Happy Tuesday!
I’m fresh off the plane from Orlando, where I had the incredible opportunity to speak at Podfest with my good friends Wendy Shore and Zack Demopoulos.
I have to make the joke, these are the only kind of "pods" I like. You all know how strongly I dislike "engagement pods" on LinkedIn (fake engagement is never the answer!), but podcasts? That is a different story.
It was such a joy to take the stage and show podcasters that LinkedIn is absolutely the right platform for them. Whether you are looking to promote your show or find your next guest, LinkedIn is where the conversations happen. I also attended some wonderful sessions and walked away learning so much from the community (and making great new connections).
But the events don’t stop there!
Fresh off our Letters To Lilly book signing and reading in NYC, I am heading to Washington, D.C. next.
My co-author Alexian Wines and I will be hosting two events on February 2nd and February 3rd. If you are in the D.C. area, I would love to see you there—please reach out to me for details!
🚀 DIY Influence Boot Camp
Are you ready to stop hoping the right people find you and start placing yourself in the rooms where your expertise is recognized?
DIY Influence is putting on our next boot camp all about being your own PR person. In this four-week series of 30-minute sessions, you will learn how to use earned and paid media to share your expertise, build credibility, and extend your reach.
The Schedule:
Feb. 4 - Media and PR Overview: Learn the difference between earned and paid media, how you can be included, and how to build your strategy.
Feb. 11 - Finding PR Opportunities: Where to source opportunities and how to build relationships with journalists and podcast hosts.
Feb. 18 - Pitching Yourself: Best practices for pitching media and podcast hosts.
Feb. 25 - Make the Most of Your Interview: Preparing for your appearance, adding value as a guest, and getting the most mileage out of your content.
Investment: $225 (Includes the full boot camp AND 3 months of membership in the DIY Influence community at no additional cost).
👉 Visit DIYInfluence.com for details and to register.
⚠️ A Warning About "Rented Land"
I often talk about my love for LinkedIn and that it’s my first choice when it comes to social media platforms. That hasn’t changed. However, I am becoming keenly aware of the dangers of building on "rented land."
A good friend of mine recently clicked on a link in a comment on one of his posts. It claimed to be from LinkedIn, but it was a scam. Just like that, he lost access to his account. Now despite getting a signed affidavit verifying his indentity, he’s still locked out. And this is not the only such case I am aware of.
It is a heartbreaking reminder that while we can build incredible communities here, we don't own the platform. You hope you never need a backup, but it is essential to have one.
Please take this as your reminder to download your data regularly.
Here is how to do it:
Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
Select Settings & Privacy.
Click Data privacy on the left-hand menu.
Under the "How LinkedIn uses your data" section, click Get a copy of your data.
Select "Download larger data archive" (or specific files like Connections) and click Request archive.
It may take up to 24 hours for LinkedIn to prepare the download (mine is usually much faster), but you will get an email when it's ready. Do it today for a little bit of peace of mind.
Until next month, keep brewing!
Melissa
P.S. Did you miss the last issue? Click here to catch up on the previous edition of Brewing Your Brand.