How to Stand Out and Build Real Relationships on LinkedIn

LinkedIn doesn’t have to feel like a corporate suit you’re squeezing into.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, underqualified, or just downright awkward about showing up on LinkedIn, this episode is the breath of fresh air you need.

I’m joined by the brilliant and down-to-earth Sue Gresham (aka “The LinkedIn Lady”), who breaks down what it really takes to build visibility and relationships on the platform, all while leaning into your own secret sauce. 

We talk about:

• Why you don’t have to post daily to be successful on LinkedIn
• Simple ways to show up (even if imposter syndrome has got you down)
• How to uncover and own your unique “secret sauce”
• Tips to create conversations that are actually memorable (and don’t feel salesy)

Whether you’re trying to get more visibility, find high-quality leads, or just stop ghosting your LinkedIn inbox, this episode will leave you feeling empowered to take the next step.

👉 Tag us on IG with your favorite takeaway or DM us the tip that resonated most!

About Sue Gresham:

Sue Gresham is a LinkedIn Coach and Strategist who helps micro-business owners, coaches, consultants and service providers get noticed, grow their business, and build relationships that actually lead somewhere. 

Known as “The LinkedIn Lady” by many, Sue combines strategy with heart – breaking down LinkedIn into simple, manageable activities that instill confidence, bring visibility, and results.  

She’s the creator of the Link to Success Framework and she brings stories, takeaways and lightbulb moments to every talk.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES

• Connect with Sue on LinkedIn and grab her Summer Special LinkedIn Review!
• Learn more about Sue’s workshops here

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Transcript

Natasha (00:00)

Hey everyone, I am excited to welcome today's guest, Sue Gresham, also known as the LinkedIn lady by many. Sue is a LinkedIn coach and strategist, and she combines strategy with heart, breaking down LinkedIn into simple, manageable activities that instill confidence, bring visibility and results. She's also the creator of the link to success framework, and she brings stories, takeaways, and light bulb moments to every talk. I know you're really going to enjoy our conversation today. Sue is such a sweet and gentle soul.

So let's jump into it.

Natasha (00:34)

Welcome to the show Sue, I'm so excited to have you here today.

Sue Gresham (00:38)

I'm so excited to be here, Natasha. Thanks for asking me.

Natasha (00:42)

Yes, and I know you have so much to share with our audience today about LinkedIn. And so we'll just jump right into it. I'd love to hear why you think LinkedIn is such a powerful platform and who you really think it's best for.

Sue Gresham (00:54)

Well, it's a wonderful platform because it's different than all of the other social media platforms. It's really based on relationship building from a professional standpoint, meaning that it's for people that are working, trying to grow their careers, build their businesses, all of those things. And that makes it lot different because people that are here are here for really the

relationship and learning. And I think that the learning piece is something that we don't see on a lot of the other platforms. So it's good for everybody. Okay, let's be real. It's not good for every everybody. But if you are looking to grow a business or if you're looking to build relationships, if you're looking for partners or colleagues or looking to learn or looking for a job, any of those things

are going to make you a great candidate for using LinkedIn.

Natasha (01:50)

Yeah, I think LinkedIn is so powerful and I think the other part too is there's a lot of high quality leads if you're looking for business on LinkedIn. A lot of director roles, it tends to be those leadership roles are almost always on LinkedIn and then I know in the last several years, it's even more common for people to be on there and I love that you said to build relationships because that's really my approach to marketing is building those real relationships with people and business flows naturally from that.

Sue Gresham (02:17)

Yeah, I'm 100 % in agreement with you. When I do my workshops and I talk with people, we talk about, and I stress, the know, like, and trust and the ability to be able to really hone in and be able to figure out what it is that your people need. And you can only do that if you talk to them. So, right? Right? So it really is the conversation and that peace that makes really business.

Natasha (02:37)

Yes! ⁓

Sue Gresham (02:45)

Workable, mean, it makes LinkedIn workable. It's amazing.

Natasha (02:49)

Yeah, yeah, I love that. So I know that you help people clarify where they want to go and then shape their LinkedIn presence around that. What's the first thing someone should do if they want to start showing up more intentionally on the platform?

Sue Gresham (03:03)

Well, I think what the very first thing is they need to figure out what that means to them because everyone has a different reason for using LinkedIn and those reasons might change. You know, you might one month you might be working on a project, you might be an author, you might be trying to promote your podcast. It could be anything. So the first thing that I always talk about is what is it that you want to accomplish? What is that intention that you have? And then we talk about

What does that look like for you? And a lot of it has to do with what your personality is. So there are people that are out there that are not, they don't really want to put themselves out there that much. So we work on how they can do that in a way that's more comfortable for them. Because if they're not comfortable, they're not going to do it, right? And so the intentionality comes from what their goal is and then how to position themselves, the things that they put in their profile.

the people that they connect to and what they say in those conversations and ultimately then if they're going to post what that looks like. And it's all streamlined towards that end result that they're looking for.

Natasha (04:12)

I think you touched on something that's common for a lot of people and you know sometimes we can forget it because we're looking at so many people posting so confidently but I would say the majority of people do have a lot of fear or mindset issues. What do you do to push people out of their comfort zone if they get stuck there?

Sue Gresham (04:28)

I love

that question because I even have that, okay? There are days that imposter syndrome just goes because my feed might be filled with all of these great people that I'm connected to that are saying all of these amazing things and I think, well what I have to say isn't all that great, right? So the first thing that I do is when there is someone that is really afraid to post.

First all, they don't have to post. But second of all, there's a really easy thing they can do just to build up a little bit of confidence. And that's to take a look at something that they found on the feed that they like and repost it. Share that with their audience. So they don't have to come up with the thought leadership that they might be afraid they don't have. But they can at least put themselves out there and say, I read this post and I thought it was really interesting because, and it could be one sentence, and hit.

and then hit submit and now they've posted. And I think that a little, you know, if they can build up a little bit of momentum from that, it makes it easier to start if that's what they want to do. Again, I still think that if they're not comfortable posting, it's going to show and that's worse. So then there's other strategies. You know, so there's other strategies we can work.

Natasha (05:46)

Yeah, I love that and for LinkedIn, it's such a good strategy to start sharing other people's content because on Instagram, you don't really have that same capacity in your feed the way that you do on LinkedIn. So I love this level one, just go engage in a dialogue, go repost, go comment, and the stakes are really low and you can maybe get more comfortable and build up.

Sue Gresham (06:07)

Exactly, exactly. And you know, there's this thought out there that you have to be on LinkedIn every day or that you've got to be posting every day. You really don't. Because there's so many other things you can do on the platform that don't mean that you're in front of a huge massive audience. so, you know, I talk a lot about the back, the backside of it, the conversations that we have.

the relationship building that we do in that little inbox area that we've got. for a lot of people, that's just much more comfortable.

Natasha (06:40)

Yeah, and I think

there's also for solopreneurs a real time element. So establishing like, know, maybe it's only 30 minutes a week, but you consistently show up once. That's gonna be so much better than the person who disappears for three months and posts nothing.

Sue Gresham (06:55)

Exactly. That and also disappears and doesn't even log in because LinkedIn pays attention when you're coming in and even they pay attention to when you're even doing the connecting processes or the having the conversations in the back, you know, in the inbox area. So whether or not you're posting, LinkedIn knows and when you do start, will, they'll give you some, you know, they'll start to point you in some directions through their algorithm.

So it's really about just showing up on occasion.

Natasha (07:27)

Yeah, yep, that's great. And I know one of the things you really help people with is uncovering what actually makes them stand out, their secret sauce. But sometimes they don't see it and sometimes they don't want to own it. It can be hard to own your uniqueness. And why do you think that is?

Sue Gresham (07:30)

Yeah.

Well, there's a couple reasons I think. One of them is that some of it has to do with age. We know just I'm of an older age than you are. so people that are in their 50s or older, we were taught as children to lay low, to not make a spectacle, to not talk about ourselves. And so some of that is this built in, oh, I can't do that because of just the...

way things were back when we were growing up. But the other thing is that whole imposter syndrome. Again, it pops up and we don't think we're good enough. It's a fear that people have. And so one of the things that, when I'm working with people, I love, absolutely love to hear their stories about how they progressed with their career or what it is that they've done or stories about something about them personally that shows

that little extra piece that they have. It could be that they're very nurturing. It could be that they have had some really great success in the sales arena and they just don't realize it. We forget to think about the positives. So anytime that we've got an opportunity, any of us, to be able to share, to be able to not just share, to really give kudos to someone.

to say, that's really a great idea, or boy, I didn't know you did that. Even on our regular conversations, that helps build that confidence so people will see that and they'll start to own it.

Natasha (09:18)

Yeah.

I appreciate that you pointed out the generational differences because I think it could be easy even for me right to look at some of the content creators especially the younger ones who are kind of native to this and it comes so naturally because you know they've been in the tech even more than I have been you know now in my later 30s and you know it is different generationally and not to get caught in that imposter syndrome and instead leaning into what you're really good at in that generation and also being open

into

learning some new skills, right? Everyone can learn.

Sue Gresham (09:49)

Well, absolutely. know, podcasting as an example has been around for a long time, but really hasn't for how popular it's gotten. You know, in the last couple of years, it's really taken off. There's a whole set of skills that we have to learn in order to be a podcaster or even to be a guest and to feel confident in that. And so I think you're spot on when you say learning skills. It's just those things we have to do to...

keep up and be relevant, but also share what we've got and what we know. And I think that's just, I think people are afraid to do that. So I love, I just love digging deep into people's stories. If this was my podcast, I would be asking you all about, all about you. And I would want to know why is it that you decided that you wanted to do this podcast? And.

Natasha (10:28)

Yeah.

you

Sue Gresham (10:38)

So, you know, I just think it's important stuff that we all need to know and I like.

Natasha (10:42)

Yeah, and so on that vein, if someone isn't really sure what it is that makes them unique, where can they start to figure out something that they could highlight and really own?

Sue Gresham (10:55)

That's a good question. And I think it, I'm going to say it depends, but let me just build off of that for a second. I think that it takes looking back at what your career has been, what your trajectory has been. I think it takes some thinking back about where your successes were. And a lot of times we forget that. When I talk with people,

They forget, yeah, I won that award, you know, back 10 years ago. And then I'll say, well, tell me about the award. And then we'll talk about that. And that will spur the other things. yeah, and then, and then, and how did that progress? And where did that lead you to now? And that's how we see all of these great things that people did. But it takes a little bit of self, what's the word I'm looking for?

I just lost my hat, I'm sorry. Reflection, thank you. Reflection, that's it. But the other piece about that too is, you know, I'm afraid to say to somebody, hey, what do you think? What do think I'm good at? But I think a lot of times our best advisors and our best colleagues are the ones that are going to help prop us up too and share what it is that they see that's our best secret sauce or whatever that is.

Natasha (11:42)

self-reflection maybe.

Yeah, that's great advice. So checking in with a mentor, those who know you well, who can reflect back what they see and maybe you might even be afraid to own because maybe it feels big. There was something else in this that I really had liked about what you said. Now I'm doing it. I'm losing my train of thought. It'll come back to me. Oh, it was that reflection piece. I think.

Sue Gresham (12:19)

You

It's okay.

Yeah.

Natasha (12:30)

I've been thinking a lot about reflection and I think business owners are so busy moving forward that they don't always take the time to slow down. And one of my favorite exercises is to do a quarterly reflection and you just write down your three biggest successes and you know maybe your three biggest like areas you would like to improve or work on. And it seems so simple.

Sue Gresham (12:47)

Mm-hmm.

Natasha (12:50)

But we forget what we have accomplished. And we might even be thinking that we're not doing that well that quarter. But when we suddenly actually sit and think about it, we can gain a new perception. And what it tells me is sometimes whatever perception we just have running in our head, if we're not intentionally reflecting, it's not accurate. But we take it as accurate. And that can be dangerous.

Sue Gresham (13:11)

Yeah, it's that whole little devil sitting on your shoulder thing, right? Absolutely. And I have started doing reflection every day because maybe it's my memory's going, I don't know. But I get so busy that I kind of forget that, I just had this amazing call or I just helped this person make this breakthrough or whatever. I did a great job with a sales call.

You know, especially as a solopreneur, know, sometimes you get a lot of no's before you get the yeses, and those really wear you down. And so I use a planner that has a spot right on it for reflection and gratitude and wins. And no, I shouldn't say I do it every day. But let's say most days of the week.

I go in or I look at what I did yesterday and I'll write it down. So I think that that's so important. I couldn't agree with you more about that, Natasha. Couldn't agree with you more.

Natasha (14:04)

a great practice that you know we might not be able to do it daily but journaling and capturing those wins because you're gonna have a lot of no's and those are gonna be discouraging and you're gonna focus on those but are you celebrating all of those wins so that's a beautiful practice.

Sue Gresham (14:18)

Exactly.

Natasha (14:19)

So we talked a little bit about imposter syndrome and kind of getting through that, but I think there's also this other piece on social, and I feel it now more than I've ever heard it before, is there's so much noise and it feels like you'll never be heard. What advice do you have for someone who's feeling a bit of that imposter syndrome, like they're not expert enough, and how are they just ever gonna be heard in all of the noise?

Sue Gresham (14:42)

You know, there is a lot of noise and there is a lot of people that now all of sudden are experts that really aren't experts. And there's a lot of things that are happening now with AI where people are able to really generate quick stuff a lot because AI is writing it for them and maybe they're just tweaking it. Hopefully they're tweaking it. I think that

This all comes in with part of that whole thing about just being comfortable. And on LinkedIn, as an example, the algorithms are set up, and it changes all the time, but the algorithm is set up that as you are engaging with people and engaging in conversations, your things are going to, if they're on that topic, those things are going to circulate around again.

One of the things about LinkedIn that has really been interesting in the last year is that when we used to think that you would post something, it would be gone in a day. I'm having things that are still there after three weeks, and people are still seeing them. So I think that if you can just stick with it and just be consistent, whether it's once a week or twice a week, whatever you decide,

I think that you're going to be able to find a way to rise above the noise. But I also think that sometimes it's just time to turn off your computer and walk away and ignore some of it. And so I'm a big advocate of having a social media free day. I don't typically do much on Sundays on social media. That's kind of my quiet day.

And that just kind of helps me reset so that when it feels overwhelming, I don't have to deal with it.

Natasha (16:25)

Yeah, and I've noticed with the algorithms too, especially on something like LinkedIn, most of the action is during the week, so you should be giving yourself a break for that mental health. So that is great advice. ⁓ I know you're big on, you know, following up, creating those conversations and the DMs, those real relationships, but also this piece of creative conversations that stick so you can stand out. What's one approach you love for starting or continuing conversation that people are gonna remember?

Sue Gresham (16:37)

Exactly.

Well, so there's a couple of really cool things that, it depends on, again, it depends on your comfort level, right? The first thing about having a conversation is that you've got to have something in common or something that you want to start with, not the sales pitch, right? Because that's just icky, ugh. But you want to start with something that you've got in common and build from that. And sometimes it's just a simple question like, gee, what are you working on?

Or what, you could ask a question to get to know someone like, what was a really good thing that happened to you this week? Or was there anything good that happened this week that you'd like to tell me about? Sometimes those, just to get people out of their conversation, or I'm sorry, of their lack of conversation, out of their little hole, and get them to converse with you, sometimes it's really about making them feel better. I had a really interesting conversation just today on LinkedIn.

that I wanted to share with you very quickly. So this woman invited me to connect, okay, and the very first thing she said is, so what's your favorite thing to post about on LinkedIn? And I thought, well, that was a very interesting question that really made me think, and it seemed like she was interested enough, let's put it that way, okay, versus,

you know, some of the other things that I get like, you know, like, tell me when you're about your high school. I'm not gonna tell you about high school, right? So if, if you know what, right? Well, one time that was too long ago for me too. I don't remember, you know, but, but, you know, if it's, if it's something that's geared to what they're currently doing, that's awesome. And I think that's how you start to get that relationship going. If you really take interest.

Natasha (18:13)

Too personal.

And people love to talk about what they're doing and have someone who's genuinely interested in listening. And I think that's a piece too. If you ask a question, you better really want to know and engage with the answer.

Sue Gresham (18:42)

Exactly, and that's the whole next piece is you've got to be there when they answer. And keeping in mind that maybe somebody's not right there that minute that you're asking the question, you need to come back and circle around. my little LinkedIn tip for that is sometimes your feed gets so busy, or not your feed, your inbox gets so busy. So I recommend that when you have asked a question or when you're in the middle of a conversation, put a little star. There is a star thing that you can hit.

and then you can sort by those to come back and make sure that you're not missing something that someone has been talking about and that they've replied back to you. Your inbox on LinkedIn is just like your inbox on your computer. People that are there most of the time are there for professional reasons and they're really trying to have a conversation with you. So, you know, we have to treat it that way.

Natasha (19:34)

and as we're talking about this I would be remiss if I didn't say this connection actually happened over LinkedIn. I reached out to you and what's funny is I had seen your profile like I think I know Sue. I don't know why I know Sue. Maybe I was in a workshop with Sue but I'm like maybe I've met her maybe I haven't she has some connections I have but I'm gonna reach out to her because if I

Sue Gresham (19:41)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Natasha (19:55)

don't already know her than I should know her. And I was kind of waiting for a response. I'm like, ah, did I sound like weird? I'm like, I think I know you, but I'm not sure. But you eventually reached out.

Sue Gresham (19:58)

Right?

But that's

honest. But that's honest though, right? You know, I think I recognize you and if not, you know, did we meet or what? think that's, see that's what a real conversation would be. Have you ever walked up to somebody at a meeting and go, you look really familiar, who are you? Right? I did that at the airport. We were in Sarasota and I did that at the airport.

Natasha (20:24)

Yes. Yeah.

Sue Gresham (20:31)

I knew I recognized this person and I just for the life of me could not think who it was. Low and behold, it was somebody that I had known from like 10 years ago. And when he looked at me he was like, yeah, I don't remember your name. I'm like, I'm Sue, are you? And then it was like, oh my gosh, we can't remember everybody. So why not start out and say, I think I know you. Now, if some guy does that to a beautiful woman, that's a little icky. the other point too is it...

If it's real, it's real.

Natasha (21:02)

Yeah,

that genuine, right? Just don't do things out of a false sense. Do it out of a real, genuine thought and connection.

Sue Gresham (21:08)

Exactly.

And what you would do in real life, okay? That's the other thing too. You know, we're having a real conversation here. Now, it's easier to talk than it is to do a lot of typing for me, but you know, this is real and that's what you want to keep it as real.

Natasha (21:23)

Yeah, just be yourself. And I do think that is something people struggle with, is that, you know, we decide to put on this performance mode. And actually a recent podcast I just did was with the Speaking Coach. And it's like we just become not ourselves all of the sudden. So if you find yourself saying something that's not authentic or genuine to how you would engage in real life, that's time to go, hey, maybe I need to tweak this.

Sue Gresham (21:48)

Yeah. And if it makes you feel icky when you say it, just think how it makes the other person feel.

Natasha (21:52)

You

That's a good barometer. I'm

interested, you know, just kind of in timeliness and trends. Is there a LinkedIn strategy, you know, or trend that you're seeing right now that's making a real difference for your clients?

Sue Gresham (22:08)

There's actually two. Video is really big right now on LinkedIn. so those that are confident, again, in front of a camera, again, here we go with the confidence, but it's really important. Those that are confident enough in front of a camera to do a one or two minute little, just one or two minute quick little video about something maybe that happened to them in work or something that was going on that they wanted to share.

because those are really popular things, you know, to talk about things that are personal in a way or how they relate to what you're doing at work. Those one or two minute videos are awesome. The other thing that's really popular right now is actually commenting at other people's posts. Those are ways to become very visible is to add quality comments. there is a difference between...

nice job or nice comment and not following up to add to the original poster's conversation. But if you've got something that you can add to that, that right now as in, you know, today, that tactic is very, very helpful not only to the person, the original poster, but to the person that's making the comment. You can now see

whether people are reading your comment and you can, there's now analytics on LinkedIn that show that when you say something, who's viewed your profile afterwards. Now I think that might just be for premium members at this point, but you can see what kind of traction you're bringing by engaging.

Natasha (23:40)

Yeah, and I think this is important. I saw this on Facebook too, and Facebook groups, what I'm noticing is that

It's not just what you're posting, but it's what you're commenting. You are training the algorithm with each piece of content that you put out and each comment and each like and share. And it's important. And you know, we talked a little bit about like your secret sauce, right? And like what's, and also you could talk about like, what is your niche? And the more you train the algorithm by commenting on these things you want to see more of, the more that LinkedIn is going to serve that up to you. And in a world of endless content, that's important because I will see the things I want to see and I'm even leads because

I've been engaging on stuff like that and LinkedIn's like, you wanna see more of this. So it's doing some work for me.

Sue Gresham (24:22)

Right.

Right. And that goes back to that noise question because that does cut some of the noise out of there of the things that you don't want to see and you're not interested in. it also, that goes back to one other thing too, is if you're not posting that often or if you're not on LinkedIn that often, the people aren't going to find you either because they haven't had a chance to teach their

and their home and their algorithm what they want to see. And so it's kind of a two-way street. If we can educate people to start to be a little more active in the commenting or in the liking to help train that, that would be great.

Natasha (25:06)

point. Yep, I appreciate that. So do you have any upcoming programs or offers that you'd like to share with our listeners about what you're doing on LinkedIn?

Sue Gresham (25:16)

Well, I'd love to. Thank you. I am offering for the summer because summer is kind of a slow time. People tend to take a lot of time off. This is not a good time to take a lot of time off because business is going to keep going. People are still going to keep moving. But this is a good time to slow down and reflect and to do a little bit of maintenance possibly. And so I'm offering a summer special on my LinkedIn profile reviews where

if somebody signs up for it, basically I will spend 45 minutes with them helping them work through their profile to really tone it up for the search and for the people that they're trying to attract. And I'm running that special all summer. So I don't know you want to put the link in the chat notes maybe.

Natasha (26:00)

Yeah, we can

put that in the show notes, so I'll connect with you afterwards and we can grab that. And that's a great offering because...

Sue Gresham (26:03)

Okay, perfect.

Natasha (26:06)

LinkedIn, you know, it shows up in search results for people and while it's not your website, it is a landing page for you and I love to keep, I just got my testimonials updated, asked for a few new ones because I've got, you know, testimonials over the years and that social proof I think is really important and those vouchers and things on LinkedIn. So I know you have some great advice and can help people with that. So where can they connect with you online? Where's the best place? I'm guessing LinkedIn.

Sue Gresham (26:33)

The best

place to connect with me would be on LinkedIn. How's that? I'm just Sue Gresham. It's so, you know, and I kind of look the same and all. fact, I'm wearing blue, you know, or red. It's all the same. So Sue Gresham is the really the best place. And if you could please tell me that you saw this on this podcast or heard this on the podcast, that would be great because that'll help me give a frame of reference and then we can have some conversation.

Natasha (26:57)

great. And as we wind this episode down, I always love to end with a question, which is, what is one piece of advice you would give your younger self?

Sue Gresham (27:07)

You know, I have to laugh when you say younger self because is that yesterday or is that 20 years ago? But I think what I would do is I would help my younger self understand that everything that you do, everything I've done in my life has always fed upon, you know, it's kind of been like a layer on top of an onion and it's always been where it feeds upon itself and

Natasha (27:10)

Up to you.

Sue Gresham (27:31)

You learn and if you don't learn, it's okay. But don't take everything so seriously and think that this is the end of the end because it's not. I started my business when I was in my 50s. so, you know, there's so much out there. Just, you know, flow with it and learn from it and don't take it overly seriously. But do good.

Natasha (27:53)

I

love that and I really love that you're an example too for showing up on social media and making it approachable, especially for others in your generation that it's like you said, there are generational challenges and mindsets that we have that might make it hard to show up online. And I think you're such a beautiful example of someone doing it really well. And I'm really thankful for your time helping other people show up on these platforms.

Sue Gresham (28:20)

Thank you so much, that was so nice of you to say, and I've enjoyed this time together. Thank you for inviting me.

Natasha (28:25)

All

right, we will see you all in the next episode.