June 19, 2024

LinkedIn Post Ideas To Win Clients with Nicole Osborne | 034

LinkedIn Post Ideas To Win Clients with Nicole Osborne | 034

Jon sits down with LinkedIn expert Nicole Osborne to discuss strategies for turning LinkedIn followers into paying clients. Nicole, bringing over 20 years of marketing experience and a distinctive approach blending German efficiency and infectious enthusiasm, provides valuable insights on crafting LinkedIn posts, handling client objections through content, and creating genuine FOMO. The conversation touches on best practices for engaging with LinkedIn lurkers and avoiding common mistakes. Tune in to learn how to elevate your LinkedIn presence and attract the right clients for your architecture business.

Today's Guest...

Nicole Osborne is your LinkedIn Meister, she’s here to help you knock through your inner Berlin Walls and build a WUNDERBAR LinkedIn presence that gets the right clients raising their hands. With 20+ years in marketing, and her signature blend of German efficiency, fun, and infectious enthusiasm, Nicole makes your LinkedIn less of a chore and more of a kunden-magnet (client-magnet).

Episode Highlights...

00:00 Introduction

01:34 Meet Nicole Osborne: LinkedIn Expert

03:12 Engaging Your Audience with Questions

06:53 Best Practices For Asking Questions On LinkedIn

09:20 Handling Client Objections on LinkedIn

15:14 Creating Genuine FOMO on LinkedIn

18:30 Offering Downloadable Content

19:38 The Importance of Transparency

20:19 Celebrating Client Successes

21:08 Engaging LinkedIn Lurkers

24:52 Common LinkedIn Mistakes

29:20 Optimising Your LinkedIn Profile

31:06 Nicole's Favorite Travel Destination

32:43 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Key Takeaways...

👉 Understanding Your Audience: Tailor your LinkedIn profile and content to what your target audience values and needs. Pose engaging questions that are easy for your audience to answer and have a positive spin.

👉 Using Questions Effectively: Use questions to engage your audience but ensure they are simple, positive, and easy to respond to. Test different types of content (polls, images, videos) and formats to see what resonates with your audience.

👉 Handling Objections in Content: Address common client objections openly in your LinkedIn content to build trust and demonstrate expertise. Utilise your content to show potential clients you understand their challenges and have solutions.

👉 Creating Genuine FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Highlight your achievements and celebrate client successes to create genuine interest and urgency in your services. Utilise scarcity by being transparent about your availability and capacity.

👉 Engaging Lurkers: Make it easy for "lurkers" (silent followers) to engage by sharing relatable and vulnerable content. Consider linking email newsletter content to LinkedIn posts to drive engagement.

👉 Avoiding Common Mistakes: Have a clear strategy to stand out and differentiate yourself from peers. Focus your posts on potential clients rather than peers to provide valuable and relatable content. Overcome the fear of imperfection; start posting and learn from feedback to refine your approach.

👉 Optimising Your LinkedIn Profile: Regularly review and optimise your profile to make sure it aligns with what potential clients need to know about you. Ensure a routine that includes posting, growing your network, and being active in direct messages.

Links Mentioned In The Episode...

If you’d like help with your LinkedIn strategy or content, learn about Nicole Osborne from Wunderstars here > https://wunderstars.com/wundercontent/

Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleosborne1/

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👇 Follow or Connect with Jon on LinkedIn at...

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In The Next Episode...

Next time Jon is joined by Aya Shlachter to explore the benefits of outsourcing & how you can get started.

00:00 - Introduction

01:34 - Meet Nicole Osborne: LinkedIn Expert

03:12 - Engaging Your Audience with Questions

06:53 - Best Practices For Asking Questions On LinkedIn

09:20 - Handling Client Objections on LinkedIn

15:14 - Creating Genuine FOMO on LinkedIn

18:30 - Offering Downloadable Content

19:38 - The Importance of Transparency

20:19 - Celebrating Client Successes

21:08 - Engaging LinkedIn Lurkers

24:52 - Common LinkedIn Mistakes

29:20 - Optimising Your LinkedIn Profile

31:06 - Nicole's Favorite Travel Destination

32:43 - Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Jon Clayton:

Well to know how to make your LinkedIn profile client

Jon Clayton:

magnets, or how to turn those silent followers into paying clients today.

Jon Clayton:

We're diving deep into client winning strategies with LinkedIn expert,

Jon Clayton:

Nicole Osborne on this episode of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

The weekly podcast for solo and small firm architecture practice owners,

Jon Clayton:

just like you who want to build a profitable future-proof architecture

Jon Clayton:

business that fits around their life.

Jon Clayton:

I'm the host, John Clayton.

Jon Clayton:

And if you want a business in architecture that gives you more freedom, flexibility,

Jon Clayton:

and fulfillment, then go to architecture, business club.com forward slash blueprint.

Jon Clayton:

And download the architecture business blueprint.

Jon Clayton:

It's the step-by-step formula to freedom for architects, architectural

Jon Clayton:

technologists and architectural designers.

Jon Clayton:

And it's absolutely free as a gift from me.

Jon Clayton:

Now let's explore LinkedIn post ideas to win clients.

Jon Clayton:

WUNDERBAR LinkedIn presence that gets the right clients raising their hands.

Jon Clayton:

With 20 plus years in marketing and a signature blend of German

Jon Clayton:

efficiency, she's fun and infectious enthusiasm, Nicole makes your

Jon Clayton:

LinkedIn less of a chore and more

Jon Clayton:

of a Cundan magnet.

Jon Clayton:

And just in case you've got a grade D in high school German like

Jon Clayton:

I did, that means client magnet.

Jon Clayton:

You can connect with Nicole on LinkedIn and I'll leave a link

Jon Clayton:

to her profile in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

Nicole, welcome to Architecture Business Club.

Nicole Osborne:

Oh, John, thank you so much for inviting me.

Nicole Osborne:

I'm super excited to be here and to be able to talk to your community.

Jon Clayton:

it's great to have you here,

Jon Clayton:

Nicole.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks

Jon Clayton:

for joining me.

Jon Clayton:

Before we get stuck into the topic, though, I'd

Jon Clayton:

I'd like

Jon Clayton:

you to tell me a little bit about what you get up to in your free time.

Nicole Osborne:

Oh, in my free time.

Nicole Osborne:

Well, I tend to spend a fair bit on the computer because most of my clients are

Nicole Osborne:

outside the UK, so I'm a fair bit on Zoom.

Nicole Osborne:

So in my free time, I really like to just get off the screen, of digital, and

Nicole Osborne:

I like to keep fit just a little bit.

Nicole Osborne:

So I live in the middle of London, of I should say North West London.

Nicole Osborne:

So I bought myself a manual scooter, emphasis on manual scooter.

Nicole Osborne:

So I actually have to do all the work.

Nicole Osborne:

And I love nothing more than every day for half an hour to go outside

Nicole Osborne:

and just drive around my local area just to get a bit of exercise in.

Nicole Osborne:

London's pavements are so wobbly.

Nicole Osborne:

You actually have to be really mindful of not running anyone over or falling off.

Nicole Osborne:

That means you get a lot of head space and I love doing it.

Nicole Osborne:

So yeah, this is what I really do nearly every day and I absolutely enjoy

Nicole Osborne:

it for the exercise but also just to get some space for thinking and ideas.

Nicole Osborne:

one of my favorite hobbies, having a scooter.

Jon Clayton:

Sounds like a lot of fun.

Jon Clayton:

My thing is kayaking.

Jon Clayton:

It's not

Jon Clayton:

quite as easy

Jon Clayton:

to get out every day, but, I do try through that the summer to try and get out

Jon Clayton:

every week.

Jon Clayton:

And, uh, that's sort of why.

Jon Clayton:

my happy place, I suppose,

Jon Clayton:

where I

Jon Clayton:

can have some mindfulness away from the computer and my desk.

Jon Clayton:

So we're going to

Jon Clayton:

talk about LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

Specifically, we're going to talk about LinkedIn post ideas to win clients.

Jon Clayton:

We're going to dig into that, but first I wanted to start by just asking about

Jon Clayton:

using questions in LinkedIn posts.

Jon Clayton:

sometimes I see people using questions in LinkedIn posts, and I

Jon Clayton:

was wondering what sort of questions tend to perform well on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

Great question, John.

Nicole Osborne:

So LinkedIn is very much a social platform.

Nicole Osborne:

So it's the world's largest B2B social media platform.

Nicole Osborne:

And the reason why I wanted to say this first of all, because it's important

Nicole Osborne:

that we engage with our audience, the kind of people that we want to reach.

Nicole Osborne:

We want to get noticed by.

Nicole Osborne:

and questions are your super tool for giving your audience encouragement

Nicole Osborne:

and permission to say something.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, the trick with this is we are on social media to learn something new

Nicole Osborne:

to connect with new people, but also essentially to make ourselves look good.

Nicole Osborne:

So for your community of architects.

Nicole Osborne:

it's probably going to be so tempting to ask quite challenging questions

Nicole Osborne:

like, Oh, are you looking at your house extension are you facing both struggles?

Nicole Osborne:

But the problem with this sort of question is, that essentially the audience member

Nicole Osborne:

have to admit that they have a problem.

Nicole Osborne:

So I would say, try and pick a question, which is of course related to your pose,

Nicole Osborne:

But make it really easy and almost make it a no brainer, John, because what happens

Nicole Osborne:

is we on social media, we are time short, and our attention span is literally zero.

Nicole Osborne:

it's got to to be something really easy to be able to say.

Nicole Osborne:

And also, we want to make ourselves as great, so if it's something positive,

Nicole Osborne:

perhaps the questions that, such as, have you seen a building which has

Nicole Osborne:

really inspired you, or have you visited a friend's house where you really

Nicole Osborne:

love the extension because it brought in a lot of light into the house,

Nicole Osborne:

have you admired a situation where?

Nicole Osborne:

where the couple made great use of space?

Nicole Osborne:

Much easier to say something to that as opposed to admitting something

Nicole Osborne:

Oh, my house isn't good enough or We haven't got enough space or i'm

Nicole Osborne:

worried about the building regulations.

Nicole Osborne:

So you probably can see straight away I'm i'm suggesting a positive spin on

Nicole Osborne:

the question which makes the audience Look good, and it's easy for them

Nicole Osborne:

to to reply Does that make sense?

Jon Clayton:

That

Jon Clayton:

makes

Jon Clayton:

sense.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

so use questions where we can give a positive spin on things and don't

Jon Clayton:

overcomplicate the questions because.

Jon Clayton:

we don't have a lot of free headspace

Jon Clayton:

and we don't

Jon Clayton:

have a lot of time.

Jon Clayton:

So if it's something we can engage with, Easily without having to think too hard.

Jon Clayton:

We're more likely to get better engagement on the post.

Jon Clayton:

Would that be correct?

Nicole Osborne:

Yes, super well said.

Nicole Osborne:

So put yourself into the audience's shoes and always think about what would be easy

Nicole Osborne:

for them to answer because the reality is A lot of people are lurkers on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, this is not necessarily a negative thing, but it means that they're silent.

Nicole Osborne:

They're not likely to comment.

Nicole Osborne:

They're not likely to ask questions because it takes a lot of being

Nicole Osborne:

brave, being visible on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

They might not be ready yet.

Nicole Osborne:

So if you make it really easy for them to reply or to comment, they're more

Nicole Osborne:

likely to do so in turn, which will be great for the LinkedIn algorithm.

Nicole Osborne:

Which wants to keep people engaged on the platform, wants your post to do well.

Nicole Osborne:

So yes, it kind of fits two boxes.

Nicole Osborne:

It makes easy for your audience, easier for you, but also

Nicole Osborne:

it's good for the algorithm.

Nicole Osborne:

Mm-Hmm,

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

You mentioned about lurkers there.

Jon Clayton:

We'll swing back around to that shortly, but before we do I just was

Jon Clayton:

wondering if there was any other best practices around asking questions

Jon Clayton:

on linkedIn, like regarding whether.

Jon Clayton:

to use a short post where it's just literally the question on its own, whether

Jon Clayton:

to try and tie questions in into a longer text post, whether we use graphics with

Jon Clayton:

them, whether we use, there's polls as well that we can use to ask questions,

Jon Clayton:

what are the best practices that you've seen working recently on LinkedIn?

Nicole Osborne:

So it continuously evolves, which is why I love working with

Nicole Osborne:

LinkedIn or any sort of digital marketing it might really depend on your audience.

Nicole Osborne:

So it's worth whenever you are designing content to think straight away.

Nicole Osborne:

Okay.

Nicole Osborne:

Who am I designing this for?

Nicole Osborne:

What likely questions are they going to have?

Nicole Osborne:

What would they perceive as value?

Nicole Osborne:

How can I really walk in their shoes?

Nicole Osborne:

And I would also recommend that you test a variety of content posts.

Nicole Osborne:

you already suggested picture images and a post.

Nicole Osborne:

Just a text post, a poll, which is another great way, by the way, of getting your

Nicole Osborne:

audience to engage because, it doesn't take a lot of time for them to reply.

Nicole Osborne:

Videos are also on the rise or even actually going live on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

And this content mix continuously evolves.

Nicole Osborne:

And it's also important that you try out different things because

Nicole Osborne:

all members in your audience will have different preferences.

Nicole Osborne:

So if you only stick to, let's say, text posts or only polls.

Nicole Osborne:

That's really quite boring on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, it's not like where everyone will see every post, but you want to create that

Nicole Osborne:

mixture to appeal to different people.

Nicole Osborne:

So yes, the key really is to think about your audience, try out different formats.

Nicole Osborne:

And then the final point I would like to make on this, also think

Nicole Osborne:

about what suits you as well.

Nicole Osborne:

Ideally, you want to find that sweet spot there.

Nicole Osborne:

It's what your audience enjoys, and also what you can learn to enjoy over

Nicole Osborne:

time in terms of content creation.

Nicole Osborne:

So those would be my tips on that.

Nicole Osborne:

Silence.

Jon Clayton:

might be something to work towards if your whole content

Jon Clayton:

strategy relies on doing that, then you're less likely to be able to be

Jon Clayton:

consistent with it if it's something that's a bit too much of a struggle.

Jon Clayton:

So I like that you said about, there's a variety of different ways that we

Jon Clayton:

can do it, to, to ask questions and that we can try out those different

Jon Clayton:

ways and see what resonates with our audience and find the sweet spot.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

Nicole, something that we have to do generally as business owners, and

Jon Clayton:

this isn't just in architecture is.

Jon Clayton:

in winning clients is handling their objections.

Jon Clayton:

Is this something that we should talk about openly on linkedIn?

Jon Clayton:

or is this something that we, you know, do we save these, This for the

Jon Clayton:

sales calls, or actually, is there some sense in talking about common

Jon Clayton:

customer objections openly on LinkedIn?

Nicole Osborne:

Yes.

Nicole Osborne:

So if we put ourselves into the shoes of a person who's trying to find their best

Nicole Osborne:

local architecture or architectural BRO,

Nicole Osborne:

what do we show to these people to help them make a decision?

Nicole Osborne:

And surely a substantial part of that is our digital footprint.

Nicole Osborne:

That would be Google.

Nicole Osborne:

You know, how easily is your practice to be found on Google?

Nicole Osborne:

It's LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

So you want to think about, okay, so once they find me on those channels and that's

Nicole Osborne:

step one, What do they need to know about me as an architect, my team, in order

Nicole Osborne:

to help them make a better decision?

Nicole Osborne:

Because I would imagine, you know, if I'm an architectural bureau, for

Nicole Osborne:

example, specializing in home extensions in London, that's a lot of building

Nicole Osborne:

regulations, but it's in a lot of space.

Nicole Osborne:

That is a sort of a certain type of expertise.

Nicole Osborne:

So it would make sense to focus the content and the appeal of your

Nicole Osborne:

LinkedIn profile and your website to that kind of niche audience because

Nicole Osborne:

there are different needs compared to someone who might is looking for

Nicole Osborne:

like a more commercial property.

Nicole Osborne:

So super important to focus on your audience.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, when we know which audience we most like to appeal to, and you

Nicole Osborne:

and I would call this niching, but essentially it's about having a

Nicole Osborne:

focus for your sales and marketing.

Nicole Osborne:

We know already what kind of questions we get and you rightly mentioned

Nicole Osborne:

sales calls, but it's also putting ourselves again in those shoes.

Nicole Osborne:

Maybe they want to learn about our process.

Nicole Osborne:

Maybe they want to learn about how do we handle getting,

Nicole Osborne:

agreements from the council.

Nicole Osborne:

Or maybe it could be even advice for neighbouring disputes, you know, all

Nicole Osborne:

these sort of juicy bits which can come our way when we have a building project.

Nicole Osborne:

And if you already have expertise in those areas.

Nicole Osborne:

Or you know that your audience is likely to be concerned about the time it takes

Nicole Osborne:

to come up with the drawings, how good the instructions are for the actual

Nicole Osborne:

building company we're going to choose.

Nicole Osborne:

If you have an interest in sustainable building and you have an expertise

Nicole Osborne:

in that, all of these questions are such valuable content ideas,

Nicole Osborne:

because you want to show the audience you want to appeal to.

Nicole Osborne:

that you have a track record and that you have expertise and that you

Nicole Osborne:

particularly know what challenges, questions and hopes and dreams they have.

Nicole Osborne:

So yes, I always see objections as something like a goldmine

Nicole Osborne:

for content creation.

Nicole Osborne:

So for example, when I work with people on their LinkedIn, you know,

Nicole Osborne:

one objection is often, well, I've tried it before, it hasn't worked.

Nicole Osborne:

Another objection could be, well, I don't have anything interesting to say . And,

Nicole Osborne:

another objection could be, well, you know, we don't want to need into working

Nicole Osborne:

with anyone now because I'm aware of that.

Nicole Osborne:

I often talk about this in my content, and this is an added benefit actually.

Nicole Osborne:

it also means that I'm quite approachable in my content.

Nicole Osborne:

I show my audience, I know them.

Nicole Osborne:

I listen to them because often we temptation is on LinkedIn because.

Nicole Osborne:

Everyone feels we've got to be so serious and formal, and

Nicole Osborne:

we have such a formal network.

Nicole Osborne:

We pitch our content at too much of an expertise level.

Nicole Osborne:

So we're talking at our audience, and we're not opening that dialogue.

Nicole Osborne:

But by addressing some of these questions, these real questions you get from people

Nicole Osborne:

about the services you provide, you can pitch it at their level and you

Nicole Osborne:

can make it really valuable for them.

Nicole Osborne:

So absolutely, John, amazing that you brought that up.

Nicole Osborne:

Collate those questions and address them in your content.

Nicole Osborne:

And, you weave it into a story.

Nicole Osborne:

You maybe use it for a hook, and you share some learning points, or you talk

Nicole Osborne:

about your experience surrounding that.

Nicole Osborne:

So yeah, great mind of content ideas.

Jon Clayton:

That sounds amazing.

Jon Clayton:

Sounds like there would be so many different ideas for content that just

Jon Clayton:

to take a little bit of time and think about some of their common questions

Jon Clayton:

and objections that come up when you are, having those early conversations

Jon Clayton:

with potential customers that gives us so many options for things

Jon Clayton:

that we could post on linked in.

Jon Clayton:

And I could imagine actually that if we do that in that way,

Jon Clayton:

surely that's going to help actually when

Jon Clayton:

it does

Jon Clayton:

come time to get on the phone with

Jon Clayton:

somebody,

Jon Clayton:

that if they've already seen

Jon Clayton:

several

Jon Clayton:

of your linked in posts,

Jon Clayton:

that It's going to make it

Jon Clayton:

an

Jon Clayton:

easier

Jon Clayton:

yes for them because you've probably

Jon Clayton:

like handled

Jon Clayton:

a lot of those objections already through your, your content.

Jon Clayton:

So it should save some time

Jon Clayton:

later when you get on the phone

Jon Clayton:

with them.

Nicole Osborne:

Yeah, and you already built that trust, you know, and they're

Nicole Osborne:

getting in touch, but they know that you specialize in that area, maybe

Nicole Osborne:

in developing plans for tight spaces.

Nicole Osborne:

spaces.

Nicole Osborne:

So you already have that expert status and they don't feel silly about asking

Nicole Osborne:

you any additional questions because the real burning questions they have.

Nicole Osborne:

You've already made a good start on addressing them.

Nicole Osborne:

So yeah, it works really well.

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

So we've

Jon Clayton:

been posting on

Jon Clayton:

LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

We've been asking some relevant

Jon Clayton:

questions to

Jon Clayton:

get some engagement with our audience.

Jon Clayton:

We've been

Jon Clayton:

making some posts,

Jon Clayton:

that talk about some of the objections and we've been handling

Jon Clayton:

those for our LinkedIn

Jon Clayton:

posts as well.

Jon Clayton:

So.

Jon Clayton:

Let's say we're getting to the

Jon Clayton:

point where

Jon Clayton:

we've got some people

Jon Clayton:

that are starting to get

Jon Clayton:

interested in

Jon Clayton:

working with

Jon Clayton:

us, and maybe we want to

Jon Clayton:

try

Jon Clayton:

and get them over the line and turn them from, you know,

Jon Clayton:

just

Jon Clayton:

a follower on our LinkedIn or a connection into an

Jon Clayton:

actual

Jon Clayton:

customer.

Jon Clayton:

So one of

Jon Clayton:

the things that I've heard about

Jon Clayton:

is, what

Jon Clayton:

people

Jon Clayton:

call FOMO,

Jon Clayton:

the fear of missing out.

Jon Clayton:

And

Jon Clayton:

I'd be interested to know that how

Jon Clayton:

we can

Jon Clayton:

create some FOMO on

Jon Clayton:

LinkedIn around

Jon Clayton:

our, our offers and our

Jon Clayton:

services.

Jon Clayton:

To, you know, I think again, I'll just caveat that

Jon Clayton:

by saying

Jon Clayton:

genuine FOMO, not like something artificial,

Jon Clayton:

because it

Jon Clayton:

can, some, sometimes people can get the wrong end of things there and

Jon Clayton:

think that it's not

Jon Clayton:

genuine.

Jon Clayton:

I'm, so I'm talking about how can we create some genuine

Jon Clayton:

FOMO

Jon Clayton:

about the scarcity of

Jon Clayton:

what we

Jon Clayton:

offer,

Jon Clayton:

Because

Jon Clayton:

the truth is that as a, small business owner or an architect

Jon Clayton:

that's working on their own or in a

Jon Clayton:

small practice,

Jon Clayton:

there is some, there should be some natural scarcity there anyway.

Jon Clayton:

Like you've only got a finite amount of time

Jon Clayton:

to deliver

Jon Clayton:

these services.

Jon Clayton:

how can we get that across on LinkedIn?

Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Don't forget to download the architecture business, blueprint the

Jon Clayton:

step by step formula to freedom for architects, architecture, technologists,

Jon Clayton:

and architecture designers.

Jon Clayton:

You can grab the blueprint without any charge@architecturebusinessclub.com

Jon Clayton:

forward slash blueprint.

Jon Clayton:

And if you enjoy this episode, then please leave a five star review or

Jon Clayton:

rating wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jon Clayton:

Now, back to the show.

Nicole Osborne:

So I think the first thing which is valuable to point out is what

Nicole Osborne:

could be considered as leads on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

And I want to break to chat about that because often there is some confusion.

Nicole Osborne:

So when, for example, when you know that someone is regularly

Nicole Osborne:

commenting on your posts,

Nicole Osborne:

there's a level of interest and it would be good to capture those people.

Nicole Osborne:

Also when you are creating a poll and someone votes, that's again an

Nicole Osborne:

indication of someone potentially being interested in the service you're

Nicole Osborne:

offering or struggling with that problem you're talking about in the poll.

Nicole Osborne:

And then if someone reaches out to you in the DMs and the direct messages.

Nicole Osborne:

And, you know, if they're really making an effort to comment on something you said,

Nicole Osborne:

or maybe they've had you on a podcast, or where they've seen one of your local,

Nicole Osborne:

uh, pieces and walked by the projects that, Hey, we we noticed your building

Nicole Osborne:

board Most can all be considered leads.

Nicole Osborne:

So it's, it's, it's, really important just to, to really, okay.

Nicole Osborne:

So people who commented, people who voted on polls, people who have

Nicole Osborne:

sat or unfound me on on LinkedIn to really spread the net quite wide.

Nicole Osborne:

Now in terms of creating fear of missing out, there's a couple of techniques I

Nicole Osborne:

would, I would like to mention here.

Nicole Osborne:

So first of all, you know, as an architectural firm, you are often

Nicole Osborne:

in a really good position of having photos of the completed project.

Nicole Osborne:

So I would use these photos and I would talk about the, maybe there was

Nicole Osborne:

something challenging about the site, and maybe there was a huge uh, rush to

Nicole Osborne:

get things created, or maybe that it really Needed a lot of cooperation with

Nicole Osborne:

local neighbours, with the local council offices, Talk about what made the project

Nicole Osborne:

so challenging and also give a bit of an insight into how come back Because that

Nicole Osborne:

in itself will attract the kind of people who might have faced something similar.

Nicole Osborne:

And then you have such a visual service and you have pictures that

Nicole Osborne:

works really, really, really well.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, the second thing I like to highlight is, offering something

Nicole Osborne:

which people could download.

Nicole Osborne:

So I remember we had an extension build eight years ago and you know it

Nicole Osborne:

was the first time we had an extension build with architectural drawings and

Nicole Osborne:

it was quite a conundrum of things we had to solve and know about.

Nicole Osborne:

So it would have been amazing at that time to be able to download.

Nicole Osborne:

Here, are the top 10 things for how you can find the right architect for you.

Nicole Osborne:

And, and John, you and I in our marketing language, we call this a

Nicole Osborne:

lead market, so a hand riser, giving people an opportunity to get something

Nicole Osborne:

of value and reach and return, give you their email address and the same

Nicole Osborne:

actually works on, on, on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

So for my own business, I have a couple of hand risers.

Nicole Osborne:

One of them is free content ideas.

Nicole Osborne:

And whenever I post about it.

Nicole Osborne:

The people who want to download it, those are people who need content ideas.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, this is an area I specialize in, so again, I create FOMO by talking about it

Nicole Osborne:

and how easy it is to implement them and how we spoke well for my audience and

Nicole Osborne:

it creates that, fear of missing out.

Nicole Osborne:

Now the final point of what you sort of said, creating that scarcity, I absolutely

Nicole Osborne:

agree with you on that, you know, this is not something we should make up.

Nicole Osborne:

So for example, in my business, when I work on one on one coaching with people,

Nicole Osborne:

I generally only take two new clients every month because it's a lot of work

Nicole Osborne:

upfront in terms of getting to know the business owner, getting to know what they

Nicole Osborne:

need to do and putting a plan together.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, if I've been, I've been linked in, so there's only one slot left,

Nicole Osborne:

but actually there are still two slots left, or three slots left.

Nicole Osborne:

That's not genuine, and I really think about high levels of transparency,

Nicole Osborne:

and that you need to be honest in your marketing, because what does that say

Nicole Osborne:

about you as a person, as a business?

Nicole Osborne:

So I would really concentrate on the fear of missing out in terms of showing off

Nicole Osborne:

some of the successes you've had, and also really celebrating your clients.

Nicole Osborne:

So as an architect, you can congratulate that family you are

Nicole Osborne:

really brave in their choices, or that family you're really committed to.

Nicole Osborne:

I'm making some new choice in terms of sustainability or really making

Nicole Osborne:

it work for the local setting.

Nicole Osborne:

Congratulate them on that because celebrate their success

Nicole Osborne:

because that is your success.

Nicole Osborne:

So that's a tactic You will see on my linkedin account a fair bit, I show up

Nicole Osborne:

and my clients have had successes and I don't even have to say yes to that.

Nicole Osborne:

I played a small part on that, that's the kind of implication.

Nicole Osborne:

So that's a lovely way of creating that feel of missing out, absolutely.

Jon Clayton:

That's

Jon Clayton:

brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks,

Jon Clayton:

Nicole.

Jon Clayton:

Something you mentioned earlier, you

Jon Clayton:

mentioned about lurkers.

Jon Clayton:

Now feels like a good time to talk about that.

Jon Clayton:

So, everyone has lurkers, those people that perhaps

Jon Clayton:

follow our social media accounts or maybe if you

Jon Clayton:

have an email list the people that are on there that

Jon Clayton:

perhaps don't

Jon Clayton:

directly with

Jon Clayton:

us.

Jon Clayton:

So,

Jon Clayton:

I mean, do you have any suggestions

Jon Clayton:

of

Jon Clayton:

how we could turn our LinkedIn lurkers

Jon Clayton:

into, into leads and into

Jon Clayton:

customers?

Nicole Osborne:

it's a tough one, because when we work in the marketing industry,

Nicole Osborne:

it's sometimes easy to forget how difficult it is actually to be visible

Nicole Osborne:

on social media, because It's obviously something we've worked on for years.

Nicole Osborne:

So the first tactic goes back to actually recognizing I need to make

Nicole Osborne:

this easy for people to speak up.

Nicole Osborne:

So when I look at my, schedule, I often like to have something

Nicole Osborne:

which drives engagement and that builds that human connection.

Nicole Osborne:

So maybe I will talk about A detail in my own personal business, journey,

Nicole Osborne:

and I'll share some learnings, a long road sign, a long road post.

Nicole Osborne:

And because I don't make it out that I was born perfect, I'm Mrs.

Nicole Osborne:

Perfect now.

Nicole Osborne:

I would never want to suggest that.

Nicole Osborne:

But I'm quite relatable, I would hope.

Nicole Osborne:

And I am not afraid of sharing some vulnerability.

Nicole Osborne:

So that in itself makes it easier for people to step out of lurking

Nicole Osborne:

and sometimes, you know, when I share something, let's say I used to have

Nicole Osborne:

speaking gigs and not being able to sleep for six months and I've worked on this,

Nicole Osborne:

you know, now it might be down to two or three weeks, but it's still there.

Nicole Osborne:

I get people reaching out to me in the DMs saying, Nicole, you know,

Nicole Osborne:

that really helped me that you said that, that was really relatable.

Nicole Osborne:

And yeah, that's exactly what I'm facing now.

Nicole Osborne:

So, so that's one way of making it really easy, to connect with your posts.

Nicole Osborne:

The other thing is, is, you know, we are so driven by metrics.

Nicole Osborne:

So how many followers do we have?

Nicole Osborne:

How many connections?

Nicole Osborne:

How many views?

Nicole Osborne:

How many engagements?

Nicole Osborne:

I always believe what really matters is.

Nicole Osborne:

uh, People talk about your LinkedIn presence to you in those discovery calls.

Nicole Osborne:

Oh, yes, Nicole, I've heard you talk about that.

Nicole Osborne:

Oh, yes, I've seen you on that video.

Nicole Osborne:

That to me is a testament that, okay, so they might have not felt brave

Nicole Osborne:

enough in that moment to reach out.

Nicole Osborne:

And that's fair enough.

Nicole Osborne:

A huge percentage on people are not, are not active on social media.

Nicole Osborne:

But there's something in that which made me very relatable to

Nicole Osborne:

them, very memorable to them.

Nicole Osborne:

And, you know, they've continued building that relationship with me.

Nicole Osborne:

So it's that.

Nicole Osborne:

Realization that yes, people might be lurking, but it doesn't mean

Nicole Osborne:

they're not reading your content.

Nicole Osborne:

So do continue working on that.

Nicole Osborne:

And the stats always change, but generally speaking, I think it's only

Nicole Osborne:

like 1 percent of LinkedIn users who are actually posting once a week.

Nicole Osborne:

So you can imagine where that's going.

Nicole Osborne:

It's for people engaging and commenting, uh, even less than that.

Nicole Osborne:

So this is the world we operate in.

Jon Clayton:

Wow.

Jon Clayton:

Only 1%.

Jon Clayton:

That's quite a surprising

Jon Clayton:

figure.

Nicole Osborne:

It's quite a surprising.

Nicole Osborne:

figure.

Nicole Osborne:

Oh, just one, I find attracting on which I sometimes forget to

Nicole Osborne:

mention is, I've lately, I'm experimenting with my own newsletter.

Nicole Osborne:

So often what I'll do, I'll have a newsletter about my tips,

Nicole Osborne:

something specific area, and then I'll encourage people to comment

Nicole Osborne:

on a related post on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

And that for me is working really well because suddenly it's not that

Nicole Osborne:

barrier having to reply back to the email, but actually then just

Nicole Osborne:

viewing my profile on LinkedIn or commenting or casting a vote on a poll.

Nicole Osborne:

So that's another way of testing out what might work with your

Nicole Osborne:

audience to lurk them out of lurking.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

I think I'm going to steal that idea and

Jon Clayton:

link my email newsletter to a related LinkedIn posts.

Nicole Osborne:

fantastic.

Jon Clayton:

So, Nicole, you must

Jon Clayton:

see

Jon Clayton:

all sorts of

Jon Clayton:

common mistakes that

Jon Clayton:

people make on LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

could you perhaps share some of those and talk through how we can avoid them?

Nicole Osborne:

Yeah, fantastic question.

Nicole Osborne:

So I, as a LinkedIn trainer I specialize in working with agencies, but essentially

Nicole Osborne:

it's very similar to an architectural for professional services, right?

Nicole Osborne:

So the first mistake I often see is that.

Nicole Osborne:

There is no strategy behind how do we show what makes us different

Nicole Osborne:

how do we show that in our content?

Nicole Osborne:

And what this means is that you might be posting and you might be showing up, but

Nicole Osborne:

because there is no point of difference, you are not making the effort to really

Nicole Osborne:

show what makes you unique, a unique selling point or your brand values that

Nicole Osborne:

you end up blending into a background.

Nicole Osborne:

And LinkedIn is a pretty busy space.

Nicole Osborne:

So you want to have a unique tone of voice.

Nicole Osborne:

You want to have a unique approach to your imagery, because you want

Nicole Osborne:

to stand out and make it easy for people to connect with you.

Nicole Osborne:

So, so, so that's number one.

Nicole Osborne:

And then I talk about it, I often mentioned the orange van strategy

Nicole Osborne:

because you know, in England, we have lots of white vans or white transporters

Nicole Osborne:

and they all look the same, right?

Nicole Osborne:

Then you can't really distinguish one from the other.

Nicole Osborne:

So if you are looking for an architect and they're all in these five bands, well,

Nicole Osborne:

why would you reach out to a specific one?

Nicole Osborne:

So think of an orange band there.

Nicole Osborne:

It's completely customised, wrapping on the band.

Nicole Osborne:

It shows some beautiful diagrams and pictures of what they've

Nicole Osborne:

done, the contact, Details are on there and it's so different.

Nicole Osborne:

So you memorize them.

Nicole Osborne:

So you might not need an architect straight away, but they're top of mind or

Nicole Osborne:

your network are commenting on the post.

Nicole Osborne:

So that's the first thing we have a strategy behind standing up.

Nicole Osborne:

Then the next thing I do.

Nicole Osborne:

I would say is we often are so tempted because we're so worried about what we

Nicole Osborne:

post and how others might perceive it.

Nicole Osborne:

that we end up posting for our peers.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, I love my peers, John, you and I, we are peers.

Nicole Osborne:

We comment on each other's posts and that's great, but we've

Nicole Osborne:

got to work together, right?

Nicole Osborne:

I want my posts to be noticed and relevant by the kind of people either

Nicole Osborne:

that I can work with or who have access to the kind of audience I can work with.

Nicole Osborne:

all these types of people collaborate with.

Nicole Osborne:

So think about as an architect, you're essentially not posting for

Nicole Osborne:

other architects because, you know, they will want their own clients.

Nicole Osborne:

You're talking to the people on LinkedIn who might be in need

Nicole Osborne:

for an architectural service.

Nicole Osborne:

So you, you need to talk about different things, which are relevant for those.

Nicole Osborne:

It also means you bring it down to their level.

Nicole Osborne:

Do you know, I often find with LinkedIn, John, that you and I would be talking

Nicole Osborne:

a lot now about the know how, but that really makes a huge difference.

Nicole Osborne:

And then people develop their LinkedIn and mindset.

Nicole Osborne:

And they become that little bit braver and they are ignited

Nicole Osborne:

to let some of their fears go.

Nicole Osborne:

So if I was to talk to all my peers, I'll just talk about the know how

Nicole Osborne:

because I know these people are brave, you know, they're putting themselves

Nicole Osborne:

out there nothing stands in their way.

Nicole Osborne:

But for my audience, a lot of things stand in their way and it isn't just

Nicole Osborne:

that they don't know how LinkedIn works, it's actually because they're

Nicole Osborne:

worried what their peers will say.

Nicole Osborne:

Well, we found out there's a lot of impostor syndrome going on.

Nicole Osborne:

So this is really about what I meant by not.

Nicole Osborne:

Posting for my peers, but actually really talking to my

Nicole Osborne:

audience or potential clients.

Nicole Osborne:

And then the third thing, the third thing is to just be so worried in the beginning

Nicole Osborne:

that you never let yourself learn.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, this might sound really hard to do, but you know, As regular content

Nicole Osborne:

creators, we both know our first 10 to 100 pieces of something are

Nicole Osborne:

not going to be very good, right?

Nicole Osborne:

They might get no engagement whatsoever, no one reads them,

Nicole Osborne:

no one comments, but that's okay.

Nicole Osborne:

The important thing is to get started and to learn by the kind of

Nicole Osborne:

feedback you're getting and to really building your LinkedIn muscles.

Nicole Osborne:

So it's that kind of need of perfectionism and not wanting to, wanting to let

Nicole Osborne:

go of some of these fears, which really stops people in their track.

Nicole Osborne:

So I would say that's actually Biggest one is, is that it's got to be perfect and

Nicole Osborne:

if it's not perfect, I'm not posting it.

Nicole Osborne:

But Then you don't learn and you can't test up the messaging with your audience.

Nicole Osborne:

So yeah, hopefully those are three common mistakes.

Nicole Osborne:

So we're not standing out thinking about your peers too much and not

Nicole Osborne:

really posting for your audience.

Nicole Osborne:

And we're not getting started because we're standing on our own way.

Nicole Osborne:

Those are three top mistakes I see all the time.

Jon Clayton:

That's

Jon Clayton:

really helpful.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks for sharing that.

Jon Clayton:

what

Jon Clayton:

would be the main thing that you'd like the listeners

Jon Clayton:

to take away

Jon Clayton:

from this conversation?

Nicole Osborne:

I would like them to, first of all, have a

Nicole Osborne:

look at their profile again.

Nicole Osborne:

And see it through the eyes of their potential clients.

Nicole Osborne:

you including all of the things which they need to know about you?

Nicole Osborne:

Are you showing a bit of personality?

Nicole Osborne:

Is your profile optimized?

Nicole Osborne:

Do you have content which appeals to them?

Nicole Osborne:

So that would be the first thing.

Nicole Osborne:

Then the next thing I really like them to do is John, really what you brought

Nicole Osborne:

up in the beginning, which is really to think about the kind of questions

Nicole Osborne:

they get and their discovery calls.

Nicole Osborne:

You know, when they didn't get, when they didn't win a pitch

Nicole Osborne:

or proposal, why was that?

Nicole Osborne:

It's that content they could be adding to their LinkedIn routine?

Nicole Osborne:

And then the final thing I would just like to mention, I would encourage

Nicole Osborne:

everyone to consider actually, do I have a LinkedIn routine, which

Nicole Osborne:

covers all the different areas?

Nicole Osborne:

I know you and I, we talked a lot today about posting and what to post, but, what

Nicole Osborne:

about growing your network strategically?

Nicole Osborne:

What about being active in the DMs?

Nicole Osborne:

All of these are key components of LinkedIn success.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, wherever you are, you can always take that next step.

Nicole Osborne:

So I just really want people to feel encouraged that they can do it.

Nicole Osborne:

And it doesn't have to be perfect.

Nicole Osborne:

Nothing ever is perfect when we start, but just enjoy it and let yourself learn.

Jon Clayton:

That's brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks, Nicole.

Jon Clayton:

Was there anything else that you wanted to add that we haven't

Jon Clayton:

covered in the

Jon Clayton:

conversation?

Nicole Osborne:

you know ? That's really amazing.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, I feel you've asked me all sorts of perfect questions, so thank you so much.

Nicole Osborne:

Yeah, I would just say if someone wants a bit more of a bespoke tip, really feel

Nicole Osborne:

free to reach out to me on, LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

This is my main social media platform, so yeah, always love to

Nicole Osborne:

hear comments and additional questions and anything I can help, with.

Nicole Osborne:

thank you.

Jon Clayton:

That's brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

So it's time for me to ask the regular question that

Jon Clayton:

I ask all of the

Jon Clayton:

guests on the show.

Jon Clayton:

I, I've always loved travel and discovering new places.

Jon Clayton:

And I just wondered if you could tell me about one of your favorite

Jon Clayton:

places and what you love about it.

Jon Clayton:

And it doesn't matter if it's near or far.

Nicole Osborne:

This is going to be a place which is very close.

Nicole Osborne:

I live in London and actually Bournemouth.

Nicole Osborne:

Now, when I first came to England, all these years ago, I

Nicole Osborne:

actually came over as an au pair.

Nicole Osborne:

And before that, I came over as a language student for a month,

Nicole Osborne:

and I was very, very young.

Nicole Osborne:

And, I remember I did learn a lot of language, and I did hang out on

Nicole Osborne:

Bournemouth Beach a lot, and obviously we had the lower gardens, and it's

Nicole Osborne:

just a lovely seaside town, right?

Nicole Osborne:

So, I just recently went back, years later, and it was just so fabulous just

Nicole Osborne:

seeing how Bournemouth has evolved.

Nicole Osborne:

And it still has also kept some of these original features.

Nicole Osborne:

Obviously, we've got a beautiful pier, we've got the lower gardens,

Nicole Osborne:

and it's a really good sort of seaside town, where there's lots

Nicole Osborne:

of language students still around.

Nicole Osborne:

They've got the most beautiful ice cream, and yeah, anyone looking for a destination

Nicole Osborne:

where you can take your kids and, have a bit of fun, be by the seaside, yeah, I

Nicole Osborne:

highly recommend the form of, obviously, beautiful beaches as well and coastlines.

Nicole Osborne:

So yeah, that's my recent favourite new place.

Jon Clayton:

Oh,

Jon Clayton:

you know what?

Jon Clayton:

I

Jon Clayton:

think I went there when I was

Jon Clayton:

a

Jon Clayton:

toddler or a baby.

Jon Clayton:

I

Jon Clayton:

don't remember any of it, but I remember my parents telling me about a family

Jon Clayton:

holiday there,

Jon Clayton:

which I think I was ill.

Jon Clayton:

I think I was

Jon Clayton:

ill for the whole time while we were there.

Jon Clayton:

But it is somewhere I'd like to go back and visit

Jon Clayton:

again now.

Jon Clayton:

so I shall add it

Jon Clayton:

to my bucket list of destinations to go visit in

Jon Clayton:

the UK.

Jon Clayton:

Nicole,

Jon Clayton:

this has been absolutely fantastic.

Jon Clayton:

Thank

Jon Clayton:

you so much for joining

Jon Clayton:

me on the show and sharing your expertise.

Jon Clayton:

I've really

Jon Clayton:

enjoyed the conversation and I'm sure that everyone in the audience will do too.

Jon Clayton:

Can you just

Jon Clayton:

remind everyone the best place to

Jon Clayton:

connect with you, which

Jon Clayton:

I think I

Jon Clayton:

know where it's going

Jon Clayton:

to be, but I'll let you say it.

Nicole Osborne:

Yes, anyone in the audience who would love to reach

Nicole Osborne:

out, maybe read some more tips or ask some more questions, please come

Nicole Osborne:

and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Nicole Osborne:

John is kindly going to put the link to my profile in the show notes and

Nicole Osborne:

Nicole Osborne on LinkedIn and I can't wait to hear from your audience.

Nicole Osborne:

Thank you, John.

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks again,

Jon Clayton:

Nicole.

Jon Clayton:

Next time I'm joined by Aja.

Jon Clayton:

Schlachter to explore the benefits of outsourcing and how you can get started.

Jon Clayton:

thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

If you liked this episode, think other people might enjoy it.

Jon Clayton:

Or just want to show your support for the show.

Jon Clayton:

Then please leave a glowing five-star review or rating wherever you listen

Jon Clayton:

to podcasts, it would mean so much to me and makes it easier for new

Jon Clayton:

listeners to discover the show.

Jon Clayton:

And if you haven't already done, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

Jon Clayton:

So you never miss another episode.

Jon Clayton:

If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media

Jon Clayton:

platforms, just search for at Mr.

Jon Clayton:

John Clayton.

Jon Clayton:

The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Running your architecture business.

Jon Clayton:

Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

This is architecture business club.