Link for Success (Stacy Maynard)

Anita empowers entrepreneurs to share their stories on social media so they can grow a business that facilitates living their best life. She is also the co-founder of Social Media Day  Halifax.  Anita and Stacy talk about building relationships over selling on Social Media, linking with forethought and going past just connecting on LinkedIn. 

Anita’s social media experience extends all the way back to the 90s, when she joined the first generation of bloggers, launching a crafting blog in a flurry of cardstock, buttons, and fabric swatches. She promoted it using new-at-the-time marketing tactics like blog circles, link parties, and roundups. 

Since 2011, she’s been helping businesses and agencies improve their social skills through social media consultations, training sessions, and profile audits. She’s also the pioneer behind Responsible Scheduling—a set of guidelines for scheduling posts that helps clients make the most of their content without overwhelming or ignoring their audience.

But Anita doesn’t do all her talking online. She’s also a public speaker specializing in (you guessed it) social media. Over the years, she’s shared her expertise with audiences at Atlantic Internet Marketing Conference, Blog Jam, PodCamp, and the Centre for Women in Business.

I hear of people being fearful of sharing too much.  Fearful of giving away too much information for free.  I don't believe you can ever share too much. I love giving away my information.  In this episode we talk about why sharing is a great way to build followers and increase trust.

I heard the other day that Social Media has changed the way we communicate.  I disagree with that as Social Media enables us to reach people that we wouldn't otherwise be able to.  It's only technology.  The most basic ways in which we communicate are the same ways my son with Autism was taught when he was non-verbal.  What do you think?  Has Social Media changed the way we exchange information or do we just need to go back to basics?  Let me know using hashtag #linkforsuccess

Tammy and I had a great conversation around building relationship on Social Media.  We discussed the differences between Facebook and LinkedIn and how planning, being yourself and focusing on value are strategies that can be used across all social channels.  It is not a Facebook vs LinkedIn debate as both are highly valuable platforms.  

Check out Tammy at https://tammyhudgin.com/

On this last episode of season 2, I am joined by a very special guest who was part of my podcast launch for season 1 and her show had the most downloads.  Since then, so many things have happened, changed, shifted for so many.  Whether it be in their business life or personal, we have all had to pivot in the past few months. I wanted to have this conversation as so many have changed directions recently.  Learn how I have pivoted during our times of Covid and what recommendations Fay has for those who have started something new. Between people learning more about going online and taking on new projects, it's interesting to see the creativity that has come out of it. 

Fay is a leading expert in speaker training. We chatted about the difference between speaking on a digital platform vs speaking on stage and how to deal with various tech hiccups. Even without any notes or any presentation software.  

Join us for Season 3 coming soon. 

Do you find yourself asking everyone you can think of when you want to make a business decision?  You ask people in groups, friends and colleges  along with other experts and you find out that everyone has a different opinion and you are more confused than when you started?  What if there was a better way?  In this episode, I chat with Jennifer Lyall, Intuitive Business Mentor about how you can learn to listen to your own intuition and trust your "gut instinct".  Hint... it's all about trusting.  

Link for Success means to Jennifer: "Being connected within & to your own inner knowledge.  Tuned into wisdom that is waiting there rather than needing to go elsewhere for answers."

You can connect with Jennifer below and grab her Free 7 Day Energy Transformation: https://jlyall.com/energy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlyall/

https://www.facebook.com/LivHealthybyJL/

Founder of H.U.B Inc tells us how Connections matter.  H.U.B Inc helps connect you to the people, ideas and influences that will accelerate your business.  Today’s businesswoman deserves a new model, one more in sync with the rapidly evolving changes impacting her personal and professional life. 

The right connections truly help you Link for Success. Listen to why Mary feels that in-person networking is important to your business success.

A Strong Vision and a Road Map you can follow is crucial to your growth.  Do you have a vision?  When was the last time you looked at it?  Did you know you have permission to... ack... change it!  As you grow and evolve, so does your business and so does your vision!  Carolyn is all about thinking bigger and bigger!  She sees what you don't see and hears what you don't say.  Anything is possible when you have a clear vision -- it can ignite a powerful action plan to achieve your ultimate success.

It's Spring, which means LinkedIn has made some changes.  They made some major desktop changes last spring and this spring is not different, except the changes are minor. Have you seen the new look for the top card of your profile?  Do you have reactions, LinkedIn Live or LinkedIn Events.  These are all features that are coming to your profile and if you don't have some of these features yet, it won't be long until you do.  In this episode, Stacy talks about all these changes/updates and how they impact you, your profile and your brand.  #linkforsuccess

Whether I ask the question "Who's the star of your LinkedIn Profile" or "Who's the star of your podcast", I usually get the same response.  "ME!"  Not exactly.  Listen to this episode to find out who the star of your online content should be. 

It was my pleasure to chat with Julie Cole about collaboration and switching gears.  Julie is the co-founder of Mabel's Labels and busy mama of six. She has helped her company bring their product to a worldwide market, gain media recognition and win countless entrepreneur awards. Julie is a regular television contributor, an influential and syndicated blogger. She is also a professional speaker about business, babies and blogging. 

As an early adopter of Social Media, we chat about how things have changed over the years, how she got started and why Social Media was so important to their businesses to reach their audiences and build relationships with them.

Her advise: Go where your customers are, give them what they want where they are. She explains why your message needs to be platform specific and why automation can impact your brand.

Listen to learn how Mabel's Labels have pivoted their business to respond to the growing needs around Covid-19.  Love the creativity and inventiveness around using their technology to include new products. It was exciting to hear how she has collaborated with new companies where they would have never collaborated before. 

Connect with Julie:

https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/
https://twitter.com/juliecole
https://www.instagram.com/cole.julie/
https://www.facebook.com/Mabelhood

Would love to hear your thoughts.  Let us know using hashtag #linkforsucccess

Are you a name dropper?  Remember when people used to do that in person?  I ran into this person, I had coffee with that person.  It showed they were in the "in crowd".  Well, we have moved this concept to social media, especially LinkedIn.  Tagging influencers for the sake of tagging them to showcase they are connected to them.  Have you seen this happen?  Well, there is a right way and wrong way of going about this.  Here's my take.

I admit, I was never a fan of the term "social selling".  You never sell on social.  And Social Selling is not about selling on social.  It's about exactly what I believe... providing value and building long term relationships.  Here's my take.

Trust builds loyalty.  Loyalty builds brand advocacy.  The conversation today is around how to build trust and whether you need to have someone "like" you in order to refer or do business.  I would like to take "sales" and "liking" off the table.  LinkedIn is about building professional relationships and extending your hand to say hello to kick off the relationship.  Unfortunately, most leave this part out and extend your hand without saying hello (insert personalized connection request) and then pull it back saying "nope, I don't want to actually talk to you."   

Don't just link for the sake of linking, Link for Success!   #linkforsuccess 

2020 is fast approaching and here are my top 5 trends for the upcoming year.  From building community to Live Video, the trends continue to focus on building relationships and video based content.  What do you think are the trends for 2020?  Let me know your thoughts using hashtag #linkforsuccess

As we become more visible online, are we are subjected to more and more criticism?   What if we could turn that into the fuel that drives us forward?  These questions and more are discussed with Dana Pharant, Badass Business Performance Coach & Speaker.  I have faced this and share my experience with what I call an "anti-fan".  Have you faced this?  How has it impacted you and you business.  Let me know using hashtag #linkforsuccess

To learn more about Dana, go to https://innerdominatrix.kartra.com/page/FrC30 for a free copy of Badass Intuition.
You can connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danapharant/
She also offers a FREE 30 min session.  Book here: https://bookme.name/DanaPharant

Linking for Success also means dressing the part.  Whether you are meeting someone for the first time at a professional event or in the Digital Space, you should be consistent.  I believe in authenticity and being real... but have we taken these terms too far?

Sounds simple enough.  Have the same voice across all platforms for brand consistency.  Easy, right? Well, I'm calling myself out on this episode as I was not doing this.  If someone meets you in person, do you sound the same as your social voice or radio voice?  Authenticity is a huge part of gaining trust.  So.. here's what happened to me when I was asked about it. 

You’ve probably used hashtags on Twitter and/or Instagram because it’s "what you do there".  But you might be caught in two minds about using them on LinkedIn. Are they even allowed on the ‘professional’ network? Well, the short answer is, “Yes, they are!”

And if you want to reach a wider audience with your content, then it makes sense to start using them. But before you dive in, you need to know how to use them correctly so you can create the right impression.

Using hashtags on LinkedIn will make your content more discoverable and help you connect with members outside your network that may be interested in your content.

In today's episode, I chat with Bob Minhas about the term "Coach", working with competitors and using the term "expert".  A lively conversation that I'm sure you will enjoy.  Spoiler alert... who puts a failed business on their LinkedIn profile?  

I sat down with Dave Howlett to talk about how you are positioning your products and services during this time of crisis.  We discussed the difference between interpretation vs intention and how his "gears" are used during this time.

You can find Dave on Social Media and at www.realhumanbeing.org and check out his Ted talk on The Gear: https://www.realhumanbeing.org/media/

https://www.facebook.com/Realhumanbeinglifestyle/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/realhumanbeing