The Security Circle
An IFPOD production for IFPO the very first security podcast called Security Circle. IFPO is the International Foundation for Protection Officers, and is an international security membership body that supports front line security professionals with learning and development, mental Health and wellbeing initiatives.
The Security Circle
EP 101 Tyler Schmoker - How to Use LinkedIn as a Strategic Communications Enabler
Tyler Schmoker is retired Army Combat Arms Senior NCO, former Paramilitary Advisor, and Management Consultant to Fortune 500s. He's worked in Corporate Security, Strategy, Project/Program Management, & Tech.
He is a Security Industry executive, commentator, writer/professional journal contributor, keynote speaker, Security & Defense entrepreneur & strategist, and an avid conservationist, gardener, and mountaineer.
His currently portfolio of startups includes:
Winsly 🟢
Where Management Consulting Meets Security
Maritime Support Concepts 🔵
Maritime Defense Sourcing & Specialist Services
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-schmoker-76997756/
Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers
If you enjoy the security circle podcast, please like share and comment or even better. Leave us a Fabry view. We can be found on all podcast platforms. Be sure to subscribe. The security circle every Thursday. We love Thursdays. Hi, this is Yolanda. Welcome to the Security Circle podcast. IFPO is the International Foundation for Protection Officers and we are dedicated to providing meaningful education, information and certification for whatever security level you are. And we aim to make a positive difference to our members mental health and well being. Our listeners are global. Did you know they are the decision makers of tomorrow and we want to thank you wherever you are for being a part of the security circle journey. If you love the podcast, we're on all podcast platforms. Don't forget to subscribe or even better. Just like, comment, and share the LinkedIn post. Thank you for your company. Well, this guest today doesn't really need a huge, I think everybody knows who he is. Tyler Schmoker. Why does everybody know who you are?
Tyler:Oh boy. Well, yo, yo, yo, yo. I'm happy to be here. I thought we were just going to have a conversation. I didn't know we were doing a podcast, but I guess win win, right?
Yoyo:Well, he says with his podcast mic already. So Tyler, first of all, thank you so much for joining us on the Security Circle podcast. I have to say this has been a long time in the making, but you put a LinkedIn post up recently and it struck a chord because it was an incredibly powerful LinkedIn post, as most of your posts are, and you talked about how you had this great content, but you hadn't been selected for GSX to present this content. And when I looked at the content that you wanted to present, I thought, Oh boy, did they miss a trick, not including you. So tell me about this post.
Tyler:I submitted an application last year. I think it was last year, because I think those typically come up towards the end of the year for the GSX sessions. And, you know, I've been to GSX before, um, and I've been to some GSXs since I, Kind of gotten a little bit more proactive on LinkedIn, which is still kind of a new frontier for professionals within the security industry. So I've been able to use it as a channel to kind of get connected to people in the industry that, and get access to people that I might not otherwise get access to. So at times I do craft content that is a bit satirical and it raises, it raises some feathers occasionally, but ultimately what I'm doing is trying to put out a prototype. So that it kind of eases the transition for other professionals so that they can see that when you effectively use the tool as a strategic communications enabler, it kind of gives you access to a broader audience. And that's not to say that it's the the dreaded same shameless self proclaimed Promoting really it's more so about getting connected with people in the industry That you might not otherwise have access to and then also if you have ideas and thoughts to share It's a way to get that out into the zeitgeist and kind of some of those informal influence channels where maybe you're not selected for certain things. So kind of to bring this back full circle to the post that I put out is because again, I do occasionally have a tendency of bringing up the points in the security industry and saying the private parts out loud, to raise awareness. And maybe shift the culture a little bit and get people thinking so I went through the process. I submitted an application within the set time period. I think our delightful colleague, Michael Gibbs actually sent it to me. And I would say that he's one of the earlier known kind of personalities and thought leaders and figures within the industry who Kind of acknowledged what I was doing, even though it was a little bit unconventional. So he's always been a supporter of mine and I'm very grateful for that, but so he shot me a note. I think it was in LinkedIn, interestingly enough, and said, have you put in a submission for a, for a session? And it's like, well, I'd been thinking about it, but I'm not really quite in that world. And so he sent me the stuff. And so I filled it out and I did it on, I can't remember the exact title, but it was essentially LinkedIn for security professionals to kind of go over some of the best practices, tricks, hacks, techniques that I've learned over the last couple of years to, to build, a relatively decent sized community and kind of get that distribution going and providing a little bit of value. different flavor to the security industry. I would say that I've been able to demonstrate the social proof as far as the measurables on the platform. And I would like to think, probably bring more folks that aren't into the industry, into our world a little bit more, maybe more than some of, past creators have done. So I'm like, Well, I like to get up and talk in front of people. And yes, I like to self promote to some extent to, to share ideas, but it's really about access with people. And ultimately I'm here to help people out as well. So I submitted this application and it didn't get accepted. I ended up, submitting, or I ended up doing a post quite some time ago about it and say, well, here's my rejection letter. I didn't get accepted, but maybe next year. And I actually got invited to do a next gen talk with, the next gen group. So it wasn't on the stage at GSX, but so it was really nice, consolation prize and got to. Talk with some of the emergent professionals or the up and coming professionals within our industry and kind of share some of that knowledge. But again, I went to GSX this year and content creator is going to create content during GSX. I went to some branding sessions and, you know, they all had their value. Here's the different things that I saw from it. And so of course I went to those sessions. I think I went to two of the three that were available. This year at GSX and then I commented or I posted about after and said, well, I, you know, I didn't get selected, but maybe next time out. I've started the process of thinking about maybe who I'd like to partner with and potentially if I'll give it another shot and see if, the, selection committee will give me a little grace next time around in New Orleans.
Yoyo:Look, there's no doubt about it. You do put out great content and it is what some might say, a little left to bang. You are not the stereotypical security professional, thank goodness, because there's a lot of those, GSX was full of them, right? And so you bring a diversity in that's incredibly refreshing and memorable. Now you wanted to talk in particular about,, how to optimize a banger LinkedIn profile. Even that language is going to be something that people aren't used to. I say we shake it up. How do you optimize a banger LinkedIn profile that spreads the surface area and employs magnets and funnels and functionality works? What does that mean to a security professional who has his own business, who is a consultant and potentially needs to network more and make sure his LinkedIn account is working for him?
Tyler:I could talk for hours about this, and I know we don't have hours, but I would say that there are a couple of high points. If you look at your profile, and you're like me, probably four or five years ago, where I was the stock gray background on my banner, I was the person with no picture, because I was still the Jason Bourne security professional at the time, or so I thought, with the last initial and the first name, I've been doing a lot of really good work in the industry and, I've helped some large companies and some large clients do some pretty cool things, but I looked at myself and it's like, nobody knows who I am. And I've done these things. So it's like, I'm going to have to promote myself. So one of the things from a practical perspective on a LinkedIn profiles, you start really at the top, right? So you're looking at what's your profile picture. It used to be, you had to have your men's warehouse. on and get your picture, to where, you know, you s to do that, but it's beco now in the way that socia much everyone's out there So I always like to say t Pretty much got meta at this point unless you're living in a cabin off grid in the woods But then you're not really relevant to anything So it's a matter of kind of managing your own personal search engine optimization And you're controlling that narrative for yourself and putting those things out front that you want to be known for As a person and as a professional and I say those two things because even though it's linkedin and it's very much the professional social networking platform You There is an element of personality, and I think that we saw during the pandemic in particular, when people were, void the water cooler to talk about their weekend, talk about, their kids sporting events, what they have going on, or those happy hours where you can get together and probably still talk, shop, but do it in a fun way with some jokes and some other things. The pandemic kind of brought that to, To linkedin a little bit more we where we had that virtual water cooler and that virtual happy hour. So Think of that when you're present when you're putting forth your profile Obviously you want to have the metrics of all of the good things that you do But like in that header section of your linkedin profile tell some things about what you've done professionally what you're doing professionally But what makes you interesting too? You might be a writer. You might be a corporate security executive So But you also might be a gardener. You might be a mountaineer. you might like to knit. You like, you might like all these other things. And I think that you'll start to find that you find these lines of connection to other people that might not even be in your industry based on some of the hobbies you have, or some of the, Interests that you have that are outside of your industry and then obviously with that too at the top of your profile You look at that banner section that's real estate to use So if you're using a linkedin standard banner It's like you're missing that opportunity of those square inches the that digital real estate to present your thoughts Thing forward, whether it's like me, I'm an entrepreneur with a couple of different businesses, whether you wanna plant the flag for the company that you work for, or maybe you wanna put, again, a picture that you're out riding bicycles or you're a triathlete or whatever. So really it's kind of a blank canvas to take.. To take advantage of that square footage of your digital homestead, so to speak and so that's what I would say like on the headline because that's where people find you All of that stuff you have down in your experience your volunteer experience your professional work experience all the things that make you a respected Reliable professional all of that stuff is great But really the gateway to get people there is that picture that banner and those headlines? So you don't just want to be that I'm a thought leader. I'm a problem solver. I'm an innovator and I'm a visionary. Well, who isn't on LinkedIn? We've got that, but let's assume everyone's a thought leader and a visionary and a problem solver. But now let's get into what makes you uniquely you. And then secondarily to that. is the featured section. The featured section in LinkedIn is criminally overlooked and undervalued as far as including company websites, including journal articles that you've published, podcasts that you've been on. So after this and this drops, I'm going to put the security circle podcast in there. I'm going to do a post about it. I'm going to have links to it because that's a way then that. Creators and it's something for security pros to know as well now that we're kind of getting into that age where security podcasts are more normalized now and it's a way that we get to know each other. It's like you're sharing your platform with me and in exchange for this opportunity to come on and be able to speak to your audience. I'm going to share my platform with you as well. So there's mutual benefit in this relationship where, I get to come on your show, we get to have a great conversation. It gets out into the security ether. And also I'm promoting it to my audience. And in some cases, my audience is proportion, proportionately larger non security people. And so maybe it gets Yo Yo's podcast into the zeitgeist. That's not in the security industry. And that's pretty exciting. And then maybe, it's you and Joe Rogan number one and two, because I shared it probably not, but
Yoyo:So you're right about using individuality and you do walk the walk. You talk the talk and I'm talking about your veteran career now and why you talk about your retired, former career. Why is that connection so important? Do you think? Compared to what you're, why does it relate to what you're doing now, Tyler?
Tyler:A couple of things. If we take a step back and look at the social media, multimedia, podcast genre, I see in the veteran and the military and the special operations, some of these other genres, particularly in terms of content creators and podcasts, is that some of them are very big now. Right? So you have, I think that the number two show on Spotify right now is Sean Ryan. That started as a former Navy SEAL and contractor that interviewed his special operations friends, right? And then he started having other guests on the show. And then he started having political guests, or they were talking about the get the grid and all these other things. So if you think about that Venn diagram right there, There's a lot of crossover between, the military genre and the security genre. And so when I look at the security industry, and it's the way that I curate my content as well, I see a lot of potential for us to take some cues from the veteran social media space and the military social media space and co opt that into the way that we produce content. And it gets us a little bit further from the backwater. And into the mainstream because it used to be five, 10 years ago, we wanted to be super secret and the biggest companies in the world. No one had ever heard of them and all of this stuff. But the reality is the more that we're in the mainstream awareness that brings eyeballs, attention, and even potentially revenue to our industry, that we can have characters and personalities that are out there talking about the impactful. Really cool, exciting work that we do. And the other big thing about getting into that mainstream a little bit more is that we're starting to get to Gen Z where they are, because we all talk about, we can't hire enough people and the rates aren't good enough and all these other things, Gen Z is small for starters. And that's a whole different conversation about workforce population. I won't get into it here. But we need to reach that next gen of talent where they are and where they consume their information, because otherwise we talk about getting top talent, but if they've never heard of our companies, they don't know what it is that we do. And they don't see any real scaled representations of that with where they consume content. They're going off and they're doing other things and we're missing out on getting some really bright people interested in our industry at the ground floor and then getting them into our system.
Yoyo:You talked about guests on podcasts. I have extended, an invitation to Mr. Tony Blair. Tony Blair, I should say. I sent an invitation to his office thinking, oh, maybe because he's got a book out Tyler and his books all about leadership and what does our industry love reading about more than anything else? It's about leadership, inspirational leadership. So whether you like the man's politics or not, he is an inspirational speaker, just like Obama. And he's, captivating speaker. And he's also an incredibly. Good leader. his office did come back to me and they said, Mr. Blair, we're taking you up on your offer, but I'm like,, that's this year. He hasn't said no next year yet.
Tyler:That's right.
Yoyo:And I think you've just got to have a goal. Haven't you? What's your goal, Tyler? Where do you want to be next year?
Tyler:I've got two startups. One's just crossed a year and one's about four months in. So I'd like those to still be operating, still doing what I'm doing here. I finally got onto the security circle podcast, so I'm pretty good for a little bit.
Yoyo:Tell us about your startups.
Tyler:So Winsley, I like to consider it a not security consulting, it's management consulting for the security industry. So what I say is, if you're looking for the person to come in and do your assessment of your cameras and your fences and your pillars and all these other stuff. There are CPPs out there that are far more passionate about that than I am, most definitely. But if you're looking for someone who has Fortune 500 proper management consulting experience around organizational design, organizational change management, enterprise project management, digital transformations, those types of things where maybe you would consider a Deloitte or a McKinsey, but you're a security organization, whether you're a security services company, or maybe you're a corporate security department, that's looking to implement technology. Or a change within the organizational structure design. Those are things where I'm pretty well suited for that type of work. So that's, Winsley. And then my other business is maritime support concepts. So this is something that I formed with a partner. We've been doing market research for this for about two years. And essentially we identified some opportunities as operations in the Middle East were scaling down. So for the U S it's, and our allies coming out of two decades of pretty extended, low intensity ground based counterinsurgency operations in the Middle East and. And western or southwest Asia primarily. There's a pivot now that's happening in terms of national security and defense strategy. And it's happening with the United States as well as many of our Commonwealth partners where they're starting to focus more on the Indo Pacific region. Some of the threats around supply chain, commercial shipping channels. So you look at, The Taiwan Strait, for example, or the South China Sea where there's some real conflicts over territorial waters between China and the Philippines. The Strait of you have all those other areas. So I have a business partner who's a former Marine Special Operator and has some really high end experience and he and I met several years ago on a State Department program working together and we maintained lines of connections all these years later. And With this U. S. national defense strategy pivot to the Indo Pacific and maritime operations, we said, there's an opportunity here. And I hate to say it in terms of it's an opportunity, but rather there's a need that needs to be filled. So the need, when you think of like, US force structures. Now we're pivoting off of counterinsurgency operations and primarily land based operations. And we're again, getting the Marines and the Navy back into their core skill sets, and then also, the air force and the army kind of position. So where we can move them around. And what we found is that if you look at like naval shipping capacity, there's really, there's like a three backlog on shipbuilding in the U S and there are only a few places in the world that can. Create or build ships to scale. One of them is China, right? So that's obviously not in our playbook, right? Yeah. we're very much looking at industrial capacity to address contingencies that are higher probability that might arise. Whether it's, you know, with Taiwan and microchips, whether it's the South China Sea, whether it's the Strait of Hormuz, whether it, you know, all of these different kind of key strategic areas in the maritime domain. It's like, well, we know that there are opportunities within commercial maritime where there are builders and suppliers of commercial vessels to the IOCs, the international oil companies, that the trend within that market has been shifting more to 300 Plus foot vessels to support their operations and this has evolved pretty quickly, but what it's created as a surplus of smaller vessels in the hundred to, you know, 250 foot range that are being undercapitalized because the IOCs don't want to use them, right. Just because of their requirements. But at the same time, The U. S. Navy has a shortage and Military Sealift Command has a shortage, both in being able to staff those boats with personnel because of recruiting numbers, which the security industry feels as well, but then also, they just don't have the vessels available. Why don't we be that point of connection to where we're the common operating language, between a family owned boat, And in the Gulf Coast, who's used to supporting international oil companies with like logistic support for moving material, and why don't we create that common operating language to warfighters and unit commanders, based on our past experience. So we're basically bringing that together to do. design built to spec commercial applications that can be repurposed for indirect logistical support to U. S. defense missions.
Yoyo:On top of all of that, you also enjoy a bit of mountaineering and that you can't help but draw a parallel to the security industry and mountaineering in the sense of, it's all an uphill struggle really. But then as I was listening, as I was thinking about mountaineering, I was thinking about that scene in the line of fire with Clint Eastwood and Rene Russo. Do you remember that they go into the hotel room and he's, they're taking off all of their guns and holsters and everything, and they're dropping to the floor, she gets a call and, basically Clint Eastwood, says this awesome cool line. He says, Oh God, I put all that shit. back on. And basically I think about that when I'm up a mountain, I'm like, I've got to go all the way back down again. It's not for everybody. Mountaineering. It takes a very disciplined, determined person. There's a little bit of torture as well, right?
Tyler:I would say it's the highest form of project management. So I was a project manager before I started mountaineering. But when I got into mountaineering, I realized like, this is getting my black belt and project management, because you're thinking about all the prior planning that goes into it, even from your, like, basic. map and digital reconnaissance and planning your logistics to get to where you need to go. And then you're doing your kit loadouts. There's physical fitness that's involved with that. There's a reason that the corporate leadership coaches and gurus Talk about this when they go and do these seminars with these executive groups. I mean that a couple of the biggest analogies that are used when you have those types of people speaking with like corporate groups is they're talking about combat leadership and they're talking about mountaineering. I've got the combat leadership piece down so I might as well mark off the mountaineering as well and kind of bring it together and again, I see a lot of those people Parallels too. So, I'm sure you remember back in the day, all the motivation pictures that were up on the walls and in corporate offices that everyone had. And it was teamwork with the one person pulling the other person up over the ledge. There's a reason that we use those analogies and it's because, there's something really there.
Yoyo:I don't know who's got the cheesiest facial expression, you or Carlos Francisco in that picture of you both wearing a competition for the checked shirts. I'm going through your posts. Carlos has a very cheesy grin, but you also have a really cheesy grin. So tell me, what's next for you in terms of, you know, I know that you're the sort of person that does set goals, certainly probably GSX in New Orleans, 2025,,what, what's on your agenda for for how you want to personally. Grow and develop.
Tyler:So one of the things that I'm very much a goals guy and achieving goals and some of them are professional goals But then some of them are personal goals as well like mountaineering for example, and I would say that for a long time I was purely hyper focused on career progression up the corporate ladder, to promote from a director role to a vice president role Etc, etc, etc and I looked at myself and I realized that I'd not really given enough credit to some of these other aspects of my life, like healthy hobbying, for example. And that's when I got into mountaineering and some of these other things. And I found that it rounded me out better as a person. I'm always trying to round myself out., I'm very competitive and I know that that shows in my content sometimes as well, and it's just part of who I am. But when I have some of these other outlets, even being a high performer, when I have other outlets, I would like to think that it makes me a better teammate and a better partner and a better colleague when I'm working with people. So even if I have a setback, like not getting selected to, To do a GSX presentation on LinkedIn. Yeah, it's disappointing, but it's not like that's the single culminating event for my whole year. So you just take the loss, you figure out how to regroup and move on. But one of the things that I am working on now is I'm, so I'm writing a book about development of goals and basically going from, a dream. all the way to execution and momentum and it's built practically around the process that I go through to do all of these wild things, whether it's in a corporate context, there's a lot of backdrop to the mountaineering example. There'll probably, there'll be some examples within a military context as well. So I think I'm about three chapters into it now. I'm working with, uh And so I'm his LinkedIn coach and he is my, publishing coach. His name is Atlas Altman. He's a Amazon bestseller. So he's been a wealth of knowledge and he's been guiding me through that process and likewise, me helping him to optimize his LinkedIn footprint. That's. Kind of an example of where we've both got goals to do the next thing. And we're able to, add that mutual benefit. So hopefully by this time next year, we'll have a book that's in publication and it's not necessarily about security or about a specific industry, but it's about how can you achieve your goals and how can you move forward in a practical way to turn, what our nebulous dreams into, a real reality.
Yoyo:There's an awful lot to unpack there. Book, we so have to get you back when your book is ready to be promoted. I
Tyler:would love that opportunity.
Yoyo:In fact, there's another author who's coming out with his own book. After this will be a second book, actually well known to you and I, but we never obviously reveal guests in advance. I'm recording his session a bit later on. We've obviously talked about Chuck's book, which is a great book. I recommend his book to an awful lot of people just because of the way he talks about managing relationships. I think you've got a really good subject area there and it feels like it's something that is going to be representing the very core of you.
Tyler:I would say that it's going to be a, for people who appreciate my style of content, I think that they'll recognize that same tone and that same voice in the book as well, just kind of how I take a very everyman approach to breaking down complexity into simplicity and executing. Maybe even in spite of others or myself, I'm going to figure it out.
Yoyo:We've covered LinkedIn, how to have a blasting LinkedIn profile. We've covered your former careers. We've covered your start ups. You're the only person I know that could put a post up about a squirrel on your LinkedIn and still make it security related. Where do you get this kind of, I don't know, I'm wondering if you have something a little similar to me. I'm going to hazard a guess that you have this kind of, it hasn't been done yet, so let's do it kind of brain.
Tyler:I do, and quite honestly, I just don't go into, I go into subjects from my own perspective, and sometimes that's served me well, and sometimes it's made me a little bit of an, outlier to where people don't know how to take me, but really I go into most situations, whether it's personally, professionally, in relationships, in service delivery with the same level of pragmatism. So when I look through my lens, I just see the world. I don't see it as I have a professional world. I have a prefer or a personal world because I Honestly, it's just too exhausting. And when you get busy, it's too exhausting to try and serve a certain construct. So I just come to it as I am. And I find that because I have, I don't have to waste as many calories on trying to fit into someone else's expectation or construct. It gives me a lot. More energy to do a lot of other things that I see other people don't doing. So when I look at that and I see, someone who's maybe at the same point in their career, but they've done one thing and they've moved roles in the same company and they haven't done much else. I sit and I wonder, why does that happen? I see in some of those cases, it's a person who's trying to fit into someone else's mold where I basically have broken out of that so that I have elbow room. And again, that's not to say that it doesn't come without., it's challenges that time being viewed as being quote unquote different to put it politely, but I found that because I've, I figured out how to not take myself so seriously all the time, but take my work seriously. I'm able to focus a lot more effort towards getting those productive things done.
Yoyo:I think again, we go back to individuality and we go back to embracing what is uniquely you is what a lot of strategists who, or marketing strategists, story strategists, they talk about, you bringing forward what is uniquely you. I have a feeling, Tyler, that people can underestimate you. They first meet you and then discover there's a lot more to you. And
Tyler:LinkedIn's kind of been a good vehicle to, I've been able to show a mosaic over the course of four years where I've been pretty consistent and it's not just in terms of like production, but like my messaging stays consistent and it's because I don't have to keep my story straight. I come as I am. So the thing that I tell people, and I've actually coached some people on this as far as LinkedIn strategy as well, I don't do much of it anymore, but on a limited basis, I will, for the right client, but people get so hyper focused on the storyline, right? I need to do a post and it needs to be about access control pillars, or it needs to be about this or that. Whereas I took the approach of. I'm going to develop a character that people can relate to and I say character it's basically who I am, but I'm putting it out there and if people like it, they like it So then they have an appreciation for how I put a spin on different subject matter But once you have the trust of your audience and that buy in from your audience You can talk about a whole lot of different kind of subjects So once you have good character development people tune into the show for the characters Not the storylines you get a good storyline. You know what that is That's a series that lasts one season when you have good characters They come season after season and i've seen them come and i've seen them go and so if you're looking to get into the content game or even to just express yourself Professionally through multimedia and talk about some things that are important. You just remember that point that it's about the character and in security industry, we call it the relationship. so it is. It's in a way. It's a digital relationship, right? So they're getting familiarity of me, I'm doing the selfie, not that I think that I'm the most beautiful man in the world and that you want to see my face, but what it's about is it's about digital rapport because people are social and they react to people. So that's going to get you to stop. And it's not so that, you can see how handsome I am. It's so that you get familiar with me, even though we've never met. So that when I go to GSX. I'm not running around like a wild man trying to hand out business cards as outbound. When I go to GS, GSX, most people already know who I am and I'm taking inbound. And so we're having those connection points. Some of it's business, some of it's purely social, but I've done the work the other 360 days of the year in the lead up to five days of GSX. So when I get there on the floor, I'm super productive.
Yoyo:I think I want to encourage people to have different facial expressions when they're posting up photos. I don't put the same photo up just wearing different clothes or the same facial expression and you make an incredibly good point about how people just become used to you and get to know you. I did a post recently with the security circle mug for Chuck. And I was a little bit out of my comfort zone with that, but I thought, Oh,, it's for Chuck. It's for the security cruise, but it got so much, so many impressions. It got like 6, 000 impressions and I was like, Oh, because it's unique content. And I think this is what creators do on social media. They find ways to look at creating new and fresh content. LinkedIn's getting smart. So are the algorithms. They are not going to keep regurgitating the same stuff all the time. Yeah, but they also have a monopoly and they have a billion users. It's so frustrating, isn't it? Because you kind of like a bit beholden to them as well. So it's as much of a blessing LinkedIn as it can be a curse in the sense of how they can control what you do.
Tyler:Space a bit and you have to remember that. for the longest time I, I put my shingle solely on LinkedIn and there have been points where I've gotten into profile trouble and had my stuff locked down because I got reported too much or whatever happened when I got maybe a little bit too spicy on something. Somebody didn't like it, but so you have to remember that. Look at it from like a multimedia perspective. LinkedIn is, I like to think of it as it's the only, fully globally integrated CRM on the planet. That's one. And it's also a strategic communications abler. Yes, it's social media, and it's a lot of fun. But you should be doing everything intentionally that you do on LinkedIn, from your profile composition to, there are certain things that I do within my posts every day. Even if I'm talking about, a nutty subject and I have a squirrel picture, there are things that intentionally happen in my posts every day that are those hot links that lead to my company pages that then lead to my website pages. And then they also lead to things Podcasts and multimedia work and publications and other things that I do outside of it And I even have now to where i've built like a backup multimedia page That has all of the same good stuff that my featured section in linkedin has just in the event that someday they decide, they've had enough of the wild security guy up in Minneapolis and they punched my ticket. So you have to have that in place. cheers on you for doing the strong multimedia play. People sometimes ask me, well, why are you doing a podcast or why don't you? I said, I'll start doing a podcast when I stopped getting invited on other ones, because I know that it's a lot of work and production, so hats off to everyone who does do a podcast and just like the LinkedIn game, people need to appreciate, and when you're looking at content, and I actually drafted a post for this today, it's not public yet, it'll go out in like a week, but if you're still in the lurking phase as a security professional on social media, It's okay. We all started there. I know I, I tease that a little bit in post, but we all started there. Myself, Yo Yo included. Consider giving someone a like if you really appreciate what it is that they do, because it does a couple of things. One, most of us aren't making any money off this. Not yet. And like on a platform like LinkedIn, We don't monetize on that like YouTube or TikTok does. So there's no monetization whatsoever from the platform. The best hope we have is that we might draw people into our business funnel to do some work with. So those likes they go a long way. It's not being unprofessional anymore. Think of it as the digital domain is it's here and it's here to stay. What clicking that like button for someone does is you are acknowledging that they're putting out free content that's of value and that creator is paying the price for that with their time and with their creative and it only takes you a second to click that like button and even if you're worried well if I like his post then someone's going to know that I liked Tyler's post and I'm not supposed to like his post. The thing is by clicking that like button on Tyler's post or leave a yo yo or review for our episode of the Security Circle. You're acknowledging them as a professional. That's part of collaboration. That's part of supporting your peer group and saying, Hey, I like what you're doing. And by us being out here out front and being early adopters on it. We're normalizing some of these things so that when you get to the point where you're done lurking Maybe you're starting a business Maybe you want to promote a book or something And you want to cringe and hit post on that linkedin post for the first time And you're worried that people are going to laugh at you or whatever else some of us who are out here now we're normalizing some of those things so that When you're at that point where you're ready to do that for yourself, the industry is going to be more apt to support it. And it makes it a little bit easier. And we're normalizing culture by doing those things through repetition. So again, if you like someone's stuff, even if it's not mine, I don't like mine if you don't like it, but if you have a creator out there that you really appreciate the insights that they're putting out, the content,, the podcasts that they're putting out, leave them a review, leave them a like every now and then, because it helps our distribution and it's a good way to, to show us that, Hey, you're not crazy out here doing stuff for free and just screaming into the void.
Yoyo:It's like saying, I see you and it's nice to be seen and there's nothing better as well when somebody you don't know in your network is engaging with you. And Karol Doherty is a classic example. One person who I can remember just liking and thinking, who is this guy who check out his profile? There he is now. He's networking and he's using, he's done exactly what you've done, whether intentionally or not. And now he's having his own articles published in security publications. And now he's getting a lot of people commenting on his profile. He's a classic example of where I've seen somebody just in this last a hundred episodes, a hundred weeks, just growing through the network and now establishing a base of his own.
Tyler:Exactly. It's democratizing. Influence. And it's democratizing industry thought and it's democratizing industry access because again Four years ago. I was a mid manager who'd done some really cool things But outside of my clients and you know the people that I worked for Nobody knew who I was and so that realization hit me hard and it's like well if I want to be a true leader. And I think that I'm at the point where I have some ideas and perspectives that can take the whole industry forward. I have to have a platform for that. And now I have that platform where I can share ideas and put some things out there really in ad hoc white papers day to day. And it's subject to peer review, both support and scrutiny. And that's fine because that's part of leadership too.
Yoyo:There have been some skeptics though. Let's cover this. You have such great energy and a good vibe, Tyler, that I'd love to hear how you deal with this. And I've seen it on LinkedIn that there, there are a couple of disparaging comments that I can't recall. Mostly because they don't apply to me. but they are disparaging towards influencers, mocking the whole kind of, self promotion game. We've talked about where building your reputation, your integrity, your values and doing it on a platform is about integrity and it's about business and it's about networking and building connections. What do you say about those naysayers? that criticize, and Lee Chambers is another one. He's an incredibly powerful British speaker on autism and diversity. And he talks about diversity from the impact of men and women. And he's a huge ally for women in business as well and women, mothers and women parents. And yet the people who put his disparaging, Oh, here he goes. He's got another poshie jacket to put on just to show off. There's a lot of that going on. What do you say to that?
Tyler:Ruth be told, I don't say much to them because I've gotten past the point of, I would like to think maybe I'll get to self actualization some way, or someday. I know a small percentage of people actually do and sometimes I feel like I'm on the cusp of it. But then I have my moments too where I can be petty and insufferable still. I think of it from the viewpoint now, and particularly as I've gotten older, where some of my competitive, at all costs instincts have given ways to considering another person's perspective, and not necessarily to legitimize my point with them. But in a lot of cases, particularly when you're dealing with trolls, it's like a lot of the people who are going to openly troll you are the people who don't like themselves. It's not that they don't like you. Now if I'm someone with a big platform and I'm going to go to battle with them in the comments, I feel like it's an unfair fight because I have an established platform and I've reached a point where I'm okay enough with myself to be putting it out there for. You know, a billion users and this is a person who snipes from the shadows. And it's like, it's not a fair fight. So it's, I'm just going to lead by example. And some of those things, maybe I'll leave it there and maybe they'll reconsider taking down. Maybe I'll delete a comment, but I don't spend much equity on that, to be quite honest with you.
Yoyo:I love that so much. It's not a fair fight. And there's one more thing and I'm curious now, why, is it fair you think that some people do think the security industry could be quite clicky? Because there is a huge security industry outside our community that's probably even broader that wouldn't think to engage and be a part of the community, and yet there is this community feeling, it's a community vibe. I know that we each have a responsibility to bring people in and help them to feel comfortable and, safe in that space and Mike Gibbs is a, uh, Gibbs is a classic example among many others who bring people in to the community to make it bigger. How would you encourage other people to do that?
Tyler:For starters, I think that you're right. the security industry can be a little bit of a high school cafeteria at times and some of the examples that you see out there you kind of have the gangs of influencers who you're they're always tagging each other and You're never going to find a post without multiple of them together, which is fine though We all have our tribes But i'll say that i've made an intentional effort at times to not do that too much Because I know what it felt like essentially coming out of nowhere to where I was not clicked up with anyone. So yes, I've gotten to a point where I'm friendly with a lot of those people who are kind of the big names in the industry, and I've gotten access to those people. But at the same time, I try and approach each connection with, you know, Real equity, right? You're going to get my same amount of attention for your comment as someone who's the big name that, you know, maybe if I go on their post and comment on all of their stuff all the time, maybe, maybe they'll like me. It's so I do it purely based off the content and the ideas. So that's just kind of how I approach it. And I think that even in some cases I've intentionally made decisions within a security. industry influencer perspective, and I almost hate to use the term, but a person of influence in the security industry, because I have a platform to be very deliberate about only co opting into things to a point. Because I think that I create an example of someone that's not really beholden to anyone, in the industry. I mean, of course, yes, I want the recognition and respect of my peers like anyone else, but I don't have to want to be in some sort of a gang or a cohort to get that. And I think that it's important to have those examples. And I like that you mentioned Michael Gibbs because, I've never heard anyone say a bad word about the guy. And I found too, that early on that, When people are like, who's this dude that we've never heard of? And he wears flannel shirts and now he's posting stuff that, that people are liking and we don't know why. Michael was one of the first people to really say, Hey, what are you doing here? And then we started messaging and he's, even acknowledged me in a few articles and things and opened up the gateways to where now I have published articles. Now I'm getting on shows. Now I'm writing a book. I think he's a good example of someone who's stayed above the fray as far as not getting too clicky or getting stuck into one single gimmick, because again, if you get into those gimmicks too much, it's like you're being fixed to a storyline. And sometimes those story storylines get old. Whereas if you have a strong character, you have infinite storylines and you can also get a little bit creative about talking about some different things and pushing some limits because I'm not the this guy or the that guy. Maybe I'm the weird guy, but then I can talk about weird things.
Yoyo:Do you not think that Mike Gipps is a bit of the godfather of the security industry though? I just genuinely think that, wherever you turn a rock, there's Michael just like that. And it's not because he's never like blase and out there and very natural, very down to earth, very understated. You have demonstrated Tyler, how you've literally. built yourself a platform through a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a lot of ingenuity, and a lot of thought. You've connected with who you are, your individuality. You've thought about how you want to communicate to everybody what your narrative is. I can only applaud you and congratulate you for everything you've done because you certainly came to my attention and certainly with a really important subject that I know a lot of Security Circle listeners would love to listen to. So I hope they love your podcast and thank you so much for joining us.
Tyler:Thank you so much for having me. likewise, a lot of respect for what you're doing here and being an early adopter and elevating the security industry and the mainstream awareness.
Yoyo:Hey, listen, when you get your podcast, I'm going to be your guest.
Tyler:Yep, absolutely. Let's go.