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Shay Rowbottom Has A Few Words For You About Your LinkedIn Posts

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This article is more than 4 years old.

When Shay Rowbottom speaks, people listen. A lot of people.

She might even be what you’d call a LinkedIn A-lister, someone with a large following on the ultra-professional social network who is beating the algorithms.

Her videos seem to pop right off the screen as though she’s talking directly to you (because, in fact, she is). Due to her high engagement and following, they also pop right to the top of your LinkedIn feed.

These days, it’s one thing to have a large following. People can buy followers like candy. However, Rowbottom has a following in the purest sense of the word — not just numbers, but dedicated fans. When she posts, the comment section erupts with new insights, most of them poignant. While Twitter is a scornfest and Facebook is trying to sway you politically, LinkedIn just exists. It’s all about a mostly unadulterated transmission of ideas from one person to many.

Rowbottom seems to get that. Her videos have a personal “you are here chatting with me” vibe. Often, she’ll do jump cuts to hold your attention and make funny off-hand bloopers in real-time (she is self-aware enough to make them seem funny and real). The most important part? She is saying really insightful things. In one video, she notes how you should always reply to comments because it means your followers will chat with you even more. She’ll drop a quick tip, such as saying it is better to post on weekends, and then rattle off a few more. The videos are inspiring because they show you how to make videos that capture attention and provide good advice.

It seems to come naturally to her, but of course — as with anyone who is successful and seems to effortlessly connect with a large audience — it was all born out of persistent dedication and experience. Rowbottom started out as a rapper and even auditioned for American Idol (she lost in the second round). It was after spending many years at a marketing agency, developing her skills while holding down a day job, that she started to see the possibilities of making the solo transition to LinkedIn.

“I literally studied viral content for years, worked for some of the largest blogs and brands on Facebook, wrote thousands of headlines, and amassed over a billion views per month for my clients average during my peak,” she explained to me by email. Her “instant success” came when she decided to venture out on her own and started posting videos for a large business-minded audience.

It wasn’t a big surprise to her when the clicks started rolling. “A lot of people think that being too open or vulnerable will be a turn-off for business, but it actually just drove more people my way,” she said. “Being an expert in the field who's studied newsfeed content, knows how to get attention online, knows business and marketing... all that coupled with having an entertaining personality and being a pretty young woman? Yes, it was no surprise I'd take off here.”

These days, Rowbottom has parlayed her fame and cachet on LinkedIn into a full-time consulting gig — a company called Shay Rowbottom Marketing.

She gives advice to companies on how to make social media more successful. As the profile states: “I turn founders and executives into LinkedIn video creators who are generating massive revenue for their organization.”

Most of her advice sort of hits you in the jaw, not because it’s hard-to-swallow or delivered in a way that’s confrontational. It’s the opposite — it all seems so cheerful and fun, but then you realize you’ve been an idiot for practicing a certain business and marketing approach that doesn’t make any sense.

She gave me just one example of the advice she typically gives: “Stop introducing yourself, no one cares,” she said. “Stop trying to sell your solution, no one cares. Start giving free value that would make your target markets’ lives easier without asking for anything in return. One of my main quotes people love to use is, ‘Build a following for as long as you can without asking for anything.’ It might seem like crap in the beginning, but in the long-term is so worth it.”

Curiously, when you watch her videos, you start thinking of immediate changes in strategy. I know I did. One thing Rowbottom mentioned about my own LinkedIn profile is that it doesn’t seem like I’m active enough, and that might turn people off. I tend to post daily but not multiple times per day. She also suggested hiring someone to manage connections, who sends out connection requests with a custom note for each new person. I’ll try that and report back soon.

More than anything, Rowbottom just seems to know her stuff. My favorite videos are those that poke fun at other social media stars and industry heavyweights, such as Gary Vaynerchuk. At times, she seems to be doing a parody of a LinkedIn video, but inserting sage advice along the way. In other videos and posts, she almost takes on a different persona, as though it’s an SNL skit or a fake infomercial. The main point here? She’s catching you by surprise, and people have noticed.

In the end, social media is not easy. Companies struggle to maintain engagement over long periods of time; they don’t have real followers. And, one viral hit is not enough. Rowbottom is like a guiding light for all of us. She seems to be saying: Welcome to the new decade, this is how it’s done, so pay attention or you’re gonna miss it.

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