Ep. 3 Smart Networking on LinkedIn

How to be SMART AF when using LinkedIn for Opportunities and Networking

Do you use LinkedIn for networking but not getting results? Torie Mathis and her co-host Sean Mathis discuss how to make real connections and build real relationships without being spammy or wasting your time and money marketing on LinkedIn.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION –

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SAF 03

[00:00:00] Torie: Who told you to do this on LinkedIn? Don’t do this. Stop it. Stop it.

Hey. Hey. Welcome to smart. AF I’m your host Torie Mathis. We’ve got a great show for you today. So let’s get started. Actually, you know what I hate. Hey, going on LinkedIn, hate it. Hate it. I know you do so well. 

[00:00:29] Sean: Linkedin done sucks. 

[00:00:30] Torie: I hate going on LinkedIn because it’s a bunch of BS trying to get me to buy my services. Like I don’t want your SEO. I don’t want you to post on Facebook for me. Like I run a marketing agency. I do that. Like they’re not even paying attention. At least who told you to do this on LinkedIn? Don’t do this, stop it, stop it. I don’t like it. 

[00:00:54] Sean: Automated messaging and all that crap that goes through there. 

[00:00:59] Torie: And I’ve seen people give this advice, like just cold emails, email message everybody, and say, oh, I like how you did this or something. We should talk just to sell them. Like, I, it drives me nuts and I hate going on. And I know that there are so many opportunities to be had on LinkedIn, probably for a lot of people, but I’m assuming that most people are like me. They go in there and there’s just a crap ton of messages from people that they have no idea who they are. 

[00:01:28] Sean: Tell me about your business. 

[00:01:32] Torie: About my business. Right? I know you don’t care about my business, so there’s gotta be ways that you can go onto LinkedIn, make real connections with people. Cause you’ve made real connections.

You’ve had some really good luck on LinkedIn. Actually, in the past, I have made a couple of really good connections on LinkedIn that turned out to be like some of the biggest, best clients, but it is such a waste of time. And it is so much do-do to go through that. I think. 

[00:02:01] Sean: I think you’d like, you really got to educate yourself. Like who, who are you connecting with? Like you just click the button or is there, is there a reason. But do you think you should connect to this person? 

[00:02:13] Torie: Right? Cause I try not to just go through and connect to a bunch of people. I try to, there’s like a certain segment that I’ve always tried to like when we worked with realtors, I connected with lots of realtors because that’s the people that we were doing marketing for. We did real estate magazines for a long time. And so I had, at that time, I connected to realtors, but the people that are connecting to me that are trying to waste all of my time on LinkedIn, they are just marketers that apparently don’t know how to market because they’re doing it in a really, really bad way.

I hate people that do that, they do that on Facebook to your friend, they get a friend request and you’re like, oh, okay. They’re connected to a whole bunch of people. I know a friend request them. And that’s the first thing they do is message. We should talk you. Oh, you coach people. Tell me about like your what’s your greatest coaching. I don’t achieve. I don’t know. Like, don’t sell me too soon, too soon. Kiss me on the first date or you’re trying to do even more than that. 

[00:03:08] Sean: At least like monitor the news feed or something, like get to know these people or, I mean, or when it’s, when it’s them, like, they should, like, if they’re coming to you. They should probably have watch your news feed for a little bit and see, Hey, this is the kind of content she’s putting out. Oh, that’s what we do. So don’t, don’t try to go that route. Cause that’s going to get you nowhere. It can be a complete waste of time. 

[00:03:34] Torie: Well, we even had the, one of our clients send us a spam email, a message through LinkedIn and I’m like, dude, do you know, you sent me a spammy message. Like I’m not your, I’m not in your market. 

[00:03:47] Sean: That’s right. I did see that cause he, he messaging you for 

[00:03:52] Torie: and somebody to do that. Like they need to make sure that they know who they’re messaging. Like I’m not a contractor. So, you know, I’m not gonna talk about my business with. Spammy on LinkedIn. I know a lot of people have to do that. Okay. So if a business is going to want to make some connections on LinkedIn, I think there need to be some like ground rules here. Like what do you do on LinkedIn to get good opportunities? What do you think?

[00:04:25] Sean: So if I go out like right now, what I’ve tried to focus on is people in the same industry as me on the museum side, like I want to connect with other people that are, are operating or in some sort of function, automotive museums, so that, you know, in the future, either I can learn from them or they can learn from me. And it’s a mutually been like, I’m not trying to sell. Anything, 

[00:04:53] Torie: Hey, you want to talk about your museum.

[00:04:56] Sean: Right now, but you know, at the same time, you know, approaching different producers or, you know, new writers, you know even as the people doing automotive podcasts or something like that, like it may take you down a path where I’m, I don’t have it in me to, to go after somebody and be like,

[00:05:21] Torie: I like you said if you’re genuine though, and you go and see what they’re posting, make a few comments, like, let them see your name before you reach out. 

[00:05:31] Sean: I had some engagement like that’s what they want. Give them some engagement, share their posts before ever try to contact him for anything. 

[00:05:41] Torie: And I think that you know, some of the people that are giving this advice, you might get a couple of like quick wins on that.

But overall, the people that you are pissing off and showing what your character is, I don’t think that it’s worth it. 

[00:05:53] Sean: And it’s not, it’s not genuine. I mean, you don’t, you don’t even know who you contacted and if you’re doing that like it’s, it’s just too many, to follow, not recommended. 

[00:06:07] Torie: Come on. People do better on LinkedIn.

I want to go on there and hang out.

No spam at all. Clean up your LinkedIn act.