Is LinkedIn Dead? Are You Still Using That Social Media Platform?
What are you using it for and what are you getting out of it?
As the cliche goes, how we think determines what we do.
It applies symmetrically to social media.
Is LinkedIn dead? Are you no longer achieving the phenomenal reach you used to? Thinking of abandoning LinkedIn for the next up-and-coming platform?
Before you make a decision, let me share my opinion on LinkedIn.
Or maybe, I should reframe what I just said.
Let me share the deals I got from LinkedIn
Fractional Executive Side-Hustle 1 — Fractional CEO for a Social Media Startup
~Source: One LinkedIn contact who is big on Thought Leadership.
Cristina, a 2-year long LinkedIn connection, sent me a direct message for catchup. That was 2020. We have not spoken for months. The last time we cooperated was on an Applied Psychology paper she was rushing for journal publication.
We went onto Zoom, and within 5 minutes, she opened a conversation topic I did not expect. One of her students set up a social media agency in Bucharest upon graduation and is searching for a Chief Executive to run the daily operations.
Cristina mentioned that he wanted to focus his attention on the second venture. I listened, and I asked why she thought of me. Cristina’s response was straightforward.
“I can sense your professional real talk via LinkedIn content. Your comments on my work have been practical and you have a social media footprint that the members of the agency can learn from.”
Long story short, I agreed to meet her student the next day. We sealed the Fractional Chief Executive deal within a week.
Income of this side-hustle: $7,500 for every 2 months, plus a 15% equity stake of the startup.
Commitment: 2 days a week on a flexible arrangement based on business needs.
Duration of this side-hustle: Lasted for 6 months. I left because of conflicting commitments.
Fractional Executive Side-Hustle 2 — Fractional Pitching Officer for an A.I.-Powered E-Commerce Startup
~Source: A 2nd degree LinkedIn connection who read my content on executive presentation and reached out via email.
To a startup on an investor roadshow for funding, pitching is everything.
When the pitch is unclear, or when the pitch deck is unnecessarily cluttered with excessive information that runs from slide 1 to 150, chances of securing investor funding evaporate into the thin air.
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
Caroline found me via LinkedIn. She perused my profile and located my email address. She dropped me a long email for the help she needed, the timeline for the pitch, and the pitch deck to be completed before she embarks on the investor roadshow.
I read her email around 11 in the evening on Christmas 2021. She sounded sincere and desperate. Caroline indicated her willingness to subscribe to a retainer service if the first investor roadshow went well.
We spoke the next day, exchanged non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and went on immediate collaboration mode. Caroline and I hopped onto Zoom for 2 hours a day, refining the pitch deck until the flow of information became concise.
When that was done, we immediately turned to pitch rehearsal. In short, I gave Caroline hell. I wanted her to be pitch-perfect.
Caroline would go on her investor roadshow by mid-January and come back with 2 cornerstone investors backing her A.I.-powered e-commerce platform with combined funding of $300,000.
She was pleased. I am satisfied.
Caroline invited me to be on the startup’s executive team as the Fractional Pitching Officer. I agreed.
Income of this side-hustle: $4,000 for every 3 months plus a 7% equity stake of the startup.
Commitment: 2 evenings a week. Flexible arrangement based on mutual availability.
Duration of this side-hustle: Ongoing.
Do you still think LinkedIn is dead?
Our YouTube Channel – Knowledge Topics
On our Youtube Channel, we produce content to uncover topics that permeate all walks of life. Our community can understand what it means to be in the trenches of our interest.
Here are some topics of interest we recorded with high viewership:
Why we buy what we buy.
Mindset and Career.
Marketing on a Dime.
Green Technology.
Robotic Era.
Mental Health.
Our goal is to share our research with our community from a practitioner's standpoint.
Summary
There is still value in social media, even though it is no longer in the limelight.
We have to take time to sift through the fog and locate the beef.
It will be worth it.
The job of Bottomsup Perspective is to research, discuss, and share our findings so our community can grow with us.
This topic is one example of sharing our practitionership.
Do you believe in what we do?
If you do, push this big purple button.