5 Steps to LinkedIn Success with Expert Rebecca P Morgan [Ep. 57 of The Writer’s Way Podcast]

Introducing Rebecca

Laurie : Hello writers. It’s Laurie Wright at the Writer’s Way podcast back again this week with Linked In expert Rebecca Morgan. Dr. Rebecca Morgan. 

Rebecca: Welcome. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much Laurie and I am so excited to talk about LinkedIn and why I think every single author needs to be on LinkedIn.

Laurie : Yes, so that was brand new information for me. So you are somebody because we’re friends online Facebook groups together, but I never really expected to have you on the podcast because I didn’t think what you’d intersected at all with what I did until this week when you were like, hey, you should be on LinkedIn and it turns  out I am on LinkedIn.

Rebecca: You are 

Laurie : really on LinkedIn. So so I’m so happy to have you on here and tell me what I should pay a little bit more attention as well as all my writer friends. Tell us about you. I love the way the awesome behind you. It’s like glowing so I don’t know if you can see it, but the light is on it. I need something behind me that says awesome.

Rebecca: Yeah you do. You are awesome. And yeah, so. Little bit about me. I live in Los Angeles California with my husband Todd and my ex racing Greyhound Landon also known as LL Cool Grey. That’s his street name. I have a coaching business called choose off some coaching. Imagine that[AWesome! Love it] Where it’s really like a human skills development company and I work with individuals and businesses who care to do the work that matters and that usually falls in three areas: career leadership in business.

Laurie : Okay, awesome. And then how did you get started? Awesome? I’m just going to say awesome all the time right now. One of my favorite words that I feel like I say too much and then it’s too. Generic now but it still is my go-to. So awesome. I know I feel like I date myself when I say awesome, like right like a valley girl here in the valley of California awesome is the new awesome.

I don’t even know what man, you know, that’s a good question. Your people know, like maybe they’ll tell you. Yes, Laurie what the new word is a comment if you are under 40 and you have the new cool word. I also say a lot of super cool and that’s. Wait you’re 40 anyway, okay. So you were asking how I got into LinkedIn and resume writing and things like that right prior to owning my company.

Rebecca: I earned my ears at a really big Entertainment Company where I was a hiring manager and a recruiting partner, right? So I have seen my fair share of resumes. I’ll tell you and most resumes put me to sleep. I’ll be honest, you’re looking at these piles of résumés right that people send over your like they all look and sound the same.

I don’t know. Okay, so computers read resumes people right computers. For resumes. Yes, right if you haven’t applied for a job in a while. Okay, I’m sure I haven’t author’s you guys don’t really in ladies really don’t care about this right because you’re like wait a minute. I don’t understand but let me tell you how the world is working in business right now.

People are writing resumes to appeal to a computer. They’re freaking out that they need to keyword stuff their resume to get seen by a computer because then the computer spits out the resume and says, hey, here’s a viable candidate. You should look at this recruiter and then the recruiter looks at it and says, yeah, this is someone good we need to bring him in for an interview like the process in my opinion is completely broken.

Ooh, that sounds so yucky to me. It’s horrible. It’s very inhumane. I’ll be honest and so that’s why I don’t like it. I work with people to not do that to be a human and show up at work because that’s who we want to work with. That’s we want to connect with right and as authors we want to connect with people with humans with our readers, right, so don’t be boring and let’s stand out.

Okay. So what I hear you saying you’re likening to like what you do and the work that you help people do standing out is like because I remember before computers read the resumes, you know, you think of all the resumes on the white paper that look the same and we were sort of Coach to make it look different send it on the color paper do a spray a spritz of sent, you know, right in an interesting manner like the copywriting which I love.

You know for books and on social medias, I think that I love copywriting but so you do that for people on a resume on LinkedIn is the resume on LinkedIn. A lot of times not we don’t put it on LinkedIn. I don’t encourage it but so resumes is one piece. Okay didn’t is another piece and cover letters is another piece and then there’s the whole interview skills, right?

So that is like the suite of things  that I do.

Laurie : Gotcha. 

Rebecca: I was just  talking about that because a lot of times what people do is they cut and paste from their resume and put it on LinkedIn and I’m sure as an author like I don’t even have maybe a resume or it’s been like a zillion years since I’ve had to update okay.

Right. A zillion. Right? So it’s a cut-and-paste. It’s pretty boring to read. So I want to encourage people to stand out on LinkedIn and do it differently and I can’t wait to talk about how authors can do that. And yes, every single author needs to be on LinkedIn. 

Okay. So why do we have to be on LinkedIn?  Like what’s that going to give us that something else is not. 

Well, I’m sure you are also on other social media right like Facebook Instagram, maybe Twitter in the idea. Of adding another social media to your very busy life when really all you probably want to do is work on your craft right lock yourself in a room to your writing that you’re like no no more.

Well, here’s why there is no other social media out there where you can connect with bookstore owners and illustrators and Librarians and book reviewers and editors and Publishers and book agents and event organizers. In obvious like me who buy books like is on like Tim. It sounds like done without all the fluffy cat videos.

I think it’s not a place for the cat videos. Although you’re starting to see them creep in because more and more people are getting on LinkedIn and I’ll tell you why. I think it’s so important right now for authors to be on like dinner anybody if you haven’t been on it. Okay LinkedIn, although get this did you know that it is?

Older I guess that’s the word older than other social medias. It’s been around longer I guess is what I’m trying to say. 

I did not know that. 

Yeah, it’s true. Okay, and you know how we like never like I know do you ever lay in bed going? Oh my gosh when you think about your work and you’re like, oh, I really wish I was on the ground floor Facebook of Instagram.

Like I feel like now I’m trying to catch up and everyone’s way ahead and just have all these followers and I have like five right here. Yep. LinkedIn and how it’s changing and what it’s going towards and trying to get more content and more people on it to use it. It is in that infancy that early stage.

So if you get on now, you’re getting on the ground floor of a social platform, even though it’s been around for longer than Facebook. It has it still the ground floor time. So does that mean there’s lots more people sort of being becoming aware and being interested it is. They are and what’s great.

So now is the time to get on there and get your profile up-to-date. And so that’s why I want to talk about and share. I wanted to give you five tips on how authors can get started on LinkedIn just the basics because I don’t want to overwhelm people with okay, here’s what the post and here’s the frequency and do this and do that.

I just want to do those basics for you right now. 

Laurie : Okay. Awesome. Thank you. 

Rebecca: But okay. So the first thing is your url. So LinkedIn is super nice. And when you sign up for an account, they give you a free page. You have a free web address. Basically that leads people to LinkedIn. Now what it does is take your name and then adds a number at the end of it and I don’t know about you, but I cannot remember phone numbers right?

Like seriously. I don’t even know I know my own. Good. I know my personal one but my business when I couldn’t tell you but anyhow, so what I want you to do is get rid of those numbers after your name make it easy for a human to find you by your name because you’re not gonna remember your number right right sing for me sing for me.

Laurie : Um, not that not on live We Sing to each other sometimes okay, but not on the podcast. Okay. Well I’m going to do a live podcast. 

Rebecca: So my number one tip is get rid of that numbers after your url look like you understand how digital media works, right? And that’s what we all want. We want us to say.

Look. I’m kind of Savvy. I know how digital works. If you don’t this is going to make you look like you do because so many people leave those numbers and you’re like hmm. You really don’t know how it works.

Laurie : That’s like having a professional Gmail account? You don’t just want Lauriewright Gmail 12345789.

Rebecca: You want something a little bit more professional. That’s not those numbers that make sense. Okay, exactly. You got it. You got it. Okay. Number two is your profile photo Okay, so. You can do a profile photo. I highly encourage it because I’ll be honest with you. I don’t anyone who requests me to be to connect with me and you don’t have a profile photo.

I’m like now you don’t understand again being media-savvy right? You don’t really understand how LinkedIn work. So I’m not going to connect with you. If you can’t put a photo up, right because we want to connect with humans. So a photo should be a photo of you from the probably shoulders up looking at the camera smiling looking approachable.

Got it, right no sunglasses. No hat and for authors you might be thinking. Oh, can I put my book up right the recently published this in the stores are going to see it there. No, it’s me. Well I say no because you’re not your book. You’re the human you want to see and connect with the human behind this amazing work.

Okay, I like it. Got it. Yay agree, okay. We’re up to number three. Now write three number three is your background photo. So LinkedIn gives you this really big space behind your profile photo where you can brand yourself. In this is the perfect spot to put a photo of your books if you want to yes have it’s okay the dimensions always changing like Facebook.

See totally are I will be sure in the guide I put together for you for these tips. I’ll put the current one now subject to change right as always as it seems obvious 2002 get you know, the caveat, you know, the oh, thank you. Okay, you’re gonna give that to everybody. Thank you. Make that so if you have a picture of your book put it up there if you have a picture of multiple books make a collage in canva.

I know you probably talked about Campbell all the time because we love that resource. Right? Don’t worry. I just talked about it last week. I talked about free things that authors can use in their business because I’m all about not going into debt and actually making a profit. So canva I.

Definitely. So use canva make a collage make something to stand out because you’ve probably heard a picture is worth a thousand words the cleat this cliche or the saying right? It’s totally true because when you do that photo your brains like oh author books get it this person’s for me. So your branding yourself again.

Okay, love it. I love it, too. I love it. I love it. So many people do not use that. It’s amazing again for well. Yes, leave it blank. Yeah, they leave a prank in LinkedIn puts a generic. Photo up and it’s a great photo. It’s this blue photo and it has all these dots and has all these lines and what it’s saying is look this awesome person right through you Laurie.

She’s on LinkedIn and Linkedin is all about what people and connections that kind of dots you got it, but oh I get it. I know. For those not on video on making it. Yeah, I would not have got right now dots I just looked at LinkedIn and so I would have thought cool abstract background, right? So back to the action and then brand yourself.

So use every opportunity to promote yourself promote your books throw the pictures up where it’s appropriate that background cover photo. Okay? Absolutely. Okay. We are now up to number four. All right, we’re getting into the headline. So you have your background photo you have your profile photo.

You have your name under that that you put when you registered your account, and then under that is this wonderful space for you to give yourself a headline. Okay, okay and leave Dan again is super helpful. And what it does is if you do not change this it is going to pull from your first experience on your profile.

So I saw that you had a Tim Hortons cup there. So if you worked for Tim Hortons and you put Tim Hortons right that you were the manager at Tim Hortons, I love that. Tim Hortons, I love the way you say it. That’s not how Canadians there, but that’s okay as a Canadian Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons. I sound crazy.

I know I’m sorry. It was a crazy just an American so about about about and right. All right. So if you were the manager of Tim Hortons it would appear on okay. So if you if you’re going to have to edit this now girl, so if you were the manager of Tim Hortons, it would show up under your name manager Tim Hortons.

Now, we don’t want that because who are you branding at that pop time? Yeah, that’s boring. Right in your branding Tim Hortons. I mean, it’s awesome that you work there or let me put it in context for an author. You could say they your first thing says author self-employed. OK again to your point.

What are you just say, that’s boring. Yeah. So that’s for your experience, but it will pull that on your headline. We’re talking headline here. Okay want you to change your headline as well? I’m trying to say I wonder what I made because I did when I first started with all the social media, I sort of put a cover in a picture up everywhere.

Yes, and then I never ever went back. In fact, I only just recently reload into Twitter after a long long time. So I think I have something. Ha ha ha, you know people going to think we set this up and planted it with a lorry because I totally have your LinkedIn profile up right now in case you ask me any questions and I was like, oh, let me give an example because I’m going to tell you your profile is great.

And I think I told me you haven’t updated this in a while 

sure and I haven’t in a long while,  also probably 

Laurie : has old stuff and not on my books. Yeah, you gotta give us. Okay. We’ll talk about that. I promise we’ll talk again of how all your books you’d be on there and where to put it, but your profile is not bad. So.

Rebecca: Everyone needs to go and check out Laurie’s profile and go connect with her and be her connection come and connect with me. There we go. Okay. So your profile tell you it says since you asked it says children’s author publishing strategist empowering people of all ages one book at a time. 

Laurie : Oh, that’s good. That is my line empowering people. Yep. 

Rebecca: That’s branding you. That’s who you are and what you do? Okay, that’s good so much better than just author. 

Laurie : Yeah, yeah and like because I work specifically with children’s author. 

Rebecca: That’s what I love to so many people just use a generic like author. Yeah.

What kind what kind what’s your genre or what do you do don’t be afraid to put there and guess what you can always change it if you’re writing this now and then six months from now you want to get into another one put that change it you’re not locked in. This is your profile is your page to Brand yourself.

Laurie : I love it. So author of this book author of this series children’s author would be the most generic but go a little bit deeper everybody. Okay, love it. Great advice. Okay, and number five talking about publications, right? You said that yours might not be updated. A lot of people may not even have there’s on there.

Rebecca: Oh, okay. There is a spot that you can put your Publications on.

It’s under accomplishments. And then there’s a button where you can click Publications and there you can list all of your Publications love it and let me tell you what’s amazing about this spot. Especially for authors is in addition to being able to have all your work listed here. You’re allowed an outbound link.

For people to go check it out. Oh, that’s gold. I love out loud. You can send it to your website if that’s what your books are. Or maybe you have one in the progress and you just want to link them. There’s and let them know you can also link it if you have them for sale somewhere like on Amazon.

That is handy, right? I love it. I love it too. Okay. So those were my five tips for how authors can get started on. Okay I created you a guide with those very tips with some photos so they can see what I’m talking about. 

Laurie : Oh, thank you. That’s so nice of you that will be in the show notes everybody or depending on where you’re watching will put it in a blurb or the write up.

Okay, let’s say that I am adventurous and I set up my profile, but I want to go a little bit deeper. What is the first step as a children’s author? Like what should I do? Do I throw up a post? So I go searching. Do I send people messages when I do? 

Rebecca: Well before you do anything you need to do these five things right?

Make sure you’ve done these five things and now you’re ready to post content now LinkedIn is really similar to other social media sites where you can post videos you can post photos. Yay. You can post status updates and things like that so you can you all of that on LinkedIn. Okay, but keep in mind though.

Again that the pro the social media site LinkedIn is a little different than some of the other social media sites, right? You mentioned cat videos and things like that. You may see some of those on there. But remember it is a professional Network. It’s about branding you as a professional as a professional author.

So keep that in mind when you use the profile, okay, you’ll see other people doing other things because they’re just trying to figure it out. Yeah, but that’s my advice. Keep that professional peace in mind and how you want to be represent yourself as an author.

Laurie :  I like that. I like that little I like to see the subtle difference because I work with a lot of authors and where we have like the wall of impassibility is when they hit that social media thing because so many authors are actually introverts and so they like to write and they like to put work out in the world, but they don’t really want to put themselves out in the world.

They don’t want to reveal their kids names where they live not that I ever say that they have to but they really would like to share anything personal so I feel like this platform of LinkedIn. It’s not expected necessarily, you know, and it might be even too much if you share like you don’t be an overshare so things about your work in progress or you’re just recently published book like really that’s enough.

Rebecca: Yes. So those type of people are going to love LinkedIn. I don’t feel comfortable right really comfortable and okay to go on there and post and do those things and share about the great work they’re doing and what they’re excited about in the Milestones that they’re hitting. 

Laurie : Yes. Awesome, I like that.

Okay, so I put a post up about my new book. Yes. I have all your five tips. I’ve put them all up then. What do I do? 

Rebecca: Well, I think it’s going in connecting with other authors or in your field. Right and so go in and do a search and if you’re a children’s author type shoulders off there and go ahead and try to connect with other authors and reach out to them.

Laurie : Okay. So is that like sending a friend request? 

Rebecca: Very similar setting of friend request on other social media sites, right? Okay absolutely so you can put in their name. So look through your books your some of your favorite books some of the author’s you admire go ahead and do a search for their name and see if they’re on LinkedIn now, I’ll tell you there’s probably not a lot of authors on LinkedIn right now because you all are in on the ground floor, right?

So I think it’s going to you’ll see more and more. 

Laurie : But we can search by illustrators Librarians event planners agents if maybe somebody wants to try to get traditionally published publishing companies, publishers editors, all those kinds of people and then am I like hey, I’m Laurie. Like, what do I how do I yeah, Friend request them.

What’s that called a connection request a connection for us. 

Rebecca: You totally be able to connect with all those people which is exciting because again another social platform. Can you do that? Yeah, go on Facebook and like your favorite author go try to Facebook friend them. Right? We don’t do that.

That’s like social my weird. But LinkedIn you can do it because it is that professional networking site. . You said that absolutely right LinkedIn will allow you to do a connection request where it will do pre-determined text and reach out for you.

I want you to be human. I want you to make a true connection with people so I don’t want you to let LinkedIn write the text for you. I want you to go ahead and say something.’ Hey, I read your book, I loved it.’  ‘Congratulations on being published’, something make it personal for that connection because that again is how you’re going to stand out.

Everyone else is just hitting connect connect connect making all these connections. Be different stand out and show that you’re a human. 

Laurie : Yeah, I like that. So here’s a funny story about me. Yes, that’s like I wasn’t human. I had a friend in common and I was reading her post on Facebook and Laura Numaroff commented and I had a little fangirl moment. Laura Numeroff writes ‘A Cookie’.’

Who’s the cookie? ‘If you give a moose a muffin’ ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’, I think it is. And anyway, there’s a whole series and they’re c

lassics. So I fangirl that I’m like, she’s another anyway, I should have been more human and I should have at least sent a message to explain myself because I’m Facebook.

Rebecca: It’s more personal. It’s a little bit weird. So I really like how you’re talking about LinkedIn like that would be more. Okay, like if I were to. Not stuck her. Of course, if I were to find her on LinkedIn and send a friend request would be more likely to be reciprocated because that’s more of a professional to professional type thing.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that goes for all social medias right show that Human Side show that you’re right connect your race that because social think about it socials in the word social media, its social we want to be social. That’s what it’s about. 

Laurie : Yes, I agree with you but there’s different levels of comfort and different levels of what’s going on out there in the world.

And so I’m really like the liking the sounds of LinkedIn as far as what it offers and how your expected with expectations are to be on there. Yeah, because Facebook and Instagram are just weird sometimes and

Rebecca:  I’m not I’m not going to say you’re not going to get some weirdness on LinkedIn. Okay, you may you may get extra request.

You may get those hard sales when you connect with someone. They’re like, oh if you want me to publish your book, you can pay me this much money. I’ll publish about okay, you’re probably going to run into some of them because we all exist in this world together. Right? Right. I do think there there’s less of that on LinkedIn.

Fingers crossed. Okay, that’s nice. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to go follow your five tips and picks up all my old janky stuff except except my headline because I think that sounds good. But still what I do, it looks good. Like thank you and then I’m going to search children’s authors and see who’s out there.

And then so anybody watching this when you get your linked up all up and running, so do a connection request was you choose awesome. That’s what your under ‘Rebecca P Morgan’. Oh, okay, Rebecca. P– Morgan me. I’m assuming I’m ‘Laurie Wright’ 

You are.

Laurie :  Connect with us to start with and then we’ll start seeing each other stuff.

Right like in the feed. Absolutely. Hey, maybe you maybe we put it in the show notes or something like that to make it easy. Okay, like a link. Yeah, that sounds awesome. Thank you so much. I really like the idea of this a little bit more professional networking. And of course, I always liked the idea of authors continuously working on their you know, their their brand really because as authors we do brand ourselves.

So it’s personal branding unless of course, you’re a publishing company and then your branding that but I really I’m really excited to try this and to do it and thank you so much for coming on with me. You’re most welcome. I’m so excited to see all the author’s on here and I’d love to connect and just support you in your work because the world needs it and I’m so excited.

That’s you. I know so many fantastic authors and one of our huge issues is just visibility. Right, like everything is just really saturated. So one more avenue where for free we can put our stuff out there put our branding out there, talk about our books little bit and connect with people and so you say I say where can people find you but they can find you on LinkedIn , Rebecca Morgan, love it.

Thank you. Thank you my Darlin. Oh you are most welcome. Okay, bye-bye.