Well to know how to make your LinkedIn profile client
Jon Clayton:magnets, or how to turn those silent followers into paying clients today.
Jon Clayton:We're diving deep into client winning strategies with LinkedIn expert,
Jon Clayton:Nicole Osborne on this episode of architecture business club.
Jon Clayton:The weekly podcast for solo and small firm architecture practice owners,
Jon Clayton:just like you who want to build a profitable future-proof architecture
Jon Clayton:business that fits around their life.
Jon Clayton:I'm the host, John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:And if you want a business in architecture that gives you more freedom, flexibility,
Jon Clayton:and fulfillment, then go to architecture, business club.com forward slash blueprint.
Jon Clayton:And download the architecture business blueprint.
Jon Clayton:It's the step-by-step formula to freedom for architects, architectural
Jon Clayton:technologists and architectural designers.
Jon Clayton:And it's absolutely free as a gift from me.
Jon Clayton:Now let's explore LinkedIn post ideas to win clients.
Jon Clayton:WUNDERBAR LinkedIn presence that gets the right clients raising their hands.
Jon Clayton:With 20 plus years in marketing and a signature blend of German
Jon Clayton:efficiency, she's fun and infectious enthusiasm, Nicole makes your
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn less of a chore and more
Jon Clayton:of a Cundan magnet.
Jon Clayton:And just in case you've got a grade D in high school German like
Jon Clayton:I did, that means client magnet.
Jon Clayton:You can connect with Nicole on LinkedIn and I'll leave a link
Jon Clayton:to her profile in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:Nicole, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Nicole Osborne:Oh, John, thank you so much for inviting me.
Nicole Osborne:I'm super excited to be here and to be able to talk to your community.
Jon Clayton:it's great to have you here,
Jon Clayton:Nicole.
Jon Clayton:Thanks
Jon Clayton:for joining me.
Jon Clayton:Before we get stuck into the topic, though, I'd
Jon Clayton:I'd like
Jon Clayton:you to tell me a little bit about what you get up to in your free time.
Nicole Osborne:Oh, in my free time.
Nicole Osborne:Well, I tend to spend a fair bit on the computer because most of my clients are
Nicole Osborne:outside the UK, so I'm a fair bit on Zoom.
Nicole Osborne:So in my free time, I really like to just get off the screen, of digital, and
Nicole Osborne:I like to keep fit just a little bit.
Nicole Osborne:So I live in the middle of London, of I should say North West London.
Nicole Osborne:So I bought myself a manual scooter, emphasis on manual scooter.
Nicole Osborne:So I actually have to do all the work.
Nicole Osborne:And I love nothing more than every day for half an hour to go outside
Nicole Osborne:and just drive around my local area just to get a bit of exercise in.
Nicole Osborne:London's pavements are so wobbly.
Nicole Osborne:You actually have to be really mindful of not running anyone over or falling off.
Nicole Osborne:That means you get a lot of head space and I love doing it.
Nicole Osborne:So yeah, this is what I really do nearly every day and I absolutely enjoy
Nicole Osborne:it for the exercise but also just to get some space for thinking and ideas.
Nicole Osborne:one of my favorite hobbies, having a scooter.
Jon Clayton:Sounds like a lot of fun.
Jon Clayton:My thing is kayaking.
Jon Clayton:It's not
Jon Clayton:quite as easy
Jon Clayton:to get out every day, but, I do try through that the summer to try and get out
Jon Clayton:every week.
Jon Clayton:And, uh, that's sort of why.
Jon Clayton:my happy place, I suppose,
Jon Clayton:where I
Jon Clayton:can have some mindfulness away from the computer and my desk.
Jon Clayton:So we're going to
Jon Clayton:talk about LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:Specifically, we're going to talk about LinkedIn post ideas to win clients.
Jon Clayton:We're going to dig into that, but first I wanted to start by just asking about
Jon Clayton:using questions in LinkedIn posts.
Jon Clayton:sometimes I see people using questions in LinkedIn posts, and I
Jon Clayton:was wondering what sort of questions tend to perform well on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:Great question, John.
Nicole Osborne:So LinkedIn is very much a social platform.
Nicole Osborne:So it's the world's largest B2B social media platform.
Nicole Osborne:And the reason why I wanted to say this first of all, because it's important
Nicole Osborne:that we engage with our audience, the kind of people that we want to reach.
Nicole Osborne:We want to get noticed by.
Nicole Osborne:and questions are your super tool for giving your audience encouragement
Nicole Osborne:and permission to say something.
Nicole Osborne:Now, the trick with this is we are on social media to learn something new
Nicole Osborne:to connect with new people, but also essentially to make ourselves look good.
Nicole Osborne:So for your community of architects.
Nicole Osborne:it's probably going to be so tempting to ask quite challenging questions
Nicole Osborne:like, Oh, are you looking at your house extension are you facing both struggles?
Nicole Osborne:But the problem with this sort of question is, that essentially the audience member
Nicole Osborne:have to admit that they have a problem.
Nicole Osborne:So I would say, try and pick a question, which is of course related to your pose,
Nicole Osborne:But make it really easy and almost make it a no brainer, John, because what happens
Nicole Osborne:is we on social media, we are time short, and our attention span is literally zero.
Nicole Osborne:it's got to to be something really easy to be able to say.
Nicole Osborne:And also, we want to make ourselves as great, so if it's something positive,
Nicole Osborne:perhaps the questions that, such as, have you seen a building which has
Nicole Osborne:really inspired you, or have you visited a friend's house where you really
Nicole Osborne:love the extension because it brought in a lot of light into the house,
Nicole Osborne:have you admired a situation where?
Nicole Osborne:where the couple made great use of space?
Nicole Osborne:Much easier to say something to that as opposed to admitting something
Nicole Osborne:Oh, my house isn't good enough or We haven't got enough space or i'm
Nicole Osborne:worried about the building regulations.
Nicole Osborne:So you probably can see straight away I'm i'm suggesting a positive spin on
Nicole Osborne:the question which makes the audience Look good, and it's easy for them
Nicole Osborne:to to reply Does that make sense?
Jon Clayton:That
Jon Clayton:makes
Jon Clayton:sense.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:so use questions where we can give a positive spin on things and don't
Jon Clayton:overcomplicate the questions because.
Jon Clayton:we don't have a lot of free headspace
Jon Clayton:and we don't
Jon Clayton:have a lot of time.
Jon Clayton:So if it's something we can engage with, Easily without having to think too hard.
Jon Clayton:We're more likely to get better engagement on the post.
Jon Clayton:Would that be correct?
Nicole Osborne:Yes, super well said.
Nicole Osborne:So put yourself into the audience's shoes and always think about what would be easy
Nicole Osborne:for them to answer because the reality is A lot of people are lurkers on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:Now, this is not necessarily a negative thing, but it means that they're silent.
Nicole Osborne:They're not likely to comment.
Nicole Osborne:They're not likely to ask questions because it takes a lot of being
Nicole Osborne:brave, being visible on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:They might not be ready yet.
Nicole Osborne:So if you make it really easy for them to reply or to comment, they're more
Nicole Osborne:likely to do so in turn, which will be great for the LinkedIn algorithm.
Nicole Osborne:Which wants to keep people engaged on the platform, wants your post to do well.
Nicole Osborne:So yes, it kind of fits two boxes.
Nicole Osborne:It makes easy for your audience, easier for you, but also
Nicole Osborne:it's good for the algorithm.
Nicole Osborne:Mm-Hmm,
Jon Clayton:Brilliant.
Jon Clayton:You mentioned about lurkers there.
Jon Clayton:We'll swing back around to that shortly, but before we do I just was
Jon Clayton:wondering if there was any other best practices around asking questions
Jon Clayton:on linkedIn, like regarding whether.
Jon Clayton:to use a short post where it's just literally the question on its own, whether
Jon Clayton:to try and tie questions in into a longer text post, whether we use graphics with
Jon Clayton:them, whether we use, there's polls as well that we can use to ask questions,
Jon Clayton:what are the best practices that you've seen working recently on LinkedIn?
Nicole Osborne:So it continuously evolves, which is why I love working with
Nicole Osborne:LinkedIn or any sort of digital marketing it might really depend on your audience.
Nicole Osborne:So it's worth whenever you are designing content to think straight away.
Nicole Osborne:Okay.
Nicole Osborne:Who am I designing this for?
Nicole Osborne:What likely questions are they going to have?
Nicole Osborne:What would they perceive as value?
Nicole Osborne:How can I really walk in their shoes?
Nicole Osborne:And I would also recommend that you test a variety of content posts.
Nicole Osborne:you already suggested picture images and a post.
Nicole Osborne:Just a text post, a poll, which is another great way, by the way, of getting your
Nicole Osborne:audience to engage because, it doesn't take a lot of time for them to reply.
Nicole Osborne:Videos are also on the rise or even actually going live on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:And this content mix continuously evolves.
Nicole Osborne:And it's also important that you try out different things because
Nicole Osborne:all members in your audience will have different preferences.
Nicole Osborne:So if you only stick to, let's say, text posts or only polls.
Nicole Osborne:That's really quite boring on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:Now, it's not like where everyone will see every post, but you want to create that
Nicole Osborne:mixture to appeal to different people.
Nicole Osborne:So yes, the key really is to think about your audience, try out different formats.
Nicole Osborne:And then the final point I would like to make on this, also think
Nicole Osborne:about what suits you as well.
Nicole Osborne:Ideally, you want to find that sweet spot there.
Nicole Osborne:It's what your audience enjoys, and also what you can learn to enjoy over
Nicole Osborne:time in terms of content creation.
Nicole Osborne:So those would be my tips on that.
Nicole Osborne:Silence.
Jon Clayton:might be something to work towards if your whole content
Jon Clayton:strategy relies on doing that, then you're less likely to be able to be
Jon Clayton:consistent with it if it's something that's a bit too much of a struggle.
Jon Clayton:So I like that you said about, there's a variety of different ways that we
Jon Clayton:can do it, to, to ask questions and that we can try out those different
Jon Clayton:ways and see what resonates with our audience and find the sweet spot.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:Nicole, something that we have to do generally as business owners, and
Jon Clayton:this isn't just in architecture is.
Jon Clayton:in winning clients is handling their objections.
Jon Clayton:Is this something that we should talk about openly on linkedIn?
Jon Clayton:or is this something that we, you know, do we save these, This for the
Jon Clayton:sales calls, or actually, is there some sense in talking about common
Jon Clayton:customer objections openly on LinkedIn?
Nicole Osborne:Yes.
Nicole Osborne:So if we put ourselves into the shoes of a person who's trying to find their best
Nicole Osborne:local architecture or architectural BRO,
Nicole Osborne:what do we show to these people to help them make a decision?
Nicole Osborne:And surely a substantial part of that is our digital footprint.
Nicole Osborne:That would be Google.
Nicole Osborne:You know, how easily is your practice to be found on Google?
Nicole Osborne:It's LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:So you want to think about, okay, so once they find me on those channels and that's
Nicole Osborne:step one, What do they need to know about me as an architect, my team, in order
Nicole Osborne:to help them make a better decision?
Nicole Osborne:Because I would imagine, you know, if I'm an architectural bureau, for
Nicole Osborne:example, specializing in home extensions in London, that's a lot of building
Nicole Osborne:regulations, but it's in a lot of space.
Nicole Osborne:That is a sort of a certain type of expertise.
Nicole Osborne:So it would make sense to focus the content and the appeal of your
Nicole Osborne:LinkedIn profile and your website to that kind of niche audience because
Nicole Osborne:there are different needs compared to someone who might is looking for
Nicole Osborne:like a more commercial property.
Nicole Osborne:So super important to focus on your audience.
Nicole Osborne:Now, when we know which audience we most like to appeal to, and you
Nicole Osborne:and I would call this niching, but essentially it's about having a
Nicole Osborne:focus for your sales and marketing.
Nicole Osborne:We know already what kind of questions we get and you rightly mentioned
Nicole Osborne:sales calls, but it's also putting ourselves again in those shoes.
Nicole Osborne:Maybe they want to learn about our process.
Nicole Osborne:Maybe they want to learn about how do we handle getting,
Nicole Osborne:agreements from the council.
Nicole Osborne:Or maybe it could be even advice for neighbouring disputes, you know, all
Nicole Osborne:these sort of juicy bits which can come our way when we have a building project.
Nicole Osborne:And if you already have expertise in those areas.
Nicole Osborne:Or you know that your audience is likely to be concerned about the time it takes
Nicole Osborne:to come up with the drawings, how good the instructions are for the actual
Nicole Osborne:building company we're going to choose.
Nicole Osborne:If you have an interest in sustainable building and you have an expertise
Nicole Osborne:in that, all of these questions are such valuable content ideas,
Nicole Osborne:because you want to show the audience you want to appeal to.
Nicole Osborne:that you have a track record and that you have expertise and that you
Nicole Osborne:particularly know what challenges, questions and hopes and dreams they have.
Nicole Osborne:So yes, I always see objections as something like a goldmine
Nicole Osborne:for content creation.
Nicole Osborne:So for example, when I work with people on their LinkedIn, you know,
Nicole Osborne:one objection is often, well, I've tried it before, it hasn't worked.
Nicole Osborne:Another objection could be, well, I don't have anything interesting to say . And,
Nicole Osborne:another objection could be, well, you know, we don't want to need into working
Nicole Osborne:with anyone now because I'm aware of that.
Nicole Osborne:I often talk about this in my content, and this is an added benefit actually.
Nicole Osborne:it also means that I'm quite approachable in my content.
Nicole Osborne:I show my audience, I know them.
Nicole Osborne:I listen to them because often we temptation is on LinkedIn because.
Nicole Osborne:Everyone feels we've got to be so serious and formal, and
Nicole Osborne:we have such a formal network.
Nicole Osborne:We pitch our content at too much of an expertise level.
Nicole Osborne:So we're talking at our audience, and we're not opening that dialogue.
Nicole Osborne:But by addressing some of these questions, these real questions you get from people
Nicole Osborne:about the services you provide, you can pitch it at their level and you
Nicole Osborne:can make it really valuable for them.
Nicole Osborne:So absolutely, John, amazing that you brought that up.
Nicole Osborne:Collate those questions and address them in your content.
Nicole Osborne:And, you weave it into a story.
Nicole Osborne:You maybe use it for a hook, and you share some learning points, or you talk
Nicole Osborne:about your experience surrounding that.
Nicole Osborne:So yeah, great mind of content ideas.
Jon Clayton:That sounds amazing.
Jon Clayton:Sounds like there would be so many different ideas for content that just
Jon Clayton:to take a little bit of time and think about some of their common questions
Jon Clayton:and objections that come up when you are, having those early conversations
Jon Clayton:with potential customers that gives us so many options for things
Jon Clayton:that we could post on linked in.
Jon Clayton:And I could imagine actually that if we do that in that way,
Jon Clayton:surely that's going to help actually when
Jon Clayton:it does
Jon Clayton:come time to get on the phone with
Jon Clayton:somebody,
Jon Clayton:that if they've already seen
Jon Clayton:several
Jon Clayton:of your linked in posts,
Jon Clayton:that It's going to make it
Jon Clayton:an
Jon Clayton:easier
Jon Clayton:yes for them because you've probably
Jon Clayton:like handled
Jon Clayton:a lot of those objections already through your, your content.
Jon Clayton:So it should save some time
Jon Clayton:later when you get on the phone
Jon Clayton:with them.
Nicole Osborne:Yeah, and you already built that trust, you know, and they're
Nicole Osborne:getting in touch, but they know that you specialize in that area, maybe
Nicole Osborne:in developing plans for tight spaces.
Nicole Osborne:spaces.
Nicole Osborne:So you already have that expert status and they don't feel silly about asking
Nicole Osborne:you any additional questions because the real burning questions they have.
Nicole Osborne:You've already made a good start on addressing them.
Nicole Osborne:So yeah, it works really well.
Jon Clayton:Brilliant.
Jon Clayton:So we've
Jon Clayton:been posting on
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:We've been asking some relevant
Jon Clayton:questions to
Jon Clayton:get some engagement with our audience.
Jon Clayton:We've been
Jon Clayton:making some posts,
Jon Clayton:that talk about some of the objections and we've been handling
Jon Clayton:those for our LinkedIn
Jon Clayton:posts as well.
Jon Clayton:So.
Jon Clayton:Let's say we're getting to the
Jon Clayton:point where
Jon Clayton:we've got some people
Jon Clayton:that are starting to get
Jon Clayton:interested in
Jon Clayton:working with
Jon Clayton:us, and maybe we want to
Jon Clayton:try
Jon Clayton:and get them over the line and turn them from, you know,
Jon Clayton:just
Jon Clayton:a follower on our LinkedIn or a connection into an
Jon Clayton:actual
Jon Clayton:customer.
Jon Clayton:So one of
Jon Clayton:the things that I've heard about
Jon Clayton:is, what
Jon Clayton:people
Jon Clayton:call FOMO,
Jon Clayton:the fear of missing out.
Jon Clayton:And
Jon Clayton:I'd be interested to know that how
Jon Clayton:we can
Jon Clayton:create some FOMO on
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn around
Jon Clayton:our, our offers and our
Jon Clayton:services.
Jon Clayton:To, you know, I think again, I'll just caveat that
Jon Clayton:by saying
Jon Clayton:genuine FOMO, not like something artificial,
Jon Clayton:because it
Jon Clayton:can, some, sometimes people can get the wrong end of things there and
Jon Clayton:think that it's not
Jon Clayton:genuine.
Jon Clayton:I'm, so I'm talking about how can we create some genuine
Jon Clayton:FOMO
Jon Clayton:about the scarcity of
Jon Clayton:what we
Jon Clayton:offer,
Jon Clayton:Because
Jon Clayton:the truth is that as a, small business owner or an architect
Jon Clayton:that's working on their own or in a
Jon Clayton:small practice,
Jon Clayton:there is some, there should be some natural scarcity there anyway.
Jon Clayton:Like you've only got a finite amount of time
Jon Clayton:to deliver
Jon Clayton:these services.
Jon Clayton:how can we get that across on LinkedIn?
Jon Clayton:Remember.
Jon Clayton:Don't forget to download the architecture business, blueprint the
Jon Clayton:step by step formula to freedom for architects, architecture, technologists,
Jon Clayton:and architecture designers.
Jon Clayton:You can grab the blueprint without any charge@architecturebusinessclub.com
Jon Clayton:forward slash blueprint.
Jon Clayton:And if you enjoy this episode, then please leave a five star review or
Jon Clayton:rating wherever you listen to podcasts.
Jon Clayton:Now, back to the show.
Nicole Osborne:So I think the first thing which is valuable to point out is what
Nicole Osborne:could be considered as leads on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:And I want to break to chat about that because often there is some confusion.
Nicole Osborne:So when, for example, when you know that someone is regularly
Nicole Osborne:commenting on your posts,
Nicole Osborne:there's a level of interest and it would be good to capture those people.
Nicole Osborne:Also when you are creating a poll and someone votes, that's again an
Nicole Osborne:indication of someone potentially being interested in the service you're
Nicole Osborne:offering or struggling with that problem you're talking about in the poll.
Nicole Osborne:And then if someone reaches out to you in the DMs and the direct messages.
Nicole Osborne:And, you know, if they're really making an effort to comment on something you said,
Nicole Osborne:or maybe they've had you on a podcast, or where they've seen one of your local,
Nicole Osborne:uh, pieces and walked by the projects that, Hey, we we noticed your building
Nicole Osborne:board Most can all be considered leads.
Nicole Osborne:So it's, it's, it's, really important just to, to really, okay.
Nicole Osborne:So people who commented, people who voted on polls, people who have
Nicole Osborne:sat or unfound me on on LinkedIn to really spread the net quite wide.
Nicole Osborne:Now in terms of creating fear of missing out, there's a couple of techniques I
Nicole Osborne:would, I would like to mention here.
Nicole Osborne:So first of all, you know, as an architectural firm, you are often
Nicole Osborne:in a really good position of having photos of the completed project.
Nicole Osborne:So I would use these photos and I would talk about the, maybe there was
Nicole Osborne:something challenging about the site, and maybe there was a huge uh, rush to
Nicole Osborne:get things created, or maybe that it really Needed a lot of cooperation with
Nicole Osborne:local neighbours, with the local council offices, Talk about what made the project
Nicole Osborne:so challenging and also give a bit of an insight into how come back Because that
Nicole Osborne:in itself will attract the kind of people who might have faced something similar.
Nicole Osborne:And then you have such a visual service and you have pictures that
Nicole Osborne:works really, really, really well.
Nicole Osborne:Now, the second thing I like to highlight is, offering something
Nicole Osborne:which people could download.
Nicole Osborne:So I remember we had an extension build eight years ago and you know it
Nicole Osborne:was the first time we had an extension build with architectural drawings and
Nicole Osborne:it was quite a conundrum of things we had to solve and know about.
Nicole Osborne:So it would have been amazing at that time to be able to download.
Nicole Osborne:Here, are the top 10 things for how you can find the right architect for you.
Nicole Osborne:And, and John, you and I in our marketing language, we call this a
Nicole Osborne:lead market, so a hand riser, giving people an opportunity to get something
Nicole Osborne:of value and reach and return, give you their email address and the same
Nicole Osborne:actually works on, on, on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:So for my own business, I have a couple of hand risers.
Nicole Osborne:One of them is free content ideas.
Nicole Osborne:And whenever I post about it.
Nicole Osborne:The people who want to download it, those are people who need content ideas.
Nicole Osborne:Now, this is an area I specialize in, so again, I create FOMO by talking about it
Nicole Osborne:and how easy it is to implement them and how we spoke well for my audience and
Nicole Osborne:it creates that, fear of missing out.
Nicole Osborne:Now the final point of what you sort of said, creating that scarcity, I absolutely
Nicole Osborne:agree with you on that, you know, this is not something we should make up.
Nicole Osborne:So for example, in my business, when I work on one on one coaching with people,
Nicole Osborne:I generally only take two new clients every month because it's a lot of work
Nicole Osborne:upfront in terms of getting to know the business owner, getting to know what they
Nicole Osborne:need to do and putting a plan together.
Nicole Osborne:Now, if I've been, I've been linked in, so there's only one slot left,
Nicole Osborne:but actually there are still two slots left, or three slots left.
Nicole Osborne:That's not genuine, and I really think about high levels of transparency,
Nicole Osborne:and that you need to be honest in your marketing, because what does that say
Nicole Osborne:about you as a person, as a business?
Nicole Osborne:So I would really concentrate on the fear of missing out in terms of showing off
Nicole Osborne:some of the successes you've had, and also really celebrating your clients.
Nicole Osborne:So as an architect, you can congratulate that family you are
Nicole Osborne:really brave in their choices, or that family you're really committed to.
Nicole Osborne:I'm making some new choice in terms of sustainability or really making
Nicole Osborne:it work for the local setting.
Nicole Osborne:Congratulate them on that because celebrate their success
Nicole Osborne:because that is your success.
Nicole Osborne:So that's a tactic You will see on my linkedin account a fair bit, I show up
Nicole Osborne:and my clients have had successes and I don't even have to say yes to that.
Nicole Osborne:I played a small part on that, that's the kind of implication.
Nicole Osborne:So that's a lovely way of creating that feel of missing out, absolutely.
Jon Clayton:That's
Jon Clayton:brilliant.
Jon Clayton:Thanks,
Jon Clayton:Nicole.
Jon Clayton:Something you mentioned earlier, you
Jon Clayton:mentioned about lurkers.
Jon Clayton:Now feels like a good time to talk about that.
Jon Clayton:So, everyone has lurkers, those people that perhaps
Jon Clayton:follow our social media accounts or maybe if you
Jon Clayton:have an email list the people that are on there that
Jon Clayton:perhaps don't
Jon Clayton:directly with
Jon Clayton:us.
Jon Clayton:So,
Jon Clayton:I mean, do you have any suggestions
Jon Clayton:of
Jon Clayton:how we could turn our LinkedIn lurkers
Jon Clayton:into, into leads and into
Jon Clayton:customers?
Nicole Osborne:it's a tough one, because when we work in the marketing industry,
Nicole Osborne:it's sometimes easy to forget how difficult it is actually to be visible
Nicole Osborne:on social media, because It's obviously something we've worked on for years.
Nicole Osborne:So the first tactic goes back to actually recognizing I need to make
Nicole Osborne:this easy for people to speak up.
Nicole Osborne:So when I look at my, schedule, I often like to have something
Nicole Osborne:which drives engagement and that builds that human connection.
Nicole Osborne:So maybe I will talk about A detail in my own personal business, journey,
Nicole Osborne:and I'll share some learnings, a long road sign, a long road post.
Nicole Osborne:And because I don't make it out that I was born perfect, I'm Mrs.
Nicole Osborne:Perfect now.
Nicole Osborne:I would never want to suggest that.
Nicole Osborne:But I'm quite relatable, I would hope.
Nicole Osborne:And I am not afraid of sharing some vulnerability.
Nicole Osborne:So that in itself makes it easier for people to step out of lurking
Nicole Osborne:and sometimes, you know, when I share something, let's say I used to have
Nicole Osborne:speaking gigs and not being able to sleep for six months and I've worked on this,
Nicole Osborne:you know, now it might be down to two or three weeks, but it's still there.
Nicole Osborne:I get people reaching out to me in the DMs saying, Nicole, you know,
Nicole Osborne:that really helped me that you said that, that was really relatable.
Nicole Osborne:And yeah, that's exactly what I'm facing now.
Nicole Osborne:So, so that's one way of making it really easy, to connect with your posts.
Nicole Osborne:The other thing is, is, you know, we are so driven by metrics.
Nicole Osborne:So how many followers do we have?
Nicole Osborne:How many connections?
Nicole Osborne:How many views?
Nicole Osborne:How many engagements?
Nicole Osborne:I always believe what really matters is.
Nicole Osborne:uh, People talk about your LinkedIn presence to you in those discovery calls.
Nicole Osborne:Oh, yes, Nicole, I've heard you talk about that.
Nicole Osborne:Oh, yes, I've seen you on that video.
Nicole Osborne:That to me is a testament that, okay, so they might have not felt brave
Nicole Osborne:enough in that moment to reach out.
Nicole Osborne:And that's fair enough.
Nicole Osborne:A huge percentage on people are not, are not active on social media.
Nicole Osborne:But there's something in that which made me very relatable to
Nicole Osborne:them, very memorable to them.
Nicole Osborne:And, you know, they've continued building that relationship with me.
Nicole Osborne:So it's that.
Nicole Osborne:Realization that yes, people might be lurking, but it doesn't mean
Nicole Osborne:they're not reading your content.
Nicole Osborne:So do continue working on that.
Nicole Osborne:And the stats always change, but generally speaking, I think it's only
Nicole Osborne:like 1 percent of LinkedIn users who are actually posting once a week.
Nicole Osborne:So you can imagine where that's going.
Nicole Osborne:It's for people engaging and commenting, uh, even less than that.
Nicole Osborne:So this is the world we operate in.
Jon Clayton:Wow.
Jon Clayton:Only 1%.
Jon Clayton:That's quite a surprising
Jon Clayton:figure.
Nicole Osborne:It's quite a surprising.
Nicole Osborne:figure.
Nicole Osborne:Oh, just one, I find attracting on which I sometimes forget to
Nicole Osborne:mention is, I've lately, I'm experimenting with my own newsletter.
Nicole Osborne:So often what I'll do, I'll have a newsletter about my tips,
Nicole Osborne:something specific area, and then I'll encourage people to comment
Nicole Osborne:on a related post on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:And that for me is working really well because suddenly it's not that
Nicole Osborne:barrier having to reply back to the email, but actually then just
Nicole Osborne:viewing my profile on LinkedIn or commenting or casting a vote on a poll.
Nicole Osborne:So that's another way of testing out what might work with your
Nicole Osborne:audience to lurk them out of lurking.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:I think I'm going to steal that idea and
Jon Clayton:link my email newsletter to a related LinkedIn posts.
Nicole Osborne:fantastic.
Jon Clayton:So, Nicole, you must
Jon Clayton:see
Jon Clayton:all sorts of
Jon Clayton:common mistakes that
Jon Clayton:people make on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:could you perhaps share some of those and talk through how we can avoid them?
Nicole Osborne:Yeah, fantastic question.
Nicole Osborne:So I, as a LinkedIn trainer I specialize in working with agencies, but essentially
Nicole Osborne:it's very similar to an architectural for professional services, right?
Nicole Osborne:So the first mistake I often see is that.
Nicole Osborne:There is no strategy behind how do we show what makes us different
Nicole Osborne:how do we show that in our content?
Nicole Osborne:And what this means is that you might be posting and you might be showing up, but
Nicole Osborne:because there is no point of difference, you are not making the effort to really
Nicole Osborne:show what makes you unique, a unique selling point or your brand values that
Nicole Osborne:you end up blending into a background.
Nicole Osborne:And LinkedIn is a pretty busy space.
Nicole Osborne:So you want to have a unique tone of voice.
Nicole Osborne:You want to have a unique approach to your imagery, because you want
Nicole Osborne:to stand out and make it easy for people to connect with you.
Nicole Osborne:So, so, so that's number one.
Nicole Osborne:And then I talk about it, I often mentioned the orange van strategy
Nicole Osborne:because you know, in England, we have lots of white vans or white transporters
Nicole Osborne:and they all look the same, right?
Nicole Osborne:Then you can't really distinguish one from the other.
Nicole Osborne:So if you are looking for an architect and they're all in these five bands, well,
Nicole Osborne:why would you reach out to a specific one?
Nicole Osborne:So think of an orange band there.
Nicole Osborne:It's completely customised, wrapping on the band.
Nicole Osborne:It shows some beautiful diagrams and pictures of what they've
Nicole Osborne:done, the contact, Details are on there and it's so different.
Nicole Osborne:So you memorize them.
Nicole Osborne:So you might not need an architect straight away, but they're top of mind or
Nicole Osborne:your network are commenting on the post.
Nicole Osborne:So that's the first thing we have a strategy behind standing up.
Nicole Osborne:Then the next thing I do.
Nicole Osborne:I would say is we often are so tempted because we're so worried about what we
Nicole Osborne:post and how others might perceive it.
Nicole Osborne:that we end up posting for our peers.
Nicole Osborne:Now, I love my peers, John, you and I, we are peers.
Nicole Osborne:We comment on each other's posts and that's great, but we've
Nicole Osborne:got to work together, right?
Nicole Osborne:I want my posts to be noticed and relevant by the kind of people either
Nicole Osborne:that I can work with or who have access to the kind of audience I can work with.
Nicole Osborne:all these types of people collaborate with.
Nicole Osborne:So think about as an architect, you're essentially not posting for
Nicole Osborne:other architects because, you know, they will want their own clients.
Nicole Osborne:You're talking to the people on LinkedIn who might be in need
Nicole Osborne:for an architectural service.
Nicole Osborne:So you, you need to talk about different things, which are relevant for those.
Nicole Osborne:It also means you bring it down to their level.
Nicole Osborne:Do you know, I often find with LinkedIn, John, that you and I would be talking
Nicole Osborne:a lot now about the know how, but that really makes a huge difference.
Nicole Osborne:And then people develop their LinkedIn and mindset.
Nicole Osborne:And they become that little bit braver and they are ignited
Nicole Osborne:to let some of their fears go.
Nicole Osborne:So if I was to talk to all my peers, I'll just talk about the know how
Nicole Osborne:because I know these people are brave, you know, they're putting themselves
Nicole Osborne:out there nothing stands in their way.
Nicole Osborne:But for my audience, a lot of things stand in their way and it isn't just
Nicole Osborne:that they don't know how LinkedIn works, it's actually because they're
Nicole Osborne:worried what their peers will say.
Nicole Osborne:Well, we found out there's a lot of impostor syndrome going on.
Nicole Osborne:So this is really about what I meant by not.
Nicole Osborne:Posting for my peers, but actually really talking to my
Nicole Osborne:audience or potential clients.
Nicole Osborne:And then the third thing, the third thing is to just be so worried in the beginning
Nicole Osborne:that you never let yourself learn.
Nicole Osborne:Now, this might sound really hard to do, but you know, As regular content
Nicole Osborne:creators, we both know our first 10 to 100 pieces of something are
Nicole Osborne:not going to be very good, right?
Nicole Osborne:They might get no engagement whatsoever, no one reads them,
Nicole Osborne:no one comments, but that's okay.
Nicole Osborne:The important thing is to get started and to learn by the kind of
Nicole Osborne:feedback you're getting and to really building your LinkedIn muscles.
Nicole Osborne:So it's that kind of need of perfectionism and not wanting to, wanting to let
Nicole Osborne:go of some of these fears, which really stops people in their track.
Nicole Osborne:So I would say that's actually Biggest one is, is that it's got to be perfect and
Nicole Osborne:if it's not perfect, I'm not posting it.
Nicole Osborne:But Then you don't learn and you can't test up the messaging with your audience.
Nicole Osborne:So yeah, hopefully those are three common mistakes.
Nicole Osborne:So we're not standing out thinking about your peers too much and not
Nicole Osborne:really posting for your audience.
Nicole Osborne:And we're not getting started because we're standing on our own way.
Nicole Osborne:Those are three top mistakes I see all the time.
Jon Clayton:That's
Jon Clayton:really helpful.
Jon Clayton:Thanks for sharing that.
Jon Clayton:what
Jon Clayton:would be the main thing that you'd like the listeners
Jon Clayton:to take away
Jon Clayton:from this conversation?
Nicole Osborne:I would like them to, first of all, have a
Nicole Osborne:look at their profile again.
Nicole Osborne:And see it through the eyes of their potential clients.
Nicole Osborne:you including all of the things which they need to know about you?
Nicole Osborne:Are you showing a bit of personality?
Nicole Osborne:Is your profile optimized?
Nicole Osborne:Do you have content which appeals to them?
Nicole Osborne:So that would be the first thing.
Nicole Osborne:Then the next thing I really like them to do is John, really what you brought
Nicole Osborne:up in the beginning, which is really to think about the kind of questions
Nicole Osborne:they get and their discovery calls.
Nicole Osborne:You know, when they didn't get, when they didn't win a pitch
Nicole Osborne:or proposal, why was that?
Nicole Osborne:It's that content they could be adding to their LinkedIn routine?
Nicole Osborne:And then the final thing I would just like to mention, I would encourage
Nicole Osborne:everyone to consider actually, do I have a LinkedIn routine, which
Nicole Osborne:covers all the different areas?
Nicole Osborne:I know you and I, we talked a lot today about posting and what to post, but, what
Nicole Osborne:about growing your network strategically?
Nicole Osborne:What about being active in the DMs?
Nicole Osborne:All of these are key components of LinkedIn success.
Nicole Osborne:Now, wherever you are, you can always take that next step.
Nicole Osborne:So I just really want people to feel encouraged that they can do it.
Nicole Osborne:And it doesn't have to be perfect.
Nicole Osborne:Nothing ever is perfect when we start, but just enjoy it and let yourself learn.
Jon Clayton:That's brilliant.
Jon Clayton:Thanks, Nicole.
Jon Clayton:Was there anything else that you wanted to add that we haven't
Jon Clayton:covered in the
Jon Clayton:conversation?
Nicole Osborne:you know ? That's really amazing.
Nicole Osborne:Now, I feel you've asked me all sorts of perfect questions, so thank you so much.
Nicole Osborne:Yeah, I would just say if someone wants a bit more of a bespoke tip, really feel
Nicole Osborne:free to reach out to me on, LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:This is my main social media platform, so yeah, always love to
Nicole Osborne:hear comments and additional questions and anything I can help, with.
Nicole Osborne:thank you.
Jon Clayton:That's brilliant.
Jon Clayton:So it's time for me to ask the regular question that
Jon Clayton:I ask all of the
Jon Clayton:guests on the show.
Jon Clayton:I, I've always loved travel and discovering new places.
Jon Clayton:And I just wondered if you could tell me about one of your favorite
Jon Clayton:places and what you love about it.
Jon Clayton:And it doesn't matter if it's near or far.
Nicole Osborne:This is going to be a place which is very close.
Nicole Osborne:I live in London and actually Bournemouth.
Nicole Osborne:Now, when I first came to England, all these years ago, I
Nicole Osborne:actually came over as an au pair.
Nicole Osborne:And before that, I came over as a language student for a month,
Nicole Osborne:and I was very, very young.
Nicole Osborne:And, I remember I did learn a lot of language, and I did hang out on
Nicole Osborne:Bournemouth Beach a lot, and obviously we had the lower gardens, and it's
Nicole Osborne:just a lovely seaside town, right?
Nicole Osborne:So, I just recently went back, years later, and it was just so fabulous just
Nicole Osborne:seeing how Bournemouth has evolved.
Nicole Osborne:And it still has also kept some of these original features.
Nicole Osborne:Obviously, we've got a beautiful pier, we've got the lower gardens,
Nicole Osborne:and it's a really good sort of seaside town, where there's lots
Nicole Osborne:of language students still around.
Nicole Osborne:They've got the most beautiful ice cream, and yeah, anyone looking for a destination
Nicole Osborne:where you can take your kids and, have a bit of fun, be by the seaside, yeah, I
Nicole Osborne:highly recommend the form of, obviously, beautiful beaches as well and coastlines.
Nicole Osborne:So yeah, that's my recent favourite new place.
Jon Clayton:Oh,
Jon Clayton:you know what?
Jon Clayton:I
Jon Clayton:think I went there when I was
Jon Clayton:a
Jon Clayton:toddler or a baby.
Jon Clayton:I
Jon Clayton:don't remember any of it, but I remember my parents telling me about a family
Jon Clayton:holiday there,
Jon Clayton:which I think I was ill.
Jon Clayton:I think I was
Jon Clayton:ill for the whole time while we were there.
Jon Clayton:But it is somewhere I'd like to go back and visit
Jon Clayton:again now.
Jon Clayton:so I shall add it
Jon Clayton:to my bucket list of destinations to go visit in
Jon Clayton:the UK.
Jon Clayton:Nicole,
Jon Clayton:this has been absolutely fantastic.
Jon Clayton:Thank
Jon Clayton:you so much for joining
Jon Clayton:me on the show and sharing your expertise.
Jon Clayton:I've really
Jon Clayton:enjoyed the conversation and I'm sure that everyone in the audience will do too.
Jon Clayton:Can you just
Jon Clayton:remind everyone the best place to
Jon Clayton:connect with you, which
Jon Clayton:I think I
Jon Clayton:know where it's going
Jon Clayton:to be, but I'll let you say it.
Nicole Osborne:Yes, anyone in the audience who would love to reach
Nicole Osborne:out, maybe read some more tips or ask some more questions, please come
Nicole Osborne:and connect with me on LinkedIn.
Nicole Osborne:John is kindly going to put the link to my profile in the show notes and
Nicole Osborne:Nicole Osborne on LinkedIn and I can't wait to hear from your audience.
Nicole Osborne:Thank you, John.
Jon Clayton:Brilliant.
Jon Clayton:Thanks again,
Jon Clayton:Nicole.
Jon Clayton:Next time I'm joined by Aja.
Jon Clayton:Schlachter to explore the benefits of outsourcing and how you can get started.
Jon Clayton:thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.
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Jon Clayton:John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:Remember.
Jon Clayton:Running your architecture business.
Jon Clayton:Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.
Jon Clayton:This is architecture business club.