Episode 92 Engaging with Comments on LinkedIn Posts

Intro

I've had the privilege of being in and around banking for more than 50 years. Lots of changes during that time. We've gone from ledgers to laptops, typewriters to technology. One thing, however, remains the same banking. So people business and I'll be talking with those people who make banking grade here and Jack Rants with Modern Bankers.

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0:00:29 - (Jack Hubbard): Well, happy Thursday, everybody. Hi, Brynne.

0:00:32 - (Brynne Tillman): Hey, Jack. Excited to be here.

0:00:35 - (Jack Hubbard): Well, you know, we missed you last week, certainly, but you were out in Las Vegas providing tons of value, and we were talking kind of offline about your program. It sounds like you had a great time out there.

0:00:49 - (Brynne Tillman): I had so much fun. I met so many people that I knew so well but never met in person. You know, I'm just going to share a quick little wonderful quote from a gentleman by the name of Brian Fanzo. And I think maybe twelve years ago I heard him say this. And essentially its social media does not take the place of a handshake, but it changes the handshake into a hug. So, you know, there are people that I've known for years, and you start with the hug.

0:01:27 - (Brynne Tillman): So while this is not in person, it certainly builds that rapport so that when you have those in-person relationships, they're transformative.

0:01:36 - (Jack Hubbard): Oh, that's great. Well, I'm glad you, I'm glad you had a wonderful time. We've got a great show today. We're going to talk about commenting on content, and there's tons to talk about. Just a couple of things. The first thing is LinkedIn, and I just found out this morning, you probably know, but Kevin Turner put this out on your My Network tab, brand new as of today, on the laptop or desktop. The My Network tab has two little tabs you can go to. One is growing, which is where you can connect with people, et cetera. And the other one is catching up.

0:02:15 - (Jack Hubbard): And catch-up is pretty cool because it allows you to see those people that are first-degree connections in your network. Another reason to make lots of connections, job changes, hiring birthdays, work anniversaries, et cetera. This is so powerful and it's just laid out right there for you. You know, I used to on my calendar when I was with FTR, the other training company where I met Bob St. Meyer, I used to have a calendar and it was handwritten.

0:02:49 - (Jack Hubbard): Brynne's birthday is your birthday, I think.

0:02:51 - (Brynne Tillman): In June, but on June 21, I'll be 55.

0:02:55 - (Jack Hubbard): And so I would put that on and I would, several days before I would send you a handwritten birthday card, something like that it's hard to keep up. And if you have a lot of connections, it's impossible. So this new feature of LinkedIn really allows you to build that network, build that relationship, and that's really, really powerful. So I'm excited about that one, Bryn.

0:03:21 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah. And, you know, all of those pieces were part of the notifications, but they'd get lost.

0:03:29 - (Jack Hubbard): Yes.

0:03:29 - (Brynne Tillman): So now it's so easy. It's in one tab, and it's a great way to nurture your connection.

0:03:34 - (Jack Hubbard): It really is. And to me, it's one of the first things I'm going to go to every morning because, and here's a little technique. You can go and congratulate them along with 500 other people, or you can go to their profile, which is what I do. I go to their profile and I send them a message, or I'll do a video message, because that separates you, again, from the crowd. Before we talk about content, we had a great show yesterday with Neil Stephen and Neil Stanley. I keep calling him Neil Stephens, my friend from Atlanta, Neil Stanley, who there's nobody in the industry better on deposits than Neil Stanley. So if you didn't hear that one, you can go to our library.

0:04:19 - (Jack Hubbard): It's up there already. And you can listen back to that. But, Brynne, two more exciting programs we've got coming up next week. Jeffrey Klein, who wrote the content Beast, whom you introduced me to. And we talked a lot about content there. And on June 26, my great friend for, gosh, 25 years, Joe Friedman and I are going to talk about negotiation skills, presentations, and lots of other things. And then we start our summer reruns and we'll talk more about that as we go forward.

0:04:50 - (Jack Hubbard): But, Brynne, today we're going to talk about content. There are so many things we can discuss. I'd like to start at the top with you. How do I find the right content? Where do I go?

0:05:03 - (Brynne Tillman): So I believe, just for clarification, we're going to talk about commenting on commenting on content.

0:05:09 - (Jack Hubbard): I'm sorry, my bad.

0:05:11 - (Brynne Tillman): But you're right. Before we start commenting, we have to find the right content. So that is definitely the best place to start the conversation. And there are a few things. One is through hashtags. Now, I know a hashtag that you search often is the banking industry, right? First of all, there's an enormous amount of followers and users of that hashtag. But you may find there's a hashtag for a local chamber. You may find a hashtag for a local event. So there are sometimes, if you have a 4 July parade in your town, there could be a hashtag around that.

0:05:53 - (Brynne Tillman): So then it's not just on LinkedIn. You can use it on Instagram Twitter and other places to start to find the content that makes sense for you to engage on. And with the other, which is something you talk about all the time, is making sure you ring the bell of your clients, your prospects, and your industry leaders. I'm going to toss that back to you to talk about.

0:06:18 - (Jack Hubbard): Yeah, I like to ring the bell. And there's a new, relatively new feature on LinkedIn that I find to be extremely valuable. If you're a first-degree connection, it's easy to ring their bell. You do have to do it. It's up in the upper right-hand corner, right under the top of the fold, and you ring the bell and you can click on it. But what's really neat, LinkedIn has done something fairly new recently.

0:06:43 - (Jack Hubbard): You can do one of three things. You can leave it off, which is a bad idea. If you're going to want to share content and comment on their content, you can either do all, which I have on for you because all of your content is amazing.

0:06:57 - (Brynne Tillman): I have all for you, too.

0:06:58 - (Jack Hubbard): Or most relevant. Now, I have no idea how they do that, but it's all personalized based on your activity. So I like the ring the bell, Brynne. I'm gonna throw it back to you for your comments. Cause you taught me how to do this.

0:07:13 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah. So I did ask this question when I was at LinkedIn yesterday, is, what is the difference? And I got an answer. How about that? So all is, if I like or react to something if I comment, all is going to come in. If you do the second one, which is relevant, it's only the things I post.

0:07:39 - (Jack Hubbard): Interesting.

0:07:39 - (Brynne Tillman): So I actually think generally I don't have a problem with the second one. Now you, I want to know what you're commenting. There are a few people that all really do matter to me, but mostly, if I'm doing this to find content or to engage on content of people inside of my network, I think we're okay with the most. Or that, I mean, not all, but the relevant. The second opportunity. So why do I like this? You know, we started with, I mean, this whole thing is going to wind up talking about comments, but it's about finding the right content to comment on. If you go right to your newsfeed and you start commenting on your newsfeed, you go down a rabbit hole and you're engaging with people, not intentionally or with purpose.

0:08:33 - (Brynne Tillman): And so when you follow because of hashtags or you ring the bell of clients, prospects, industry leaders, and influencers. And not just banking influencers, but influencers in the industry that you serve. So if you serve, let's say, restaurants, which I just talked with the banker, shockingly, that focuses on restaurants. Okay, great. So, if you do that, who are the influencers in the restaurant world? Because commenting and engaging on that content will get you on the radar of the restaurant tours. Right? So it's not just banking industry experts, but the experts in the industries you serve. And that's one of the reasons we're such huge fans of vertical IQ, because we can find content around other industries that we're not just focused on sharing banking all the time.

0:09:36 - (Jack Hubbard): I want to go to the next one about adding value, but I'm all about the whys. Why would I do this? And what's really interesting, and I learned a lot from you about this, as well as Richard Bliss, who talks about the fact that when you comment on someone's content, it helps them and it helps you. It helps your network because if you comment and you provide something of value, your network's going to benefit.

0:10:08 - (Jack Hubbard): The author of the post will benefit because it will boost their visibility, which means more people will see it. And the more people that see it also see your comments. So adding value through comments is really important. And you're so good at this, Bryn.

0:10:27 - (Brynne Tillman): Oh, I appreciate that. You know, adding value really isn't just, it's just don't say, great post. Loved this. Now, there are times that I've done this. So if you go back and say, oh, Bren, you don't do this. So there are definitely times when I want to engage. I really like it and I've done that, but it's not effective. So just like, you know, do as I say, not as I do. No, I'm actually pretty good at it. But you will see every once in a while, I might say, I love this.

0:11:03 - (Brynne Tillman): Usually it's on an idea, a quick idea, not a full post. But either way, my point of this is, to read, consume the content, and then put your own perspective on it. Now it's really about how can you take what they've done, what they've written about, what they said, and add another thought-provoking moment, right? That's where we're adding value. Or maybe we're taking their concept one step deeper. Or you're talking about how you've implemented that concept and what that looked like.

0:11:48 - (Brynne Tillman): So adding value is not just, you know, it's really about if someone read it. So they read the main post and then they read your comments. Are they getting more than they got just from the post? That's probably a good way to look at it when they consume your comment. Was that a good use of their time and did it add to the experience?

0:12:14 - (Jack Hubbard): Yeah. And there are a couple, you know, I mentioned Neil Stanley. Neil is outstanding in terms of commenting on someone's posts and adding a ton of value. And it's not just. You don't necessarily just need to comment with a comment. You can comment with a question. I found in this best practice of this and this. What about the rest of you? And so you keep that conversation going. And I like what you said. And you're right, it depends on time. Sometimes you're shorter, sometimes you're longer.

0:12:46 - (Jack Hubbard): But one of the things you've taught me is more than seven words. Don't just say great post. That helps no one with more than seven words. And I always like to tag, and you help me with this. I always like to tag the person when I comment because then it goes back to their notification. I think that's something you taught me. I'd love to have you comment on that.

0:13:08 - (Brynne Tillman): Well, so I. So I think tagging them is great. They will see because it was their original content, they will see it. But I do think it's kind of like using someone's name in a conversation. Like, I think, you know, it's nice that I remember your name is Jack when we're talking. Like, if I use your name, it just creates a stronger rapport in the moment. So I'm a big fan of it. It will probably create an even more obvious notification than seven people commented and you're in that.

0:13:49 - (Brynne Tillman): So it will definitely highlight you even more when you mention their name because it'll come in that you commented and then there's a second one that will say that their name was mentioned. So it does highlight even more. But I also love it, and I think I'm jumping ahead. I might be. And if I am, we'll skip it later. I like to mention people who will also get value from that post. Like at Hubbard. Check this out.

0:14:21 - (Brynne Tillman): Right? You know, I really, here's what I really loved about this at Jack Hubbard. I think you'll like this too. It does a lot of things. So that now expands even greater, right? Their reach goes even further when Jack comes back and he engages. But the fact that you took the time to do that, when someone does that on my post, I'm blown away. And I am like hyper like who did he, who did he mention? Oh, she looks awesome. Maybe I'll connect. And I now expand my network with people who will most likely get value from the content I share.

0:15:03 - (Brynne Tillman): So I'm a big fan. I'm going to do a bonus on this. If you are the admin of your bank company page, you can comment as you first, you can actually, there's a little drop-down where you can change it from your face to the company logo and then you can engage as the company, as the company, you can say, would love your perspective and mention five or six commercial bankers. And that will also help to increase the following of your company page.

0:15:41 - (Jack Hubbard): Now let's be clear about what Brin's said. It's not a post that you comment on, it's a comment you comment on. And as you comment, you say, hey Brynne Tillman, this is really an interesting post. I love your perspective as well. So you're tagging or mentioning them in the commentary. You know who does this really well? And I just, I just love what he does. It's Dave Curland. So what Dave will do is he has a rant every week on video that he does and they're outstanding. You should follow Dave.

0:16:17 - (Jack Hubbard): But what Dave will do is he'll put the post up and then he'll, in the comments section he'll say, hey, my regular commenters. And then he'll put ten to 15 people in. What are your thoughts about this? Now I get an email about that, Brynne, from my modern banker email. So I know when Dave has asked me to comment and that is a really powerful thing to do. So I love that.

0:16:45 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah, I mean, I think it's great. And then the second part of that is for bank administrators and company page administrators. This is a great opportunity for you to bring in other bankers into the conversation.

0:16:59 - (Jack Hubbard): Absolutely. And I want to move on to sue some additional things. And the next one I want to talk about is engaging promptly. But I'll forget this if I don't mention it. Lazy like lackluster. Too often what happens is either because we're busy or because we don't know what to do or what to say, we click on. Like, that doesn't really help. Also, if you like and then comment, do the opposite. Comment first and then click like about ten minutes later because that helps you and it helps them. So remember, lazy like lack luster, but talk about engaging promptly.

0:17:44 - (Jack Hubbard): Why do I want to engage promptly?

0:17:47 - (Brynne Tillman): So I'll tell you an experience that I just had it was interesting, and it was someone who put out a very moving post. It was a personal story that was just very moving. And it went a little viral because I would say in the first couple of hours there were probably 50 or 60 people that commented. I was one of them. Then I saw it maybe two or three days later. And this is relatively recent, and the original poster had not gone back to like or comment.

0:18:32 - (Brynne Tillman): And all of the comments were as deeply heartfelt as the original post. And I thought, what a missed opportunity here. Right. And so I like to say if you comment and someone comments on your comment, there is not an easier way to start a conversation with someone. But if you don't start a conversation, it's like someone, it's like you cut off the conversation and it just ended up a one-way engaging. Probably you will get notified when people engage. You may even get an email.

0:19:17 - (Brynne Tillman): But if you comment on something, make sure you're just hyper-aware of who is engaging back. Because we miss really great opportunities and the biggest opportunity missed, even when people do that, well, they don't engage with the people that, and this is even on your post, that simply react. So they'll potentially comment on comments, but they don't reach out or even research who's reacted. There have been many times where I have seen, and this is like on an original post where someone reacted to it but didn't comment.

0:19:58 - (Brynne Tillman): But there's someone I want a conversation with. So don't discount their lazy likes for sure. Right. So make sure you're engaging. Yep.

0:20:11 - (Jack Hubbard): So yesterday the Fed decided to keep rates the same, didn't raise, didn't lower. So, I haven't seen any posts like this. But just imagine somebody posts what is going on with the Fed, they're a bunch of idiots, blah, blah, blah. Or they put a post together and they just neutrally say, oh, the Fed's not changed, etc, etc, and somebody comes in and comments, well, what a bunch of idiots. They're stupid, they're hurting the economy.

0:20:45 - (Jack Hubbard): You talk about. Yes. And which is a more neutral approach to this. And I think that's exactly what you have to take on LinkedIn.

0:20:53 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah. So I think it's important that you don't, first of all, in your comments, don't contradict the author. Right. We have to make sure that even if we have a very different perspective, we're not discounting their perspective. So the yes and really is, and you don't have to say yes. And, and this comes from improv. Right? Like yes and continues the conversation. No. But stops the conversation. Right. So. Yes. And so doesn't mean you have to agree directly, but you have to come at it positively.

0:21:34 - (Brynne Tillman): So, my positive. And now you guys know my secret. If you see this is what, a fabulously interesting perspective. I never considered that perspective. Right. So I'm not agreeing, although it feels like a yes. And I appreciate your perspective. It's interesting. I've always come at this from a different point of view, and then you can share that, but you're not making them wrong. Right. And that's what's really important.

0:22:13 - (Brynne Tillman): You're embracing publicly that there are many different ways to look at it, and this happens to be the way I look at it. And when it's. I hate using the term politically correct, but, you know, it's relationship correct. Right. This is how you should approach your spouse your coworkers and your children with yes and right. Like, as soon as you make someone wrong or feel wrong, they're done right. They've just created a terrible experience.

0:22:50 - (Brynne Tillman): But when you. Yes. And it. It can be transformative, and they're more open to listening to your perspective.

0:23:01 - (Jack Hubbard): That's right. And remember this. When you comment on something, it doesn't make the poster look bad. Makes you look bad if you. If you go on some kind of a ridiculous rant or something along those lines. And by the way, you all should know, that Brynne has practiced this since the day I got into business with her. I was surprised when the first time you said yes, and it kind of took me back. It's like I've never heard it that way before.

0:23:32 - (Jack Hubbard): So you're agreeing that I have a perspective. It doesn't necessarily mean it's yours, but you want to put a spin on it, but you respect mine. And I think that's important verbally as well, as you mentioned. And it's so important for your personal reputation on LinkedIn to do the yes. And that's a good thought.

0:23:54 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah. I'm gonna put that out to my improv teacher, who taught me that pre-pandemic when I was in improv. It was really a wonderful personal growth experience. So if anyone ever wants to try improv, it's amazing. And you really learn. So, if, you know, you really learn how to interact with other people. So it keeps building on itself, not shutting it down.

0:24:26 - (Jack Hubbard): I want to talk about two other things, and we have Jose, who's commenting up there. Always enjoy new perspectives. We appreciate that, Jose. Thank you so much. It's good to see you. And that's really the essence of this program, is to make sure that we're providing a lot of practical help and a lot of practical ideas. And we have some ideas for the summer that we'll come back to you on as well. But you have two more that I really like, and this is helpful to me because I tend to be somewhat verbose.

0:25:06 - (Jack Hubbard): You talk about this in your comments. Keep it concise.

0:25:12 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah, so you don't want to overtake the content that was in the original post unless you're commenting on your own post and then you have free rein. But there is an interesting perspective that someone will have that you're trying to hijack their content. Now, if I put something out, I want Jack's full opinion. I want to hear it all. There are many people in my ecosphere that I am grateful for and appreciative when they are verbose right when they do because I know that every word has value.

0:25:58 - (Brynne Tillman): But if you are commenting on someone else's post that you don't have a relationship with, make sure they don't feel like you're hijacking their content. So just make it valuable, make it quick and sweet, and over time, based on their reaction to your comments, you may be able to go deeper, but you want to make sure that you're respecting their audience and their perspective before you take over.

0:26:31 - (Jack Hubbard): That's really fair. One thing you said I really like, and that's don't forget that if you post your own content, you can comment on your own content. And I find that to be pretty valuable. See, the goal of content, in my opinion, add value, educate, and spur conversation. So if you're seeing in the first few minutes that you're not getting as much as you'd like, then go the comment on your own content route and then mention a couple of folks and maybe you'll get a few comments.

0:27:12 - (Jack Hubbard): Look, here's the deal. I think a lot of people either now or used to get on LinkedIn and they want thousands and thousands of comments. I don't care if my post, I put out a post this morning. It's a new thing I want to do on Tip Thursday. And I put out a post and I had a few comments and I don't know, I have a couple hundred, three, or 400 people that have viewed it. That's fine. I didn't do it for that reason.

0:27:41 - (Jack Hubbard): I did it because I was inspired and I thought it would be adding value. So comment on your posts as well as on others' posts. Don't forget to ring the bell. I think the last thing your tip is so good. And that's a check for typos.

0:27:59 - (Brynne Tillman): Yeah, I have Grammarly because I am the queen of typos. Then. And then. T h e n t h a n. I know. I can tell you in a definition which one to use when. But when I'm in the middle of typing, I'm like, oh, I think it's enjoying, you know, using Grammarly, so even more than typos. Look, this is your reputation. What people read out there, and what they see reflects you as a professional. So I'm definitely checking for typos and grammar and all those other fun things. I'm just a big fan of Grammarly because it does it for you.

0:28:42 - (Jack Hubbard): Yeah, no doubt about it. Well, this is great. Any final thoughts on commenting?

0:28:50 - (Brynne Tillman): So, generally, when we teach content, we'll say comment ten times more than you post. Right. Commenting is an incredible way to build rapport and even credibility when the content that you're sharing it adds value to a post. So although we truly believe posting is important, when people put content out and you comment, that is the biggest form of almost kindness on LinkedIn that you could do.

0:29:30 - (Brynne Tillman): They're putting it out because they want engagement. So when you engage in their stuff, they like you. Similar. Jack, this is something you taught me, and I don't know if I'll get it exactly right, but when you're out networking and having conversations, they should talk 80% of the time. You talk 20% of the time because then they think you're a good conversationalist. I don't know if I got those stats right, but exactly right. Okay. I've been listening.

0:30:01 - (Brynne Tillman): So. So I think here, too, right? Like, if you're engaging, let them be the focus 80% of the time and you are engaging with their stuff, and then 20% of the time they're engaging with yours.

0:30:19 - (Jack Hubbard): That's great. Well, good stuff. And I love the fact that you ended with that because if you really want your own post to have a lot of value and be seen better, comment on five posts before you post. Comment on five posts after you post. It will help everybody. And that's why it floats all boats. That's really good. You know, Bryn in Seattle, Washington, back in 1910, they celebrated the first Father's Day, and it was one year after they celebrated the first Sunday Father's Day.

0:30:54 - (Brynne Tillman): Happy Father's Day.

0:30:55 - (Jack Hubbard): Isn't that cool? And I'm going to post something about my dad, who was a real hero of mine. And he always said, when you're a kid, what does your father want for Father's Day? Well, you give him a tie or whatever. And I remember when my dad was in his early eighties, I said, what do you want for Father's Day? He says I want two things from you from Father's Day. I want your time and I want your respect.

0:31:21 - (Jack Hubbard): And I would end the program like that because I think that's really important. Sure, the tie is great and the best grace father cop is fine. They want your time. They want your respect. So happy Father's Day to everybody, and happy Father's Day to Walt and Bryn. Always great to see you. What a great program today.

0:31:39 - (Brynne Tillman): This is a lot of fun. Happy Father's Day. Bye, guys.

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Outro

Thanks for joining us for Jack Rants with Brynne, brought to you by our good friends at Vertical IQ and RelPro. We're live on LinkedIn every Thursday at noon Eastern time, helping bankers turn connections into conversations. Don't miss an episode. Visit https://www.themodernbanker.com/tmbpodcast. Leave us a review, if you would. You can also listen to this program and the new Jack Rants with Modern Bankers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and iHeartRadio. We're on YouTube as well. Subscribe at https://www.youtube.com/@TheModernBanker. Finally, don't forget to make today and every day a great client day.