014 How to Build a LinkedIn Community for Your Personal Brand / Business with Michelle B. Griffin

014 "How to Build a LinkedIn Community for Your Personal Brand / Business" with Michelle B. Griffin

Connect with Michelle:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellebgriffin/
https://michellebgriffin.com/quicklinks/

Originally Aired Tuesday, March 21, 2023

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https://www.mellermarketing.com/upcoming-live-interviews

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My name is Brenda Meller. I'm a LinkedIn coach, consultant, speaker, and author. My company is Meller Marketing and I help business professionals get a bigger slice of the LinkedIn pie.

Visit mellermarketing.com

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Transcript

014 How to Build a LinkedIn Community for Your Personal Brand / Business with Michelle B. Griffin

[00:00:00] Brenda Meller: This is Brenda Meller, and delighted to see all of you here online with us today. Whether you're watching live or listening to this in playback, or maybe listening to this on the podcast. I'm delighted to have with me here, Michelle B. Griffin. Hey Michelle. How are you doing today?

[00:00:13] Michelle B. Griffin: Good morning, Brenda. How are you today? 

[00:00:15] Brenda Meller: I am good. 

[00:00:16] there are some folks that are seeing you for the first time today, hearing from you for the first time.

[00:00:20] I know you, I love you, I love all the things that you represent with your brand. But why don't you take a few moments and tell us a little bit about who you are. What do you do and who do you help, if you don't mind? 

[00:00:30] Michelle B. Griffin: Absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. It's always a treat to share the stage with Brenda.

[00:00:37] So yeah, so everyone, I am Michelle B. Griffin. The B stands for brand because that's exactly what I do, and I specifically love helping elevating hidden high achievers. Those are the people I help. Hidden high achievers, right, who are ready to step out finally and then stand apart and then rise up in their industries, right?

[00:00:58] For impact and [00:01:00] influence. And I do that with books and my podcast, my consulting and workshops that I give to individuals and teams and also, Speaking. That's one of the wonderful things I love to do to spread the message of just helping you put yourself out there to make your unique mark in the world with thought leadership, branding and personal branding, because there's so many of us that are just hidden and held back on the sidelines and we are ready to get out.

[00:01:26] So I have a. Seven step framework that just brings them that clarity and the roadmap to get out there for the goals they are ready to achieve and beyond. So that's what I do in the nutshell. I call myself the brand therapist because I really do help people get out of their own heads, find their way, and I've been there too.

[00:01:44] So that is what I do and I absolutely love what I do Brenda because getting people out there is one of my passions and missions and, and life and works. So glad to be here.

[00:01:56] Brenda Meller: Well, this is gonna be such a fun chat today. And by the way, our topic today is how to [00:02:00] build a LinkedIn community for your personal brand and business.

[00:02:02] I created this show, you know, a, a few years back. I created this series in 2023, framing it around this topic. I'm calling it. Enthusiastically self-employed, really helping to focus the topics on conversation items that will help individuals who are coaches, consultants, speakers, and authors. 

[00:02:19] And as we do get into the conversation. I wanna just kind of start with, you know, we're talking here about how to build a LinkedIn community. I mean, you and I have a vibrant community and we became a part of each other's communities. I wanna say it was maybe two going on three years ago now. Does that sound about 

[00:02:34] right to you, Michelle?

[00:02:35] Michelle B. Griffin: I think so, yeah. Yeah. Just about, I remember first meeting you before I met you and we became, you know, collaborators when you wrote your book, which I have right here next to me, and I ordered it and you actually signed it and sent it to me. So before I even met you, I bought your book. That's the power of LinkedIn and having a community, so before someone even gets to know you, they are already noticing you.

[00:02:57] Brenda Meller: So, yeah, very true. So, there may be people that [00:03:00] are like, Hey, this sounds like a really interesting topic, how to build a LinkedIn community for your personal brand business. I've heard of other people doing that. Like how do I build mine? You know? So, What, what advice do you have to offer? How do you, how do we get started in this process?

[00:03:12] Michelle B. Griffin: Yeah, and that's a great question. I'm a huge believer and advocate for connection and community, and that's what I did in my previous role in B2B professional services where I was in charge of an entire professional association. We had a community of memberships. We had a big. 2000 person conference every year.

[00:03:28] And that is essentially what got me just so started on this. So when I started getting on LinkedIn and my consultancy, I knew right away that together we, I know the old acronym of together, everyone Achieves more is so cliche and cheesy, but it is exactly what it is because we need power partners, we need others to help bond us and lift us up.

[00:03:49] But at the same time, when we're together, We search for others who are like-minded or like who have the same purpose or premise, so to speak. Mm-hmm. So that's exactly what you first need to [00:04:00] do. Who are you? I mean, we know who you are, but what are you standing for? What problem, what area are you here to address and solve for people?

[00:04:08] That's the best way to just say it. Mm-hmm. I'll give you an example in our lovely. Audience here. Vicky O'Neill popped up. Okay. She's a wonderful strategist with short form video. Mm-hmm. She has a community on short form video to really help people do it. I mean, that is as tight and micro niche of a community as you can get, and that's my number one thing.

[00:04:29] We don't wanna start broad. The more narrow we can start. Is exactly where we need to start to get the traction. Much as like when we're doing our brand, we need to be as very narrow, cuz that way people will notice us. It's too hard, it's too hard in today's attention economy to get traction.

[00:04:45] So I love that you called. We're gonna talk about, I think in the. Reference of LinkedIn groups community. Is that what I think we're referencing too?

[00:04:52] Brenda Meller: You know, we're gonna go wherever we wanna go. I mean, the good thing is like, I even when we were like, we did our prep call a few months ago, and we were talking about what do we [00:05:00] wanna talk about?

[00:05:00] There might be people going, wait a minute, Brenda is a LinkedIn trainer and coach isn't, doesn't Michelle do some similar, like, why would they both be on together? Isn't that like they're competing with each other and there's only a, a. Amount of pie, you know, to be had and we can't get more.

[00:05:14] And I'm, I'm a big believer, like we get more pie together by working together. 

[00:05:18] Michelle B. Griffin: Absolutely. 

[00:05:18] Brenda Meller: Yeah. So I, yeah, I think we talked about, you know, we left this a bit broad, how to build a LinkedIn community for your personal brand business. .

[00:05:24] One thing I wanted to say, if I could, Michelle, and then I'll turn the floor back over to you. When you were talking about finding people whose values and things you align with, you remind me a little bit of my daughter. Who's in sixth grade. So she's now starting to get to the point where, you know, they don't play with everyone.

[00:05:38] They kind of like pick the friends they like to play with. And I'll, I'll sometimes say, well, why don't you play with with her? Why don't you, you know, go over her house? And she's like, I just don't vibe with her. You know, she's a nice person. I just don't vibe with her. Mm-hmm. And I feel like When we're adults.

[00:05:50] I mean, I feel the same way I vibe with you. Like when I get on with you, it just feels like we're old. We'd never met. But I feel like we're old friends, Absolut. Absolutely. We have great banter back and forth. Mm-hmm. [00:06:00] So is that kind of what you're, you know, it's values, but it's also a little bit personality driven, would you 

[00:06:04] say?

[00:06:04] Michelle B. Griffin: Yeah, no, exactly. You know, okay. We'll start, we'll start outward and come inward. So the LinkedIn community as a whole, there's some people who say, well, you don't have a community if you just have connections and no. Think about like your neighborhood community, the people you go and talk to in real life, like those are the people in your community, right?

[00:06:20] Yeah. So the people that you see who come to the watering hole of your post and you go to theirs every day, those are people call 'em your neighborhood, whatever you want to call. Those are the people you associate with you, like they're friends or connections, collaborators. And so I believe the best way out of a.

[00:06:36] Sea of almost a billion on this platform. We need to raise our hand and say, Hey, I'm Michelle. This is what I'm about. Mm-hmm. Share personal, some personal professional, just like you do. For example, I'm a big example, Brenda, you're always sharing your, your cute dog. What's his name? He's adorable. 

[00:06:52] Brenda Meller: Pepper. She It's a she, but yeah, 

[00:06:53] Michelle B. Griffin: she Pepper.

[00:06:54] Yeah. Sorry, pepper. 

[00:06:54] Brenda Meller: That's okay. Yeah, that's totally fine. 

[00:06:56] Michelle B. Griffin: And then you in the snow and I'm like, no, I would never be in snow anyway. 

[00:06:59] Brenda Meller: [00:07:00] So, because you're in Florida and I'm in Michigan, right. I'm cold. Do you ever see 

[00:07:03] snow? 

[00:07:03] Michelle B. Griffin: No, not, no, never. I mean, maybe in a rear moon, but I was like, anyway, so I just like feel like, just like you said, we could be friends, you know?

[00:07:12] So just getting to know people, talking about yourself in a mix of professional, as I call it, perfessional, a mix of. Professional and personal like that. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, so that's my word. I, I'm a big word corner. So anyway, so that's how you just kind of get to know people, get comfortable on the platform and just start forming friendships, connections, building relationship and networks.

[00:07:32] That's. Who I call my community now, it can expand as maybe your brand changes or your interests, but at the in, mm-hmm. At the intersection, you're always gonna have that core, right? Yeah. The core people, I consider like you and Michelle Raymond of course. Or just like my tight core. 

[00:07:47] Brenda Meller: Can I ask a question too, because we're, you know, we're trying to help people who are self-employed coaches, consultant speakers, and authors who, who might be coming onto LinkedIn. Because they need income, they need to build their business. Mm-hmm. And a lot of times they're like, well, how do I generate leads?

[00:07:59] How do I [00:08:00] find clients? And I feel like sometimes Michelle . Some people might go a little bit too fast too soon with the relationship building. Yeah. And miss out on relationship building cuz they're looking for the sale. It's kinda like going for the jugular. 

[00:08:12] What are, what are your thoughts on that?

[00:08:13] Michelle B. Griffin: Absolutely. If that's all you can see is, you know, dollar signs in people's eyes, that they're gonna sense that too. So, you know, that's why I say start now. You gotta start now. This is not a one and done. You have to start and keep. Building. So just start. If you're just getting the platform, start that way.

[00:08:28] Just getting to know people in the comments and the postings, stuff like that. Now, when you really wanna keep growing that network and it evolves, you know, you have to give to get here, right? LinkedIn is the law of reciprocity, right? Mm-hmm. So that's one of the things when you're giving, giving, giving and being of service, people sense that they trust you.

[00:08:46] That's the number one thing online, the trust, the commonality, the relatability, and ultimately, The trust. Mm-hmm. So those are all very strong community aspects, but you know, that is something anyone can do. Right. Have a community in the [00:09:00] broader sense on LinkedIn. And I absolutely call it a community.

[00:09:04] There's no better way for me. And now some people like to split hairs and say, well, no, a community is a f. Okay, that's your loose community, the type community, 

[00:09:11] Brenda Meller: right. The 

[00:09:12] Webster dictionary of community 

[00:09:14] is. 

[00:09:15] Michelle B. Griffin: Exactly now, here's how you really wanna take it up a notch to really kind of build your brand. Personal, brand business is what we're calling here because you know, Brenda, a lot of our audience is the same. I do work with. Speakers and consultants in and out of corporate and stuff. So I, you know, experts, entrepreneurs, those are a lot of the same people I work with.

[00:09:34] Absolutely love, brilliant people. Now, usually these brilliant people have some kind of, you know, standout, this is what I'm known for, this is what I do. Mm-hmm. And so we, it's an aura that like, oh, Michelle does personal branding, thought leadership branding, Brenda does LinkedIn training and corporate, all the stuff that you would do.

[00:09:52] We kind of know. I mean, and that's what the ideal goal. But at the end of the day, what problem are you helping people transform to? What [00:10:00] problem are you helping people overcome? That is exactly how, I'll give you a point. We're gonna, we're gonna do a case study on my LinkedIn community. Now, first of all, The number one thing is, I never call it a LinkedIn group.

[00:10:13] LinkedIn groups have the worst connotation. People like, Ugh. That's where people go to different, 

[00:10:17] Brenda Meller: you're talking 

[00:10:17] about the actual groups on LinkedIn, right? . You don't call it a group LinkedIn 

[00:10:20] Michelle B. Griffin: yeah. Call it a community. I've done from the thing, because the community is a warmer, friendly feel. I just call people my community. I don't call 'em my list. I just, I don't like to label people as just, you know, generic. 

[00:10:31] Brenda Meller: Yeah. Like get, get on my email list, you know, or are you getting my email newsletter? Like, I'm, I'll be honest with you, Michelle, nobody wants to read an email newsletter. No offense to anybody, but nobody wants to read your email newsletter.

[00:10:42] Not now. Do people wanna get tips on speaking and coaching and LinkedIn? Sure. Yes. So get on my v i p email so you get my LinkedIn tips. It's like, Similar to what you're talking about. Absolutely. Don't join my group, join my community. Right?

[00:10:54] Michelle B. Griffin: Absolutely. It's all how you brand things, right? It's experience.

[00:10:57] Every little touchpoint is a brand experience. [00:11:00] So I'll tell you what happened. So January all of 2020, I had left my job, you know, after five and a half years landed in consultancy. I started it, covid hit and everything. And then I'm sitting on the sidelines for nine months on LinkedIn connecting and you know, commenting here and there, but on the sidelines gone, I really need to get in here. I just know it. Whatever. So for nine months I sat on the sidelines. I wrote about it in the LinkedIn branding book. Finally get to meet Michelle Raymond in 2020.

[00:11:25] So I'm an all or nothing person. So I said, all right, that's it. I took nine months to do it. I'm gonna post every single day in 2021.

[00:11:33] Right? Awesome. Call me nuts. Anyway, so on January 1st, 2021, I Emailed a friend or reach out to a friend and he's like, sure, I'll do it with you now. I never asked anyone to do it or told him to. I just said, this is what I'm doing. It was like a building public thing. Suddenly all these people want to start joining.

[00:11:51] I post about it much like if you've ever seen the 1990 movies. Forest Gump, or he decides to run across America. He just did it. He just ran out his [00:12:00] driveway. One day. 

[00:12:00] Brenda Meller: I just felt like running 

[00:12:03] Michelle B. Griffin: and all these people started doing it, and that's exactly what happened. So I formed a group. I'm like, oh, all these people wanna do it.

[00:12:09] Let me form. Oops. A communities. So I formed a LinkedIn community and it blew up. I mean, we had a couple hundred people or just like a month or so. So here's what the problem, here's what it was. We all had a common premise. We all had a common goal, and that's exactly what I think you need to have for LinkedIn.

[00:12:26] A problem you're achieving together a common goal a cause, something that bonds and unites us, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And the more specific you can get and the more of the transformation that you're telling them that we're doing this together, that is what breeds a strong community. Mm-hmm. And that's essentially what I started 2021.

[00:12:48] We're now at. 1500 people. Wow. And I, the only requirements I have that you have to have a face, you can't have a logo. 

[00:12:56] Brenda Meller: You can't have a logo or what about an avatar? Like a 

[00:12:58] Michelle B. Griffin: no avatar and you [00:13:00] can't be a company page. We're all personal brands growing our thing. So we, I have very tight, if you go to my 360 and I rebranded us last year called the 365 creators.

[00:13:09] It was a 365 challenge crew, but we all had a tight premise. So Brenda, that's what communities are either, you know, you're in your neighborhood community, you're all. Have a common cause living next to you. They're going to school. Sure. They're supporting this. So that's the number one thing. Think of at the greater good.

[00:13:25] It's your North star for your community. Mm-hmm. Why are we here? Mm-hmm. What are we trying to achieve? So I love that. That's the first thing that I would recommend that your wonderful listeners and viewers. Start with, 

[00:13:37] Brenda Meller: so let's, let's say they're all like, wow, this is a great idea. I wanna create a LinkedIn group, aka a community, and I wanna start to grow it with people who could potentially be clients, prospects.

[00:13:48] Mm-hmm. Could be referral partner. I'm a part of your community. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean, and that's an example. It doesn't always have to be people that are on there. And there's different types of, and I'm using the group's term now as we were talking about this, but there's different [00:14:00] types of groups on LinkedIn where you can be invited to it.

[00:14:02] It's public. Mm-hmm. It's private, unlisted, you know, what are your thoughts there on kind of the, you know, the, the nuts and bolts of getting that group community up and running on 

[00:14:12] LinkedIn? 

[00:14:13] Michelle B. Griffin: Okay. Well, so mine is, I know I've been several other groups too. Mine is a free group. Mm-hmm. But I do, you know, it's not automatic entry.

[00:14:23] I have to pre-approve people. Okay. And an unlisted group is good. If you have like a real offsite, maybe you have a coach, a consultant as part of your course or something. You could have an unlisted group so no one knows about it except for a secret link. Those are very strong. But if you're trying to just grow a public, Group, mm-hmm.

[00:14:41] You know, community, let's call it community, because I really,

[00:14:43] Brenda Meller: let's call it a community. Yeah. You, you pulled me over to this. I am like, okay, we're talking groups

[00:14:47] Michelle B. Griffin: I'm not LinkedIn. I don't work for LinkedIn, but if I work for them, I would re 

[00:14:51] Brenda Meller: rename it. 

[00:14:52] LinkedIn, if you're listening, we got an idea 

[00:14:54] for you.

[00:14:54] Michelle B. Griffin: We need to rebrand. The groups have. Such a bad connotation. You know, siho companies have a really bad [00:15:00] experience and they rebrand and . Yeah. So, or something bad up. Anyway, so yeah, so if you're just trying to like, do it as a entry to get to know people, make it community related open and also make sure that the search engines can.

[00:15:12] Find you okay. Mm-hmm. It wasn't until I started rebranding it as the 365 creators in that at a, your LinkedIn personal branding community. did the in invites start, you know, okay. In a higher rate because people are searching, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm. So that's, that's really important to keywords search it and then also have a really tight premise who is for what it does.

[00:15:33] And you know what to expect. And also some really tight guidelines and things like that. When you're putting a bunch of people together, we all need rules and, you know, or guidelines rather. So. Mm-hmm. But anyway, I, that's the, that's the outside view. I have so much to talk about, but I'm gonna let you ask the questions because you know what, I can go on about this forever soon.

[00:15:53] Brenda Meller: I know. I love your enthusiasm and I feel like every time we get on a call and we do like a. We're going, is it every month or [00:16:00] every other month now with Michelle J Raymond?

[00:16:01] Michelle B. Griffin: No, we're going monthly. 

[00:16:02] Brenda Meller: Monthly. 

[00:16:02] I was like, I feel like it, it's too long in between them, but we can just really go off in a million different directions.

[00:16:07] And Michelle's already kind of convinced me to start , calling my LinkedIn groups community instead of groups because it's really what it is. Mm-hmm. Centering it around a common cause. And I think what we're gonna do, I've already seen some questions coming in, Michelle, so I'm gonna start shifting gears and bringing in some of our audience questions. Absolutely. So here is a couple of. Of questions that have come. , how do you see the LinkedIn that LinkedIn networking is more effective than a local networking community club?

[00:16:34] I think they're talking about. Online networking on LinkedIn versus local networking. 

[00:16:39] What are your thoughts there? 

[00:16:40] Michelle B. Griffin: Oh, great questions. So obviously it really depends on what kind of business model you have and who you're trying to impact.

[00:16:48] Now, if you're a local, you know, mom and pop. Store and all your customers, you need those local customers. Of course, local networking is gonna be really important. I say a little bit of both, but LinkedIn lets you reach people all [00:17:00] over the world, right? Spread your message, your brand, your awareness, all the things, and you can accomplish a lot more in a shorter amount of time, right?

[00:17:10] It's not physically exhausting. And expensive. And so you're gonna meet people and you can find them and target 'em and search for 'em. So that's why I think LinkedIn networking and even local, I mean you can certainly network locally on LinkedIn as well. So it allows you to reach at a larger scale. Is is really.

[00:17:26] The benefit. Yeah, but don't, don't neglect in-person networking. I get you on that. Because I get a vibe in energy like no other when I'm in person. 

[00:17:35] Brenda Meller: Yeah. There's something to be said with that. Mm-hmm. And it's like now that a lot more in-person is returning mm-hmm. , we meet in person and then we connect and we stay connected online.

[00:17:43] And even through the pandemic, a lot of us have been connecting online. And now we get the chance to, to meet in person. . So tell us a little bit about your role as a manager and any tips you would have for somebody who's managing 

[00:17:53] their community on LinkedIn. 

[00:17:55] Michelle B. Griffin: That's a great question. . So, yeah, so we talked about just, you know, what are the background and what you should.

[00:17:59] Do [00:18:00] to set up your community. But you're right, once you get it set up, you want to invite people in and have them, you know, come meet you. But what do you do? Right? Mm-hmm. Okay. We're here. What do we do? A great question. So I like to say, I always call it, well, I'm in our group, our community. This is our community.

[00:18:15] I'm just the facilitator. Case in point, in 2021 when I was posting every day, I was so busy, right? And some days I wouldn't, I wasn't as intentional in 2021 as I was last year and this year. Mm-hmm. And if you don't. If you let the community just run wild, it'll be like a garden with running weeds. Yes. No one is there to tend it.

[00:18:34] So I learned that in 2021, actually, I was gonna actually shut that community down because I was over my challenge. And then people want to continue, so I rebranded, and so now I'm intentional every day. I, first of all, I do not let LinkedIn right now LinkedIn, when we do post, it'll say, oh, great post on, you know, Let's see.

[00:18:54] Engineering, let's go put it in the branding community. That would be great. Right? Yeah. Like LinkedIn suggestions [00:19:00] have, 

[00:19:00] Brenda Meller: right? I mean, sometimes they're like, why would you have me put it there? It doesn't make sense. I mean, I, I get that they're trying to keep us active on the platform, but it's like, why would I 

[00:19:09] put it there?

[00:19:10] Michelle B. Griffin: Exactly. Well, I had to turn that off because, My community is not the community where you go and put your in the feed post. I am all for asking questions on anything for us to support you and along the topics. Mm-hmm. But I, anytime you put a post in the feed, it's not going to, it's not gonna resonate.

[00:19:28] It's not what we're here for. So that's why I find it's super engaging. But I also have theme days, like Monday is member day. We even do like show and tells and stuff. Tuesday is a LinkedIn tip. Wednesday is our Wednesday wins. This is where. You put anything, you're working on your post. I mean, we just celebrate you.

[00:19:45] It's hype yourself day. Mm-hmm. Thursday I usually have some kind of tool or tip or a shout out, and then a lot of times Friday I don't even post that much because it is, you know, people say, Michelle, is it time consuming? That's another question. Yeah. Now, let's talk about that. [00:20:00] For me, no, because I, these posts I just crank out.

[00:20:04] I also have branded colors. Everything's branded. We have our logo and so they know, and I post it in there and it doesn't, it takes me less time to post in the community than it. You know, to write and do stuff in the feed, but that's, that's my DNA connection community. So it's not hard for me, but once you have a system and you have everything set up, like Mondays are this Tuesday or this, people know what to expect, right?

[00:20:27] Yeah. Mm-hmm. And and so anyway, I'm always asking people to engage and, and connect. And so that's a thing. You've got to tend to your community like you would a garden. 

[00:20:35] Brenda Meller: That's, I like that, that's a really great piece of advice. 

[00:20:37] .

[00:20:37] Brenda Meller: Another question that came in and, and I don't know that this necessarily has to do too much with, with the, the group slash community, but at a broader level, do you have any tips for creator mode?

[00:20:48] And maybe like talk to people like the general public. Do you think that the average person should have creator mode on their profile? Michelle, any thoughts one way or another on that? 

[00:20:57] Michelle B. Griffin: Well, it just, I guess it depends on how new you are to [00:21:00] LinkedIn and what your connection or follower account is. I wanna see you at least have 500 connections to get that 500 connection tag, because it used to be that you had the alt, remember they took away the all star profile.

[00:21:11] I love that. Yeah. Because that was our gauge to know we, we made it, you know? Yeah. So I would say, I'm not sure where you are in LinkedIn, but definitely have at least 500, even a thousand. And then you can switch it on. Mm-hmm. And then people will start following you. But I've also seen Brenda a new feature where it underneath, they'll, they, have you seen those where they'll also still have the connect button on the desktop at least?

[00:21:33] Brenda Meller: Yes. I started to see that. Now, when you click 

[00:21:35] on that, does it automatically connect or do you still get the 

[00:21:37] option to add a note? 

[00:21:38] Michelle B. Griffin: I think you get the invite. I have not tried it, but I think someone, 

[00:21:41] Brenda Meller: I haven't tried it. 

[00:21:42] And you and I are probably the same. I don't wanna click on it and have the invite go out.

[00:21:45] So I don't wanna test it on anyone important and everyone is important to 

[00:21:48] me, like of course. So, right. 

[00:21:50] Michelle B. Griffin: If you've seen that and you've done it, let us know in the comments so we can know, so we can figure it out. Yeah. 

[00:21:55] Brenda Meller: Or test on one of us, because both of you and I, we both have creator mode turned on. Yes.[00:22:00] 

[00:22:00] And if someone visits our profile, they may see that, you know, do you wanna con, if you know them, go ahead and connect. You said your minimum threshold. For turning on creator mode is like 500 or a thousand. I actually say 5,000. 

[00:22:10] Michelle B. Griffin: Yeah, we, I know we talked about this once, right? 

[00:22:12] Brenda Meller: Yeah. And why I say that's a bit higher is I wanna make sure that.

[00:22:17] You have been around the block on LinkedIn. You understand how it works. You've been focused on growing your community, growing your connections. You understand how it works. Mm-hmm. And five, I mean, 5,000 is a little bit arbitrary. It could be 7,000, it can be 2,500. But I, I wanna make sure that you're not creating a hurdle for growth because when you turn on creator mode, you get the follow button instead of connect.

[00:22:38] You can still connect with people, but most people don't know how. Mm-hmm. So they're just gonna click on follow. So you, you as a user, as a the person turning on creator mode, you have to look at your followers. Mm-hmm. So a little bit of a hurdle but I think you and I share the same philosophy. We want to kind of 

[00:22:51] understand mm-hmm.

[00:22:51] That 

[00:22:52] Michelle B. Griffin: yeah, absolutely. And, but there are some people I know who really have been around the block a while, but their count's really just a thousand or 2000. [00:23:00] Yeah. And so they've been, so I guess it just. I guess time is a great in indication there. Mm-hmm. Give yourself the proper time to get to know everything as Brenda says.

[00:23:08] Yeah. But definitely over 500 for sure. 

[00:23:10] Brenda Meller: Yeah. I, 

[00:23:11] I think it's, it's, I mean, we are both, it's the depth of knowledge of LinkedIn, how it works. Have you been around the block? Yeah. You know, exactly. Kind of thing. All right, so we got another question from Gary. Hey Gary, how are you? It says, how do you deal with people who are more transactional versus those that are relation, relational, and contribute to the community?

[00:23:29] So I'm, I'm gonna assume here that Gary's talking about you got people in your, your community on LinkedIn, in your group, in your community who are more like, Pitching themselves, pitching their services versus contributing to conversations. Do you kick them out? Is that part of your group rules? Do you redirect them or do you just kind of let it 

[00:23:46] live?

[00:23:47] What do you think? 

[00:23:47] Michelle B. Griffin: That's a great question, Gary. Thank you so much for that. Well, here's why I like to call mine a real, I get comments, and I'm not just saying this. If you go to my website, michelle b griffin.com/the 365 creators, you'll see a [00:24:00] lot of. Testimonials and screenshots from people in the community and how it's impacted them.

[00:24:04] And I, and time and time again, people say this is one of the most engaging because I don't allow that. First of all, I say no spamming, but the mere practice of not letting people post randomly. Cuts that off tremendously. Now, before I turn that off, if people would do that, I delete it and even says, if you do this, I'm deleting it.

[00:24:24] You know? Because that's, everyone's gonna be like, I'm outta here in two seconds. I don't want to, exactly. All that we've created together be lost by people's spammy. Now that's what Wednesday wins are for. You can put all that in. That's why people don't like groups. We go, I go, I check into some other groups just to see, and it's like, Out, I'm out because it's just really because it looks spammy, spammy.

[00:24:45] A lot of just spammy. And, and you know, cuz think about it. Like let's, for instance, I think I'm in a digital marketing group. They have hundreds of thousands of people. And that's another thing guys, you don't have to grow massive numbers. Community, the better, the smaller, the more ni tight-knit, the [00:25:00] better you get to know people.

[00:25:01] Right? So So no spamming allowed and people really appreciate that. And then people form connections and friendships together. I have coffee calls with some of my community members and they're like, Michelle, you don't realize how much you brought amazing people together and we're friends. We've made friends on the o on ourselves and mm-hmm.

[00:25:18] And that just, that's why it's here, right? For everyone to grow. 

[00:25:22] Brenda Meller: You've given me ideas and I have a couple of of groups slash communities that I run on LinkedIn. , you've given me a really great idea. I've got like a v IP job seeker community. Mm-hmm. And we do have a, a group on LinkedIn with that.

[00:25:33] We have Friday v i p calls on zooms. You're giving me some really great ideas on here.

[00:25:38] Michelle B. Griffin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Steal away. 

[00:25:39] Brenda Meller: All right. You know, we're talking about community building, relationship building, and I think this question is coming up a lot lately. So I'm gonna bring it up and see what your thoughts are. 

[00:25:47] The question from Joey Himmelfarb is, Michelle, what do you think is LinkedIn replacing Facebook asking for a friend? 

[00:25:54] Michelle B. Griffin: It seems to be right, and I would love the Facebook groups though, to be [00:26:00] the features and everything to come to LinkedIn. Wouldn't that be, why would we ever need Facebook? Right. But yeah, so I absolutely do.

[00:26:06] And we want, I think, I really feel like Brenda, I don't work for LinkedIn again, but I keep seeing over the course of two or three years in my community, all these little features and prompts. Mm-hmm. That. Signal to me if they were killing him or dying, they, they wouldn't have all these new little popups and things.

[00:26:23] So, yeah. Our mutual friend, Michelle, Jay Raymond has told me when she's talked to LinkedIn or other places, I guess the product team or something, they are aware that Facebooks are groups are the thing and they're vibrant. Yeah. And they know that theirs aren't. So I'm hoping they're working on that.

[00:26:40] I'm not giving up hope. 

[00:26:41] Brenda Meller: Yeah. I, I still, I feel like there's so much, but I keep telling people. LinkedIn groups, aka communities, you get out of them what you put into them. Absolutely. So to your point, you know, as a farmer, you gotta attend farm, you gotta make sure you're watering your garden, pulling the weeds, managing it, going into it every day.

[00:26:57] And I think to the point of Facebook versus [00:27:00] LinkedIn, and when we think about, a lot of people have left Facebook and they've come over to LinkedIn and they're like, wow. It's like Facebook, but people are nice. Exactly. And we don't have all the drama and the politics Exactly. Absolutely. And things like that.

[00:27:08] But then there's, there's some things you miss out on that you don't get from, from LinkedIn. And, and I think one is groups don't get pushed out to you at the same rate. Yeah. On Facebook, they kind of are in your feed, they're in your face. You get the notifications on LinkedIn, they're more like a destination.

[00:27:22] You gotta remember to go there. Yes. To get them and related, you know, we have another question coming in about communities on LinkedIn. I love this question. Is it better to have a, a more general, like a marketing community? Or more niche real estate marketing community. And, and Jamie says, I can see more specific info available to them, but it, it could apply to a wide variety of people too.

[00:27:45] Michelle, what do you think about that? 

[00:27:46] Michelle B. Griffin: Yeah, great question, Jamie. Like, thank you. That's really smart. I'm assuming you're in the real estate industry. My belief and my first experience, the more niche you can get. The better, right? Mm-hmm. Marketing community is so broad [00:28:00] and you'll never track the right people.

[00:28:01] You're here to help. You know, and here's the thing, addressing clients, collaborators, referral partners, all those things have come to fruition for me as being the community, you know, admin and founder. And so, you know, if it's really even, even more niche in real estate, if there's a certain area of real estate, like commercial real estate, , I don't know, like some kind of even you can go even nicher. . Okay. I, I don't think that you could u u undersell it, you know, unless there were like five people in the world just would apply to or something, so, right. You could always expand out, but it's better to start small than expand out versus broad to, you'll never get the traction going so broad. So love that.

[00:28:39] I think that's a great idea for you, Jamie, and thank you for that question. 

[00:28:43] Brenda Meller: Great advice, and I'm gonna end with this one. And Lori Jo has, you know, says, I know she just wrote a book Work, mom says as well, and congrats to you, Lori Jo on that new book, but she has hashtag # workmomsays a hashtag that she uses when she's giving advice.

[00:28:56] For example, connected positive relationships are the key to success in [00:29:00] business. Yes, absolutely. What are your thoughts on hashtags related to groups? Does it, does it help? Is it more for branding purposes? Does it help with search results or seo? Do you have any, any thoughts there, Michelle? 

[00:29:09] Michelle B. Griffin: Well, first of all, hi Lori Jo and congratulations on the book.

[00:29:12] I'm definitely gonna check that out. That's exciting. I think if that's like your branded hashtag that you've brought across platform with the book, I say I'm a firmly clients look whatever platform or term. Cross-platform it so I could see you doing a community hashtag work, mom says, and then maybe you even have a colon in saying the community for X, Y, Z.

[00:29:33] So we know we self-identify. So I would say keep that in there. And then just like on a podcast, you know, Brenda, one of my advices is, have the keyword search terms. So if your title is. What is Enthusiastically Self-Employed podcast? The podcast for X, Y, Z.

[00:29:50] So we know, oh, that's for me. Mm-hmm. This is the place for me. So that's what I would do. Laura Jo, keep that work. Mom says, that's a wonderful branded hashtag that you want to keep [00:30:00] promoting. And I hope to, I hope you hope you do it. That's a great idea. 

[00:30:04] Brenda Meller: Awesome. All right. Well, Michelle, our, our time together is starting to wind down right now, so can you remind them how do they connect with you if they wanna connect with you?

[00:30:12] Michelle B. Griffin: Absolutely. I would love to connect with you, but I would love if you could tell me, you saw me here, because it's always awesome to know that, you know, we, we caught it live on the replay and cuz Brenda puts out some great stuff. So just tell me, you know, I'm. Connecting on Brenda's show about community, and I would love to meet you.

[00:30:27] So I'm a big, I'm a big connector. You know, I, I just think it's context of how we meet people is, is just always helpful so we can start conversations, right? That's what we do on LinkedIn start conversations. 

[00:30:38] Brenda Meller: Awesome. So let's say there's someone that's watching this show and they're like, oh, I really wanna work with Michelle. Mm-hmm. So can you remind us what are the product services offerings that you have and, and how can people get ahold of you if they wanna learn more about working with you?

[00:30:51] Michelle B. Griffin: Absolutely. And also too, please join the community, the 365 creators. You can find that in my profile or in the website. So what I do is a mixture of [00:31:00] things cuz I, my remember my end goal is to help and elevate hidden high achievers. And those could be in corporate on the consulting side, entrepreneur side.

[00:31:09] So I do some strategy work with you, strategy consulting, high level strategy consulting. And I do workshops for individuals and teams. And then I have books the LinkedIn branding book that we co-authored together with Michelle J. Raymond. And my second one will be out in July, presale called Position Yourself, how to Stand Out as an Expert in Your Field.

[00:31:31] And also speaking, I do speaking where I, again, help people on a certain topic. So I, the best thing to do is just go to my website and check out my current services and you can, I have resources, free links to things and lots of online training. So just. Go Netflix, my site and check out what's most relevant for you.

[00:31:53] Brenda Meller: I love it. Netflix, my site, like binge through my, I mean, I, I sometimes have people say, I've been stalking you online, and [00:32:00] I'm like, no, you're not Stalking. Stalking would be like going through my trash without my permission, like researching me. That's why it's there. It's fine. Like I love when you say Netflix, cuz right away I'm like, yep, I get what you're saying.

[00:32:09] Like go through everything. . So Michelle, as we wrap up our conversation today, we're talking about how to build a LinkedIn community for your personal brand and business. Any final comments for us?

[00:32:18] Michelle B. Griffin: I would say building a brand community, as they call it, there's a lot of research on that and books out there is one of the best things you can do personally. You're gonna meet people that are just gonna prop you up professionally. Mm-hmm. And not only that, you're gonna help these people, so you're gonna bond with some of the people that are gonna end up being probably your best friends.

[00:32:36] You're collaborators and it's just bringing and helping people. And what better way to build your personal and professional life? And your work and even create a legacy sometimes with these. So just remember, it's the ripple effect. When you bring people together, when you connect them and help them, they're able to expand and help others through that impact.

[00:32:55] So absolutely one of the best things, and here's the thing, we need more [00:33:00] connection and less information in today's world. So communities are the way to build that. 

[00:33:06] Brenda Meller: Great. Well, on that note thank you so much, Michelle. I always enjoy our time together. Always. Thank you. Pick up new insights that are gonna help me.

[00:33:13] And I know that others may be feeling the same way. Like, wow, I walked away with some great gems and things I'm gonna implement. 

[00:33:18] Well, thank you again, Michelle. I'm gonna be talking to you again very soon, we will see all of you on LinkedIn.