The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 53. Promoting your blog on LinkedIn and creating intentional relationships through social media with Brittany Miller

Episode Date: December 20, 2022

We’ve brought Brittany Miller on the podcast today to chat more about promoting your blog on LinkedIn. Brittany is a social media consultant coach and manager that helps heart centered impact driven business owners and service providers become more visible on social media. Brittany shares more about promoting your blog on LinkedIn, how LinkedIn can benefit you as a blogger, connecting with others on social media, creating intentional relationships, and overall shares a lot of tips for you to utilize in your blogging business. Be sure to tune in to hear all of the value that Brittany provides!Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsCheck out The Blog Depot. This is a community and course that we have set up for you if you need questions answered before you start your blog. Join the waitlist for The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp, our online course and coaching that helps you build the blog that you have always dreamed of.SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode53

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Learning new ways to promote your blogging business is something that we are really passionate about sharing with you. And today our guest is going to do that. So Brittany Miller is here to talk all about LinkedIn. Welcome to our show, Brittany. Thank you so much for having me, Jennifer and Amy. I'm so excited to be here. Yes, we are really excited to learn about LinkedIn. Jennifer and I don't currently really utilize LinkedIn. And so we brought Brittany on so she can teach us and all of you the benefits of using it. But before we dive into that, Brittany, I would love for you to just

introduce yourself to our listeners and tell them a little bit about you. Yes. Thank you. So my name is Brittany and my business is Brittany Miller Biz, and I am a social media consultant, coach, and manager, really helping heart-centered, impact-driven business owners and service providers become more visible on social media and really doing that in a way that brings out their story so they can really develop those deeper connections with their audience and amplify their voice and their message. And we really utilize a couple of different platforms. I particularly focus on Instagram, LinkedIn. Those are kind of like my two favorites that I focus on and really empowering

them or even educating them on how to like overcome any fears they have or to really just start showing up and owning their space in the digital platforms. So that's what I really do. I love that because we coach people to write the blog post. And that's really important to pay attention to SEO and keyword research and all of that. But another component to blogging is having the promotion piece. And so a lot of times we encourage our students to choose a platform that works best for them. A lot of us do utilize Instagram, but I don't want to leave out any other platforms that could be important for some people to grow on. So how can a person gain more exposure by using either social media?

Well, first off, do you consider LinkedIn social media? either social media. Well, first off, do you consider LinkedIn social media? I do, but it is social media because it is a social networking platform. It's definitely geared more towards the corporate world, but also like business owners and entrepreneurs. And it can be just so powerful, the ability of building and cultivating relationships on there that I think a lot of people are missing out on. And I also think there's this misconception of what LinkedIn is and how powerful it actually is. People don't realize the power of LinkedIn. Okay. So let's kind of start there because somebody might be listening today and is like, I do not have any idea what LinkedIn is. So can you do kind of a high level overview of

what exactly LinkedIn is? Yeah, you bet. So I think when people think of LinkedIn, they think of it being this platform where I just have my digital resume on there. But if I am a business owner, like, do I really need it? If I already have a full-time job and even maybe blogging is on the side, do I even really need to be on LinkedIn? But LinkedIn is so much more than that. It is the place where you get to showcase your professional brand and really showcase yourself and show up as that expert to help others.

It's also a brilliant platform to be able to do some research to figure out what kind of key individuals you need to build connections with to create those opportunities and open doors for yourself, your business, your brand, or to even discover ideal clients who may need your services. It is more on like the professional side of things, but it's not necessarily just the place to have a digital resume. Like I think that's the misconception and a lot thing that a lot of people think of, but it's actually the place to like showcase your professional brand, including your business. Do you want to start a blog, but you aren't sure what to do first? Are you still wondering what

you're going to write about and who your ideal reader is? Have you researched blog platforms only to be left with even more questions and have a no idea what platform to build your blog on? Guess what? We created the blog Depot just for you. The blog Depot is a nine module course that was designed for someone who thinks that they want to start a blog, but wants to build a solid foundation and ask themselves the important questions before jumping in. In the blog Depot, we will help you understand what you need to build a successful blog and important questions to ask yourself. And we do it all with our self-paced online course and membership community.

You get access to the course and community forum immediately upon signup. And as a special bonus, we do a live coaching call with Depot members every month. So you can talk to us about your specific questions and needs. We want you to feel confident when you decide to finally start blogging someday and the blog Depot will help you do it. It's only $47 a month, but if you sign up today and use code UBP50, you'll receive 50% off your first month. The link to join us is in the show notes, and we can't wait to help you build your solid foundation in the blog depot.

So is this a place where you can not only, like you said, have like your profile information, but how are you making these connections with people? Are you able to share content like you would maybe on Facebook or something, or I'm just having trouble picturing what this looks like. Can you explain like how you might actually utilize it? Yeah. Okay. I actually really love that question because I think it will give not only like your audience more insight to how this platform works. So on LinkedIn, you do have your profile, which you can fill out, you can actually create it. So it has like this, you're all of your branding colors and messaging that really reflects you and your

business. But there's also a lot of places where you can put in some cool keywords to get discovered by potential clients, which is amazing. You can also create a company page on LinkedIn that then is linked to your personal profile. But when it comes to then posting content, you can post and share content similar to how you would post content on Facebook. However, the content you share on LinkedIn is nothing like the content you would share on Facebook. So on Facebook, we tend to be a little bit more casual. We might show pictures of our kids or family members on there. And LinkedIn isn't necessarily the place to do that. Like, unless there's a story and a lesson behind the content you're sharing and putting out there, you want to be really selective in what you're sharing and posting on LinkedIn, but you definitely want to be like, okay, this is like my business and my professional profile here. If I'm posting content and creating content, how am I doing that in a way that helps showcase

my business and my expertise? And then how am I connecting with people on this platform and engaging in a way that's going to potentially help me find my ideal clients versus Facebook is all about maybe connecting with friends and people, you know, where on LinkedIn, we're being a lot more intentional and thoughtful about who we're cultivating those relationships with. Hopefully did that give like a bit of a good overview? Yeah, definitely. That makes a lot of sense. It's like almost the professional like version of yourself. Like you're kind of splitting up your life and let's, let's leave the personal stuff over on another platform

and let's showcase like our best professional self over here on LinkedIn. Yes, exactly. That, that is like a great way to think about it. And especially even as bloggers, like, I don't know if some of your audience might kind of be in the zone with their blog where they're like, well, I'm kind of figuring it out. And they're not really like owning that this could be a business for them. But LinkedIn and starting to show up on LinkedIn, being like, this is my business. This is how I can help you. This is my expertise and zone of genius. It can allow you to kind of start to show up and become more visible in a way that adds more power to taking ownership of your blogging business than you ever thought possible. It's really easy to sometimes hide or be a little bit behind the scenes when we are

maybe blogging or putting some content out in the world. But LinkedIn is the place where you are allowed to be proudly humble and showcase that to the world. Don't hide behind your accomplishments, your knowledge, and your power. Allow this to be the platform where you get to showcase that. I love that because we talk so much about owning your business and treating your blog like a business. And you just reiterated that. And I think that that's a really, really important thing for somebody to be considering whether you're new at blogging or maybe you've been blogging for a while and ask yourself the question, are you taking yourself seriously? And if you're not, then how can you? And I think that sometimes

it's just putting one step in front of the other, even if you don't fully feel like you're a business owner. I think it takes some of us a while to consider ourselves business owners when it comes to our blogs. But showing up in spaces like this just reiterates and strengthens that muscle that we are a business. Blogging is a viable business. You can make very good money blogging. It's also a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of creativity in order to be a blogger. And so don't sell yourself and your gifts short. And using LinkedIn as a way to promote that, I think is just...

I just think that's a really encouraging thought. So thanks for reiterating things that we tell our students. Yes. You're welcome. It's always good for them to hear it from more than just us. Yeah, yes, I love that. I think it is really a great space and platform to, as you said, practice strengthening that muscle of proudly owning your business and showcasing your expertise.

It really is a great platform to be able to do that. And I think this is a good point to talk about like, okay, how do we break this down now? Let's really think about it from this blogger's perspective. They're wanting to take ownership of their business. They're wanting to connect in different ways. What kind of person or what kind of blogger could benefit from using LinkedIn? I'm thinking like, you might have to think outside the box here a little bit and really think about how you're going to make those connections. Because say you're posting recipes or something, you're not going to post the same kinds of things on LinkedIn that you'd be posting on your Facebook page.

You're not posting a link to your recipe and hoping like a bunch of people are coming there and looking for it. So what kinds of blog what kinds of bloggers would benefit from using this and in what ways could they grow their business by thinking about adding LinkedIn as a platform? I love this question, especially because I think it's really easy for us to feel like we need to be on every single platform or we're missing out. We're missing out on an opportunity. Should we be on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, like all of the things and it can start to feel really, really overwhelming. And when I often start working with one-on-one consulting clients or coaching clients, or even students in my Soulful Content

Collective group coaching program, we really first get clear on who is your target audience. And I know that's something that you talk about with your students as well, is getting clear on like, who is your niche? Because when we have that clarity, we can become more confident knowing which platforms our audience is on, and be able to create content that is relevant for those platforms. So when it comes to LinkedIn, remember the people who are there, they are more professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, that is basically the target audience there. So if you are targeting maybe more like moms or, you know, a younger generation who would most likely be more on like either Instagram or TikTok, then LinkedIn might not be the right platform for you. And that is completely okay. Don't feel like you need to like

completely create a new strategy just to be on LinkedIn. Like, no, focus your efforts on those platforms. But let's say you are a consultant or like you provide virtual, you're a virtual assistant, social media manager. Maybe you're an author or want to write a book or something like that. Then there may be opportunity for you to then utilize LinkedIn and find clients who do need your services. Because those are the people, again, entrepreneurs or business owners who may be hiring you, or they may be even like event organizers who need to hire speakers. So maybe you want to get into the speaking space. So that's the thing you want to think about is what is my, I guess, ideal audience or who is my ideal audience?

And then does it make sense for me to utilize LinkedIn? A really good example, too, is you could have two people who are, let's say, fitness instructors or wellness instructors. One might be targeting more like moms and one might be like getting hired by wants to get hired by corporations to come in and teach or be a speaker. The person who wants to get hired by corporations or be hired as a speaker or connect with entrepreneurs, LinkedIn is a great platform for you to be on. If you're that professional who wants to connect more with maybe, you know, moms who are busy staying at home, then like Instagram would be the place you want to focus on.

So kind of making that clear distinction is really, really important. And then if you decide that LinkedIn is the place for you, there are tons of ways that you can really maximize and utilize the platform. So that was kind of a long-winded answer, but I hope it gave some good examples and details. Yeah.

I had some other ideas just to throw out there. Yeah. Please feel free to like say no or yes, but we have a lot of like food photographers that are bloggers. So they've taken a course and they've really amped up their food photography. I feel like any blogger who does like food photography on the side could be a great way to utilize LinkedIn. Also, if you are a copywriter, somebody who likes to write posts, things like that. So for instance, I

sometimes buy recipes to put on my blog. So that is something that bloggers can do is you can buy recipes. And one of the ladies that I buy from not only provides the recipe, but also provides like the keywords and different things. So like it's a full copyrighted blog post as well in the recipes. So that is something that she could definitely be marketing for instance, on LinkedIn, because she's, she's a registered dietitian. So that's something it's like, so she's a registered dietitian. So that's something... So she's a registered dietitian who has photography skills and also recipe creation skills for wholesome ingredients. So for somebody like me, for instance, as a blogger, I have a blog and I have a recipe portion on my blog, but I also have other things that I do. It's okay to utilize somebody's gifts in order to put them on your

blog. So I'm going ahead and telling everybody right now, it's okay if you hire some of your things out. You can't have a shame and guilt surrounding that. This is totally separate. But I would say if you ever buy recipes before you put them on your blog, you need to test to them. So that's going to be my one little tip for that. That could go off on a totally different tangent. But I do want to just kind of say that. So that's just one way that we all work together. I think that bloggers can utilize a lot of different people in order for their blog business. At the end of the day, we decide, what are my gifts and what can I do to show up my best? And some of those gifts are like

photography or copywriting, or maybe you're really great at creating like pin images and you could be a VA for somebody doing Pinterest images, things like that. So think about all those different things that bloggers need to do for their business. And if you are currently a blogger, what one of those things do you really like doing? And how could you market yourself to create another stream of income? So you don't have to be quote unquote, just a blogger. How else can you create a stream of income that then you could market yourself on a platform like LinkedIn? So I think a lot of times

bloggers sell themselves short and think, well, I just have to write content and do all my own stuff and all of that. But there are really so much more than that. I mean, we really are like a creative bunch. You know, I think that we have a lot of gifts that we, that we don't, we don't realize that people can benefit from other people, you know, like photography is not my strong suit. It hasn't been yet because I haven't had the time and opportunity to focus on it. It doesn't mean that someday it might not be, but right now that is a place where I invest my money. So people hire Pinterest out all the time. LinkedIn is a great way to connect with somebody who might be able to do that. So that's kind of twofold. One, don't be afraid to hire help if you need it. LinkedIn might be a great place to find the help

that you need, but also market yourself. What is something that you feel really great at doing? What's something you're really good at doing or you want to learn more about or brings you joy? And how could you incorporate that into your business as well? Yes, exactly. Exactly. And there are ways that you can really repurpose your contents from one platform and

switch it up a little bit to be then showcased on LinkedIn. Or like LinkedIn has this feature that's called LinkedIn articles, which is essentially like blogging or adding your blog to LinkedIn to help you get discovered. And so you could have a blog post that you have on your website. And then can you take a version of that or shorten it up and then repurpose it onto LinkedIn to showcase your expertise or target it towards a specific audience? Example, tips on food, taking food photography photos. Well, there are definitely people on there like magazines or other bloggers or business owners who, or restaurants who need to hire food photographers. And so that could be a way that you are then focused on utilizing the platform. You know, you repurpose your blog onto

there, and then you were creating those intentional connections to find those opportunities for your desired, you know, additional way to build your business and utilize LinkedIn in that format. So yeah, I think that LinkedIn just has like so many different opportunities, but maybe it just takes working with someone or sitting down with someone to kind of open up that box essentially and help you discover the ways that you can utilize LinkedIn for your business. And I know typically when I sit down with clients as well, like I will do like a LinkedIn audit for them to be like, does it make sense for you to be on this platform? Or I do have a client who she has created a business where she is a substitute teacher now. And she creates like these pre-created lesson plans so that if a teacher needs a sub, they don't have to create the lesson plan.

Like she's got tons of lesson plans already created. But another big part of her is professional speaking. So she shows up on LinkedIn more as the teacher side of things and letting people know she has like these substitute lesson plans available. She can easily bring that onto LinkedIn now as well, but also add in her professional speaking component and find opportunities to be hired as a speaker there. So she's able to kind of utilize the both platforms, but her messaging does change a little bit when it's on LinkedIn. And she never even thought that was possible until we kind of like work together and dove into like, okay, what are your big goals? And how can you maybe utilize

another platform without having to add a ton of new, like more work to your plate? Because that's a big thing that I think people get a little bit nervous about too, is like, oh my gosh, I would love to be on this other platform, but like, I don't even have time to do this one platform. And so sitting down to kind of get clear on how can we maximize what you're already doing to make your life easier, but also bring in new opportunities into your business that maybe you've desired, but you didn't think was possible. Yeah. I think you said a couple of things that are really, really important that I want to make sure we reiterate because you said, add LinkedIn if that's the right platform. So really, really think about your audience and what you're trying to accomplish before you just go get on another platform. So if you decide LinkedIn isn't for you right now, that is okay. But I think you've also really made the ideas flow for a lot of people who

maybe they've got that piece of it down. They've got a system in place. They're sharing their content on social media, but they do want to add that additional income stream to their business or make those professional connections in another way. So like you said, maybe they can teach fitness to corporations, or maybe they have event planning services, or maybe they offer photography for other professionals. So if they want to like dip their toes in the water over here, what are some like, I guess, first steps or things that they need to think about in terms of making the content that they're sharing, like discoverable, how are they going to make those connections over on LinkedIn? I would assume that you really want to think through and have a

strategy on that content as well and make sure that you're offering a ton of value there. So what are some tips you have for that? Yeah, I love that. So first thing is, of course, go over to LinkedIn and start creating a profile. LinkedIn does walk you through the steps to kind of get yourself set up. It is fairly basic and there are ways that you can fully then really optimize your profile and really stand out, but it's okay if you're not there yet. Like just kind of do the basics to get started. LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful search engine. Like if you Google Brittany Miller or Brittany Miller biz, there's a good chance that LinkedIn is like one of the first things you see before even my website, before my Instagram profile, LinkedIn is super powerful. You want to make sure though that you claim your LinkedIn handle to be what your business name or your name is so that it does

increase your search rank when people Google you. That's like a secret tip that lots of people don't know about because when you first create your LinkedIn profile, it will be like linkedin.com slash and it just like gives random numbers. But you can go in and you can actually edit that so that it has your exact name. And then that way you can be discovered on LinkedIn. So yourself and your business. And if anyone has questions about that, I do have like a LinkedIn checklist that you can download. And I actually have like a step-by-step video that shows you how to make some of these updates. So that might be really helpful for your audience

because it's kind of difficult to explain audio-wise. Yeah, we will include that in the show notes for sure. Okay, amazing. And then to really get to your question, Jennifer, when you are creating your content, you focus more on what kind of educational pieces can I share that showcase me as the expert and provides value. There's also a way that you can write your captions. So it kind of has a little bit of a storytelling component to it

that really keeps your audience interested. Of course, you want to, similar to other social platforms, you want to have that hook. So your first sentence to entice people to keep reading, you want to make sure it's formatted so it's easy to read. And then you want to have a call to action at the end to encourage engagement. But overall, you want to just make sure that whole post is providing some sort of value to showcase you as that expert. It's a really good way to get started on the content side of things. So go through and look at any posts you've created in the past that maybe was for Instagram or Facebook. And can you repurpose that then onto LinkedIn? Like, just make your lives easier. Don't feel like you need to go and recreate the wheel. And then the second part of that is to start building those connections. So again,

And then the second part of that is to start building those connections. So again, get clear as to who do I want to connect with on LinkedIn? Don't feel the need. You have to connect with like current coworkers or past coworkers, like unless those might bring in opportunities of work, potentially don't feel the need that you have to connect with all these people. LinkedIn will give you suggestions, but oftentimes I'm like, nope, don't need to connect with that person. Like that's okay. I really like to be intentional with who I'm building those connections with. But as you get clear as to what your goal is and who you're trying to connect with,

then you can utilize LinkedIn search and really find people and even groups to start connecting with and reaching out to and engaging with so that you can get in front of the right kind of audience and build up that network for you. So as an example, for me, I really utilize LinkedIn for professional speaking opportunities. And so I am actually going on to LinkedIn and I'm looking for the event organizer for certain conferences or for associations. And then I'm building up, I kind of have a strategy of ways how I like will start to connect with them or follow their content. I will then maybe leave them some really nice comments on their posts. And then I will send

them a message to ask them if they'd like to get on like a connection call to see how we can support one another. And I like really try to humanize the entire experience. So it is a bit of a process. I don't think you're going to hop on LinkedIn and just like start messaging everyone right away and building up all these like connections just for the sake of having more connections on there. Like you want to be really thoughtful and know that it is a little bit of a journey. So kind of as a quick recap, it's basically like make sure you get your profile set up, go download or my LinkedIn checklist so that you know how to like optimize your bio and then start creating content to repurpose any old content you have that is more like educational focus to showcase you as that expert. And then be really thoughtful as to who you are

cultivating those connections with and know that it's going to be a bit of a journey that will pay off in the long run. Just like any social platform, it definitely is more of a journey or even blogging. Blogging in general is a journey. You're not going to see your first blog post. Maybe the odd person does, but it is more realistic to think of it more as a journey. So to be consistent with it. Yes. I so appreciate that you said the part about networking and being really thoughtful and intentional because that truly is really, really important, I think. And I think when we are aligned with people who are in similar niches as us, and we are wanting to either serve the same people or even as a blogger, like who can really benefit from what I'm sharing and creating those really intentional relationships.

I would just really encourage anybody listening to not look so much at like the vanity metrics and to instead go to your messages or your calm events or your emails and see where am I truly making a difference? And how am I really connecting with people? Because that's what counts. It doesn't matter how many followers you have on Instagram or anything like that. If you're not connecting with those people, if you're not really showing them how you can serve, if you're not offering value, it kind of doesn't matter. I don't mean to say that in a negative way, but I think we get so wrapped up in like, I need X amount of followers. But I think the

really important thing here is ask yourself, why are you in the business that you're in? Why are you doing what you're doing? Is it a popularity contest? Is that the goal is just have a ton of followers? Or do you truly want to make an impact on the world with the content that you provide and the services that you provide too? And we have heard that. I mean, I think that has been overall one of the most important pieces that we've worked with a business coach this year. That's been one of the most important pieces that we've taken from this is that we are very intentionally forming relationships with people

in our community. And how can we show up for them? How can we be there? How can we make sure that they know, like we're in this to help you truly. And I think when people get that vibe and they know that that really is the heart behind it, they are going to think of you when they are like, you know what? I actually don't have time to learn food photography and I need to hire a photographer. That girl has gone above and beyond. Or I don't think I have time to figure out everything to do about blogging. There's no way that I can do this on my own. I don't have all the hours and there's too much information. I hope that they think of Jennifer and I in that regard. If they need social media help, hopefully they'll connect with you, Brittany, and, and they can get that from you. But I mean, I think that's, that's my goal here. And what I'm trying to very long-windedly say to everyone

is like, ask yourself where you're making connections. I think we're losing sight of that a little bit on social media and like that. Let's get back to that. Let's take it back to the basics of social media and like, let's connect with people. Let's meet them where they are in their journey. And so your people might be on LinkedIn. They might not be, but Brittany, you have given some amazing tips for LinkedIn. And I want to reiterate, because I know that there's people listening who are like, oh, I don't think I, I don't think I have anything to offer. You know, I don't think I have a service I could offer or anything. And I am just willing to bet that you guys probably do. So I just want to be that encourager today to let you know that you likely do have something that you could offer to someone. Because if you're waiting to get on an

ad network as a blogger or something, it does take time to gain the traffic to get there. So what can you do in the meantime to grow? And it might mean adding another stream of income doing something that you could market on LinkedIn. Exactly. I love everything you said, especially the really humanizing how we are showing up and utilizing any social media platform, because it is really easy to get caught up in the vanity metrics. But what does that translate into? Or one of the things I like to think of too is when I'm not in a room and an opportunity comes up, comes up, are people sharing my name, that is way more valuable than getting, you know, 100,000 views on a reel that doesn't translate into any dollar signs, or like a very few dollar signs, right? So looking at the connections you're making, not only for potential clients,

but also building up that referral network. Like if anyone came to me and they were struggling with starting out on a blog, I know to send them to Jennifer and Amy, right? And so looking at how can you also build up your connection? So you have this beautiful referral network to refer other people, but also get referrals sent your way too. Like referrals are like the number one way to market yourself. They really are. They really are because we ask people all the time like, well, where did you, where did you get that shirt? Or what, you know, if we like, I mean, that's just natural marketing. And I think that that sells itself more than anything. That's why so many

influencers are being successful. They go on. have you seen this pen? This is the most amazing pen I've ever used in my entire life. And like the world goes wild, like Stanley cups, for instance. I mean, somebody came on and said, this, this cup is amazing. It's going to change your life and it's going to take all of your problems. And they're just going to fly out the window if you buy a Stanley cup. And so everybody's like, I need all my problems to fly out the window. And so I'm getting myself a Stanley cup. I swore I wouldn't buy one. And I, oh, I totally caved in.

I did. But are all your problems solved? No, all my problems are not solved. But I think that's the point is it's in a world that we are so connected at all times to everything. People still want realness. They want authenticity. They want connection and we want relationships. So are we showing up in that way? And I think that that is the game changer.

That is how we change lives. We are more than just only focusing on SEO and content creation. We are asking ourselves when we're sitting down and writing a piece of content, who am I talking to and how is this going to help them? How can my story, how can my experience, how can my gifts, how can they make an impact on somebody else? And let that be the driving force. Yes, we are all here because we want to make money too. So don't also don't feel like you have to feel bad that you want to make money. I think that could be a podcast in and of itself. Like money makes the world go around. So it's okay if you want to make some cash, that's okay. But ask yourself, like, am I doing it in a way that feels good? Am I connecting to the people that can further my

reach and, and expand on my values and help me reach more people who are like me or want to do the things that I want to do? And how can we make that voice louder? Exactly. Oh my gosh. And I think you like hit the nail on the head. There really is two ways to like humanize and build those connections and cultivate those relationships. There's the, who are the people I want to get in the room with who I could refer services to them. They could maybe refer services back to me. We can support one another. That's amazing to build those connections and that referral network. But then, okay, how am I connecting with my audience? Because I know that once someone starts to like, know, and trust me when they need my services and help, I am more likely going to

be the one that they say yes to than some random person who popped up on their feed on Instagram that they've seen once. And so are we nurturing those relationships and building those connections? And a really beautiful example and simple way you can get started, especially if everyone is using Instagram. I know we're talking about LinkedIn mostly here, but for Instagram is whenever I get a new follower, I go and check out their profile, truly an ideal audience or a client. And if they are, I send them a welcome message, not only just like a DM being like, thank you so much for connecting and following me just said, and then I will let them know, like sending you a voice note as well. And I will literally send them a voice note being like, Hey, Amy, thank you so much for connecting. I'm so excited to be a part of you. Like, thanks for

following me. If you have any questions about social media, like please reach out. And I have had people be like, like not, not like nine out of 10 times where like, no one has ever sent me a voice note. Like, my gosh, that was so cool to hear your voice. And I have even gotten clients that way. They were like, can I actually have a question about social media? And then we get on a clarity call and then like, amazing, like beautiful to be able to build that connection and take social media to such a more humanized way of approaching it and utilizing it. I 100% agree with the voice demos. I do them as well sometimes because sometimes it's easier for me to just like spew my thoughts, obviously, on a total tangent than writing it out. Sometimes I'm better to just do a voice memo

and you're right. I get those comments too. Like, oh my gosh, thank you so much for taking the time to just do that. And a funny story, Brittany, I think when we connected on Instagram, I'm pretty sure I went back and looked at one of your posts that said that, like, this is a way to humanize experiences by sending a voice memo. And so then when I went in to connect with you, I sent you a voice memo. And I'm pretty sure that you responded and you were like, oh my gosh, thank you so much for the voice memo. I did. I rarely receive them. Like when a new person connects with me and I was like, Oh my God, I'm so excited. I love that you did that. That's amazing. I think that's a good example. Like that. So we've connected now. I don't even

remember it quite honestly how, but somehow, and you we've done an Instagram live with you. You're on our podcast. You're going to come speak in our alum membership group. And then you're going to do an Instagram live with us here coming up. Like think of that one connection. Literally you guys, this has been just a couple messages back and forth that started it. And look at all that collaboration that together we are showing up in front of each other's audiences, allowing that like our audience is getting to meet Brittany and vice versa. And so that's a really powerful way to network with people. And honestly, just to meet people who are doing what you're doing too. It's really nice to know that you're not alone, like in the online space.

And it's a really great way to like have those networking and connections with people because they get it. Like they get the kind of business that you're doing. Not everybody gets it. Like when you tell people you're a blogger or like social media expert or whatever, like there are some people like, okay, neat. All right. And I'm avoiding that situation because I don't want to hear any more about it.

Like, even though they've probably been on like five different blogs that day, but like, just, I think it's just important for that networking connection. If, if you haven't gotten that by the end of this, then I'm not sure. Right. We kind of, it's important. Two part series. We talked about LinkedIn and connection building. Love it. Yes. Yes. I feel like we came here thinking we were going to learn about LinkedIn and we've learned about so much more. I'm feeling like super inspired about this whole idea of creating these really strong, deep connections with other people. I've really had some good takeaways. Yes. It's been fantastic. Oh, it's been so fun. Thank you both so much.

Like this has been absolutely fantastic. I love sharing just to help other entrepreneurs be able to like take their business to the next level, but grow it in a way that really is aligned with who they are and still adds the human touch in the digital space. That's really important as we just talked about. Yes.

Obviously it's important to us as well. Yeah. is just as important as SEO and keyword research in our opinion. And in order to grow your list, you need a reliable platform that will allow you to connect with your community and turn them into email subscribers. That's where ConvertKit comes in. ConvertKit is the go-to marketing hub for creators like you that helps you grow and monetize your audience with ease. ConvertKit allows you to grow your audience and reach, put your funnels on autopilot and earn an income with your email list, all with an easy to use platform that is approachable, even for beginners. Click the link in our show notes to learn more about the different

plans that ConvertKit has and how it can help you propel your business to the next level. to the next level. Well, Brittany, will you tell our listeners how they can connect with you and how they can network and engage with you? Yes, please feel free to connect with me. And most likely if you do, you'll get a voice welcome message from me. So you can connect with me on my website is Brittany Miller dot biz. So Brittany is spelled B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y. There's like a million ways to spell Brittany. So Brittany Miller dot biz. And on Instagram, my username is Brittany Miller dot biz. And then on LinkedIn, you can also connect with me there.

And it's Brittany Miller. Or you can also type in Brittany Miller biz. and I'll probably come up on there as well. So feel free to connect with me. And if you have any questions related to LinkedIn, Instagram, social media, becoming more visible online, please do not hesitate to reach out. I am more than happy to share. And I'll also share with your audience that LinkedIn checklist, because I think that'd be really helpful, especially based on this conversation today. Yes, I think it will too.

So look for that in the show notes and I hope that you connect with Brittany. She's just a ray of sunshine and we are so glad to have met you and collaborating in lots of different ways. Yes, me too. Thank you both so much. Thanks, Amy and Jennifer. different ways. Yes, me too. Thank you both so much. Thanks, Amy and Jennifer. Thank you. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at spark media concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp.

The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.