Author’s Edge: Smart visibility, marketing, and publishing strategies for experts and authors
The Author’s Edge is the go-to podcast for accomplished experts ready to grow your impact, expand your reach, and attract bigger opportunities through smart book marketing, visibility, and publishing strategies.
Hosted by nonfiction book coach and marketing strategist Allison Lane, this show gives you clear, honest insight into what actually works when you want to be known for what you know, without wasting time on noisy tactics that don't fit your goals.
Each week, you’ll get practical guidance and straight talk from people who move the needle, including Daniel Murray of The Marketing Millennials, bestselling author and TEDx speaker Ashley Stahl, literary agent Sam Hiyate, national TV host Dr. Partha Nandi, marketing strategist Rich Brooks, behavioral expert Nancy Harhut, and bestselling author Tracy Otsuka.
Whether a book is part of your path or not, you’ll learn how to clarify your message, build a platform that matches your expertise, and choose visibility moves that create real traction through speaking, podcasting, partnerships, and publishing.
If you’re ready to lead with authority and grow long-term influence, The Author’s Edge will give you the tools to build visibility, attract opportunity, and make your expertise easier to find, trust, and act on.
Author’s Edge: Smart visibility, marketing, and publishing strategies for experts and authors
Grow on LinkedIn Without Posting Daily with Mandy McEwan
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Turn LinkedIn comments into real visibility using a simple 3-sentence method you can do in 15 minutes a day.
This episode explains how experts and professionals use a strategic LinkedIn commenting strategy to grow their reach without posting every day.
LinkedIn and personal branding strategist Mandy McEwan shares a real-world example of one comment generating 90,000 impressions.
Listeners will learn when to use commenting instead of posting to build authority faster with less effort.
If you want to grow on LinkedIn but posting feels like a second job, start with comments.
In this episode of The Author's Edge, host Allison Lane and Mandy McEwan break down a repeatable 3-sentence framework for comments that get seen, spark conversations, and drive profile clicks.
You’ll also learn who to comment on, what to say so you do not sound salesy, and how to turn your best comments into future posts so you never start from a blank page.
Links and Resources
- Connect with Allison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonlanelit
- Connect with Mandy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandymcewen/
- Learn about Mandy McEwan’s Next Wave membership: The Next Wave: https://www.golumi.io/the-next-wave/
Timestamps
00:00 Why LinkedIn feels intimidating when colleagues are watching
02:05 Why people stay small on LinkedIn
05:10 Why job-title headlines reduce profile clicks
08:15 LinkedIn headline tips that create curiosity
12:10 The 3-sentence method for LinkedIn comments
16:30 Who to comment on: prospects and thought leaders
20:40 One comment, 90,000 impressions: what made it work
24:15 Comment vs repost-with-comment vs original post
28:05 Turn comments into posts with a simple swipe file
31:10 How to DM like a normal human
35:05 How to use AI without losing your voice
39:10 The 15-minute action step for today
Listen now for the LinkedIn commenting strategy that builds visibility, thought leadership, and inbound opportunities without posting every day.
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Welcome back to the Author's Edge. I am your host, Allison Lane. And I'm so glad you're here because you're thinking about marketing and visibility for yourself in a bigger way. And that can be scary, overwhelming, intimidating, especially if you know that you are doing it in a place or a way when other people who know you professionally are going to see that. Especially on LinkedIn. But one of the things that makes it intimidating for people is because they have used LinkedIn as a digital resume for so long. And then they realize, oh, I can actually go bigger. But I haven't my LinkedIn present or my brand.
Allison:That's why I've asked Mandy McEwan on so that she can help us understand how LinkedIn can actually be the place where you show up and show up big as you want other people to see you. Even when you have no plans to leave your company, your organization, your hospital, your university, whatever it is that you're doing, but you do want to go bigger. And Mandy we met on LinkedIn.
Mandy:Yes.
Allison:You can meet someone who you can support, who can support you on LinkedIn, but only when you go bigger, right? So, when you see people stay small on LinkedIn, when their headline still says professor or it still says, emergency room doctor or sales vp. What do you think is keeping them from taking action?
Mandy:One, they don't know what's possible and they don't know they should be doing it or the benefits. And then if they do know it, then the second one is fear. They don't know where to start. They're scared of looking stupid. They are scared of people judging them for whatever they do post. Yeah they have no idea what to do, what to post, what to say to people when they send connection requests. And so, really it's just lack of knowledge and lack of confidence.
Allison:And lack of knowledge is if you don't know what would make a good post, here's a warning. You cannot depend on your employer to tell you that.
Mandy:Actually don't, because your employer likely is going to tell you to post something that's not going to be a great post that no one cares about.
Allison:Yeah. When I was leading communications at Sodexo, there was a lot of corporate, Hey, here's some content Here's some graphic that we made and here's how the company is acknowledging this day of note. I don't care if it was National hotdog day It doesn't matter day what the day was. But it would always be, given to us. And then what does that mean that 13,000 people are going to post the same thing? No. what I would do as the communications leader is every week I would curate news and trends and send that out to the C levels to say, Hey, there's a new book out on design elements that boost people's morale. Post on that. Here's something you could say. Or did you know that the word umami has been incorporated into Webster's Dictionary this year? Just be interesting. Yes. You don't have to have a ulterior motive or make your posts all about you.
Mandy:Exactly. Because people just don't care quite frankly, if it's lame or boring or promo e like they're just not going to look. They're just going to look right on past it. Which could actually do more harm than good.
Allison:If they keep scrolling, LinkedIn is not going to show your content the next time or worse, that person is going to right click on the three dots at the top and choose to not see exactly your content anymore. Once that happens, it is hard to get them back. Because they won't see it anymore. They're choosing, please remove this person's content from my scroll.
Mandy:Yeah.'cause it's not valuable.
Allison:Let's talk about. What can happen on LinkedIn because you have grown your LinkedIn, following your audience to 50,000 people. And by showing up as yourself and being genuine and also contributing to conversations that are not about you. Shocker that's how I met you. I tripped over one of your posts and I was like, Ooh, she's doing a workshop. I wonder if I can get the last 15 minutes. And I'm so glad I did because meeting you has even helped me sharpen my LinkedIn contribution. Your method of what to post and when what not to care about which, God, I love that you're taking things off people's plates and how to do even the small things like what to put in that dreaded headline area. So, let's start with that.
Mandy:Okay.
Allison:What's the sort of formula that we can all take to adjust the very first step in your profile?
Mandy:Yeah. And this is so crucial because this is the digital real estate that people see first. Yeah. So as you are commenting, as you're posting, as you're messaging people, they're only going to see your tiny, little, beautiful face and your headline. That's it. Before they click on your profile. So if it is boring or just says your job title, which most people have, then they have zero reason to click on your profile or maybe not even respond to you. So you need to think about how you can stand out and really input in that space, the value that you provide. So, what exactly do you do for people? What is your specialty? What is your unique area of expertise that you are helping the world with. And that is what you need to lead with. You really don't even need your job title. You could put your job title if you want, but put it at the end. Yeah. Because that very first, I don't know if it's like, it depends on how long your words are, but it's five or so words. That's all people see. They don't even see your full headline. So if you waste that with your job title, then you're losing your shot at people being curious. So you need to say exactly like what is the first thing you want people to know about the value that you can help them with.
Allison:And the formula of Even though you could say, I help people do X, the I help. Yeah,. You could just take that you, you know, that just is, you don't have to say that. Taking up like character space.
Mandy:Yes.
Allison:We don't need to know that you are a senior VP versus a VP. you just boil it down and the benefit that happens from you being in the world, that's what it really sums up your career, not. A particular role. And that way your boss's boss doesn't have to come to you and say, I can't believe you put senior project manager when you're assistant to the senior project manager. Like they don't own your profile, you own your own reputation. But if you're not putting it out there, nobody's going to do it for you.
Mandy:Exactly. And if you help a certain subset of people, put that in your headline.
Allison:Yeah.
Mandy:Say, who you help. So what do you do? And who you help can be in your headline. And it doesn't have to be crazy, but another thing that I highly recommend people do is add something personal too at the end. For example, I am a digital nomad for the last four years now. I change my headline all the time, by the way. But I think right now it says island nomad'cause I love islands and I live in Hawaii part-time when I'm in the States. And I bounce around to different islands around the world also. That's like my jam. So, that's what I put in my headline and it starts conversations. One of my clients has like pizza snob extraordinaire, and he has like a pizza emoji and he's like a VP of sales, right? And that starts conversations with people, with prospects, even what's your favorite pizza? What makes you a pizza snob? So something like that too, where you're bringing out your human side. Also helps because especially now with LinkedIn and it's getting noisier and noisier, we're still early. I think there's still massive opportunity here. But it is different than it was a decade ago when I was on LinkedIn and starting to do what I'm doing now.
Allison:Yeah.
Mandy:You have to try a little harder now to stand out and it's all about human connection. Human to human connection. That's why you and I are here right now, Allison. That's why we are friends and you're in the next wave. Like it's because we're both human. Yeah. We're not logos on LinkedIn. We have a personal brand that shows our human side. And that is what resonates with people. So when we're saying this, when we're giving you all tips right now, I want you to realize too that it doesn't have to be so corporate-y, stuffy business-y. Also, you can have fun with this. You can have fun with your headline.
Allison:Right. And the headline doesn't need to be everything.
Mandy:Right.
Allison:Just because you used to work at this place and this place, you don't have to list all of those. We believe that you are credible at what you do without all of that. It takes more mental energy for us to read all of that.
Mandy:Yeah, don't go overboard'cause you can always put that in your About section, your experience section.
Allison:Yep. I saw the LinkedIn Top Voices announcement came out. And of course, I went through them just to see was there anybody on the list that I should be following that I wasn't. And I came across a couple. I was like, Ooh. One of them had a LinkedIn headline that ended with trusted by astronauts Nobel Prize winners and something else. And I was like, Ooh, that is good. That is good. That is very good. I am going to get inspired by that it was so easy to scan. Yes. When it comes to sharing because you know it's time to go bigger with your career, you can decide to go bigger and still do what you're doing. Okay? So if you are a psychologist and you also want to help groups of parents prepare their kids to go off to college, maybe that's a workshop that you offer outside of your nine to five people don't realize that a lot of times all they have to say is, Hey, I'm going to do this linkedIn live and you get a hundred people on a LinkedIn live. Three or four of them would be happy to know that you're going to offer a group course that offers them more personalization of your genius devoted to them. And you can charge for that. You're an expert at this. Mandy, could you talk to us about how someone can get over the hump? That it is really Okay. Yeah. To offer something?
Mandy:I think the biggest thing too is when you start posting valuable content, just sharing your expertise, sharing stories, that's going to help build up your confidence to host something like a LinkedIn Live. Yeah. And a workshop, right? And you're going to have a following that already is expecting it's going to be a lot easier. So, I agree that all of you should be monetizing your expertise outside of your nine to five job. If you are an expert and passionate about what you do, there is no reason why you aren't making that income for yourself. There's really absolutely no reason. It's literally fear-based, and people do want to hear from you. They want to learn from you. They want to hear what you have to say. And so, when you start planning this. Meaning, okay, I am a subject matter expert in X. I'm going to start talking about A, B, C topics, which is my area of expertise. I'm going to start sharing stories, my own story stories from people that I've worked with, even if it's anonymous, and then that's going to give you more ammo also for some sort of workshop like you're talking about. And then it's going to be a lot easier for you to do that. But honestly, I feel like most people don't do these things. Quite frankly because they are scared and they think that no one's going to want you know, show up. No one's going to want to hear from me. But this is going back to building a personal brand. It's not just about content and posting, it's about building relationships. So, when you're leaving comments every day on LinkedIn, when you are sending connection requests and talking to people like that is what helps you build up an audience. So when you are ready to launch that workshop, it's a heck of a lot easier. And you don't have to stress because people already know you.
Allison:But I think that the post posting or commenting, there are a lot of things that really just kill momentum and a lot of people think, I am commenting. But if your comment is written in a certain way, you can get engagement from the person whose original post you're commenting on. People miss out on that because We've all seen great post, thanks for posting.
Mandy:Yes. Not that type of comment.
Allison:That sort of thing is there's not that much benefit. Correct. And it's not engaging. What is your simplest framework that we can follow for commenting and or posting?
Mandy:LinkedIn is placing a lot of weight right now on comments. Allison is part of our next Wave community and there is a member Brian, who has 90,000 impressions on one comment from a couple weeks ago. One comment, 90,000 impressions. Yeah.
Allison:And that's not even his post.
Mandy:No, it's not his post. It's someone else's post. And when we're talking about commenting, you guys, we're not talking about saying great posts like Allison just said. That's not what we're talking about. Yeah. So these are like meaningful comments. Literally it was like three sentences that he left on a post, and the post ended up blowing up, of course. This was someone else's post, a thought leader in his industry. And then he was one of the first to comment. And because of that, and it was an insightful comment. So he was just adding his own 2 cents. So going back to your question on a framework, you need to find people in your industry that are leaders and then also people that you're trying to get in front of that could possibly be your potential clients. It's twofold here. One is what we call prospects in the sales world. So people that would actually hire you and pay you money for your area of expertise, your product, your service. And the other side is thought leaders that even your potential customers follow. So think about like who are you trying to go after? Who are you trying to help? Who do they follow? Who are the leaders in the space that have lots of followers, that post content consistently? You need to be going and engaging with those posts and leaving insightful comments. So, all you really have to do is read the post, and then respond with your thoughts. It's really simple, and sometimes when I'm feeling lazy and my brain's just not working. I'll just go and I'll steal like a sentence that resonated with me from that post, and I'll put it in quotes. And then, I'll just be like this, or an emoji, or like I'll just add like a short sentence after that. And it literally takes me like 20 seconds to do. Yeah. But it's way better than saying, great post Allison. Like I'm at least taking something that resonated with me from your post. And putting it in quotes, and then adding something. So you guys don't have to overthink this, but it really is a matter of adding more value or even asking a question like you can add your own 2 cents and then ask a question following up from that. But the people that have blown up that I've worked with their comments, they're always at least two or three sentences and it's value adding. And then really, some people go, they'll do like a whole paragraph comments. Because they're adding more value and those also do really well if it's insightful. So, for those of you who are experts in your field and you have years and years of experience, it's not going to be hard for you to come up with a great comment on something that you're confident in. And you literally are an expert in. Not a whole lot of brain power here, it's just finding the right posts. So you have to make sure you're following the right people. You have to make sure you're clicking their bell. If you want to talk about that a little bit, Allison, on like following the people.
Allison:Yeah, I think people don't realize that. So let's first talk about the framework for posting. Comment. Two or three sentences. And I like to think of it as if you were on a conference panel with the person who's posting, what would you say in reaction to what they just said.
Mandy:Exactly.
Allison:That way you wouldn't say, great post. And then wait for the facilitator to ask you a question. You would contribute or add on to. For God's sake, don't say, I agree. And you know, I'd like to echo that. We don't need to hear that part. You can do that in your head. And then, there are two other things, Mandy, that you tell people to do. One is comment. Two is repost sharing a comment because can repost that person's original post. And then, share your perspective. Yep. And then, you can also just have an original post. Some of my most engaging posts have started out as lengthy comments to someone else's post. Where I think, that got a lot of play that would be useful to people who aren't following that person. So they're not going to see this post, maybe I better copy and paste it again. So that's exactly, three different ways that you can share your perspective.
Mandy:Easily without even thinking.
Allison:Easily. So that's more juice for the squeeze.
Mandy:Absolutely. I always tell people, if you're leaving meaningful comments, pull up a Google Doc, a Word doc, whatever you use. And copy and paste the meaningful comments that you're leaving on people's posts. On other people's posts. Go back, look at those comments. And then, take those comments and turn them into your own posts. You can even use AI to help you with this. but a lot of people that haven't been doing this as long as we have, it's a lot easier for them and less brain power for them to comment than it is for them to post or come up with their own posts. So, this is the easiest way for you guys, for those of you who you know, you're not posting consistently on LinkedIn. You want to build a brand there. Start with commenting. It's the easiest way for your brain to get started. Keep track of the comments, go back, look at the comments, and then take those and turn them into posts. It's going to be a lot less stressful for you to start that way you get your feet wet a little bit. And then you'll get more accustomed to writing and sharing about those types of topics.
Allison:Now, sometimes. I'll actually reach out to somebody whose post I really liked. Like I'll send them a message to say, I commented, but I just wanted to say I really appreciated that. And then I'll add another comment just between me and them. But if you are not accustomed to DMing somebody without sounding like a raccoon, in a trench coat, hey. The outreach can sometimes feel like you're, in being intrusive or painfully salesy. What advice do you have for people who do want to reach out personally?
Mandy:Yeah. So, you're pretty much describing my friendly leader method, which is what I train people on. And essentially it's find something on their profile, ideally a post. But if they're not posting, maybe look at their comments. If they're leaving insightful comments like we are talking about here, you could leverage that. If they're not doing any of those, look at something on their profile that stood out, and then you literally send them a message. Hey Allison, your post yesterday on X, Y, Z was great. And then, add your own 2 cents. Like on why you liked it, right? Or this line on your profile made me laugh, whatever it is. But say something personal in that connection request where they know that you're not a robot, that you're not spamming them, that you didn't just set up an automation and click the go button. And then that's going to start a conversation with them. And then even if they don't respond, but they accept your connection request, then you send them a message. Allison, great to connect here. Looks like you've been posting a lot of awesome content on LinkedIn. And then you could even ask a question, whatever it is related to what you do, whatever. Just be human. So, going back to what you said Yeah, Allison, about pretend like you're on a panel. This is the same thing. Pretend like you are at a conference. How would you approach someone and start a conversation? If you wouldn't say that in real life, then don't say it, online, on LinkedIn. And that's why people come across spammy. It's because they're saying things on LinkedIn to people they would never say in person. So just be a normal human and not a weirdo. And it's a lot easier to start conversations with people. Like just be real. And the bar is pretty low right now because there's not a lot of people doing it the right way. Everyone is doing what Allison just mentioned, where she's getting terrible spammy salesy DMs
Allison:i've started posting the salesy dms as original posts because they're so ridonculous. Yes. That post is getting a ton of engagement because other people are like, you know what? I'm getting these as well. And sometimes the posts, they're trying to sell me something that is so irrelevant or they call me the wrong name. Or just following up, but there wasn't an initial. Those are the best. Because everything is content. I feel like indignation drives a lot of my posts anytime that I get fired up that I think, ugh. And another thing. I just wrote it down at this point. Anytime you think, wow, everybody's saying this, but I would say that. We don't want you to stop and have to learn how to write and be a copywriter. And if you really want a framework, then you should join the next Wave Mandy's program. It is genius. And even though yes, you're smart, and yes, you could figure it out by yourself. Do you want to? Yeah.
Mandy:You ain't got time for that.
Allison:So nobody has time to become Mandy too.
Mandy:This is 15 years in the making.
Allison:You're busy. Sometimes you just need to be around other smart people who can tell you do this not that. I love being told what to do. Like any kind of shortcut is welcome.
Mandy:Of course.
Allison:Especially because people are I think they're trying to be so careful and value driven. But they're not delivering that human touch. And human first on LinkedIn is where we really need to go. Yeah. It's okay to have a typo. Honestly, it tells us that you're not cutting and pasting from ChatGPT. Yep. You can still use AI. And I'll tell you how I use AI when I'm putting on my makeup. If I'm having like a wild hair in my head, I'll just record myself while I am putting on my eyebrows. And that way it just saves me time. But that way I at least capture it. Yes. And throw those words into AI and say, please make it sound like me. And it's still in my voice. It's just like having an intern that doesn't take a lunch break.
Mandy:Yeah, exactly. That's why we built Lumi. The post writer to be a writing assistant for people that aren't as comfortable with this. And it makes it a heck of a lot easier. So, you just need to always make it sound like you, even with AI that you're using, tweak it. Do whatever you have to do.
Allison:Yeah.
Mandy:To make it sound human. If you're not using AI right now to help you with your content, you should. Even if it's as simple as just brainstorming, talking to it, just like Allison said, and even just getting ideas, at a bare minimum.
Allison:Yeah. So what are two things that AI should absolutely help you with to save time? And then, on the flip side, what's one thing that you should never let it touch?
Mandy:Oh, man, that's a hard one.
Allison:Two yeses and a no.
Mandy:I know.
Allison:While you're thinking of it, let me say this. If you haven't used AI yet. I want to caution people, especially when you have intellectual property. You don't want to dump your manuscript into AI. So never ever do that. But before you use it, you can go into the settings and unclick the button that says, share and let the algorithm run from you.
Mandy:Yes.
Allison:Don't do that. Because that do means that whatever you're putting in there, chatGPT is giving to the world.
Mandy:Could be. Yes. By the way, that's any LLM.. So that's Claude, that's Gemini. They all have this setting where you can un toggle the, give us your data to learn from. So, you don't want to do that.
Allison:Yeah.
Mandy:So unto.
Allison:For you learn on your own time.
Mandy:Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Allison:Right.
Mandy:And you can upload like excerpts of your book, like to your point, don't upload the whole, like the whole manuscript, but you can certainly upload part sections of it to train it. So what not to do is go into AI without any information about you. What you do, how you write your expertise. And then just copy and paste verbatim, an email, a post, whatever. Don't ever do that because it's just, it's going to sound like a robot. So, that's like the what not to do. And that goes for anything that you're writing. Right? And then, I feel like if you're just getting started with AI, you should just start with the brainstorming. That's the easiest thing to do right now is just talk to it like a strategist, like a marketing strategist, a brand strategist. And say that. Say, you are my personal brand strategist, or you are my content marketing strategist. Whatever you need help with, tell it what role you want it to play. And then just start talking to it like it's as simple as that. Like That's the very first thing you should do if you're not using it right now.
Allison:Yeah. I want to go back to this idea of offering something, you know, monetizing because a lot of people are ready to do more, but they don't want to leave their full-time gig because they love it. But maybe they want to be a speaker. They want to have a mastermind that they run, on the weekends or something. What should people put in place to anticipate that their LinkedIn activity is actually becoming a pipeline?
Mandy:Ideally you have something free that you can give them an exchange for an email that gives them something of value that then shows how you can help them. And then the email literally is if you want help accomplishing X, Y, z faster, Whatever the end goal is, this is what I do. And then reach out. You don't even have to worry about it. It's all there and this can be something simple. This literally could be like a Google Doc with a checklist of something. It literally doesn't have to be crazy. You guys don't have to go crazy here and spend a bunch of money and time and do something elaborate. It can be very basic. And all you're doing is giving them some free value. And then, you have a call to action at the end on how you can help them. That's it. And then, it's the main thing in your main call to action in your profile. And that's where you send everyone to.
Allison:Easy.
Mandy:So easy.
Allison:It's so easy to think of yourself as your job instead of the ripple effect that you have in the world. And LinkedIn now is giving us this opportunity to really show up in a bigger way. But you have to be the one to show up. So, it starts with those profile fixes that you mentioned, even just the headline. Then engaging with comments, and then expanding to posting generous and not about you, content as original posts. And even if you original post is about someone else's post, you can link to it.
Mandy:And it could be something personal too. It doesn't even have to be work related. Yeah. You could be out and about like on a hike, on a walk, like whatever. Like people like that personal side too. You're literally just building human connections and you're getting people to know who you are. So not every post has to be about your specific expertise in your current career. It could be something else that inspired you, motivated you, or you're just sharing something. Like, I share my travel stuff all the time and it's what people know me for now. So, there's other ways too. And weave that into your about section too. We didn't talk about this yet, but your profile, it's not just your headline. Like your about sections shouldn't be like a lame resume. That's I have 25 years of experience doing X, Y, z. Like, that's boring. No one cares. You can weave that in there, but. Talk about your story. Talk about how you help people make it real. Don't make your LinkedIn like a resume, and then posting about boring stuff 24 7, because that's not what resonates. If you are passionate about something, which obviously you are, if you're listening to this. Then, let that show on LinkedIn and don't hold back. Obviously, don't be weird, and crazy, and political or anything like that to get in trouble from your current employer if you're employed. So, there's like lines that you obviously have to not cross. But for most of you, there's a lot you could do that you're not doing on the platform.
Allison:Right? And there's no other platform where you can do this that can fuel paid speaking gigs, clients, you don't even think of yourself as an entrepreneur, but someone outside of your sphere would love to have a little bit of your knowledge sprinkled on them.
Mandy:And when you are passionate about something and you're an expert, that's going to showcase. Your energy is going to come through in everything you do. And that's going to resonate with people. But no one's going to know that if you don't have the confidence to go out there and share that with the world. And that's the biggest thing I think that's holding a lot of people back is just a confidence factor. And so I hope, if anything, listening to this. You get a little boost of confidence that people do want to hear from you. You are amazing. You do have amazing insights to share that people want to hear, and you can make money from that.
Allison:Damn, Mandy. That is, talk about a mic drop moment. In the podcasting world, you just took everyone by the shoulders and shook them a little bit. Yes, I hope so. Like you're a badass. Everyone around you sees it. Yet, you've been conditioned to be like, oh no, I'll stay in my box. But we see you.
Mandy:this is Allison and I shaking you right now and telling you like, we need your voice. We all want to hear from you. People will pay you, people will follow you, and they will resonate with what you have. You're going to stand out if you are coming from a real place of value. Like people still haven't completely figured out how to actually grow a successful personal brand on LinkedIn. Like people are trying to figure it out. They're throwing stuff at the wall hoping it sticks. That's exactly why I created the Next Wave community to help bad asses like yourself. Get more clarity on this is what you need to be doing and confidence, We'll give, I'll give you a little taste with a custom GPT that will help you find exactly, where you can start monetizing your expertise right now. So, connect with me on LinkedIn and I'll send you that. And the next wave membership is essentially an AI forward membership to help you get clarity on what you're doing, who you are targeting, and building your personal brand.
Allison:And you have these custom GPTs that are Private. And really learn about you. I'm a member and I freaking love it because I love a shortcut. That's smart. Now, when somebody reaches out to you on LinkedIn, they should actually DM you, right?
Mandy:Yes. Send me a connection request and put Allison in there that you heard this. And I'll give you all the goods for free and you can check it out. And I'm happy to help.
Allison:Awesome. Mandy, before we call this podcast complete, what is one thing that takes less than 15 minutes that somebody can do today to start growing on LinkedIn?
Mandy:Yeah. We've talked about it before, but literally, it's commenting. But you need to be strategic about it. Don't just go comment on random stuff. So people you want to work with and people in your industry and leaders that your people follow. So, that's the biggest thing, 15 minutes, just start leaving meaningful comments. And that's going to get you visible, not just on those people that you're commenting on, but the people who are viewing that content as well. And your own first degree connections see it too. It'll pop up. Allison Lane commented on Mandy McEwan's post. So, the biggest and easiest thing you could do right now is to just get in the habit of commenting every single day.
Allison:Everyone can do that. Just put 15 minutes on your calendar.
Mandy:Yep.
Allison:So that it's something that you prioritize. Because I know you're ready to go bigger and I want to see that happen. And PS DM me and tell me what you're doing to go bigger, whether you're, speaking, if you zhooshed your profile. Sometimes you have to ask for support and I would love to support you. And share your post, which you know, I might not see unless you tell me about it. I'm at Allison Lane Lit and Mandy is at Mandy McEwan, and I'll put both of our LinkedIn profiles in the show notes, I know that you are getting your edge as a marketer, building your own visibility and going bigger in the ripple effect you can leave in the world. So keep at it.
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