know you can dig your heels in and say i i have too much to say or it's too big of a time whatever that's fine but i'm just telling you short content will be read more and i think there's a sense of empathy too in just realizing that you're one of a thousand other posts on a feed in a very busy day for someone and so you have this chance to kind of be like, hey, I see you and I'm going to make this short for you.

29:33I've seen that, you know, if you include a surprise element in that short form content, so like, you know, let's say you start with something sort of generic and vanilla, and then you end with something that's like, whoa, where did that come from? Or you can flip that, you can start with something really crazy, and then end with something really vanilla, Like, for example, like, hey, I know the world is on fire, but can you adjust the font size on slide six or something like that? Like, people are like, oh, like, it kind of illuminates that chaotic, you know, dealing with what's out there versus what we're expected to just treat as important in the workplace.

30:12So an element of surprise is something I tend to use. And then I think in terms of topics, like anything LinkedIn related, like if you're talking about LinkedIn, it tends to perform really well. If you're just saying the word LinkedIn, because people are there and they're thinking a lot about how do I write for LinkedIn? How do I be on LinkedIn? What do I do in this place? And then I think the last thing I'd say is, and this is more of like a strategic lens, I guess, but like people talk about the algorithm way too much. And yeah, the algorithm is a thing. Like, I'm not going to say it's not. And I think that there's a lot of inherent walls or mountains that people have to climb with that.

30:56But at the same time, I think that people think so much about the algorithm, they forget that there are other people on the side of the screen that are actually reading their content. And so they start writing this thing that, you know, well, Nick said to write short or, you know, I have to write this particular time every day because I've had two posts get over a hundred likes at that time or whatever it is. I think that you just have to think about like, when are people online? What are they thinking about? How do I, you know, how do I, um, say a thing in a way that is going to interest them.

31:33Right. And that is, they're going to want to share or talk about like the biggest thing that I've seen actually make content go viral is not likes its comments. And so I think when you write a thing that's like, you know, sometimes I'll see people write this long think piece and they've left no room for anybody to say anything else. It's just, here's what I think. And here's, here's all my thoughts. And it's like, okay, you just talked at us. You just, you just gave us a lecture. You didn't start a conversation. And so, you know, when you are writing something that is more in inviting a conversation, then people spend a ton of time in your comments.

32:12They spend a ton of time reading your comments. And then that dwell time tends to make the algorithm pick your stuff up and move it further. So I would say, try to think less about the algorithm and like what time or what topics or whatever, and think more about like, what are people thinking about and what are people, you know what are what what's a what's a way to be sort of relevant right now and speak to that and I think a lot of folks would say oh well then I'm never getting my business objective in front of people right like but I don't think that's the case and I think people also conflate their business objectives like people have all kinds of different goals when they're on LinkedIn and so if your goal is to sell stuff yeah I think you need to talk about your product and you need to talk about what your service, you know, who you've helped and all that stuff.

33:05And I think you need to make it engaging. And I think you need to make it relatable so that people actually want to read it. And it's not just a sales pitch, but if your goal is to be seen and, you know, go viral and stuff like that, then you have to just write stuff people give a shit about. Like it's just that simple. I can tell you pretty, with a pretty high amount of certainty, a post that's going to go viral. Sometimes I'm surprised when they don't, but like particular topics or particular styles of writing will go viral almost every time. And so it's more to me like, Oh, I'm surprised that didn't get a reaction sometimes.

33:45Um, and again, I'm not like writing to go viral, but the way that I think about it is if I'm going to speak on, you know, a social issue that I care about. I don't, I'd like a lot of people to be involved in that. Like I'd like a lot of people to be exposed to it. And so I will pick a format that I think a lot of people will respond to. And, you know, I think a lot of people could say, oh, that's attention seeking, that's performative, whatever, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. But at the end of the day, that's what social media is. You know what I mean? So I think that, you know, if you're sitting in a corner arguing about different shades of authenticity or whatever, like that's a losing battle to me.

34:29Like, I think you're, you know, you just need to go out there, be yourself and pick the format that you're think people are going to respond to. So I don't know that I have an answer. Like I've made a lot of silly jokes that I wasn't sure would, you know, people would respond to. Well, somebody sent me feet pictures in my DM one time, and it was so odd and weird that I was like, I have to make a post about this. And a lot of people thought that was funny. I think the post that I said was like, I've only received feet pictures from one person since I became famous. And that seems low.

35:06So obviously, like I had to make a joke out of it. And it's clearly like, not serious. But I think that's about as close to the line as I came. You know, I was like, this feels like I might regret posting this one. But it was too funny not to share. So yeah, I think that's an example of one that I was surprised that people allowed on LinkedIn. So, you know, talking about your very niche B2B solution is never going to go viral, and that's fine. But if you're talking about mental health, and you're sharing a personal story that people can relate to, and people are going to say, wow, I found this, you know, not just interesting, but valuable, or, you know, it started a conversation that I really have been wanting to have, that's when you start to get a ton of views.

35:49And, you know, and people start to say, like, I don't just, I'm not just interested in this person. I like them and I trust them.

35:56Leanne:What positive impact is it? Is it hard being this LinkedIn voice? Well, so I ran a poll a while back about that and I've done a few other ways of measuring it. And again, like I would be lying if I said my purpose with writing things on LinkedIn is to be a corporate spokesperson for my brand. Like that's not my number one priority. So I'll be honest about that. It, my sort of goal is just to connect with people and speak on social issues that I care about and learn and, you know, like, and I struggle with that sometimes as a creator, frankly, like, because it's, it's the internet. It's hard to, it's hard to connect and I'm an introvert too.

36:35So, but to answer your question, I ran a poll a while back on this that was like, did you find about, did you find out about now in project through me and i think like almost a thousand people answered it and 60 of the people who answered it said they did now i think you know there's a very important thing that we need to address that's like if you sell a thing that people don't need or it's out of their price range or it's you know like you can't solve that problem with content that's not you can't viral marketing your way into into fixing that problem so um you know i acknowledge that um this isn't going to work for somebody selling a super niche b2b thing and i wouldn't advise that as a goal for them but for me you know it's a pretty ubiquitous need we do icons and stock photos and things like that and so if you are a marketer if you're a designer you know if you're um interested in in creating anything like this is a product you could know about and be interested at some point so and i've had a good amount of dms too i you know it's not like hundreds but it's definitely a few dozen that have been like hey i bought a subscription to noun project through you and that's just the people who told told me about it so um we also i've looked at traffic and there's been definitely a bump in traffic from like linkedin referral traffic and I have a UTM link in my profile that people click pretty often.

38:04So, you know, I'm not going to say that like I single-handedly changed the course of the business or anything like that. I'm just saying people found out about the brand through me. And I think that that's, um, I'm happy with that, especially if it's in a way that they're like, Hey, I like Nick and I'm curious what brand, you know, what brand does he, does he work for? Um, so I think there's that. And I think to like, just to kind of cap this off, going into LinkedIn and thinking that you can lead with your brand and then follow with your personality is a losing strategy, in my opinion, moving forward.

38:40Like, I don't care what you sell if I don't know who you are. I don't care what you sell if I don't know that I can trust you. I don't care what you sell if you're just trying to sell to me. Like, just leave me alone kind of thing, you know? You know, when I need a ghostwriter, I'm going to hire Jillian because I've known her for a long time. I trust her. I've seen her content a lot, you know, or if I want to learn how to do storytelling, I'm going to hire Renee. Like those are the types of things I think about where not everybody's ready to buy your thing right then and there and not everybody will ever.

39:10But if your goal is to be seen, then that's, you know, that's how to how to do it.

39:15Leanne:Has there been any negative backlash you've experienced? Any person who goes online and writes a thing is going to get at some point negative feedback. And some of it is fair. And I try to take that, you know, and learn from it. And I've made mistakes for sure. Like, I think that the reality is, if you are being your honest self, you're gonna make mistakes. And you're gonna, you know, you're gonna get feedback that not everybody likes you. Like just yesterday, I was like dealing with this, there's a person who leaves very tepid burns on my content all the time, like comments. And it, you know, I don't really linger in my comments anymore, but it's, it's one of those things that I'm just like, why, why do you do that?

40:02So I, you know, I, I wonder like, why do people spend time doing that? Like, don't they have anything else to do? Um, so I try to draw that line for myself where I'm like, okay, this is valid feedback. Like they're saying a thing that like, maybe I should be more self aware of who I am and what I'm saying to these people, like my, the internet being these people.

40:25Or is this just BS? Like, are they just picking on me because they're jealous or are they, you know, do they feel insecure by me being vulnerable kind of thing? So yeah, I've gotten a good amount of negative feedback, but more overwhelmingly it's been positive. And a lot of people I've been really supportive and I've spoken about it a lot too like that's a thing that I'll talk about because yeah it impacts my mental health like if I'm spending time writing a thing that I care about and then people take it and post it on LinkedIn lunatics like that sucks but at the end of the day it is so for those who don't know can you explain what LinkedIn lunatics is yeah it's a Reddit sub a Reddit thread that people will screenshot LinkedIn content, typically stuff that in fairness, a lot of it is cringe, but, um, with the express intent of cyber bullying, people who wrote it anonymously on Reddit on LinkedIn, you, I've noticed that people try to like make light of it and say like, Oh, you aren't, you know, you made it, you're on LinkedIn, you're on LinkedIn lunatics.

41:35Personally, I think it's sucks like i think it's such a middle school thing to do i think it's super pathetic frankly to to do that like if you have that big of a problem with someone's content just write the put your name next to it on the linkedin platform so my opinion on that is kind of i don't know i think it's very childish and frankly like the burns are always weak too i'm like okay like this is lame so i I don't know. That's my take on it. And also I think that it's sort of pisses me off that people lurk through LinkedIn just to like do that. Like, okay, we get it. You don't like LinkedIn, but just make better content then.

42:17I mean, like make the place better. Don't, don't like childishly burn people. That's my opinion. I know if some people like it and think it's funny and they get a laugh out of it or whatever, but I've seen some really mean stuff and some really, a lot of it is targeted at women too, which I don't like. Like, I think it's really harsh towards women and um so yeah that's very ick to me i don't like that at all also i think if you are going to be visible you're going to be a target at some point like just end of story so i think people become jealous people become insecure whatever it is you know they're threatened they disagree with you fundamentally on your values whatever it is they're going to create a reactionary piece about you at some point.

43:05And so I don't know, my advice is don't engage with it, frankly, like after kind of having been through that for a while. And like, to this day, every single day I open LinkedIn, I see a sub tweet about myself or a piece like that's like, you know, basically mocking short form humorous content on LinkedIn. Like, um so and i know that it's not all about me like i'm not that egotistical but i think that that the spirit of it is like hey this is dumb it's not facebook you're wasting people's time whatever and they're entitled to their opinions i don't care that's fine but you know i'm not going to say that it feels great to see that that people took the time to shit talk me so yeah that's

43:49Leanne:that's where I land on it how is this whole experience the good the bad and and the ugly as you say how has that changed you in terms of how you present yourself online how you show up as a professional or even how you even think about about work and your identity within that I think that I have tried to be more and more and more aware of who I am as a person and who I need to be, um, to be a good person. And I think that sounds kind of cliche again, but like at the end of the day, again, I'm not like, this is not an elaborate marketing strategy for me. It's like, I could shut this down tomorrow and there would not be like, it wouldn't like my business wouldn't fold.

44:40You know what I mean? I would still have job and everything. So for me, it's like very much about, am I putting things out there that make me a better person that make people feel seen that make the world better? And I know that sounds silly because I don't think that social, I think that we have to be careful about like seeing social media posts as activism or as like a solution to problems. Like, yeah, I think that it's important to raise awareness about issues and talk about them online, but then you have to go do things. Like you have to go vote. You have to go and support a food pantry. You have to go and, and if you see a fundraiser on LinkedIn and somebody's struggling and you've got 20 bucks in your bank account that you can give them a total stranger, do it.

45:23Like, so those are things that I've tried to like pay attention to in myself and sort of increasingly balance, like, okay, am I just talking about this thing or am I doing it? You know, what are the ways that I can be involved, involved in it. And just, just constantly trying to figure out where that line is for myself. And then I think more recently, to be completely honest, like it's been hard. I would say that I admit to kind of putting my mask on a little bit more now that I have a bigger following. And that's, I think there's trade-offs there. Like part of it is for me to sort of like, kind of be like, okay, like maybe, you know, protect myself a little bit too, versus like just giving my entire self away and my content all the time.

46:08But also in the sense of like, I don't want to say a thing that harms other people just to make a joke. There's a way that you can speak on things that's extremely polarizing. And right now, I think that you're not wrong to be on one side of that polarity and say like, what's happening here is wrong. We should not be rounding up immigrants and putting them in. That's horrible. it's awful what's happening in you know our foreign policy stuff like that like it's all bad but we're not going to solve the issue by further polarizing everything like we're just going to make it worse and so for me to get out on a stage in front of 30 000 people and put my foot down and be like i'm on the right side of history and you're terrible if you're not does not solve a single thing like it's just easing my own conscience about where i stand and i think that's an important thing that people need to realize when they write things online is like you're either you know making people question their stances or think about where they could you know do better or think harder about something or you're pushing them to a further extreme of where they already stand and saying like oh i'm offended you know i'm not even going to listen you know immediately shut down and so i think that's something i've started to see to the point where I almost don't want to be online as much anymore because it's, it's not reflective enough for me and like as a person and, and say like, you know, if I don't have a constructive way to speak on this, I shouldn't speak on it.

47:41Like there are certain issues I won't speak on because I just, I don't know enough about there's, you know, hundreds of years of history behind that issue. I'm not going to try and flatten it into a piece of social media content and then call that activism. So I don't know. That's, that's my view on it. I think there's people that feel differently and I've encouraged them to again, find that line for themselves, But as I've done this more and more and sort of been exposed to more people and heard more viewpoints and just thought more about like, OK, what do we need to do to fix this as a as a community?

48:11It's trying to avoid tipping into that, you know, OK, I'm going to polarize people with this piece of content versus like I think humor does leave the door open for people to be like, huh. That's kind of funny. Like, why is that funny to me? Like, you know, I don't agree with that, but why is he saying that? And why do I think it's funny? Like that kind of thing. So that's how I approach it. I don't know if it's the right way or the only way, but that's been a thing that I've started to gather more after doing all this and kind of growing my audience. That was Nick Power, someone I recommend you immediately go and follow.

48:48All the links are in the show notes.

48:49Leanne:I really enjoyed my chat with Nick, and I love that he's not telling people to burn down professionalism. professionalism he's reminding us what it was supposed to be in the first place it's integrity it's not image and of course as any great marketer would do myself included nick has created a own range of branded merchandise that you can buy today the link is in the show notes leanne you love some of that stuff i do there's one with a daisy doing jazz hands going we're all doomed i just need it in my life so go and have a look at his shirts his hoodies they're just so good you can find Nick on LinkedIn of course just search for Nick C.

49:23Leanne:Power though fair warning you'll either end up following him or arguing with him in the comments possibly both. This is Truth, Lies and Work we'll see you next week.