Last updated on June 15th, 2024
LinkedIn Video is a great way to help both the company you’re currently working for, while also growing your own personal brand. Judi Fox (this is her official emoji – 🦊) tells us how to make it happen.
GUEST: Judi Fox 🦊- connect with her on LinkedIn.
HOSTS: The VidAction Podcast is hosted by:
– Dane Golden of VidAction | LinkedIn | | YouTube
– Renee Teeley of VideoExplained and ReneeTeeley.com | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by our affiliate partners, including: TubeBuddy, VidIQ, MorningFame, Rev.com, and other products and services we recommend.
TRANSCRIPT
Dane Golden:
It’s time for the Video Marketing Value podcast. This is the podcast where we help marketers just like you, get more value out of your video marketing efforts. My name is Dane Golden from VidAction.tv and VidTarget.io, along with my cohost, she’s R-E-N-E-E T-E-E-L-E-Y, Renee Teeley from Video Explained. Hello, Renee.
Renee Teeley:
Hello, Dane. Today, I am fired up to be co-hosting this podcast with you.
Dane Golden:
Yes, you’re fired up, but are you thrilled?
Renee Teeley:
I’m thrilled. I’m always thrilled. I’m thrilled, I’m fired up, I’m delighted. I am all of the things.
Dane Golden:
You’re all of the things. Today we have a special guest, LinkedIn video expert, Judi Fox. Welcome, Judi.
Judi Fox:
Yay. I’m all of the things too.
Dane Golden:
You’re all of the things. Judi, we asked you on today because it’s a crazy world out there and even if people are employed, they may have less reliable employment and their businesses can use all the help they can get. So, we wanted to ask you about how and why someone who is actually, currently employed would do video on LinkedIn. Does that make sense? Does that work?
Judi Fox:
It makes tons of sense. That is a very, very relevant conversation right now.
Renee Teeley:
Awesome, I love it. In terms of using LinkedIn and video, so in the context of personal branding… I often talk about personal branding and I think sometimes there’s a negative connotation around personal branding. I’m not sure if you’ve experienced this, but I’ve seen people talk about it in this way and sometimes it can be perceived as attention seeking or self-serving in some way.
Renee Teeley:
So, can you talk just a little bit about what personal branding means to you, and who should consider intentionally building a personal brand?
Judi Fox:
This is a very good question, because as you said, one of the mindsets behind getting on LinkedIn video and putting yourself on video in general, it has a sense of, “Look at me, pay attention to me, see me on video.” So, how do you shift the mindset from thinking about building a personal brand to getting somebody to getting on video?
Judi Fox:
The way that I do it, is talking about leadership. How do you amplify your leadership voice to empower other people? It does become your message, but your message is powerful because it’s showing up as a leader. So, instead of talking about building a personal brand, when I work with clients, I talk about how to lean into your best leadership voice and the best way that you can build trust, on LinkedIn specifically and LinkedIn video specifically.
Dane Golden:
Okay. What kinds of LinkedIn video out there? Is there just one kind? Is there 10 kinds?
Judi Fox:
There is tons of ways to show up on video. Some of the top ways on LinkedIn video, is to just do a native video upload where you’ve recorded on your cell phone or you’ve recorded on a nice piece of video equipment. The range is very wide on LinkedIn for what you see, and you just upload a video that has to be less than 10 minutes, and you upload a video.
Judi Fox:
The other ways to be on video on LinkedIn, are live video. LinkedIn has LinkedIn Live. You have to use a third party application to go live, and you have to apply to LinkedIn to get access to LinkedIn Live. And then, the final way is to upload your YouTube video as a link, as a Vimeo video, some external piece of video content and it works. It works a lot more than it did in the past. I think a lot of people don’t realize that LinkedIn has upgraded the platform to show more external video sites like YouTube videos.
Renee Teeley:
You mentioned that when you’re creating videos, there’s kind of a wide range of tools that you could use to actually produce the videos. So, what gear do you use to create your videos? And then, also, what level of production quality do you recommend for LinkedIn videos?
Judi Fox:
Yes. Depending on how you want to show up as a leader and how you want to come across and look, you may be running a videography company or a media company. You potentially would want to deliver a certain quality and type and standard of video. If that’s in your mindset, you can use any kind of high production. So, ring lights and nice microphones. I don’t want to name any brands, because we all kind of know there are tons of different pieces of equipment out there, but you can go as high-end, high quality cameras, mics, lighting, production. You can go all the way down to your cell phone and filming it and recording your voice just through the cell phone mic and even through your microphone and your video on your computer, if you’re doing any Zoom calls.
Judi Fox:
Sometimes, the production level… I uploaded a video to LinkedIn the other day and it was recorded from a Zoom call. So, the quality was not crisp. The audio was still good, because I used a really nice microphone and it got 10,000 views and it did well and it-
Dane Golden:
10,000 views.
Judi Fox:
Yes, 10,000 views.
Dane Golden:
Okay.
Judi Fox:
But, I’ll just say that it doesn’t… At some point, unless you are literally selling your services to be a videographer and you’re trying to showcase your equipment and your experience and what you can do, a leader showing up on video at any level of production is accepted on LinkedIn, because it is access to a leadership voice and that matters more.
Dane Golden:
Okay. When you talk about LinkedIn video, is it for someone who’s just looking for a job, or is it for someone who just wants to sell something, or is there other things that people could use it for?
Judi Fox:
I believe LinkedIn video is for everyone. The reason why I say that, and I know that sounds very broad, but I have seen everyone from being a high school student, a college student, somebody just graduating all the way to an artist, to a plumber, to a busy C-suite executive to a politician. I mean, everyone, a hairdresser, all the way to somebody who wants to showcase their photography, videography.
Judi Fox:
I mean, if you want to create what I call career and business sustainability and insurance, LinkedIn is a powerful place to just consistently put your voice out, consistently make video for and create, as we talked about, personal brand except for just come across as a leader. If you want to show up and be thought of as a leader in your industry, in your field, it’s for everybody.
Renee Teeley:
Yeah, I-
Dane Golden:
I’m sorry, Renee, I had a follow up question. When you said something about insurance, what was that? Something insurance?
Judi Fox:
It’s a mindset, thinking about why would you do an investment of your time, your energy. It’s very similar to why do you invest your time and energy into other video on other platforms. You want longterm visibility. You want something out of it. The reason I think of it as investing in your career insurance and your business insurance, is because a lot of people have a limiting mindset around, you get on LinkedIn when you need a job. Well, the time to network and be visible and be thought of as a leader in your industry is before you ever need another job.
Renee Teeley:
Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. I love that you recommended, even plumbers are on there. I know exactly who you’re talking about, Roger, which is awesome. Yeah, and I think it goes to show that even if you’re not targeting businesses… I think a lot of people think of LinkedIn as a B2B platform. So, if you’re a business targeting a business, it’s a great place for you.
Renee Teeley:
But, it can also be worthwhile for companies who are targeting individual people. It’s a good place to connect with individual people. So, in terms of that, how can using video on LinkedIn help if you’re an employee? How can it build a personal brand while also adding some value to the company that they currently work for?
Judi Fox:
I have several clients who work for major Fortune 100 companies and Fortune 500 companies. But, I’m thinking of a couple clients specifically, and a couple of things and reasons why as an employee you would want to do this. One reason, is it amplified their visibility within their company. So, even within your company you are still being considered for other opportunities, other job to climb the ladder to maybe make it up into the C-suite, if that is your goal. Or, to get another management position. You showing up as a leader on LinkedIn, so not necessarily positioning yourself as selling anything. Maybe you’re just sharing that you went to a conference and you’re highlighting the conference that you were at and you’re sharing some pictures from that conference.
Judi Fox:
That is a powerful strategy from just a personal employee to stay top of mind within your own leadership and your own peers. What was the other part of the question, or did I miss it?
Renee Teeley:
Well, the second part of that question is… I guess I should ask, is there value to the current company that they’re working for? And if so, what is that value?
Judi Fox:
Yes, there is value. Number one, because people are interested in other people and what they’re doing. There are so many, either graduating seniors from college who would look at that company and be more attracted to that company, because of seeing a person within that company attending the events, highlighting positive things about being an employee that works there.
Judi Fox:
So, it attracts higher quality talent and higher quality inbound internships and opportunities that kind of come out of that energy. At a minimum, it does that. At a maximum, it can actually drive more contracts or more collaboration partners, depending on the brand and the company. But, the more visible a company is in general, and if your profile does highlight your company as you work there, that will get your company more visibility.
Dane Golden:
As a employee, sometimes you’re not really sure if posting video on LinkedIn is an okay thing to do, since you’re very clearly identified with your company on your profile. What if you’re not sure if it’s okay to do? I think, you may have said this when I’ve heard you speak, or maybe not, some people do this. Is it better to ask permission from your company to do it or forgiveness?
Judi Fox:
This also goes back to somebody’s risk tolerance. I do honor that space for people, because sometimes people don’t feel that they want to put themselves out there and risk their current job or position. However, I come from a place of no longer asking for permission. Coming from a place that if you really are just sharing your experience, your journey as an employee, you’re not trying to sell anything, you’re not trying to pitch anything. You are highlighting yourself as an employee of this company that is attending events and you’re keeping somewhat of your opinion at a minimum, that’s a great way for you, as an employee, to still have a voice and still put yourself out there and not have to ask for permission.
Renee Teeley:
Yeah, that’s great. It does come down to that level of tolerance in terms of risks. I’m like you, I like to ask for forgiveness. Hopefully, I never have to ask for forgiveness, but that does happen sometimes. This is all great information in terms of kind of high level and why you would want to use LinkedIn video for personal branding.
Renee Teeley:
In terms of a tactical approach, if you’re posting video on LinkedIn and you’re trying to reach as many people as possible within your target niche, how important are descriptions and hashtags?
Judi Fox:
The description that I think you’re talking about, is where you put in the written words above your video, especially on LinkedIn they’re above the video-
Renee Teeley:
Yes.
Judi Fox:
… and describes what you’re about to watch. That is so important, because people are scrolling and as they scroll across any platform, they are deleting, distorting, and generalizing all the information that they come across. And, because they’re doing those three things very quickly, the number two ways that people decide they want to watch your LinkedIn video, is through the first thumbnail, what it looks like. They’re just going to judge very quick. That’s valid across all social media, I’m pretty sure. They’re going to judge what is the description, what is the caption, what does it say?
Judi Fox:
That first line of your description is the equivalent of having your video description, caption, whatever you want to call it, it is the hook that tells you what you’re about to watch. They’re going to make a decision. Eight out of 10 times, that’s what’s been studied, that they will decide just to watch the video based on those two factors. So very, very important.
Judi Fox:
The next thing is hashtags. The hashtags are a way for LinkedIn to spread your content out to new eyeballs, new audiences that you may not be directly connected to. So, if I’m doing something and I’m using hashtag leadership or hashtag leaders, it’s going to go out to 46,000 new eyeballs that I am not connected with. Second degree connections, third degree connections, people who don’t know who I am. The way to do that is by picking three to four hashtags that have followings. You have to check that they actually have people who want to see content being posted to that hashtag. I noticed that people will do a hashtag and nobody’s following it. It’s a wasted hashtag.
Judi Fox:
So, you have to check that people are actually waiting and watching for that content. You use hashtag video, which I think is about 10,000 followers right now to hashtag video, and you go ahead and use relevant hashtags that your audience would want to watch because of what you’re saying in that video
Dane Golden:
When you’re watching videos on LinkedIn yourself, what are some factors that you say, “Oh, that’s a good video that that person posted, because…” What are a few of those things?
Judi Fox:
A few of those things are, as I mentioned, the first thumbnail on LinkedIn. We are here for that person. Especially, if you are a leader and you’ve branded your voice, your thought leadership. I want to just know that it’s you in this video that’s coming out. So, number one I’m going to pay attention to who is speaking and who’s on screen. Then, number two, I’m going to pay attention to what is that title, what are they talking about, and decide to watch it.
Judi Fox:
Next, I’m checking the length of this video. I think that’s high, high level, is to check the length of the video and decide, “Do I have one minute? Do I have three minutes?” And then, of course, it goes all the way up to 10 minutes on a native video which has been uploaded directly to the platform. I may decide not to watch it if it’s eight or 10 minutes, because that may be not the amount of time I have at that moment in time. So, I will scroll past if it’s too long and I don’t have enough time.
Judi Fox:
And, just how engaging is the person? Are they excited about what they’re talking about? Are they passionate about what they’re talking about? I’m more likely to watch something, if I feel like that excitement is going to come through and make me excited for the topic we’re about to listen to. There’s a huge difference, right, in how engaging you can sound when you’re talking about a subject you love.
Renee Teeley:
Speaking of subjects you love, I know that you work with lots of different types of people in terms of their LinkedIn video strategy or LinkedIn strategy in general, so that can be an entrepreneur or a Fortune 100 executive. Do you have any stories that you can share with us of something that’s sort of like a surprising success story from one of the people that you’ve worked with?
Judi Fox:
This a very surprising, amazing success. I had a client, within the first couple of weeks of working together, Arianna Huffington saw her post and her comment. She reshared her to her nine million followers on LinkedIn and added her as a contributor to thrive all through the LinkedIn comments and messages and content.
Dane Golden:
Wow.
Judi Fox:
Yes. That is what leadership style level of content looks like, getting the attention of Arianna Huffington.
Renee Teeley:
That’s incredible. Yeah. That’s incredible.
Judi Fox:
Yes.
Dane Golden:
Judi, what question should we have asked, but we didn’t?
Judi Fox:
I would say there’s an energy that people sometimes have around, “Is it too late? Is it too late for me to get started on LinkedIn? Or, what can I do now, and will it work?” So, there’s a lot of questions around that. I say, number one, it does work. Actually, last week, April 13th, I took 60 people through a five day fast track onto LinkedIn and some of them saw their platforms grow by over 2000%, in just five days.
Dane Golden:
Wow.
Judi Fox:
2000% increase in people viewing your profile, is a powerful indicator that this platform is thriving. If you show up in the ways that I know work and the ways that you get active on this platform to show up as a leader, it is not too late. There is literally the ability to change your life and impact and create that ripple effect now, and every day is the right day to start getting active on LinkedIn and LinkedIn video.
Dane Golden:
Inspiring words in a difficult time. Judi Fox, how can people find out more about you, and how you help people on LinkedIn?
Judi Fox:
Yes, the best way is to start with my website, judifox.com. I share some before and afters, testimonials, what the LinkedIn business accelerator method and program is all about. The way I onboard clients and get to know new people, is to apply and get on a call with me. I make it an application process, because we want to make sure that we have a high quality conversation. I am there to talk with you about your LinkedIn journey and how to fast track it as best as possible.
Judi Fox:
The way that I work with people, is to amplify their leadership voice, that then is what gets them the opportunities, the attention, the sales. What do you want more of, and that’s what we work on amplifying.
Renee Teeley:
Excellent. Thank you, Judi Fox.
Judi Fox:
You’re welcome. And, guess what? I forgot to say, let’s all connect on LinkedIn. So, connect with Renee, connect with myself, and connect with Dane. Let’s connect on LinkedIn.
Dane Golden:
My name is Dane Golden, with my cohost. She’s R-E-N-E-E T-E-E-L-E-Y, Renee Teeley. We want to thank you, the listener, for joining us today. Don’t we, Renee?
Renee Teeley:
Yes, absolutely. We hope you love this podcast just as much as we do.
Dane Golden:
I want to invite you to review us on Apple podcasts, and if you can’t find that review button, just click that share button. It’s right next to where the review button should have been, and let your friends know that we’d also like to help them with their video marketing via this podcast. Renee and I do this podcast and our various other YouTube videos and other projects, because we love helping businesses do YouTube and video marketing better. Thanks to our special guest, Judi Fox.
Judi Fox:
Woo-hoo.
Dane Golden:
Until next week. Here’s to helping you help your customers, through video.