Linkedinformed Podcast. The Linkedin Show

Among other topics, this week's show is about LinkedIn voice notes. I love them!PostbagMark Lee voice note on spam commentsNiraj Kapur has sent a voice note about AI, based on the content of last week's episode.I'll be sending more voice notes from now on – see my guide on LinkedIn voice notesMy average post length based on 5 years of dataI want to do more guest podcasts! See my past appearances on other podcastsLinkedIn's weekly sharing tracker now gone. There are more than 10 such updates coming in the next LinkedIn Roundup for Espresso+ members.LinkedIn Local in Birmingham: join us on 6 March.There's now a "living" LinkedIn newsletter that links to all my episodes of this podcast and that I will update each week.

Is AI coming for all our jobs? That's the main topic this week, with lots of resources for you to check out so you can work out on which side of the fence to fall.PostbagAnon: How can I make my Featured items look the same size?Other topics in this week's show:Something Big Is Happening AI article by Matt ShumerFrank Prendergast has shared a voice note about this. Check out Frank's podcast with Justin Collery: The AI ArgumentSee this annotated version and podcast as a rebuttal to Matt's article, produced by Ed Zitron.About that Matt Shumer post – another rebuttal, by Gary Marcus.Watch a clip of Mustafa Suleyman, CEO at Microsoft AI, speaking to the Financial Times about what AI will do to white-collar jobs.LinkedIn Local programme to shut down at the end of 2026.LinkedIn action on automated commentsLinkedIn Future of Work fund open till 15 March 2026 – apply hereWhat's your oldest post on LinkedIn?Bonus content I found after recording: check out episode 11 of The Last Invention, which includes interviews with

This week's show comes out early to remind you of this weekend's price rise for the UpLift Live 26. We have an interview with our final speaker, the host of the Nudge podcast, Phill Agnew.PostbagAshley Leeds: Premium banner image buttonsCaryn Yuen: Some experts say that sharing glimpses of your personal life can help build your brand and make it easier for your audience to connect with you. How important do you think this is? How often should one be doing this? How do you decide what’s worth sharing, and what’s not?———Phill Agnew interview: our final speaker at UpLift Live 26 on 26 March 2026. Get your ticket at uplift-live.com and see all speaker interviews at uplift-live.com/speakersMore in this episode:Conference planning videoBanner image size blogAbout those post-it notes

Being away for a week in Milan did wonders for people asking me questions for the show!PostbagRichard G Abrahams: As a fiction author, given that time learning and using social media is time not spent writing and editing fiction, and given that LinkedIn is a business platform, is there really any value for me to go through the learning curve to promote my novels? Will I really get return for the effort?Ashley Leeds: How are LinkedIn group recommendation emails generated? How is your Espresso+ podcast on Apple?Kate Clark: What's your view on LinkedIn events?Caryn Yuen: Some experts recommend posting daily to build your personal brand, and some even suggest posting multiple times a day. What posting frequency would you recommend on LinkedIn, and why?Also in the show:Updates on my speaking gig in Milan, with slides for Espressians.Banner image safe zone tipSaves and sends – how to access what you've savedLink click analyticsMS earnings call FY26Q2Open Profile Premium messagingTop Voices UKUpLift Live price rise

This week we look at audio pronunciation on your profile.Postbag Sara Gallagher: How can I realistically tell what advice is applicable to me, and what "works" because of the skewed sample but won’t in the broader LinkedIn universe? Does it just come down to trial and error?Is your security certificate valid?Recording an audio pronunciationMystery speaker for UpLift Live 26 – who is it?Illiya Vjestica is running a bonus UpLift Live 26 webinar on Thursday 5 February at 4pm, on the topic of presentation best practice. This one's free for all ticket-holders to the 2026 conference.

Main topic is how others can be your marketing department via their recommendations and video testimonials.PostbagMark Lee: I’m wondering what would happen if I chose to start another newsletter on a different topic potentially of interest to a different subset of my connections. Do all my connections get notified of the new newsletter? Does it have an impact on what happens with the other newsletter? Do all new connections get notified that I have two newsletters? Do off-topic posts work?Dates and times on postsRecommendations and video testimonials

What is real and what is fake on LinkedIn? We're looking at some fake accounts this week.PostbagGillian Whitney voice noteCan anything be done to stop DMs fragmenting when sending LinkedIn recommendations?LinkedIn security fake accountUpdate on fake LinkedIn security accounts via Guy StrijboschWhere did all the Top Voices go?Keep your headline short: check out some tips on the importance of making a quick impact with your profile headline.UpLift Live conference discountOur most recent LaunchPad call went well, and now we're offering a conference discount to Informed listeners.Use INFORMED to get 20% off an in-person ticket to UpLift Live 26. That offer is valid until 11.55pm UK time on Saturday 17 January, and then it's a 10% discount after that.

Happy New Year!PostbagHanne Møller – reposting your own postCaryn Yuen – hashtagsI know LinkedIn has removed the ability to follow hashtags, but people can still use them. Some include hashtags within the body of their post to draw attention to certain words, while others add several at the end in a more Instagram-style approach. So what purpose do hashtags actually serve on LinkedIn now?My top LinkedIn questionsWhere do I start?What do I post about?Should I post personal stuff?How do I approach people?Do I need LinkedIn Premium?Should I switch to creator mode?How do I increase my Social Selling Index (SSI)?Should I put links in posts?Do I need a company page?How do I get more engagement and visibility?

What's in your LinkedIn Year in Review? This is LinkedIn's version of Spotify Wrapped.PostbagShould a CTA be included in the headline? Caryn YuenIf the CTA is very short and part of a reasonably short overall headline, then that’s OK. Headlines that are too long won’t be read by humans, and if the intention of the text isn’t clear to the AI-powered LinkedIn search, that could do you harm.How to share achievementsFamey LockwoodLinkedIn has a new template for an individual to announce an achievement – degree, certification, award, etc. While the post is flashy and eye-catching, the question that I have and don’t understand is where does an individual show the actual document for the achievement? If the document is posted as a comment, the document isn’t always viewed in the feed. In addition, a person can say they have an achievement without actually having the evidence. (I have seen an individual post she had a certification from an organisation that I belong to so I knew the certification did not exist.) So,

PostbagDoes the industry setting matter on your profile?Christopher Johnson (voice note) LinkedIn industry options help pageFake accounts with similar headlines?LB BrittinghamI'm searching for other experts supporting introverts and I keep coming across profiles with "introvert living in an industry of extroverts" or similar. Many seem like real accounts. Maybe it's some sort of LinkedIn insider knowledge/meme? Kind of like newbies to Threads don't understand the rage bait from fake accounts when they first get there. I'm wondering if the same thing happens on LinkedIn.LinkedIn release a community report twice a year and the latest one covers January to June 2025. They say they've stopped 61.2M fake accounts at registration. 22.2M have been restricted proactively before reports were needed by members, and only 385,900 accounts were restricted following member reports. If you suspect you see a fake account, you can report it via the More button on their profile.Main topic: Is Premium worth it?I joined in

This week's main topic looks at how many active accounts there are on LinkedIn. See my LinkedIn membership tracker, particularly the updated section titled "How many active users are on LinkedIn?"Postbag– What do you think of people customising their pronouns?In short, don't do it!– There are quite a few LinkedIn experts who seem to attach an image to every single one of their posts. Do text-only posts perform less well than posts with images?Looking at my own data since the start of 2024, my text-only posts get 27% more impressions than my posts where I include an image.Other topicsLynnaire Johnston's livestream with Mark Williams (creator and former host of this show) at 8pm on Wednesday 10 December 2025: "LinkedIn, Legacy and Letting Go".UpLift Live 26 LaunchPad calls for those attending or considering attending our conference on LinkedIn best practice:Thursday 8 January 2026 at 11am UK (public)Friday 20 March 2026 at 1pm UKI'm speaking in Milan, Italy at Inspire Day, on 29/30 January 2026.Congratulations

Postbagvia Beth Kirk: Loving the informed podcast! I have a question around the proactive use of DMs to build relationships on LinkedIn. Do you have any top tips for people with established audiences please?— Look for opportunities to start conversations: birthdays, job changes— Look through your network to find key referral partners and potential clients, then scour their profiles and content for anything that could start a conversation— Don’t jump in out of the blue with a sales message. That will look like a campaign. Be more human!— If there’s any sign that the other party might be open to it, use a voice note or even a video note to further humanise. I get great response rates.via Espresso+: Does anyone get high levels of impressions with comments as a company page?via Espresso+: How to be found through ChatGPT?via Espresso+: Does an emoji in the Name field lead to spending one day in LinkedIn jail?Engagement podsPods are unholy alliances of LinkedIn users who are trying to artificially boost their posts

Thanks to Mark Williams for his kind farewell newsletter.PostbagProfile verification: to verify or not? (see more)Post timing: when is best to post?Recommendations: should they be up to date?Other topicsEveryone is talking about algorithmic bias against women. I’m going to investigate.A couple of text-plus-image posts:Changing the skin tone in emojis“Quiet Piggy”Starting a post with a short bit of quoted text often seems to get me good engagement, as per the second example.Why put a date and time stamp on posts? I wish LinkedIn would do something about this.About the showThis feels a bit meta but here are some things related to the development and marketing of the podcast:There’s a new page at espirian.co.uk/informedThere’s a new banner image as part of my rotating Premium bannerI’ve invited 250 people (the monthly limit) to follow the company pageThere were ~1000 downloads for episodes 466 & 467 – thanks!

The first episode of the new-look show took me 6 hours to record, edit and produce last week.PostbagHow do you manage lots of ongoing DMs?How much should we care about algorithms?Downgrading desktop featuresWhy not refresh your About statement with some icebreakers? Pick 3–5 conversation starters and drop them into your profile so that people doing their research can say something interesting to you.Free LinkedIn members can now send only 3 free personalised invitations per month – there are 5 quick tips in the show for how to get around this very annoying limitation.

This is the new-look Informed podcast, all about LinkedIn best practice, hosted for the first time by John Espirian. There’s a quick backstory of the handover from the show’s creator, Mark Williams, to John, and then on to listener questions in the Postbag.Postbag questionsCan you deactivate a company page without closing your personal profile?Can you talk about visibility being down on LinkedIn?Should we invest time in making newsletters, livestreams and videos on LinkedIn?How are comment impressions gauged and are they a useful metric?Is post boosting a good idea?Generative AI data training: how to turn it off if you don’t want to give your data to LinkedIn for free.Microsoft’s 2026 Q1 results are out, with some nuggets about LinkedIn growth.LinksGrowth stalling post 1Growth stalling post 2LinkedIn membership growth trackerRyan Roslansky on LinkedIn’s resultsBook a consultation with JohnEspresso+ community

My final ever episode. I have made the decision to retire, which means no more LinkedIn™️ training or LinkedIn™️ at all so the podcast needs to be handed on to someone else.

This week’s topic was inspired by a post I didn’t even read! I only caught a glimpse of it in my feed, but the headline or hook must have stuck in my brain and started to evolve into an idea for a podcast episode. It’s not the first time that’s happened—and it definitely won’t be the last. Chances are, it’s happened to you too, even if you didn’t realise it. That inspiration came from just one impression out of almost 20,000! Impressions to irrelevant people don’t matter so long as there are enough relevant ones. It can be argued that nobody is completely irrelevant anyway… you just don’t know! Content topic is critical to attract attention of the right audience So are impressions really a vanity metric? To hear all my thoughts on this subject plus the following topics, click on the podcast link below. Also covered; A profile feature makes a welcome return Video posting advice from LinkedIn™️...and it's actually quite good! New video trends feature Is spam getting worse? Premium free trial

We often come across people on LinkedIn™️ who look interesting and produce content we find valuable...so we follow or connect and over time we feel as though we get to know them better.But do we REALLY know them?Interesting People interviews are designed to reveal more about the background, personal lives and characteristics of some of our favourite people on LinkedIn™️.Lea Turner is known for her openness and authenticity so it was a challenge to get her to reveal something we hadn't heard before...but she is most definitely very interesting!

The only dedicated LinkedIn™️ conference in the UK enters its second year this week. I won't be able to attend but they have a stellar line up of speakers so I asked John Espirian to come on the podcast to give us a glimpse of what in person and virtual attendees can expect.Plus:The challenge of keeping up with AI! AI video is getting better but it's not fooling me yet Exposing automated AI comment cheats (idiots) Two new features A new video newsletter from LinkedIn™️ What happened to the mobile video feed? This post made me laugh Post of the week

So the worlds largest online business networking platform has decided to invest in offline networking? LinkedIn's new experience centre, in London is a bit more than just about networking but it's an interesting new development. That plus; Can you simulate the engagement of a LinkedIn™️ post? New profile feature Embedding posts Do screenshots boost a posts reach? Are Russian comment bots infiltrating LinkedIn™️? The LinkedIn™️ DM privacy case has been dropped...but was it baseless? Post of the week