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00:00:00
00:00:01
Julia Lechner
123 Plays15 days ago
Thanks for listening to our episode with Julia Lechner.
To keep up with or connect with Julia:
✨ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julialechner/
✨ Website: www.juliaevelechner.com
To stay in touch with Meredith and Medbury:
Follow Meredith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-farley/
Follow Medbury on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medbury_agency/
Subscribe to the Medbury newsletter: https://meredithfarley.substack.com/
Email Meredith: Meredith@MedburyAgency.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Julia Lechner
00:00:01
Speaker
Julia, I've been like looking forward to doing this all week. I'm excited to get the chance to actually just have an hour to talk with you, which i always wish we could do on our calls. For anyone listening, can you say a little bit about who you are and what you do?
00:00:15
Speaker
Sure. My name is Julia Lechner, Jersey born and raised, and I've lived in Los Angeles for over a decade now. I am currently the head of executive content at Medbury. So Meredith and I are colleagues and I've worn several hats over the years. I started as a newspaper reporter for a Gannett Daily paper in New Jersey.
00:00:35
Speaker
I've worked in comedy podcasting. entertainment news. I've been with E-news, Paramount, pivoted to tech at Nextdoor, and now I'm at Medbury. So I've done a few, quite a few things over the years, but a big through line in my career has typically been storytelling. So whether that's bringing podcasts to life, working as a journalist to share other people's stories.
00:00:58
Speaker
Now with Medbury, sharing our client stories on their LinkedIn and social profiles. And in my free time, I also perform live at storytelling shows. I'm a Moth Grand Slam champion and perform at a lot of storytelling and comedy shows
Julia's Journey at E-News
00:01:11
Speaker
in the L.A. area, which is very fun to do as well.
00:01:14
Speaker
I know. After this, I should ask you for like your favorite video of you storytelling. And we can put it in the send if you want. You're such an incredible storyteller. I feel so lucky that we get to work together and that you're in Medbury.
00:01:26
Speaker
Every time we talk and you give me your background, there's like a new thing. And I'm like, wait, I didn't even know that. I didn't know E-News. What did you do at E-News? I was. That's one of the few jobs over the years. When I look back now that we write for LinkedIn, as we write for other people's profiles, it makes me reflect on my own career to think of.
00:01:45
Speaker
used to tell. Working at E! News was one of the few times I was truly a resume out of a pile. ah did not have the in-in. I was looking for my next role. I'd been working with a comedy podcasting network called Earwolf in Los Angeles. Oh, yeah. Wow.
00:02:00
Speaker
You're initially the early days of Earwolf. And i applied E! News. They were looking for someone for their social media team. So essentially part of the writing test was like writing funny witty tweets to share entertainment headlines.
00:02:14
Speaker
Most of my tenure there was on their social media team. And then I pivoted to a staff writer role after that and really married the journalism experience because of course E there's red carpet content, but also there's breaking news. So I have that journalism background.
Crafting Engaging Content
00:02:30
Speaker
And also I do comedy in my free time so you need to have a little bit of fun on the social channels at e And i am great at bar trivia now because I know every Kardashian and all her significant others and all sorts of celebrity trivia thanks to my time there.
00:02:45
Speaker
And it was a whole lot of fun. And then after that was with Paramount for about six years, working on a lot of their different brands too. So when you're doing e and their profiles, their social media profiles, do you have any memories? Were there moments that stood out about tweets or posts you did that like really got some traction?
00:03:04
Speaker
There were some fun one-liners I got to share, which is always a joy. i think it was also fun if we had moments where we tagged or mentioned celebrities and then they play with us a little bit like they would also respond and it feels a little bit like the wild west of the internet now it's been a number of years since i've been there and things have changed over time so of course we're trusted and trained professionals but we weren't getting approval and every single thing we were sending out especially on a live red carpet night so we really had fun to quickly hop on things
00:03:37
Speaker
and get to engage in the comments, which was very fun to get to do and experiment with new social platforms as well. So I think my favorite moments were those breaking news sort of moments, like a red carpet or when something's going on live and you have to think really quickly.
00:03:54
Speaker
You don't have time to really test things out or or pitch ideas to your your colleagues. You just have to send it out into the world. And that was always fun when you see people engaging with it online.
00:04:05
Speaker
Oh, that's super cool. I feel like those one liners, it's like when we talk about those really short LinkedIn posts and we call them like a spiky little micro post. That maybe like the OG version of those.
00:04:15
Speaker
Yes. Okay. I wanted to ask, and this wasn't like something i realized afterwards, it's not in our talking points, but I feel like it'll help give a picture of what you're doing, which is, could you share an average day in your life right now? happy to. So my role at Medbury, we work with a number of different executive clients and as well as their teams to put together what their social posts look like for the month.
00:04:38
Speaker
So for me, that is a mix of managing client accounts and project management. So there's emails, comms, meetings to be in touch with the the clients we're working with. I'm the face of that and working with them to get the content to a great place.
00:04:53
Speaker
I pitch content ideas to our clients. So every month I reach out with ideas of what we'd like to cover for them, what's working, where we'd like to experiment a bit, and then doing the drafting and editing of that content.
The Power of LinkedIn
00:05:06
Speaker
That can also involve working with their team. So depending on how large of a profile the executive has on their team, I may be coordinating with their graphic designers or video team to put together media that will support those posts.
00:05:19
Speaker
It requires some research for quite a few of the executives. So having that journalism background is helpful. Admittedly, I'm not an expert in all fields. So if I'm writing for someone in FinTech, EdTech, VC, those are things that might be new to me. And i look to to research so I can also sound like an expert and then insert their point of view into those posts that we're writing.
00:05:43
Speaker
And personally, I really love working on the personal storytelling posts. Not surprised there for the executives. I think they're really humanizing, showing their journey over the years, and it allows their followers to see themselves in the executives as well and get to know them a little bit better.
00:05:58
Speaker
One thing we did this week as well, maybe not every single day, but a part of that day-to-day is meeting with the new executives we're working for to have voice interviews, to get to know them better, to know their stories, to ask personal questions, and then adapt that into their content.
00:06:14
Speaker
I'm a little tired even just listening. You're handling lot. You do so many things so well. No, appreciate that rundown for sure. It's funny. I was talking to an Instagram agency for potentially, I think i mentioned it to you about them doing MedBerry work. And one thing they said was they're like, we bring the SME of Instagram.
00:06:32
Speaker
You guys would need to bring the SME of the content that we'd be creating for MedBerry. On one hand, I really admired. I was like, that's pretty good boundaries. That's very clear. But I do think there's always this.
00:06:43
Speaker
It's helpful to be able to quickly understand a client's industry and the context that they're operating in. And I think you're really good at that. I feel like you're an expert very quickly. Thank you. And I think something that's helpful from that journalism background is, of course, I totally trust and defer to the client as to what messages do you want to share? What's your personal expertise we should share?
00:07:05
Speaker
But putting on that journalist hat of asking certain questions, I think sometimes when someone is an expert in something, they don't always see what are content opportunities that may seem obvious to them, quote unquote, like it's something that to them they think,
00:07:20
Speaker
oh, everyone in my industry knows this, or they may not realize there's certain opportunities there. So asking the right questions to dig a little deeper can be helpful. And also I'm always looking to write at a level that anyone on LinkedIn who finds their content will find it accessible, even if they're not in that same field.
00:07:39
Speaker
So I think sometimes just asking those questions can help us get to new layers and ideas they may not have considered for their LinkedIn. Yeah, totally. It's like we have a blindness to areas that we have deep SME and then it can feel like, oh, is that too basic or too obvious? But it's almost never too basic or obvious. It's like extracting that data is so helpful and you're really good at it. OK, like you're active on LinkedIn. That's how you and I met. I loved your content so much.
00:08:05
Speaker
What has LinkedIn done for you and why would you perhaps encourage others to put themselves out there? LinkedIn is one of the many platforms I've joined over the years. And I think because in in previous roles, I have worked in social media, at E-News.
00:08:20
Speaker
and During my time at Nextdoor, I was the head of editorial and social. I'm typically a joiner of all new major social platforms. It doesn't necessarily mean we adopt it for every brand that I've worked for, but I think it's good to see.
00:08:32
Speaker
This is a new platform. What should i do? So I've been on LinkedIn. Goodness, there's probably a way to check, but probably since I was in college. So it's been a while. i loved the idea of having an online resume, which is really how LinkedIn first started, was having a profile to show who you are and what you do.
00:08:48
Speaker
i used social early in my career as a way to connect with sources working as a journalist. Then I moved cross country for my second career when I pivoted from journalism to podcasting and to entertainment.
00:09:02
Speaker
And so it was a way to make new connections because I left the market I was from and needed to meet more professionals in a new city. And since then, it's become more of a platform for content creation, thought leadership, storytelling.
00:09:15
Speaker
And I really had a lot of fun sharing on it. I i think I'm a writer at heart, even though i perform quite a bit too. So I like that it's a text-based platform to start and was able to share a lot of personal stories on the platform. And I've used it also currently, not just to share my own content, but because we work professionally with clients, it's ah a way for me to use it on the testing ground.
00:09:39
Speaker
So previously I've worked with CEOs who had tens of of thousands of followers. And I do currently now with MedBerry. So it's a way to test out different kinds of posts so I can see on on my end what's working and what's not, and then make those recommendations to others.
00:09:53
Speaker
And I've found different professional networking groups through LinkedIn. I've been fortunate to get two roles thanks to LinkedIn. So MedBerry is how you and I connected, which is wonderful. And prior to that with Nextdoor, was not looking to make a leap at that time, but a recruiter found me on LinkedIn thanks to my content.
00:10:11
Speaker
We started having some conversations and that's when I decided it would be a great opportunity to take that leap and move into tech. So it's led to real work opportunities for me, which is also really exciting. So it's been really great platform and I'm glad I can now professionally help others build their profiles out because before it was just a fun thing for me to do. And now I can help others get results out of LinkedIn as well.
00:10:35
Speaker
Well, you're really good at it. It's cool to watch you work. When you're working with the new exec, What are some of your go to post types or strategies? And I could probably answer some of these now.
00:10:46
Speaker
i will i won't try to, but yeah you go. You go. I have some favorites when starting out. And again, don't make sense for every client. You have to seal out what they're comfortable with and what their presence has been thus far.
00:10:59
Speaker
like a good old fashioned reintroduction post at times. That's a way, especially for those who haven't been active, it's a way to post a photo of yourself. share a highlight reel of you personally and professionally. Here's three things I've accomplished at work.
00:11:13
Speaker
Here's two new hobbies I have, what have you. So it's just a way to put yourself out and into the world and you can include some news in that or you can just commit to, I've decided to be a little more active on LinkedIn this year.
00:11:26
Speaker
this is me. And the comments are typically very warm and engaging. And i think it can feel vulnerable to some to do that post because you're putting yourself out there to say, hey, you're going to see more content from me.
00:11:39
Speaker
i hope you like me, Internet. But I think it's a really great way to hold yourself accountable to a new goal that you plan to be active on LinkedIn. And it is just a simple way to give people a sense of who you are.
00:11:51
Speaker
Because if someone sees something in their feed, they may have no idea what your professional expertise or career history is.
Alternative Career Paths
00:11:58
Speaker
It's not just your close friend seeing it, but it could be the general public as well.
00:12:02
Speaker
So it's essentially an elevator pitch in a post. So I really like the the reintroduction post. I'm also a big fan of milestone post. Those get a lot of attention and I'm sure we're all familiar with them on LinkedIn. They're often new job announcement, new move, something worthy of celebration.
00:12:22
Speaker
LinkedIn does push out something automatically when you put up a new job or promotion on your account. However, you can tailor your own post to include something like a photo of you and your team celebrating news.
00:12:34
Speaker
And i do think people generally want to cheer one another on and celebrate news. And that's a big part of what social media is for and what it can do. So that's a great opportunity to highlight personal wins or also team wins at your job. And I think a great way to perform on there too.
00:12:51
Speaker
I've been thinking for the newsletter since we get a little more technical and LinkedIn focused with it. I want to do one that's like the anatomy of a milestone post, because i always love the days like today when we had a couple go out.
00:13:03
Speaker
It's really fun to see clients get like 500 likes and tons of comments. And for anyone listening, wondering, I i feel like our tips for milestone posts are what was it? It's like less than 750 characters.
00:13:16
Speaker
You want to let the folks know in the very first line what you're celebrating. And as Julia said, like a picture. and if you nail that formula, people want to engage and celebrate the folks that they know. And I feel like those posts make it really easy for people to just be like, congrats. And it's like a big moment. It's cool.
00:13:34
Speaker
I've personally felt that those are often the most long tail posts that I have as well. When I post something celebratory that happens to me, I'll still see likes or engagement on that.
00:13:46
Speaker
weeks, sometimes even months later that people find that. So I do think there are posts that really have staying power on the platform too. So it's great to be really intentional about when it makes sense to share those milestones, because those are often the ones that rise to the top and are seen by most of your network.
Julia's Professional Brand
00:14:03
Speaker
All right, so now we're going to do something which is for our voice interviews with clients, we tailor it for each account, but we do have kind of a set list of questions that when we do a voice interview with an exec, we ask them and it helps us pull out insights into their SME or stories or personal backgrounds.
00:14:21
Speaker
So Julia and I, we were talking about how, and guess I'm just talking to listeners now, not you, Julia. We were talking about how we're busy on calls and we don't always get the time to dig in and learn as much as we want about each other. So our thinking is we're going to each choose three surprise questions from our voice interview to ask the other.
00:14:41
Speaker
I know you've been talking a lot, Julia. What's your preference? Do you want to go first or do you want to go second? I'm happy to ask you a question first. I wonder if we chose the same three. We'll find out.
00:14:52
Speaker
So I'll start. If you were to do something totally different, what would it be and why? Oh, I love this question. I would be Jungian analyst because I'm so interested in psychology. Therapy has been so helpful and huge in my own life. I have an awesome therapist who's been like life changing and I'm obsessed with this Jungian life. I think Jung has so many interesting ideas that have certainly been helpful for me to embrace, but also are really tied to creativity. And in many ways, actually so much of Medbury's stuff, like Jung's really big on creativity.
00:15:31
Speaker
archetypes, persona, how you think of yourself versus how others perceive and think of you. I think there's a lot of overlap where Jung is currently still like informing what I do and like symbolism as well too.
00:15:44
Speaker
i feel like maybe we've talked about this, Julia, but I think there's like a ghostwriter, just psychologist pipeline in that Daisy, who's on LinkedIn and is big and I really admire him a lot, Daisy Simonis.
00:15:56
Speaker
I think she and I have talked and I know she's really interested in psychology. She's a ghostwriter. One of my good friends, Kelsey, is an executive ghostwriter who's also fascinated with psychology. That would be her backup career.
00:16:07
Speaker
So I think there is probably something of if you're really curious about how other people think and how to like get into their head and voice and then also mindful of like, how do you tell a story on a more public stage? There's just a lot going on there. So probably be that.
00:16:23
Speaker
And I also love like fashion and skincare, which I recognize it's pretty basic, but I've always been interested in like the backend business side of that stuff too. Are you like, oh wow, that's really seems weird or surprises you?
00:16:35
Speaker
Where does that track?
Strategic LinkedIn Posts
00:16:36
Speaker
that's fascinating. And I'm not as, I don't think I've studied psychology to the degree you have, but that completely makes sense why that would appeal in a ghostwriting position. I think from my end, I've always looked through a journalistic lens at of asking questions to see what makes people tick and how they think. So there are some similarities there, but that's more of a new concept to me. So that's really interesting to hear.
00:16:58
Speaker
That was one of my questions for you. So I'm super curious. What would you do if you weren't doing this? I feel like my first default is a little bit of a cop out because it is somewhat of a hobby as well. But I'm a really big fan of David Sedaris. He's a a humorist, a writer, one of my favorite storytellers.
00:17:15
Speaker
I still think this could be in my future, but writing my stories and books and essays to share with others is a goal and something I'd love to do. I have not done yet. I've always written professionally, but not comedy essays, though I do share my comedy on stage here in Los Angeles. So I think in the future that will be a goal is to put everything together into one book. But having that kind of career just sharing my goofy, funny, true to life stories with others is something that I have enjoyed as a hobby and it would be neat to try professionally.
00:17:46
Speaker
And then I think something just beyond that, because that feels like a little bit of a cheat because I already do it and my free time. I did mull over and I applied to law school and ultimately decided not to go. but that is something that I could see as something I think I'd be strong at. I'm not afraid of public speaking. i do see the overlap between the journalism of skills yeah and doing deep research as a lawyer. I'm very persuasive.
00:18:11
Speaker
You are. ah I think that that there are certain things that I've noticed in commonalities in law where like, OK, I can stand in front of a group of people and convince them to agree with my point of view. And of course, that's not all that is in the legal field. But I think I have some of the strength that would work in that line of work.
00:18:29
Speaker
Oh, that's interesting. I wouldn't have expected it. But you saying that, I could totally see that. I think you would have been a great lawyer. And that comes from TV shows, too, to be honest. I watched a lot of Law and Order. I watched a lot of shows with lawyers. And when I was younger, I thought, OK, you can do that.
00:18:42
Speaker
I also do. I wanted to be a lawyer for a stretch, but it was very specifically like a prosecuting attorney. And actually, i now I'm like, I don't know what that says about me, but I feel like there is something about The writing, the research, the persuasion, the storytelling, I can see that all coming through in your work now.
00:19:00
Speaker
That's cool. Was there an age where that stopped, where you're like, no, I'm not interested in that anymore? Probably around the time of I did mention I applied and got into law school as I was wrapping up my bachelor's. It was back 2009, recession time, and it was just considering what my next move should be and instead decided to stay in journalism. I was fortunate to get my first newspaper reporting role as I was still pursuing my bachelor's just moved into to that otherwise it is a big commitment of course to go to post-grad or law school and I didn't feel my heart was 100% in it I thought it was a possibility but I wasn't all in and I think you should be all in for yeah $100,000 of education or whatever I wasn't 100% if that was the right move at that time but I was close to pursuing it
00:19:47
Speaker
Because I'm glad you did it, but could see that from you. All right. I have my next one. Do you want to go next or do you want me to go? Whatever your preference is. You can go. How would you describe your professional brand or identity in one sentence?
00:20:00
Speaker
I should have this ready because I ask this of our clients. I wouldn't have an answer. So I'll be scrambling. I think I've practiced versions in the past, but I think I would currently say I am a writer, storyteller, comedian who likes helping others bring their stories to life.
00:20:20
Speaker
And I feel like that works because it's broad than I do in a few different capacities. it covers my... professional work as well as my personal hobby. And also un volunteer with some storytelling organizations, helping others write or perform their stories. so I think that kind of encapsulates those.
00:20:37
Speaker
I'm usually better at the questions about quirky icebreakers because I have so many strange experiences like being a college mascot or whatever, but that's my elevator pitch. Oh, I think that's beautiful.
00:20:48
Speaker
Very well done on the fly. Thank you. I didn't grab that one for you. The next one I had for you is, do you remember what your first dream job was when you were a kid? Oh, it might have been prosecuting attorney. I did a mock trial in like fourth or fifth grade and was the prosecuting attorney. And I think I loved it. And
Success at Medbury
00:21:09
Speaker
it was probably the first time I remembered having a bit of a goal or vision for myself that way.
00:21:16
Speaker
Professionally, trying to think before that. My mom is a nurse and people are always like would ask me to be like, do you want to be a nurse like your mom? But I really like not into blood or I get nervous even just going to the doctor. So that was not going to be my path.
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah, think was that one. And then probably went through different stages. All of, in the end, involving writing of some kind. And that's a wonderful first career because it's a real career. wasn't sure if you'd say, like, unicorn rocket science. Right. When you're a kid, you're like, I combined four things I like.
00:21:48
Speaker
No, but prosecuting attorney, that's awesome. I see we both were watching Law & Order reruns. Yes. and Inspired by the same things. Do you watch Ali McPhee? Okay. Yeah. Her outfits. I think that's what sold me.
00:21:59
Speaker
So when you think back on all the posts that you've done, is there a post that has most like surprised you in the response or the results that it generated?
00:22:10
Speaker
I am fortunate that there's a few different types of posts that come to mind. But I will share this one because people may not realize the time or planning that went into this. So when I was laid off from one of my roles during my career, i was very intentional about how I chose to share the news.
00:22:28
Speaker
And i also wanted to share it as soon as possible. I had been laid off earlier in my career and it was at a time when there wasn't as much transparency online. Yeah, about being laid off. And it's something I chose not to share publicly. I shared with some folks in my network. I was looking for my next role.
00:22:44
Speaker
But LinkedIn didn't really have a culture of that being something to share. And I was so much younger, too, at the time. So there was some feeling of embarrassment and or shame that can come from that, even though.
00:22:56
Speaker
Of course, as often happens in those conversations, they said, it's not you, it's a business decision. So I didn't share it earlier in my career. and then when I unfortunately was impacted ah by a layoff again in my career, i was very intentional about here's what I want to share. Here's what I want to say I'm interested in next.
00:23:15
Speaker
Here's the kind of photo that I'd like to take to accompany this post. I chose not to name or tag my employer. It certainly wasn't a mystery, but to me, the post was not about them. it was about...
00:23:28
Speaker
what I'm currently doing ended not on my timing and here's what I'm planning to do And those posts can get a lot of attention. Mine did. And it even had some folks who I didn't know commenting, liking, saying they wanted to help and network with me. But I actually had some people who reached out to me who had relatively large followings who shared the post, but also said, this is the perfect layoff post, which is and I don't know how much comfort that is when you're going through a big life transition. I'm glad my post was good. I was very kind of them to say, but I did get a really positive response to that.
00:24:03
Speaker
And it was, quite frankly, like a very intentional and planned way that I decided to roll out that news. And so that's something that I'd put out there for people on LinkedIn or social to consider. Of course, I think it's fine to just...
00:24:17
Speaker
type something up that comes to mind and you're inspired to share it. But posts that do very well can often be like someone sat down and really looked at what words can I eliminate to make this tighter?
00:24:28
Speaker
What do I want to mention or not? I shared it with two friends to get their feedback on it if they felt the tone was in line with what I should share and what have you. So it is something where I was really intentional and planned how I wanted it to perform.
00:24:43
Speaker
And then it was the top performing post I had in that calendar year and it did get quite a bit of feedback. That is one that comes to mind. And I hope that is not the post that everyone has to share in their lives, but that is a moment when you can leverage your network and your platforms to let people know where you're at and they may offer their help or services when you're ready to start looking again or whatever kind of support you need at that time.
00:25:07
Speaker
Wow, I love that. As you're talking, I'm thinking maybe we should do a newsletter send on this where it's like your advice for if you're laid off, here's how to do it. Maybe you're like, no, I don't want to write that newsletter, but I could see it.
00:25:20
Speaker
I feel like so many people don't know what to do in moment because there's the internal stress and the emotion you're feeling. There's the pressure of how will this be perceived? And like most people don't post on LinkedIn. A post is a big deal.
00:25:34
Speaker
I think that's really wise and and cool. That's a great example post. Thank you. And I have one more question for you from our list, which is, is there a professional or personal milestone that you're particularly proud of?
00:25:47
Speaker
It's a good question. I need to plan like a milestone post of some kind for myself. So I feel like I've been thinking about that recently. i would say a few things pop out at me. Some of them are more just when I was in like a chief product officer role.
00:26:00
Speaker
There are some problems at the agency that I was working at the time that have been challenges for a really long time around. just like utilization and staff allocations. And I did a quarter of really deep work of going around to the different teams, listening, understanding from editorial, video, social consulting, et cetera, these different teams we had internally of what the challenges were.
00:26:24
Speaker
Did a lot of work to put some processes in place and change some frameworks that was like from sales and internal account management. All teams were impacted by some really big changes we made, but it was like immediately and hugely impactful. Like we went from something like 60% utilization across the board to 103%, which was huge from also like a profitability perspective for the business and also consistency of us delivering content on time at scale. It was like a big global organization. And I feel like that was a really big moment for me. I feel like it was a lot of my skillsets coming together and so many projects you work on, you don't get to see or feel the input or the result of it. So that was really cool.
00:27:09
Speaker
And then i think honestly, probably like this stage that Medbury is at right now feels great for me. I always wanted to do something of my own at the the agency I was at for a long time. Like I was in these different roles and I was the chief operating officer for four years, but I was never going to have any ownership of any kind. And so at a certain point I wanted to do own thing, but it was definitely scary. And I feel like I'm really happy to like, even just having you as a colleague is incredible and so fun and the clients that we're bringing on and working with. It feels wonderful. It feels like we're growing, but it's not the kind of growth where there's so few clients, it's scary, or so many clients that we're like trying to onboard 20 in a month and the the quality is not there. i feel like we're in a really nice space and
00:27:54
Speaker
So I know that's not a great answer, but just like where we are right now feels really awesome but or wonderful to me. It's funny, I think in Medbury, like setting goals for the business, one thing I've noticed is that when we hit a goal, I don't always necessarily feel the satisfaction I felt when I hit a goal, like as an employee elsewhere, where then I'd be like, wow, job done. Great.
00:28:17
Speaker
So happy that boxes checked. And now I feel like I very quickly, I'm just like mentally moving on to the next goal. So that's something I'm trying to get better at is like, noting the milestone and being like, wow, we hit that revenue milestone or that client number or this new ability or this results, you know, and like trying to really appreciate what we're accomplishing.
00:28:38
Speaker
Perfect. I'm glad we talked about milestone posts then. Make us both commit to take keeping track of those wins. Yes, 100%. I know I need to do similar to you. Like something I think about a lot is how my own LinkedIn is a bit of an experimental playground. And then at some point, probably it needs to be more of a representation of the type of work we can do then experiment for me. And now it's maybe somewhere in the middle.
00:29:03
Speaker
But yeah, i love a milestone post for both of us. Okay. My next question, what are three big client wins that you've had lately? i know you've had a lot. Thank you. And they they do feel shared across the team for sure. I think one that was a surprise milestone was we had a client end of last year when it's time for all the best of lists and what have you. They were named to a top thought leaders to follow list in their industry.
00:29:27
Speaker
So that was just a really fun thing. It's not an award they submitted to or what have you. It just, we saw the coverage go out and it was a list of other people in their industry and it linked to all of their LinkedIn. So it was very much from the social work that we're doing and the presence that we've built up for this client on LinkedIn that, that helps them get there.
00:29:47
Speaker
So that was just a really exciting thing to get to, to see with them is that those aren't necessarily the the goals or metrics we discuss in every meeting when we ask a client. What would like to get out of your LinkedIn? But it's just a really nice perk and surprise that they got to see.
00:30:02
Speaker
So that was really neat to see. You asked for three wins. So let me think of some more. There's always the percentages. I think we had one client that saw 700% LinkedIn impressions last year. So i was really happy to contribute toward that. and Of course, those numbers look different at for every client based on their following. How active were they already?
00:30:23
Speaker
How many posts per month to do we pursue for them? That was just a huge number to get to celebrate. And we had one client who got a six-figure deal thanks to their social presence as well. So we've had some clients as well share these Of course, the metrics we typically point to are things like impressions, engagement, things we can track within the app. But we do have a lot of clients who come to us and say, this business prospect reached out and mentioned my LinkedIn specifically.
00:30:51
Speaker
i was at a conference and everyone was talking about how much they love my social media presence. They can like notice that change. But having a client share that they've just landed a big deal and it was thanks to them being top of mind.
00:31:04
Speaker
with someone because their LinkedIn was so active was like, wow, we can actually point to dollar signs now that are coming out of the result of all this great content. So those were all really exciting to celebrate and definitely shared across the Medbury team because we're all working together to make it happen.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, you're a huge contribution to all of those. And yeah, those are probably the three that might have come to mind for me as well, too. Those are great. All right. Just as we wrap up for anyone listening, think there's lots of LinkedIn advice out there. There's lots of gurus posting do's and don'ts, etc. What is some non-obvious advice that you might give to, I don't want to say just a friend, let's say an executive. An executive is, Julia, I'm willing to invest a little.
00:31:43
Speaker
What kind of content do you think I should be creating? Or what do you think I should do or not do when trying to build up a little bit of a thought leadership presence. Yes, we definitely have people who come in at all stages of LinkedIn activity. One thing we do to start with an executive is we do typically recommend profile optimizations to start.
00:32:04
Speaker
We do work with several execs that say, i have a LinkedIn. I haven't launched it in years or i'm not really active there. So really just making sure everything is filled out to completion in the way that makes the most sense. I will admit I did this early in the LinkedIn days because I like the reward of I think LinkedIn would show you and I don't recall if they still do like, OK, you're at 50 percent. Oh, yeah, yes you're 60 percent.
00:32:28
Speaker
So I was the one that was like, I need to get to 100%. need to make sure I have every profile section perfectly filled out. So that seems like a simple and obvious to start, but it's so important.
00:32:39
Speaker
And LinkedIn does show up in search engines. People Google your name, your industry, what have you. You can come up. you know, at the top of Google. Julia works at Medbury. So everything you fill out will help people discover your profile.
00:32:53
Speaker
So that is always an important place to start. Beyond that, the types of posts I think are person dependent, but some things that I do think really help. I'm not an advocate for You necessarily have to put a selfie with every single post that doesn't make sense, but having personal photos or photos of you and your team where it makes sense really do help with engagement. And of course, we've seen the platforms pushing more vertical video now as well.
00:33:19
Speaker
I think it is something that makes you stand out, especially in this time of AI to show there's a human behind this content. So if you have photo or a video that can help support your posts, it will personalize and it will help people get to know you a bit more through your LinkedIn, which is also helpful.
00:33:36
Speaker
And again, I know I mentioned personal storytelling is my favorite kind of post, but that's something I would always recommend early in. There are lots of subject matter experts in various industries, but it's how you interpret the data or how you got to where you are today based on your own unique experiences and projects that make you stand out.
00:33:55
Speaker
So anytime we can inject more personality or your own point of view into those posts really helps make it specific to the individual. Oh, awesome advice. Great starting point.
00:34:06
Speaker
Is there anything like we haven't covered that you feel like you would want to say share about LinkedIn? Totally fine if not. and I just like to ask that at the end of these. About LinkedIn specifically, I'll commit to what I'd like to do more of. I started dabbling in the vertical videos.
00:34:22
Speaker
But I've never made video a main priority for myself on the platform, but it is an area where I'd like to try and commit to it more because LinkedIn is clearly rewarding and pushing that a bit more. it does not need to be high production value, though many people have a podcast or professional video studio. I think it's something you can also shoot as a selfie on all of our phones can do amazing things now.
00:34:44
Speaker
So that's something I'd like to play around with a bit more this year. I've typically been more of a text or image based poster, and I'd like to try and do some more video moving forward. Nice. I like that. And in today's newsletter that went out, we talked about for anyone listening.
00:34:58
Speaker
Actually, it was the client who made the thought leadership list. So we're doing a lot of content for them near daily, and they've invested in video. And it's interesting. Video is not driving the most impressions or followers, but it is driving What seems to me to be really good, like nurturing the relationships you have with the people who are following you that seems to be an important sweet spot for video right now.
00:35:25
Speaker
Certainly recommend it. I'm excited to watch whatever you do, Julia. And maybe we can cut and slice some of this. Ange can help us in the background so that you can get some video out of this one too. This clip. So then I'll hold myself accountable of, okay, I i posted a video, so I'm going to do more video.
00:35:40
Speaker
Now I have to do more videos. All right, Julia, thank you. I'm so grateful to be working with you. I think you're just exceptional. And I really appreciate you doing this with me. Thank you.
00:35:51
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me on.