GaryVee on Why Linkedin is Crucial for Your Business in 2024

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the untapped potential of LinkedIn as a powerful tool for business development and personal branding. They urge the audience to overcome the initial learning curve and commit to creating high-quality content on the platform, which can lead to significant opportunities such as capital raising, B2B deals, and personal growth. The talk also highlights the importance of marketing and branding over traditional sales approaches and encourages embracing new technologies and media formats for effective communication.

Takeaways

• 📈 LinkedIn is currently underutilized by most individuals and companies, presenting a significant opportunity for organic reach and business development.
• 🚀 The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating and posting content on LinkedIn to reap its benefits, comparing the platform's current state to Facebook in 2013-2014.
• 💡 LinkedIn can be used to target specific audiences, such as employees of venture capital firms, without the need for traditional advertising or networking at conferences.
• 🔍 The speaker suggests that spending time researching how to create effective LinkedIn content can lead to significant business growth over time.
• 📝 Google is recommended as a resource for learning best practices in LinkedIn content creation for specific industries.
• 🏋️‍♂️ The speaker compares the process of learning LinkedIn content creation to getting in shape, acknowledging that it's hard work but achievable with persistence.
• 📉 The speaker predicts initial struggles with content creation but encourages persistence, likening it to learning to swim or ride a bike.
• 🎯 The importance of marketing and branding over sales is highlighted, with the speaker arguing that marketing brings in opportunities rather than just closing deals.
• 🌐 The speaker predicts that AI will play a significant role in content creation, with his own content being translated into multiple languages by 2024.
• 👍 The speaker encourages the audience to overcome fear of judgment and self-consciousness when creating content, especially video content.
• 📚 Not everyone needs to create video content; those who excel in written form can also effectively communicate their message on LinkedIn.

Q & A

What is the primary message of the speaker about LinkedIn?

The speaker emphasizes that most individuals and companies are not fully utilizing LinkedIn's potential for business development, networking, and content creation. They encourage leveraging LinkedIn as a powerful tool for reaching a wide audience and achieving business goals.

How does the speaker describe LinkedIn's current state?

The speaker compares LinkedIn to Facebook in 2013 and 2014, suggesting it is a prime time for a 'land grab' in terms of B2B and B2C companies to establish their presence and gain organic reach without relying heavily on ads.

What is the speaker's advice for business development?

The speaker advises focusing on creating and posting high-quality content on LinkedIn, which can lead to significant business opportunities such as new clients, employees, or even podcast invitations.

Why does the speaker mention the importance of spending time researching LinkedIn content creation?

The speaker suggests that investing time in understanding how to create effective LinkedIn content can lead to substantial business growth, emphasizing that it's crucial to learn the best practices to maximize the platform's potential.

What is the speaker's perspective on sales versus marketing?

The speaker argues that sales is often a fallback when marketing and branding are not effectively utilized. They stress the importance of building a strong brand and using marketing to attract customers rather than solely relying on sales tactics.

How does the speaker address the issue of resistance to new technology?

The speaker highlights the historical resistance to technologies like beepers and Blackberry, suggesting that people often cling to familiar tools and resist change. They encourage embracing new technologies and understanding their potential benefits.

What is the speaker's view on the future of content consumption?

The speaker predicts that content will increasingly be consumed through platforms like LinkedIn and that AI will play a significant role in content creation and translation, making it accessible to a global audience.

Why does the speaker encourage daily posting on LinkedIn for business?

The speaker believes that consistent daily posting can lead to direct business benefits, such as hiring employees from competitors, acquiring new clients, or gaining visibility in the industry.

How does the speaker respond to concerns about self-consciousness in creating video content?

The speaker advises not to let the fear of judgment from others deter one from creating content. They also suggest that not everyone needs to do video; alternative formats like audio or written content can be just as effective.

What is the speaker's final call to action for the audience?

The speaker urges the audience to invest time in researching and mastering LinkedIn content creation, emphasizing that it can significantly impact their business and personal brand.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Leveraging LinkedIn for Business Growth

The speaker emphasizes the importance of utilizing LinkedIn for business development, highlighting that most individuals and companies are not fully capitalizing on its potential. They discuss the platform's evolution from a social network to a significant opportunity for organic reach, especially for B2B and B2C companies. The speaker suggests that by creating and posting content on LinkedIn, businesses can achieve their goals more effectively. They also mention the benefits of targeted advertising on LinkedIn, such as reaching venture capital firm employees without the need for traditional networking events. The speaker encourages the audience to invest time in learning how to create compelling LinkedIn content, drawing parallels to the process of getting in shape, where persistence and the right approach lead to results.

05:01

🌐 The Power of Content in Modern Marketing

This paragraph delves into the significance of content creation in the context of modern marketing, particularly on LinkedIn. The speaker argues that content is a universal tool that can be leveraged by everyone, from startups seeking capital to established brands. They discuss the shift in LinkedIn's usage from a recruiting tool to a social network, similar to Facebook in its early days. The speaker urges the audience to embrace content creation as a means of business development, suggesting that it can lead to significant opportunities such as hiring, client acquisition, and media appearances. They also touch on the importance of personal branding and how it can attract deals and opportunities without the need for aggressive sales tactics. The speaker concludes by encouraging the audience to research and understand AI's role in content creation, emphasizing the need for in-depth knowledge rather than superficial understanding.

10:02

🎥 Overcoming Fear in Content Creation

The speaker addresses the common apprehension about creating content, especially video content, on LinkedIn. They argue that fear of judgment should not hinder business growth, reminding the audience that negative comments on social media reflect more on the commenter than the content creator. The speaker encourages those who are self-conscious about their appearance or feel uncomfortable on camera to consider alternative formats such as audio recordings. They emphasize that LinkedIn has transformed from a recruitment platform to a social network where content consumption is prevalent. The speaker concludes by reiterating the importance of content creation on LinkedIn and the potential it holds for business development, regardless of the format chosen.

Keywords

💡LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that the speaker emphasizes as a significant yet underutilized tool for business development and content marketing. It is portrayed as an opportunity for individuals and companies to expand their reach and engage with a professional audience. The speaker mentions that LinkedIn is acting more like a social network similar to Facebook in 2013 and 2014, indicating a shift in its use from a mere recruitment tool to a platform for content creation and organic reach.

💡Content Creation

Content creation is a central theme in the video, referring to the production of material such as videos, pictures, and posts specifically for platforms like LinkedIn. The speaker underscores the importance of understanding how to create content that resonates with the audience on LinkedIn, as it can lead to tangible business outcomes such as hiring, client acquisition, and brand recognition. The script provides examples of how content can be leveraged to reach employees of venture capital firms or to make business deals.

💡Organic Reach

Organic reach refers to the visibility of content without the need for paid promotion. The speaker highlights that by following best practices and creating high-quality content, one can achieve organic reach on LinkedIn, which is a cost-effective way to gain attention and grow a business. The concept is tied to the idea that there is a 'land grab' for B2B companies to exploit this opportunity.

💡Business Development

Business development is the process of improving a company's sales and revenue by developing relationships with new and existing clients. In the context of the video, the speaker suggests that LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for business development, as it allows individuals to reach out to potential clients, partners, or investors without the need for traditional conference networking or cold calling.

💡Marketing and Branding

The speaker distinguishes between sales and marketing, emphasizing the importance of marketing and branding in attracting customers. Marketing is portrayed as a strategic approach to create desire and recognition for a product or service, which ultimately leads to sales. The video suggests that companies should focus on building a strong brand presence on LinkedIn to attract business opportunities.

💡Sales

Sales is the act of selling products or services to customers. The speaker mentions sales in contrast to marketing, suggesting that sales are the result of effective marketing and branding. The video implies that while sales are important, they should not be the sole focus; instead, companies should invest in marketing to create a pipeline of potential customers who are interested in their offerings.

💡Personal Brand

A personal brand is the image or identity that an individual projects, which can influence their professional reputation and opportunities. The speaker talks about the advantage of having a strong personal brand on LinkedIn, which can attract business deals and opportunities without the need for aggressive sales tactics. The speaker's own experience of attracting the best tech deals due to his personal brand is used as an example.

💡AI and Translation

The speaker mentions the integration of AI in content creation, specifically the use of AI to translate content into various languages. This is an example of how technology can help expand the reach of content to a global audience. The speaker's plan to have his content translated into multiple languages using AI illustrates the potential of technology to overcome language barriers and engage with a broader demographic.

💡Social Media Resistance

Social media resistance refers to the reluctance or refusal to adopt new technologies or platforms, such as the transition from pagers to smartphones. The speaker uses this concept to highlight how people often resist change and stick to familiar tools, even when new technologies offer significant advantages. The video script discusses this resistance in the context of the evolution of communication tools and the adoption of social media for professional purposes.

💡Fear of Judgment

Fear of judgment is the apprehension of being criticized or made fun of by others, especially on social media. The speaker addresses this concern, encouraging individuals not to let the fear of negative comments from others prevent them from growing their business or personal brand on platforms like LinkedIn. The video emphasizes the importance of overcoming this fear to take advantage of the opportunities provided by social media.

💡Video Content

Video content is a form of media that consists of moving images and sound. The speaker acknowledges the power of video in engaging audiences on social media, particularly on LinkedIn. However, the speaker also points out that not everyone feels comfortable creating video content and suggests alternatives, such as written or audio content, for those who may be self-conscious or prefer other forms of expression.

Highlights

The majority of individuals and companies are not leveraging LinkedIn's current opportunities.

LinkedIn offers a significant opportunity for business development through content creation and posting.

LinkedIn is currently acting like a social network similar to Facebook in 2013 and 2014, with a land grab for B2B companies.

Organic reach on LinkedIn can be achieved without ads by following best practices.

LinkedIn can be used to reach employees of venture capital firms with minimal ad spend.

Business development agendas can benefit from understanding and utilizing LinkedIn content effectively.

There's an online resource (Google) that provides best practices for creating LinkedIn content for various industries.

Consistent creation and posting of LinkedIn content can lead to significant business growth over time.

Sales is a fallback when marketing and branding are not effectively utilized.

Marketing and branding are essential for attracting customers rather than relying solely on sales.

Content creation for LinkedIn should be a part of every business's strategy, regardless of industry.

LinkedIn has transitioned from a recruiting tool to a social network where content consumption occurs.

AI is transforming content creation, with plans to translate and dub all content into native languages by 2024.

Ambitious individuals should invest time in researching and mastering LinkedIn content strategies.

Personal branding on LinkedIn can lead to better business opportunities without direct competition.

Video content on LinkedIn is effective, but not everyone needs to create video; audio or written content can also be impactful.

Overcoming the fear of judgment on social media is crucial for personal and business growth.

LinkedIn is the battleground for social media content in the business industry.

Transcripts

what is universally true for everyone in

this room regardless of where you are on

the journey within this industry is that

the far majority of individuals humans

here and companies are not taking

advantage of what's happening in

LinkedIn right now so just from a pure

practical standpoint there's so many

wants and dreams and hopes and things

that you want to happen in this room and

one of the most significant

opportunities to make that thing happen

is is actually knowing how to make

content for LinkedIn and actually

posting it and actually reaping the

benefits of it LinkedIn right this

second is acting like a social network

more similar to what Facebook was in

2013 and 14 and the land grab for B2B

companies and B2B Toc companies that

I've watched over the last two years

grow and explode and really I won't use

the word exploit but just so everybody

understands no ads just taking advantage

of best practices to create organic

reach is disproportionately the

underpriced attention the

underutilized move of this Collective

room you can literally make videos and

pictures and run 25 to $50 $100 on

LinkedIn against employees of venture

capital

firms and reach them and not have to go

to conferences and pray that you'll run

into them in the hallway to pitch them

your startup and this is result tomorrow

LinkedIn

content for your business you can

literally reach everyone everyone so

many people's agendas here today is to

do business development right you'll

listen to my talk but what you're

worried about is what's going to happen

out there and what's going to happen

tonight that's why you're here that's

the actual business the fact that I know

that scales 365 days a year if you spend

the 5 or 10 hours to do research on how

do I make good LinkedIn content by the

way there's an incredible webs it that

will tell you everything you should do I

know some of you are taking notes I'll

spell out the website for you g o o g

thank you for doing that that made my

[ __ ]

mning you can literally type in how do I

make LinkedIn content for an insurance

SAS company enter and get obnoxious

amount of results with best practices

this isn't about when I talk about this

stuff they're like Gary but how do I do

it that's like saying how do I get into

shape

everybody here knows how to get into

shape it's called stop eating [ __ ] and

go to the

gym doing it is

hard I promise you that if every person

here leaves and does proper because

there's the right way to do push-ups

versus the wrong way does proper

LinkedIn content three times a

day that they would see miraculous

results for their business a year later

the first 6 months will be terrible a

month in you'll be like like why did I

listen to that [ __ ] guy it won't

happen cuz you don't know what you're

doing yet it's like everything you

didn't know how to swim as good as you

did later ride a bike your first kiss

was a

disaster right you got better and so

when I think about this talk what can I

universally talk about I can universally

talk about content I can't encourage the

startups looking for Capital the bwtc

players the people that are like

literally instead of cold calling or

preing or business developing your way

into getting to a third party to put

your insurance

into right like when I check out on a

website do I want to buy that insurance

those bis Deb deals are big I get it I

know how it works I also know that

almost everyone in that sector is not

producing content for the e-commerce

retailers to make them consider them

we're fully reliant on sales when

marketing and

brand always beats sales I love sales

I'm a Salesman but let me explain to you

what sales is it's what you do when you

don't know how to Market and

brand I need everybody to hear that and

I'm very aware of how people look at

sales and marketing people love sales in

this room it's black and white Johnny

got the gig he brought home the bacon

yay Johnny even though he's a [ __ ]

[ __ ] we'll talk about culture in a

minute but what we don't understand and

we think marketing is a waste what did

that video do for us what's the ROI

everyone wants to be so last touch

attribution row ascac it's fine it

allows marketing brand to win almost

every piece of clothes that everybody is

wearing here is not because they sold

you and called you on the phone it's

because they built a brand and you want

to wear it marketing and brand works

there's a lot of big brands in this room

you see what they put out you think

they're making these silly commercials

on TV for their health you think it's

not not working you think they're

spending hundreds of millions of dollars

on these videos to put out to the world

and distributing them because it's funny

they like it it's hahaha promise you

it's not it's called business and I

think for even the smallest people here

two Founders who started their SAS

business today and are here hoping to

stumble into a VC who will give them

Capital during a very hard Market even

for that early stage company all the way

to the top five brands in the building

that are billions of dollars in market

cap understanding how to be a

contemporary marketer AKA how do you

make content for this this is the

television and not for long by the way

all of you that like hate that this is

like you hate that your kids are on

social all day wait till they sit in a

pod on VR for the rest of their lives

you know what this is this is the

Beeper remember the Beeper I know you do

you [ __ ] loved

it a lot of you didn't get a smartphone

back in the early 2000s cuz you were

like I don't want anyone calling me

whenever they want I got my beeper they

got my pager they'll hit me up and I'll

call them when I want to talk to them

right and then my favorite let's talk

about why people resist new technology

when this thing came out I called my mom

who's the greatest I called her and said

Mom this thing is going to change the

world and then I went out and I was

speaking then and putting out content

and I would say who's getting one of

these and too expensive why and you know

why because you guys loved your [ __ ]

Blackberry you know why you loved your

blackberry you needed to touch the

buttons cuz you knew how to type without

looking how many people here rocking a

black a Blackberry with us right now

nice two I got to buy it from you and

sell it on eBay as a [ __ ] antique I

want to go back to content CU I want to

leave with tactical things before we get

out of here I want to I want to talk

about the Linkin thing I'm going to bash

it into your head one more time before I

get out of here this LinkedIn thing is

crazy

this LinkedIn thing is crazy thinking

about the people trying to raise Capital

thinking about the people that are

trying to get bisb deals think about all

the people that have unlimited

salespeople trying to get into

organizations and get them to buy I just

couldn't push you harder to understand

how big of a deal this is now you have

to be good at it which is why I want you

to do it for a while but for anyone here

actually how many people here are

posting every day on LinkedIn for their

business raise your

hand

11 good that's good I just really want

if I ever get lucky enough to come back

here in two or three years I just want

70 80% of this room to raise your hand I

promise you if you happen to be sitting

next to someone who raised their hand

and you don't know them I highly

recommend you ask them what's going

on and I have no idea if they're good at

it or not because it is a game of being

good at it but if they're good at it

they will explain and give you a story

of a direct correlation of them hiring a

good employee from a competitor because

of one post a story of getting a new

client because of one post a story of

getting asked to be on a podcast because

of one post that then led to

business the world is changing we all

understand that but it's changing faster

than people

realize I all my content and I do have a

lot of followers like the intro said and

a lot of them are international for for

the people that stood up earlier from

the countries around the world all of my

content in

2024 will be fully translated to their

native language so I have a huge page I

have a huge following in Arabic I have a

huge following in Portuguese in Brazil I

have a huge Spanish following I have

Gary V espanol and Portuguese and all

that and all that content today is me

talking and then

subtitled every piece of that content in

2024 will be me speaking in that native

tongue tongue fully in my voice because

of AI and AI to my lips so it doesn't

even feel weird dubbed it will be as I'm

talking we are really going into a new

era and so what I what I ask is this as

I wrap

up if you came to this conference you

didn't have to if you came to this

conference my belief system is that

you're ambitious that you're hungry that

you're still growing

I don't understand that you would be

willing to shlep to Vegas for a

conference for a couple of days but you

aren't willing to spend 10 hours of real

research on every new

trend instead of taking one headline you

read about AI or one friend saying

something and taking it as your own and

your belief system why not actually

Google how do I use AI in Insurance deck

enter how about 10 hours of research per

every new thing whether you believe me

or not on LinkedIn content can double

your business if you become crazy about

it why not spend 10 hours of research

over a week or two or three and putting

in how do I make content that works on

LinkedIn my industry again a lot of you

VCS BC's in this room good deals are

competitive good deals are competitive

the reason I for a decade got access to

all the best tech deals in Silicon

Valley was because I had a personal

brand I didn't compete for them they

came to me sales versus Marketing sales

you have to go and ask marketing it

comes to you your personal content and

by the way as I wrap up not everybody

has to do video this whole notion yes

video works video is a monster we watch

videos it's what we do but for the

people in here saying man I want to do

it but I don't I feel self-conscious on

video two things on that one once and

for all can we put this to bed anyone

here who's not posting because they're

worried about Judgment of others

strangers and Friends making fun of them

who do you think you are somebody leaves

a comment saying you're ugly or stupid

or wrong I just really need you to hear

this forever more please remember this

if somebody comes to your profile on

social media and takes the time to try

to take you down you shouldn't feel bad

for yourself you should feel bad for

them do you know what kind of [ __ ] life

it is to go around the Internet and try

to make other people hurt because you're

so hurt inside once and for all we've

left middle school you're all grown now

don't let Johnny pants 97 leaving a

negative comment stop you from growing

your [ __ ] business are you in

[Applause]

[Music]

please Jesus second point on that you

don't have to to do video some of you

are incredibly talented writers and in

written form you can get across what you

want to the industry much better than

you can with Gift of Gab some of you are

good with Gift of Gab but no matter how

much I try to encourage you here you

still are self-conscious visually or

things of that nature then fine don't do

a video do audio record it on your phone

and upload it as just audio with a title

my friends the Battleground for the

world is happening out in social media

content for this industry you have a

gift it's called LinkedIn LinkedIn as

many of you remember 15 years ago was a

recruiting tool it was not a social

network you all now know it is a social

network you consume content on

[Music]

it