Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - Shanee Moret: Build a Community | E88

Episode Date: November 9, 2020

Level-up your LinkedIn!   This week, I’m talking with Shanee Moret, CEO of MedSnake Media and a Linkedin mega-influencer. With over 20M+ views on LinkedIn and over 600k followers, she is one of the biggest influencers on the platform today.    In today’s episode, we’ll discuss Shanee’s childhood battle with cancer, the effects it has on who she is today, and her journey to entrepreneurship. We’ll also chat about how she created her business, the ways she built her LinkedIn following, and her top tips for creating LinkedIn posts that go viral.   Social Media:    Follow YAP on IG: www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting Reach out to Hala directly at [e-mail] Follow Hala on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Follow Hala on Instagram: www.instagram.com/yapwithhala Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.youngandprofiting.com   Timestamps:   03:11 - Shanee’s Experience and Battle with Cancer 06:24 - Why You Should Be Vulnerable and Share Your Challenges in Life 08:42 - Shanee’s Journey to Entrepreneurship 15:27 - How Shanee Built Her Business 17:41 - Shanee’s Initial LinkedIn Strategy 19:14 - Why Shanee Started Medsnake Media 22:49 - How to Know When There’s a Demand for Your Services 24:50 - Story Behind Shanee Meeting Her MedSnake Co-Founder 26:16 - The Way Shanee Landed Her First Client 29:28 - Creating an Organic Brand 30:34 - Guidance on How to Start a LinkedIn Community 33:07 - Why to Post Different Types of Posts on LinkedIn 35:05 - Shanee’s Secret to LinkedIn Growth 39:12 - Story of Shanee’s Most Popular Post 42:01 - How Shanee Decides What to Post 44:20 - Discussion of Why HR Posts Do Well 45:45 - Formula to Going Viral 47:52 - Can you make an Income From LinkedIn? 50:30 - Shanee’s Next Big Moves 51:25 - Shanee’s Secret to Profiting in Life   Links Mentioned in the Show:   Shanee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneemoret/ Shanee’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaneemoret/?hl=en Shanee’s Website: http://www.growthacademy.global Shanee’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Pta5QrU8dTZLRVfQpg-yA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Okay, welcome to Young and Proffiting Podcast. I'm here with Shanei Morei. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for inviting me. I haven't seen you in over a year. I know we met each other at LinkedIn Global and New Jersey. Briefly funny event. Fun event, I should say. Yeah, it was definitely fun. It's great to see like how people have grown since then.

And it seems like just because of everything that's happened this year, that it was like five years ago, but it was only a year ago, that's crazy. I know. Can you imagine that we actually got to meet people face to face last year? It's like you can't even remember those times, it seems like.

So before we get started, we're going to just introduce you to our audience. Everybody on LinkedIn probably knows you are, but I've got thousands of listeners on my podcast who might not know who you are. So, reducing Shanae Morei, her story is one that emphasizes the idea of overcoming challenges and building a dream

life for her and her daughter. She's a first-generation Cuban-American and as a child she battled in one stage for bilateral Wilms' tumor cancer. And so I actually heard about a story about you, one of your first memories in the hospital holding a wagon when they told you to walk and you didn't want to. And that's when you first realized that, there's suffering in life, right? Yeah.

So tell us about your experiences, having cancer as a child, what that taught you, how that shaped your worldview and perspective on life. Well, it's funny because people ask me that question. And so you have to understand through my perspective, I didn't really know what living a normal childhood was prior to having cancer.

So it's not like I was 13 or 14 when I was diagnosed. Like I was diagnosed very early and thank God, right? Because my kidneys were enlarged. So usually if they're not enlarged, they may catch a way too late. And I mean, on my way to stage four, and it was just like several times that, like they brought in the priest to baptize me,

because they, you know, they do that in the hospital when they think they are gonna not make it and not have a lot of time. So they told my mom a few times that like I wasn't gonna have a lot of time, but just like, so for me it was kind of like normal to be there, you know? So when I look at a hospital, I look at like, I feel like almost comfortable in a hospital just because

that's the place for me that like helped heal me and helped me get stronger, helped me get better. One like a lot of people, adults and like teens, they kind of look at it like a place where like you, you know, you don't want to go to the hospital. It's like a different perspective, but you know, I will say this that I credit a lot of why I survived. Obviously to the medical doctors and stuff, but also to my mom because the doctor that was on my case,

the lead doctor, he advised her to not treat me like I was sick. So he told her to discipline me like a regular child because what happens is, is they don't, and then a lot of children that are sick may be very aggressive towards their parents or have like serious temper tantrums that make the treatments a little bit harder for the nurses and stuff like that.

So she was like kind of tough on me, like the Red Wagon story. It was like she wasn't the mom that was like crying, she was the mom that's like, well, if you're not going to walk, I'm going to make you walk, you know, and I'm sure she cried and was like devastated, but she never did it in front of me. And she would always kind of tell me like, okay, this is like temporary, you're going to get stronger and stuff like that. So I think that like psychologically

that helped me a lot. Yeah, and probably because she made you feel normal, it helped you maybe get normal faster because you believed that you were normal too. I think your health has a lot to do with the way you think and your mental health too. I heard you say in the past that you suggested differentiate yourself

by embracing your darkness, embracing your scars, but there's been people who are, they feel embarrassed about their past. And they're not willing to really share their story. Why do you suggest that people be open, be authentic, and share the trials and tribulations that they've had in their life? Because it builds trust.

Now, I will say, I will preface that by saying that there is like a fine art of vulnerability. So you want to be vulnerable and share, you know, the tough times that you've had maybe certain circumstances that you could have made better decisions on and so forth. But you don't want to be so vulnerable that instead of gaining trust and respect that you gain like sympathy and pity. that instead of gaining trust and respect, that you gain sympathy and pity. So you don't want to victimize yourself through vulnerability.

So there is a fine line, like on one side, where it's empowering, and you could inspire others and leverage that to build a huge community that trusts you because you're open with them. But you don't want to push it too far that then you're victimizing yourself. And then people will do the opposite because nobody likes to pick somebody that's like always with a sob story, right?

Yeah. Yeah. So that's why it builds trust and it makes you seem real. And I can't tell you the amount of business opportunities that have opened up for me, not just with Mentsnick media initially, the first company that I co-founded, but now with Growth Academy, just because people have heard my story and when you also look at that, you know, people are much more likely to remember you if you have a story than if you're just sharing information and you know, it's something that

can be replicated. They can replicate everything else you're pricing your product but they can replicate your story. I love that that's such a good point and I'm gonna dig deeper later on in terms of how you develop your stories and some of your copywriting skills. Since we are live I'd like everybody who's tuning in to tell us where you're located we'll shout you out. We've got lots of folks tuning in already. So thank you so much. And if you have any questions for me or Shane, just let us know.

And we'll make sure to ask it if it's relevant to the conversation. So speaking of your trials and some of your things that you've dealt with in the past, you actually left your full-time job. Right. Because they would not let you take care of your daughter.

You felt like you didn't have enough time to focus on your daughter. So tell us about that time. I think it was a turning point in your life. I think you share that story with us. Yeah. So, um, live my daughter. She's a toddler now, but then she was like around six months, you know, six, eight months. And, uh, she got a flu flu from like a certain type of influenza

strain from being left out daycare because like most parents, I would have to like wake up super early, leave her at daycare at seven o'clock in the morning, work till five, and then go get her. So like I wasn't with her for basically 12 hours and she was pretty young. And like I said, she was a pre-me So she was a little bit smaller and stuff like that She got sick so she actually ended up going to the hospital being we had to stay there like I had to stay there I mean my mom for 14 days so Around the 10th day

My boss at the time was like just getting irritated so sending me texts like hey, when are you gonna like we, my boss at the time was like, just getting irritated. So sending me texts like, hey, what are you gonna, like we need you back at the office, like, you know, one after the other, like just not understanding that I was, you know, not going to leave her there because I'm her primary caretaker.

I was at the time a single mother. And then finally, like, around 11 PM one night, basically was given like an ultimatum of my boss at the time saying like, find somebody that can stay with her, like, around 11 p.m. one night, basically was given like an ultimatum of my boss at the time saying, like, find somebody that can stay with her, like, return or, like, lose your job. So I was like, okay, well, I'm not returning. And it's crazy. It's almost like inexplicable how I felt in that moment. Like, it's hard to put into words. Like, she was like sleeping in her crib with an IV in her hand. It was like a very tough thing.

Like, they didn't have a bed for me to sleep in in the hospital that whole time. So like, my mom had left because I'm not gonna make my mom sleep in a chair. I was sleeping in a chair for several days. And I was just like, listen, like to myself, I'm tired of like the limitations of my life. You know, I'm tired of not going where I want to go. When I want to go, I'm tired of like the limitations of my life. You know, I'm tired of not going where I want to go.

When I want to go, I'm tired of like having to leave her in a daycare for 10 to 12 hours a day. Tired of not having the resources to purchase, not even what I want to purchase, but what I need to purchase. You know, I was making very little money because I had to pay for the daycare. So what are you left with after that? Like after daycare rent, really not left with anything. Daycare rent, diapers, and food, and that's it. I had basically pennies after that. So in that moment, I really thought to myself because at that

company, I was doing like copywriting and I knew like I kept hearing of people that were making money online, just blogging. So for me at the time that were making money online just blogging. So for me at the time, I was thinking more like blogging and it's amazing how like visions and things change with time, right? So and for me, just replacing what I was making back then, which was, which was nothing in retrospect would be enough for me. If I could just make that, doing what I love from home, because then I could spend more time with her. Yeah. So long story short, I got on LinkedIn because I had like less than a few hundred dollars in my bank account like a couple hundred dollars and I spent like 50 to 100 dollars. I can't remember the exact price on this one course that teaches you how to make like a thousand dollars a month blogging and

One of the things in the course was oh make a LinkedIn and blah blah blah So I made a LinkedIn and I just this was like probably for four to six months before I even created my first post So I had just put up a picture and started you know Just building relationships with people on the back and like messaging them and stuff. So before I left, but I had no experience, like I had nothing to show for for a portfolio that was not related to my work, which I couldn't use. So long story short, before I left the hospital, so within the next 72 hours, I had already reached out to people and said, hey, I'll write a free blog for you. If you write me a recommendation on my profile,

because I wanted samples of work to show people. And I wanted recommendations on my profile to increase trust. So I can get clients. And before I left the hospital, I had three recommendations. That's amazing. It just there's so many lessons to learn in that. The first thing that really calls out to me is the many lessons to learn in that.

The first thing that really calls out to me is the fact that you invested in yourself. You took the course. Oh, I have. That's one thing. And when I did it, it's crazy. Because when I did it, I'm like, you're insane. You may not have money for food that you need. I'm going to have to ask my mom for 50 bucks or something.

And I never, I'm like that type of person, you know? So I was like, you know what? Like I just felt like this like feeling. And I was like, what do I really have to lose? And I told myself, I was like, what do I really have to lose? Okay, like if all, if this truly fails, like in the next month, I'll lose my car, like I'll lose my apartment,

but that's like basically it. And then I'll just have to admit defeat and go live with my mom and then find another job. Like that's like the works that can happen, you know what I mean? Or it works, like there's a whole world out there that I don't even know. And I like had the dedication to like work till three o'clock in the morning, if I needed to every day

to find out if it would just replace that income. So before I left the hospital, I had those recommendations. And within four weeks, I secured my first contract and the retainer, like when I got that check, I like tears when I was walking back to my car were like literally pouring out of my eyes because it was $500 more than what I would have made the whole month at my previous job. Wow.

And this was just to help somebody ghost write a book. And it was just the first check of a six month contract. So that was the real validation to me that like, okay, like I do have what it takes and you can make real money doing what you love. And like from there was like, I'll never turn back. Young and profitors, do you have a brilliant business idea but you don't know how to move forward with it? Going into debt for a four year degree isn't the only path to success.

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shopfly.com such profiting all lowercase. This is possibility powered by Shopify. Yeah. That's absolutely amazing. Such an amazing story. So tell us what happened next, you know You got you got these clients your resourceful, you know, you took action relentless action You had the work ethic you had the skills. So what happened next? How did how did you get more clients and build your business? Yeah, so that's a great question. So obviously After getting that one client, I was like spending more time on LinkedIn. I got a couple more like, but I was imposing it. And I was watching like a lot of people that were growing. And

I was like, wait a second, like, what are these people doing? Like, because I like notice patterns. And that's also around the time that like LinkedIn videos started to like really pop. So a lot of people were like, just post your first video or whatever. So I posted my first video in November. Late November was around Thanksgiving, almost two years ago of 2018. And yeah, it did really well. And I thought it was a coincidence. And then I just post my second video the next day and I did really well and I thought it was a coincidence. And then I just post my second video the next day and I did really well.

So I thought it was a coincidence because the image quality, the sound, it was terrible. But like, it was doing well. And then the third video did really well. And I started noticing like I was getting a lot of inbound prospects. Like I didn't have to message anybody. They were coming to me and I was like, wait a second, like there's something to this. And I posted my fourth, my fifth video,

and they also did well. So I was like, okay, maybe it's not a coincidence. Why are people watching my videos? So that's when I started asking people. I was like, hey, why did you like this video? If the image is terrible, if it's like a shaky and the sound is terrible. And they're like, oh, because you're real.

Or like, it's because of what you're saying. And that's also something that like, it just so happened at the time to a lot of other people that were showing up on video LinkedIn. We're doing it in a very corporate type of manner. Yeah. Where they had to have their makeup perfect, they were in suits,

and I was showing up kind of like this, with just like a 30-second message. So it was different. Yeah, I mean, success on LinkedIn is all about standing out and you're right, when you first started, you were like so casual, you were just kind of like the girl next store who would hop on and everybody could relate to.

And I think that goes back to the stories that you were talking about before and telling your story and sharing your story made people feel I think connected to you forever. Yeah, and I feel like since then, I never really prepped a video. Like I was just doing a whole different strategy and I didn't even realize what I was doing at the time. I was just showing up, right? Because I was seeing the results. So I was like, I got it.

I'm the type of person that I double down on what works and I release what doesn't. So I'll get rid of what doesn't. I'll double down on what works. But for me, it's all about numbers. So Shenei, let's talk about MedStink Media. So you started this company, and I believe you help people with their marketing, and even their billing, and things like that. And so you had mentioned in previous interviews and things like that, that you feel connected to the healthcare industry. You feel like you love the healthcare industry. They helped you be able to survive when you were younger.

How come you didn't decide to be a doctor or nurse? Like, why did you decide to like kind of go on the outskirts of the industry? Um, that's actually a great question. In college when I started, I was in pre-med and stuff, but I just, I wasn't really like passionate about it, and I always loved to write. So like when I was in cancer treatment, a lot of the times

like my kidneys would hurt and stuff, a lot of the times like my kidneys would hurt and stuff like I would have to like lay down and just like even afterwards. So you know, even till today like sometimes because I had surgeries on my kidneys, so the scar tissue will hurt and I'll just have to like rest for like a day. Like my body will kind of like let me know in a way. So when I had like down time, I would love to read. Like I was like one of those kids when I was young, that like red Harry Potter one day, like a 500 or 500 a page book.

And so I would read and I would write. So when I was like in pre-med, I kind of felt like I was like in this conflict of like, okay, I do like the idea of healthcare, but like I would really love to be a writer. And it's so funny because back then, you know, when I was in college, you know, 10 years ago, you kind of had to write a book to like build a community.

And now it's like the opposite where it's like publishers won't even take you on unless you have a community already. And then your community is kind of at the point where they're demanding a book. So it's amazing how things have changed. But in my mind, I was like, okay, well, health care, writing, health care, writing. And that's kind of how I got into like marketing. But I didn't really tie it to my story or to healthcare until I got on LinkedIn and I was passionate about it. And that's one of the main things with copyright and you have to write what you know

and what you're passionate about. And obviously things have evolved from there. Like, I just launched Growth Academy two months ago, but with MedSneaker was like, I really understood healthcare when a lot of marketers and stuff didn't. So we helped a lot of facilities, and that's like the number one complaint that we would hear

is like these facilities would spend a lot of money with marketing companies, but then they would have to kind of explain the healthcare space to them. And you know, when you're marketing for a facility And when you're marketing for facility, when you're doing their marketing, let's say they want to attract Medicaid patients, it's completely different than attracting private pay patients or attracting private insurance patients.

It's a completely different demographic. If you don't really understand healthcare, you're not gonna understand that. So we continue to serve them, but it was just a great thing because it opened a lot of doors where people are like, okay, she understands healthcare space. They remembered me for the story and then, you know, in meetings, I would obviously prove our proficiency and stuff. So yeah. So when it comes to like when you were building your business, how did you know that there was actually a demand for the services that you wanted?

How did you decide that, you know, the demand was big enough to go after? Like for copywriting for marketing and stuff. Yeah. So, okay, that's a good question. It's all about like, I listen to people. And I think that's where I was going in the previous question, like, how did I build a business, right? So when I really started getting consistent with video, especially within the first 30 days, I saw like a huge increase in like the amount of people reaching out to me in like messages. And I kind of saw how the process would go. And I'm a quick person. So I would immediately, and one tip for people like don't hang out in the DMs. So if somebody is like interested in your product or your service or wanting to learn more,

like I don't message back and forth a million times, I set up a call immediately for like today or tomorrow. Because the faster you move, the faster they move. So I see a lot of people even trying to close deals in the DMs, and it's like, it's gonna take forever. And especially on LinkedIn, where the LinkedIn messaging is not like the best. So I saw the demand, and then like, when I would get on the phone with them, there was a recurring need in healthcare,

where a lot of them had no idea how to even approach marketing, where a lot of them, they just really wanted to build an organic brand rather than to pour money into ads and stuff because a lot of these startups fail because of their marketing misspent. So they wanted to go lean and they were thinking long term. So a lot of that had to do with video content, copyrighting and just fulfilling their needs. It was really like a custom kind of thing, but it would all kind of be the same.

We noticed that pattern very early on. Yeah, I think that's really interesting. Okay, so how did you end up meeting your co-founder at MedSnaked Media? What's the story there? So she actually reached out to me on LinkedIn, and it's funny because you said, hey, people can relate to you. And that was she actually reached out to me on LinkedIn, and it's funny, because you said, hey, people can relate to you,

and that was kind of her message to me. Like, hey, your videos are so relatable, and then we built a friendship from there, and then we found the demand because she's doing medical billing and credentialing. So once the facility is up and running, they would always ask her like, okay, we're ready for marketing.

Do you do that too? And she'd be like, no, I don't. But she kept referring people to me initially. And I was like, okay, well, why isn't there like a one-stop shop for all this? So that's what we created. I know that you had a big break. You had one of your first clients

was pretty big and significant. And it helped you kind of have a new life, it helped you start a new life. And I can relate because I work full time at Disney Streaming, I just started a podcast marketing agency. And I just got like three pretty huge clients. And now everything's taking off. I'm ready to quit my job. It's like just crazy.

I can't even believe like how fast we're scaling. And it's just like goes to show the power of LinkedIn. Like once you have a brand on LinkedIn, you can literally start anything, you know? So tell us about this story. How did you land your first client? Did you have a website already? Did you have a logo or did you just go for it? I don't even know if we had a website already,

but he reached out on LinkedIn. It was like very short. It was literally within one month of December. So I think it was like in late December or early January, right when I had just started in the first month of like posting videos and he just reached out and he was like, hey, how much do you charge for copywriting services?

blah, blah, blah. It's funny because like I did the first project, and then his wife saw it. It was like, wait a second, who wrote this? And then that's how they got us on retainer because she loved it. So, and they had so much more work. So, yeah, it was life-changing.

And I was like, wow. And we still have that relationship till today. And then I would say like my next big impactful connection came six months later when a random connection that again, just watch my video content very frequently. Reach out, I was like, hey, I have a friend, a colleague, he lives in West Palm, he's close to you. I'd love for your, you know, for you guys to meet. I would love to introduce to you to him. I don't for your, you know, for you guys me. I would love to introduce

you to him. I don't know if you guys can work together, but just whatever. And that's when I was introduced to Christopher Hummel. Yeah, I know he's one of your major clients. Yeah, he's like my mentor now. I would say more than anything. Yeah, that's amazing. And it just goes to show like for me too, like I didn't have a website. It's more important to just get the clients, show them what you could do, prove to them through actual work or past experience. You don't need to have everything ready and perfect. Just get started and start to get clients.

Yeah, I don't know why a lot of people spend way too much. Like branding is not brand. I always say that. Like you can have the best logo, like, and I'll give you a great example. So look at Quibi. Quibi just like they said that they're like calling it quits or whatever. They had like the best team. It's like, I guess they try to compete with like Netflix or something, but they got like billions of dollars in investment. They had like the top talent. They had all the

branding. They had blah, blah, blah. They even were started. They launched with like 100,000 subscribers that they had. And 93% of the subscribers dropped off after the first month. And I mean, so you could have the best time. You could have the best branding. You could have the best this. But their marketing strategy was antiquated.

You know, they went after like high ticket celebrities to do like commercials and super bull ads and stuff like that. And when they should have been doing stuff like to get, you know, influencers with million followers and stuff on TikTok because they were trying to reach like the 18 to 30, 35 markets. So it just goes to show. Like, you can have the best of everything,

but if you're not like adapting and if you're not like super hyper focused on your customer, you could fail. Yeah, totally. And it's all, and I think sometimes when you're back is against the wall and you have to be resourceful, that's when people get the most creative and actually grow and organize organic community because they're

they're having a big. Yeah, yeah, and that's one thing that's that's a blessing in disguise for for us is like when we launched MedSni, I didn't have an option to spend like thousands in Facebook ads. It's like I didn't have any of that. So I was forced to create an organic brand. And that's the best decision that I could have made and been consistent with. Because if you have an organic brand, you could always add in paid advertising, but it's very difficult to sustain something

with only paid ads. Totally. So a lot of people. Yeah, an organic brand will, the trust is just, you can't beat it. Yeah, an organic brand will, the trust is just, you can't beat it. Yeah, people think that paid ads are the way to go, but

you're not retaining anything. You're just going to have to keep paying and paying and paying. And so it's really important to grow that organic community. So you mentioned earlier that when you first started on LinkedIn, you actually invested $100 into a

LinkedIn course, $100 that you didn't have. If you were giving somebody guidance today in terms of how to start their organic LinkedIn community, what would you say? I would say find somebody that has done what you want to do and learn from them and apply what they teach because the the learning curve is just gonna be cut in half or cut 30%. Like the things that I had to like slip up on and the tests I had to run along the way. And that's really where, again, demand,

I listen to people, why I launch growth academy around like, I would say like March of this year, I started getting a ton, a ton of messages every single week like, hey, do you have a course, do you have this, do you have a program where I could learn how to do what you did? I'm like, no, I was like, okay,

that's kind of like who incidents, like blah, blah, blah. Then like in April, especially as like the corona, you know, the pandemic was like really getting serious, I was getting probably like 50 to 100 messages a week and I was like, okay, the people need this. So that's why I did that because I was like, okay, there's definitely a need and people want me to learn. Like, I could cut their learning curve in half. So. Yeah, so you have a course available or do you offer consulting for that?

It's more than a course. So and that's another thing when I did the research, It's more than a course. So, and that's another thing. When I did the research, you know, people buy courses, but what's a course? So like you really watch videos and stuff and like who's gonna be there telling you to apply, who's gonna be there telling you to tweet this tweet that. So when people join Growth Academy,

they not only get the course, which has over 40 videos, but they get live weekly trainings for me and from Chris. And if they can't make the live trainings, then they get the recordings. They also get to join a private community in Slack where like we track their growth and we give them a Spanish group and an English group. We have, that's awesome and very creative. So we have a question from Adam Posner. He says, what about the copy and piece post and I don't know what MLM stands for, but I guess he's in engagement pods. I guess he's saying, why post the same things over and over again, what's your strategy around that? So it depends on the post. So for me, the connection post is not really for me and more for other people to connect.

And if that works, and it works, people have gotten jobs from it. They've messaged me, like, hey, Shanee, I grew 500 connections this week, and I haven't grown that in like months. If it helps the people, and obviously it's not being shut down by LinkedIn, then I think that there's a reason for it. I think that they obviously want other people to grow as well. Yeah, totally. I mean, you have to think. They want more people on the platform,

so they definitely want posts that endorse more people to stay on the platform. Yeah, completely. And you know what, in terms of the engagement pod, I think that there's lots of engagement pod communities out there that are actually real communities. I think there's a lot of hate out there in terms of the engagement pods,

but honestly, there's a lot of communities out there where people actually are friends with each other They care about each other and they want to actually see each other's posts And when you become an influencer you start to lose sight of that your friends post And it's actually very helpful to have a chat with everybody's post in one place where you can keep in touch with the people You actually care about and so I think people have this like weird idea about engagement pods that it's fake this or that But it's I would like these people's posts if I had seen them in my feed, but I don't control the algorithm, and this is a way to control the algorithm. So I think everybody's hate about engagement pods

is a little bit of jealousy mixed with other things. Yeah, all things like it's easy to critique. Everyone's always going to have something to say, but like I said, at the end of the day, LinkedIn wasn't for it, they would shut down the post. Yeah. So what would you say is your secret sauce when it comes to your growth on LinkedIn? Because like we said, all of a sudden, you had this huge, actually, we were talking offline when we were talking about this.

So let's talk about your tipping points. So when we met at LinkedIn Global, that was in 2018, meaning you had the same amount of followers, right? And here I am, like only doubled my growth, and you've like 10xed your growth. So what would you say was the tipping point? Like when did you start noticing like,

oh my God, like things are just escalating quickly because there's really not that many people who have over 30,000 letter loans, you have 600,000 followers on LinkedIn. How did you get to that point? Yeah, so it's crazy. Because last September, I did have like what I'd LinkedIn global event, like 30,000 followers, something like that.

And then I just, I stayed consistent. So I started posting more. Again, I would double down on what was working in terms of like what my audience wanted. Like I'm super hyper focused on my audience. So if my audience is going to gain benefit from a certain type of post, like that's what I'm going to post. I'm thinking about less of myself and more about what people want. So and I determined that through numbers. Like I don't like my personal perspective kind of like be like, oh, well, this post should have done amazing,

but it got no engagement. Well, that's because people couldn't relate to it. When people relate to a post, it gets high engagement. So like it just like I kept doing that. I kept staying consistent. And then in January, I'd say like late January of this year's when I really had my tipping point, that Gen Z post that I wrote, it just like, I didn't even expect when I really had my tipping point that Gen Z

post that I wrote it just like I didn't even expect I thought it was just gonna be another post you just never know what's gonna go viral and it went like super viral like it got like over like 240,000 likes over 12 million views so then through that month but there's like a secret to that so through through that month, I grew a lot. And it's not like I like let my foot off the pedal because one post went viral, like what's one post? I posted more and I really took advantage of the momentum. And then I had another post that went viral. But somebody on LinkedIn took a screenshot of the post that I had no idea who they were

and they posted it on Facebook and then it also went viral on Facebook. It was out like, yeah, I got 150,000 shares on Facebook and like it was crazy. People were like messaging me and they were like, hey, I saw you on Facebook and I'm like Facebook, like I'm never even on Facebook. And then after like the 10th message that day,

I was like, can you like tell me where you saw me on Facebook to some random person and they're like, yeah, I'll share the post with you. And it was just a girl who took a screenshot. She was like, hey, I saw this on LinkedIn and I had to share it and it like blew up. And then like 20 other pages shared it, and I also went like 50,000 shares, 8,000 shares.

Like I had people all over the country that were messaging me, being like, hey, Chanel, like people from high school, I saw your post on Facebook. Oh my God, that's so insane. And it wasn't even, like you didn't even get credited to you as some other girl's page, you said. No, no it did, because like,

the way she screen shot, it had my name, it did because like the way she screen shot, it had my name and said like, okay, okay. And that's how like all these people like, there was like even one page and one viral and like put your job like my guy friends were like messaging me like, oh, she made with viral and quit your job. Like, it's crazy. What happens when you go viral on Facebook? Yeah, bam. If you're ready to take your business to new heights, break through to the six or seven figure mark or learn from the world's most successful people, look no further because the Kelly Roach show has got you covered. Kelly Roach is a best-selling author, a top-ranked podcast host,

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super high quality. You can't beat it. Gain new skills in as little as 10 minutes on your phone, your computer, tablet, smart TV, and my personal favorite way to learn is their audio mode to listen on the go. That way, I can multitask while I learn. Get unlimited access to every class and right now as the app listener, you can get 15% off when you go to masterclass.com slash profiting. That's masterclass.com slash profiting for 15% off an annual membership masterclass.com slash profiting. That's funny. I've never been viral on Facebook. I've only been viral on LinkedIn. So that's all I know. So what was so special about that post? Like let's try something like that Gen Z post.

What was it about? Why do you think you went viral? I do know. So when I thought like it was doing well and doing viral, I thought it was because it was about Gen Z. So I was like, oh, it's because like Gen Z is sharing in so much blah, blah, blah, but when I actually started looking at the shares and what people were doing with the shares, what they were saying.

So it's actually targeting like people my mom's age and they were like resharing and like crazy thinking the people that had given them the first opportunity. And then it was also the Gen Z were resharing it. But I thought it was just the Gen Z that was making a viral wasn't. A lot of older people were paying thanks to the people that had given them an opportunity.

I guess just for context, if like, I don't remember the Gen Z post. So like, what was the Gen, like, what did it say? What was it about? Well, the general just was just like, hey, cause an intern, a paid intern, I just started with us and I was like,

hey, you don't, you know, this person doesn't have experience, but I mean, for us and I was like, hey, you know, this person doesn't have experience, but I mean, for me, it was so basic. Like I, but sometimes supposed to never expect to will go viral. So, you know, the person did everything right during the interview and I believe like if somebody does something right during the interview, even if they don't have a lot of experience, it doesn't mean that they can't be effective. And I always say that, like, when people come to me and they're like, oh, I have 10 years of experience,

what does that mean? If, like, you can't translate what you've done in those 10 years to be effective, then it's just like how long you've been doing it, not what you've done within that amount of time. Totally, totally. You know, that's kind of how the post is, like what it talks about,

and then it just says like if somebody a chance, I think there's create leaders and it like blew up, and then that's it. So when it comes to your LinkedIn, like you talk a lot about like HR stories and things like that. Are those like your stories, or are those stories that you like find? How do you decide what to post?

Well, like the ones that I say are mine or mine. I just can't, like some people are not gonna tell me, allow me to share their names. Other people, like I get probably hundreds of messages a week with people being like, hey, can you please share this story on my behalf? Obviously they don't wanna be tagged because they're gonna get fired or whatever, you know what I mean?

But yeah, I could have a whole blog with like people being like, hey, Shene, this happens to me at work today. Can you please share this story or like, hey, I was shut down for the fourth time for my dream job and they'll like, they'll get into really what happened. It's interesting. And so what, what, what, what I, I guess the, the moral of the story that I want to tell here is that you actually don't need to have your own interesting stories.

Like if you want to be a content creator, especially on social media and things like that, you can find other people's stories and people will relate to them. And you can put your own perspective on that story or your call to action or whatever like points that you want to point out. But it's that story or your call to action or whatever like points that you want to point out. But it's that story that gets people talking and connecting and sharing

like people love to hear a good story. Yeah, they know. I mean, listen, it's how our brains are wired. That's one thing that I've also done differently is I've shared a ton of stories. Like, you know, the other, the one that went viral on Facebook was from a friend that his boss was being a jerk just because he was late to work. Something so simple, but something that a lot of people can relate to. So it has to be relatable and it has to be just, obviously, there's a science to copywriting. And that's a different discussion in and of itself. But basically, if you position something as a story,

it's gonna be more likely to be remembered. Keep working to connect with them more, which means they're gonna connect with you more. And they'll forget information a lot more quickly. Yeah. So I noticed that a lot of the influencers like who are really huge on LinkedIn, like you, Oleg, Bridget, everybody's talking

about like a lot of HR and recruitment content. Do you think that LinkedIn favors that type of content? I don't think that LinkedIn favors that type of content. I think it's obviously like supply and demand, right? So if there's millions of people that are laid off, then when you talk about getting laid off or you give them tips to find a job, they're going to like the post. I mean, like it's just, again, it's less thinking about what you wanna create

and what your brand is about and relating it to like what people need and people are like, why does inspiration do so well on LinkedIn? Well, people are having a hard time. They're isolated in their homes, away from their family, and a lot of them or don't have a job anymore,

and don't have benefits coming in either. So, you know, reading a post, like I've had people saying, like, basically, your posts have saved my life during the pandemic. People now more than ever need positivity. Yeah, I totally agree. And I can totally relate. And especially on LinkedIn, people on LinkedIn are really into self-improvement and buttering

cells. Exactly. That's why that kind of content always works. So in terms of writing a story, you obviously are super-talented when it comes to you getting things to go viral, getting people to actually connect with their stories. So is there like a certain framework or a recipe or formula that you have when it comes to creating a good story? I mean, I wouldn't say that I'm like amazing at going viral. You just need like a few posts to go viral. I will say that my consistency, like your consistency can lead to your virality.

So when you look at like the data, like a lot of posts and a lot of people, like somebody may be posting 30 posts a month and I'm probably posting 300. So it's just a matter of time. Like I'm increasing the probability of my posts going viral. So that's another thing. Like people, you know, like they don't break down metrics. They don't know how to break down numbers correctly. And it's like, if you want to post once a day

or once every week, that's fine. But don't expect your percentage of going viral to increase. Like the more you post and the more you get engagement, the algorithm is going to favor one of your post to go viral. It's numbers. Yeah, that's pretty eye opening for me because I post like one or two times It's numbers. Yeah, that's pretty eye-opening for me because I post like one or two times a day

and I think that's consistent. How many times a day are you posting? Well, it's like also compound effects. So like in the beginning, you can post once a day and then like maybe after three months of rev it up and after nine months rev it up, but like I've never stayed complacent. That's like another thing.

Like always try and test different things to see what works better. Now I'm posting probably like four or five times a day, depending on the day, I'm going live a lot more because, you know, people love when you go live. It's like, you know, you get the realist thing that you can get. It's an unfulfilled form of content creation. So, people love when you go. I get so much engagement. If I just go by myself and I'm just like, I have many questions, I'm here, and people love that.

I'm like, you could tell somebody these things and then they won't do it. And then they're like, why am I not growing? And it's like, well, you haven't applied anything that works. Yeah, totally. So we have a question here from Brenda. Does going viral result in income from LinkedIn? Absolutely.

And it's mostly from leads. It's not like YouTube where they're going to pay. Oh yeah, you're not monetizing it, but I mean, I think it's numbers. So, it went, if you get a post that is seen by 12 million people, even if 0.01% of those people are your quality prospects. Like, if you message them in a certain amount of time, like reply to them and stuff, and you're hyper aware of like, who's looking at your profile and just stuff like that, and you could close the deal through a phone call and stuff

then absolutely. Obviously, everybody's skills on the phone, in fact, and development are completely different. That's another thing. Like you have to, like I said, prior, you have to really take it off of LinkedIn. And you have, I mean, that's where like sales and those type of skills come in. Awesome. Well, if anybody has any more questions, please feel free to comment in the chat. Would love to hear what you guys want to. I know it's like, I don't have a secret formula. Like my secret formula is just like

consistency and doubling down on what works. Like, I don't think that's boring at all. I think that's real advice, you know. I know. I suggest like keep doing what works. Like, look at you. You don't even, you're not even in the HR space, right? So this is a lesson from your book I need to take. You're not even in the HR space, but you're building your business by putting out posts that are related to the HR space because they blow up on LinkedIn and they bring you visibility. And you know, like the text post could be HR, right? But like when I go live, it's completely different topics. It's more like business focused and entrepreneur focused. Another thing is like, it's again about numbers. If

you're able to attract 100,000 people to your profile every month or 50,000 or 5,000 or whatever, if you, no matter what you're posting, if your profile is optimized correctly for your target audience, they're going to reach out and at least be curious as to how you can help them. But without consistency, without being in their feed every single day and building that trust and being someone that they remember, you know, it's very difficult for them to reach out. Yeah. So, you know, you've grown your following so much on LinkedIn. You've got over 600,000 followers You've got a growing business meds Nick Media. You've got several businesses in fact. So what's next for you?

What do you do you have any big moves? Yeah, so I yeah moving into 2021 more my focus will be in growth academy and you know we've reached over 30 countries already. We're in two languages and we're expanding into five more. So obviously you know my heart is with the e-learning space. I love to teach and I love to see other people grow so that's going to be where my focus is and then yeah I have some other things coming up as well. You know, surprise. I'm like a surprised person where I just like launch something like no pre-launch, no like.

You just going to go with it. Yeah, I'm just like, Hey guys, I have this. Like I did this when they're like, what? And the last question I ask all my guests is what is your secret to profiting in life? Exceeding expectations Because when you are excellent at whatever you can have one chance with one customer but if you exceed their expectations and if you give them excellent customer service

They're gonna go tell ten friends and then that one chance turns into 10 chances, which could turn into 100 chances, which can turn into a huge business. So a lot of people, they over promise and under deliver. So then they're constantly trying to recruit new customers over and over again, then retaining ones that they have. And then if you have very, very happy customers, they should bring in referrals, they should bring in trust to your brand by giving you recommendations. You know, there's a lot of other things that go into that, but exceeding expectations and doing more

than what's expected, always going above and beyond. I love that. I couldn't agree more. Giving 110% and everything that you do, they say, how you do anything is how you do everything. And I think that's a good gems to always keep by your side. So thank you so much, Shane. I think this was such a great session. So happy that you joined us today. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

And yeah, I just really appreciate the time and continue to grow. You'll get to 100,000 soon. I hope so. Yeah, you're good. Bye, guys. Bye. Thanks for listening to Young and Profiting Podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please write us a review or comment on your favorite platform. Nothing makes us happier than reading your reviews. We'd love to hear what you think about the show. And don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, family, and on social media. I always repost, reshare, and support those who support us. You can find me on Instagram at YappwithHala or LinkedIn.

Just search for my name, it's HalaTaha. Big thanks to the Yapp team, as always, this is Hala, signing off. Are you looking for ways to be happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative? I'm Gretchen Ruben, the number one best-selling author of the Happiness Project. And every week, we share ideas and practical solutions on the happier with Gretchen Ruben podcast. My co-host and happiness guinea pig is my sister Elizabeth Kraft. That's me Elizabeth Kraft, TV writer and producer in Hollywood. Join us as we explore fresh insights from cutting edge science, ancient wisdom, pop culture, and our own experiences about cultivating happiness and good habits.

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