532. Jon Cobb, Building a Following on LinkedIn - a podcast by Will Bachman

Jon Cobb, a LinkedIn expert, shares his unique style of posts, which are short, concise, and impactful. His biggest post this year has received 236,000 likes and almost 18 million impressions.  It highlights the importance of leadership and culture change, which resonates with many people due to the timing of layoffs and the appreciation for empathetic leadership. Jon also shares a few of the most popular posts, including one that emphasizes hiring someone with the right mindset over someone with the right resume, emphasizing the importance of understanding the motivations behind an individual's interest in a job. He shares posts that suggest people should focus on long-term growth opportunities rather than just the most lucrative job offers.

Jon talks about his company called Jon Cobb Coaching, and an app he built called the Job Search Boot Camp. The app helps people identify mistakes they might be making in their job search process and adopt a more strategic approach. He advises people to step back, think more strategically about their job search, and focus on networking before applying. He encourages people to apply for companies they truly want to work for, as this will lead to a full-quality application. Jon’s app includes an audio course that walks people through these stages, such as networking correctly, reaching out to new connections on LinkedIn, building a compelling resume, and interviewing effectively. By following this structured approach, people can increase their chances of success and happiness in the long run.

Job Search Boot Camp offers resources, resume templates, cover letter templates, negotiation letter templates, and a community forum for users to connect with the author. The course is affordable and designed to help people get hired faster and make more. He  left Deloitte consulting a few years ago and focussed on business consulting. He works with people across different elements of their life and challenges they face. He now runs a life coaching practice, helping entrepreneurs, relationship challenges, and developing a mindset of success, and career coaching is a significant part of this practice.

 

Best Practices on LinkedIn Posts

Jon's approach to LinkedIn posting began with posting on topics that matter to him. He has found that success involves trial and error, experimentation, and understanding what matters to you. He began posting about work culture and personal and professional progress, and over time, refined his voice by focusing on what mattered to him. He found that the overlap between what he cared about and what he had to offer was what resonated with people who appreciated it. When he committed to posting, he started using square image posts with quotes, which are thought graphics that are larger than text. This allows for more real estate on the LinkedIn scroll feed and makes it easier for people to read what they have to say. Additionally, making the idea or thought easy for people to quickly identify with is crucial. LinkedIn is not the place for long, complicated posts, but it is not as limited as Twitter, so it is important to make it easy for people to like, react, leave comments, or follow the author quickly.

 Jon shares how posting on LinkedIn has helped him grow his following. He tried different formats and polls. His goal is to post twice a day, but sometimes misses days due to lack of inspiration or commitment. Consistency is a key aspect of success, but it's not the number one priority in his life. Jon emphasizes the importance of nurturing posts and responding to comments within the first hour after posting. The first 20 minutes are the most important and recognised by the algorithms. He sets aside an hour after the post goes live to interact and respond to people, as the algorithm evaluates how much people are interested in your post. To avoid LinkedIn's algorithm evaluating links that take people off the platform, Jon recommends waiting five to 10 minutes after posting to leave comments or links to avoid lowering the exposure the post is given.

 When a post performs well, Jon uses a lesson learned from the value ladder from Russell Brunson of Clickfunnels to stay in touch with people, get them to sign up for newsletters or apps, and build an email list. He also suggests using lead magnets, such as offering free resources or digital books, to build an email list. He acknowledges the importance of collecting email addresses, as it allows you to control access to the audience and avoid penalizing you for marketing posts. He plans to launch webinars on digital courses and one-on-one coaching. Another way to collect emails is on your LinkedIn profile, where you can put a link to your best posts or other content and encourage viewers to sign up for the posts.  This will help you stay connected with your audience and build a strong online presence.

The ROI on LinkedIn Success

Jon has gained 17 million views and is now reaching a steady stream of clients. However, the challenge lies in product market fit, as people who are unemployed or have been looking for work for three months without much success are less likely to invest in high-ticket items like coaching. To overcome this, he suggests understanding his customer base better and offering a digital resource at a reasonable price. He also suggests a webinar to help people understand the value of coaching and answer their questions. Jon responds to a high percentage of comments on LinkedIn, and he addresses the problem of finding comments that haven't been replied to due to the platform's lack of filtering features. To engage more clients, he offers three ways to help career transitioners: following him for insights, downloading his app, attending the job search bootcamp course, or contacting him about one-on-one coaching. By providing options and letting people decide what the best way is for them to help, Jon hopes to increase his conversion rate and reach more potential clients.

 LinkedIn’s New Feature

LinkedIn has a new feature called "Scheduled Posts," which allows users to schedule posts for the future. This feature is relatively new and may vary depending on the platform and device, but there may be different functionality for macs or pcs. Consistency is important as your audience is typically around the same time, and you want people who are used to seeing your posts. However, it's important to remember that engagement is not solely based on the number of people who engage with your post. The algorithm is looking for certain subjects and keywords related to what you're known for.

Building a Niche Audience and Using Hashtags on LinkedIn 

To help identify and build your audience within specific niches, you can use the influencer option for your LinkedIn profile, called Creator mode. When you turn on Creator mode, LinkedIn recommends using two to four hashtags, which may be too many for some users. However, it's generally recommended to keep it to two or three. Some people argue that hashtags are dead, but they are still useful in posting well. In summary, LinkedIn's algorithm is designed to help users identify and build their audience within specific niches. Consistency in posting times and using relevant hashtags can help users build their audience and attract more followers.

Developing Your Voice and Watching Your Tone

Jon discusses the importance of being on target and on topic when posting on LinkedIn. He shares an example of a post about entrepreneurship that didn't perform as well as expected due to being irrelevant for a small subset of his audience. To avoid alienating them, it is crucial to focus on a specific message and avoid off-topic posts. Jon also shares his experience with using an edgy tone in his posts, which can make them more thought-provoking and controversial. He emphasizes the need to be careful what you say, as it might go viral and ruin your reputation. He also shares his experiences with posts that get only 12 likes, but he encourages people to learn from them by considering their tone, specific words, and timing. He acknowledges that not every post will be seen by 17 million people, and it is important to remember that not every post will be seen by everyone. In conclusion, Jon emphasizes the importance of being on target and on topic when posting on LinkedIn, and the importance of being genuine and sincere in your content.

 

Timestamps:

 06:48 The three qualities of an influencer

10:37 How Jon developed his LinkedIn posting approach

12:41 The importance of intentionality in influencing leaders

14:25 Nurturing social media posts

19:13 The power of appealing to shared objectives in influencing

20:38 How to create a lead magnet system

25:07 How others can help you develop influence skills

29:09 Time of day to post

34:19 How many hashtags you should tag

 

Links:

Website: JonCobbCoaching.com

 

CONTACT INFO:

Email: help@joncobbcoaching.com

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jondcobb

   

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

 

Further episodes of Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Further podcasts by Will Bachman

Website of Will Bachman