#93: How to Stand Out on LinkedIn

Jillian Richardson (00:00.142)
A lot of people when they hear me say be weird on LinkedIn, they will see my content that's like a little more jokey, a little more humorous, and they assume you have to write just like me. We all wear masks all the time, but like if you could take one of the 18 masks that we're all currently wearing off, like what would you say? A question I like to ask people is like, what is a idea in your industry that most people agree with that you don't?

Rhona Pierce (00:24.406)
I literally look at people's content and what they give their employees to say and I'm like, ooh, it's giving hostage situation. And she

Jillian Richardson (00:32.312)
just like here's all these ways that people have treated me in a really shitty way and this is why I'm not gonna be that kind of boss. And like in this space you don't see posts like that that often.

Rhona Pierce (00:44.334)
Often there's still companies that are living in the past.

Jillian Richardson (00:49.543)
And she felt a little nervous sharing it, but it was her most popular post of the year.

Rhona Pierce (00:55.242)
Is weirdness becoming the only way to signal that you're actually human? Most people on LinkedIn are playing it safe, polished, professional, and completely forgettable. Gillian Richardson decided to go the other direction. As one of LinkedIn's top ghostwriters, she spent years convincing founders and executives that weird isn't a liability, it's the strategy. And today, we're getting into what that actually looks like.

Why blending in might be the riskiest move you're making and how to finally show up like yourself. Jillian, welcome to Workfluencer.

Jillian Richardson (01:31.746)
God, what a pro intro. I am so happy to be here. Wow.

Rhona Pierce (01:37.486)
I'm so, so excited that you are here. We met what, a few like maybe last month and your energy is like so contagious and like literally exactly like you show up on LinkedIn and I just love that.

Jillian Richardson (01:50.914)
That's the highest compliment I get. The amount of times people are like, It's crazy, you actually sound like you right, which to me I would assume is like just the universal truth, but just not seemed to be the case, I am learning.

Rhona Pierce (02:04.642)
So for folks who haven't met you yet, what's the Jillian Richardson story in thirty seconds?

Jillian Richardson (02:11.394)
Yes, Gillian Richardson's story is how to viral post asking people to be weird on LinkedIn, go against the AI slop that makes people hate the platform, be themselves, be funny. It blew up, changed my whole business to just teach people how to be themselves, have fun and be effective on LinkedIn.

Rhona Pierce (02:31.786)
Isn't it so funny that everyone complains about how LinkedIn is so boring and so professional and so everything? And the second you go to their LinkedIn, they're doing exactly what they're complaining about.

Jillian Richardson (02:47.788)
You're like you are the problem. Look within. Look within. It is you.

Rhona Pierce (02:52.032)
Absolutely. So weird LinkedIn. That's your enti your whole thing. Like how did that even start? 'Cause yeah, you had the viral post, but it had to come from somewhere. Sure.

Jillian Richardson (03:03.542)
Sure. So the story is I was working contract at an agency, and I wrote 200 LinkedIn posts for founders in two months, which is like, no one should ever do that. It was it was too much content. But the thing that I noticed was one, the company was really interested in AI. And so they were wanting me to use AI tools to generate the posts.

And I literally was like, hey guys, it is straight up faster for me to write these myself than use AI and then edit it. Like the ones that I write myself always perform better. And more than that, the ones that use humor are the most popular. Like this one guy's most popular post of his entire LinkedIn career was literally a poem. Like, ChatGPT's not gonna write that for you. and so when I left, I just wanted to share with people like.

You might be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, but it will probably get you more of the results that you want.

Rhona Pierce (04:05.53)
Hey, have you subscribed? Let's fix that. It's the easiest way to support this show. So looking back on on your own journey, like when you started on LinkedIn, were you doing what everyone else was doing? Or like how did you come to this realization that like this type of content is what works best?

Jillian Richardson (04:27.128)
For sure. If you even look at my LinkedIn from like three years ago, I did a post one time comparing my old content to my new content, but it was literally just like everyone else. You know, it's like a picture of me on my computer, and I'm like, have you ever felt stuck with your c let me help you like to something that's like what everyone else is saying?

And I think it just took that much data for me to be like, wait a second, like I can I can relax, I can chill out and have fun here. But it was it was very supportive to me that I consistently saw that it worked.

Rhona Pierce (05:09.42)
Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Like the first time you're like, whatever, let's do it and like if it wouldn't have worked, you probably wouldn't have continued.

Jillian Richardson (05:19.704)
For sure. And actually I recently reposted my original viral post. And at first it wasn't performing that well. And I was like, my God, is the moment over? Was this a fluke? Like, blah. And then it blew up again. It was like 200,000 impressions, a thousand comments, again. So I'm like, okay, point still stands. The people still agree.

Rhona Pierce (05:44.736)
The people still agree, but the people are still not doing it. So

Jillian Richardson (05:49.198)
They help, and that's why I'm here.

Rhona Pierce (05:52.576)
What does it look like to be weird on LinkedIn in practice?

Jillian Richardson (05:58.892)
Yes. Okay. So there are many flavors of this. I think a lot of people when they hear me say be weird on LinkedIn, they will see my content that's like a little more jokey, a little more humorous, and they assume I mean like you have to write just like me. And they're like, I'm not like a ha ha writer. That's not my energy. But more like the deeper layer is to just be themselves. Like we we all wear masks all the time, but like

If you could take one of the 18 masks that we're all currently wearing off, like what would you say? And I a question I like to ask people is like, what is a idea in your industry that most people agree with that you don't? Like something that you could say where you feel like you're you're standing out a little bit. And it could be as simple as that. Like it it really just means be you, like be yourself.

Be show how you were different than literally everybody else in your industry.

Rhona Pierce (07:00.878)
Yes. Yes. I love that. And it and it's good that you made that distinction. Like everyone doesn't have to be humorous because everyone isn't humorous. And we might not want everyone trying to force to be funny. We've all sat in that meeting and been like, ew.

Jillian Richardson (07:20.066)
Feel like Eric, you are not as funny as you think you are, please.

Rhona Pierce (07:25.954)
I love the names, I love the names cause yes, it's always an error.

Jillian Richardson (07:30.04)
Always an Eric.

Rhona Pierce (07:32.28)
So a lot of the people listening are in corporate roles or running like B to B consulting practices, right? Yeah. And their gut says being too personality forward could cost them like a promotion, a client, their credibility. What do you say to that fair?

Jillian Richardson (07:49.784)
So of course it always depends on your company, but a lot of companies are actually investing right now in employee-generated content, meaning they are paying for their employees to take trainings to learn how to be customer-facing on LinkedIn. It is a huge asset to their company for their employees to be really visible. Because, like as you've seen on LinkedIn, you very rarely see posts from a company page. And if you do, you're

probably not going interact with it. But if you see posts from a human being, you're more likely to interact with it, feel an emotional connection. So really everyone wins when employees are comfortable posting on LinkedIn.

Rhona Pierce (08:34.658)
Yes. Yes. I've been preaching this years. Yes. and and I I'm I'm excited for the time that we're in. I'm excited that companies are embracing it. I'm excited that I'm not only tied to one company where I'm trying to do this and that I can help multiple companies. So yes. things are changing. And yes, there's still companies that are

Jillian Richardson (08:39.693)
And you know this more than I

Rhona Pierce (09:04.384)
Living in the past and like trying to control what people say. But I like to think of my content as a filter and as a like vetting mechanism, right? Yeah. If you don't like what you see in my content, you're not gonna wanna work with me. And I absolutely love that because I hate wasting time. I don't wanna talk to someone who's not gonna wanna work with me anyway.

Jillian Richardson (09:26.988)
Yeah, a hundred percent. I'm curious when you're working with people and you're trying to explain why employee generated content works, like what's your pitch to them?

Rhona Pierce (09:37.9)
Because I mostly work in with people on the talent side of things and my pitch to them is candidates, do not believe your scripted, polished careers page employee that looks like they were held hostage, telling this very scripted story. Like, no. yeah. I I look I literally look at people's content and what they

give their employees to say because and I'm like, ooh, it's giving hostage situation. Yeah. Cause it's like we people can tell. So that's really what I tell them. It's like people trust other humans. And they trust humans that are being authentically themselves. Yeah. So that's really what it is. And the same thing when I'm talking to companies that are not going to use EGC for talent attraction, but are going to use it for consumer for like client facing. It's like everyone's tired

Yeah. Of the little polished things that marketing wrote. No one's really trusting the influencer with millions of followers that's sp doing things for every single brand. And like every single day they're like, wait, I thought you liked cell phones and now you like whatever, like that type of thing. Yeah. People are gonna trust your employees. They're gonna trust the people in the trenches, and they're gonna feel that they are saying the truth.

Jillian Richardson (11:06.988)
Yes. And what you said at such a great point that the content is good for talent attraction as well. I had a call with a potential ghostwriting client yesterday and they literally said that. They were like, I need better content because better content means I attract better clients. And I was like, You already get it. Amazing.

Rhona Pierce (11:26.498)
Yes, the music to your ears, right? so what about you? Like when you're talking to founders, 'cause you ghostwrite for for founders and executives, you're actually convincing them that they have to be weird on LinkedIn. How does that conversation go?

Jillian Richardson (11:45.396)
It's always really interesting because a pattern I have found is that the people who most want to work with me work in what are stereotypically seen as the driest industries. Like they're like, I work in like the supply chain or something like that, where you're or like FPA, these industries where like they themselves obviously enjoy the industry because they work in it, but like

They're not excited about posting anymore. And like I've literally had people be like, I need your energy to help me even like care enough to post about this stuff. there really are some industries where if you look at the top voices like in supply chain, they'll have a ton of followers and like no post engagement where it's just like very rare that people are even commenting.

And they're just like, I know I have to do this, but I just I need someone to help me show up. And I'm like, great, let's do it.

Rhona Pierce (12:51.406)
Have you found that, like this has been my observation? People that have like a lot of followers, again, in those types of industries that are kind of drier, what the way they've got in these followers and stuff like that is they've showed up at some event and been a speaker. People have seen them in person and then they've gone and followed them type of thing. huh. So basically making the case for what you're saying.

They were human at some point and someone decided let me follow this human. Yeah.

Jillian Richardson (13:25.742)
Yes, and the before times they were human. They were human at one point. it's that's a really good point. 'Cause really some of these accounts I look and I'm like, where did these followers come from? Like no one is interacting with you.

Rhona Pierce (13:42.39)
No, I I've really like from what I've seen, it it's been that it's like, okay. So you went out to a conference and it happens to me all the time. I meet people at a conference that I've seen their content and it's like, Yeah and then you meet them and we have so much fun together. And I'm like, can you just like be like this on LinkedIn? Please be like this on LinkedIn.

Jillian Richardson (14:01.118)
Yes.

They should do some more videos then. I feel like a lot of people that's the case where they thro they really show up well on video. I'm like, just do more of that.

Rhona Pierce (14:11.726)
And people are so afraid of doing video. don't even get me started on that one. People are so afraid of doing video because they think it has to be this thing. I'm like, Yes, I know. I own a video content agency. My videos look nice and polished and all of that stuff. But I also have some videos where I literally just pull out my phone and like do stuff and do some auto captions there or whatever. And it's like, okay, and those also work. Like people don't care that much.

Now, if your video is all like dark and they can't see you and they can't hear you and all of that stuff, that's another story. But like basic, show up where people can see you and can hear you and you're good.

Jillian Richardson (14:51.18)
And you're good. Like there's my god, what is her name? Marianne Williamson. She's got a bunch of hippie books that people love. And I remember I saw someone, a friend of mine had paid for a course of hers where she is like going through the daily meditation. This woman is very famous. It was like a crappy, grainy video where like literally the point was just to hear her voice. It didn't matter. And I was like,

This woman could pay a video production team very easily and it doesn't matter.

Rhona Pierce (15:23.542)
Yeah, yeah. I mean it it has its place. High production has its place. It's funny. Most of what my team and I do is try to make videos look not as professional while you're doing it. It while you're doing all the technical things that you know you need to do for a video to perform, right? Yes. You're doing the sound, you're leveling and all of that stuff. But it's like rein in the flashy because that's not working. Exactly. Because that's not

Jillian Richardson (15:48.61)
Yeah. Hello, yeah.

Rhona Pierce (15:53.378)
That's not what works. So don't do all the flashy stuff. Like rein that thing in and just do real true technical. So that's that's really why like the true editors that are working right now and making money are the ones that are focusing on the technical aspects of video editing and not in all the flashy things that AI of course AI thinks that everything has to be extra because AI is just extra in everything. In writing, in video editing, it just

Everything. Yeah. So you touched a bit on this. You use humor as your specific flavor of weird. And everyone does not have to use humor. Like what are other types of weird that folks can use?

Jillian Richardson (16:38.57)
Yeah, I mean, honestly, I feel like weird is another word for authenticity or vulnerability. Where like I was working with a client, again, really dry industry, and she did a post talking about like the ways that people talk to her about her hair throughout the course of her career. And that she was just like, here's all these ways that people have treated me in a really shitty way.

And this is why I'm not gonna be that kind of boss. And like in this space, you don't see posts like that that often. And she felt a little nervous sharing it, but it was her most popular post of the year.

Rhona Pierce (17:20.952)
Yes, those are always the posts that anyone who's heard of this knows that I don't chase being viral or like impressions. I hardly ever look at impressions. I look at engagement, I look at reactions and comments. And because those are the ones that turn into actual clients and money. the posts that people are most afraid to do, which are the the things that no one else is talking about in your industry.

Are usually the ones that lead more to that, to more comments, more reactions. And yes, eventually, because LinkedIn or any platform sees that people are commenting and reacting, you'll get the impressions. Because it'll just be like, I guess people like this. Let me show it to some people.

Jillian Richardson (18:06.765)
Yeah.

Jillian Richardson (18:11.8)
Yeah? Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (18:13.742)
So, there's a case to be made that being weird is actually like your best defense against sounding like AI. Like, is weirdness becoming the only way to signal that you're actually human?

Jillian Richardson (18:30.046)
mean I think this is being seen across industries. Like there's this trend right now where like ads are being written in a not chromatically correct way. Like there was a billboard in New York City that blew up that was literally like written kind of like pencil lowercase. The whole billboard was just like my boss will fire me if you don't download whatever that was.

And people were obsessed with it. So they're just like, this is hilarious. This is like screenshot of a piece of paper that someone made like fifty thousand dollars to put on this billboard. But like that's what gets attention now.

Rhona Pierce (19:10.124)
Yes, because everything is just seeming so, so polished because AI is just so perfect. Yeah. Well, we could debate on that. That's a whole other conversation. Yeah. But yes, it it's it's made to look or appear like all b polished and perfect and button up, and then it's like, we know that's not how it is. Like just everyone has experienced that, or most people have experienced it. I know I have.

You see someone who writes this perfect way. Yeah. And no shade to anyone with an accent. English is not my first language. I am not American. So like no shade to that. But I've met people whose LinkedIn posts are you would think they're Shakespeare's son.

Jillian Richardson (19:58.254)
Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (19:59.796)
And you meet them and it's like you can't put sentences together the way your posts are being put together. And I get it when it's not your first language and what's it's not things like that, you want to write better. You but you should still write it yourself and then have AI help you with the grammar and the spelling, not the other way around. Cause then it's like it's it was such a mind fuck meeting that person and being like

Jillian Richardson (20:29.526)
Like, wait a second. What? Yeah. This is clarifying for me, because I recently had someone reach out whose whole pro profile was not in English and they were asking me for ghostwriting help. And I was like, this might be sh this might end up strange because like things might get lost in translation. Like you won't know necessarily if this sounds good to you or not. Like, so I just said no. I was like, I feel like this is gonna

Not be for the best.

Rhona Pierce (21:00.91)
Let's a little about like how ghostwriting works, because I don't think everyone understands how that works. Like what's the process? How do you work with clients to to ghostwrite for them on LinkedIn?

Jillian Richardson (21:11.682)
Yeah. So I start with what I call a LinkedIn sample pack. And it's like a little mini taster of what it's like to work with a ghostwriter, which I do for two reasons. Like ghostwriting is very personal. You're sitting down with someone every week and you're sharing your problems, what you're learning. Like I've met my clients' family's kids. Like we get in there with each other. It's like business therapy. So if if the energy isn't right.

Like they're not gonna want to show up for the calls. So the sample pack, it's the longest call we ever do together, which is 90 minutes. And we get into like, who do you want to sound like? Who do you not want to sound like? What do you stand for? What do you stand against? And we get into like what are your content pillars? Like, what are the main topics you wanna return to again and again? And what are your stories underneath each of those pillars? And then I will

Write for them also three LinkedIn posts, ideally posts that they're like either really important stories they haven't told or stories that they feel kind of blocked about, so that they can be the most helpful. And then they can see, like, okay, does Jillian get my voice? Do I even like the experience of someone telling my story for me? Cause some people really do not enjoy the experience of somebody else writing for them. And they just don't know that until they see it and they're like,

No, I actually just wanna write myself. and then we see, okay, if this all feels good, then we can work together. But if it doesn't feel good, then I they still have this content strategy guide I made for them. So they're usually they're happy regardless.

Rhona Pierce (22:53.536)
That's cool. That that's cool. And it's like and for someone who can't maybe afford or or like isn't ready. Wait, let me back up. Is there at what point are you ready to work with a ghost writer?

Jillian Richardson (23:08.93)
Yeah. That is a good question. I mean, I think one thing is definitely having the money for it. Because I think if someone is like, my God, I'm like really scraping by, but I really want a ghost rider, let me invest in this, the expectations are gonna be so intense that it's gonna make the experience feel a little off. Like, you know, posting on social media, you're not gonna

write like five posts and suddenly your whole business has changed and everything is different. Like that's usually not how it works. So I think it works better for everyone when they have the budget to be like, yeah, let's do this, let's play, let's figure out what works. So we we can all chill a little bit.

Rhona Pierce (24:00.204)
Yeah. Yeah. do they have to have written post themselves, kind of like to know themselves enough? Or can it be someone who's literally never posted, has the money and just wants, doesn't wanna do it?

Jillian Richardson (24:17.56)
Totally. I've worked with both kinds of people. I think really the most important thing with working with a ghostwriter and just like creating content in general is you have to be able to talk and share your stories. Like a nightmare client would be I ask them a question and they're just like, I don't know. Like I'm like, okay, well we get this answer a bunch of times. Like, I don't know what you have to say. Like I can't make up personality for you.

Like that's not how this works. but that definitely does happen sometimes. Pretty rarely though.

Rhona Pierce (24:53.31)
Had that happen too with people who want us to do videos for them, and we do all types of content, but anchored on video content. And it's like, what types of videos do you like? I don't know. What types of well I I'm not sure. I really I'm leaving it up to you. And it's like I I don't know you, but sure, let's we can start, we can tell like it's a longer road, yeah.

I've worked with people like that and it's just months before it's like, okay, we get it. Now this is what we're gonna do, versus someone who has some answers where it's like, okay, based on this, let's start hair type of thing. Has being like brutally authentic or weird, like you say, on LinkedIn ever backfired on you?

Jillian Richardson (25:47.838)
I mean, I've been featured on LinkedIn Lunatics that Reddit thread like literally six times now. and it's so and so for people who don't know, LinkedIn Lunatics, it's a Reddit community where people make fun of people on LinkedIn. and it's interesting because I think because I have this very like ha ha personality on LinkedIn, people assume that I don't care that people make fun of me.

Rhona Pierce (26:03.407)
On LinkedIn.

Jillian Richardson (26:17.676)
And so people will message me and be like, did you know you were on LinkedIn Lunatics today? And I'm like, let me stop you right there. Please don't tell me anymore. And please do not share screenshots with me of comments. Cause people will just share messages with me of people making fun of me. And I'm like, I did not go looking for this and I don't want to think about this. So please, like, I am not chill enough to not care about this.

Rhona Pierce (26:44.738)
Let's let's talk about that more because I think people don't realize, like, yeah, you might come off confident and every no, not come off. You you are confident, right? You are sharing out there and as creators, we are putting ourselves out there, but we're still human. Like, yeah, who wants to see and hear someone making fun of them? Like, I don't.

Jillian Richardson (27:08.81)
And of course you don't. And a a thing that I've noticed, which I'm like, maybe is so off topic, but the people who tell cause a certain type of person tells me they're jealous that I'm on LinkedIn Lunatics. And it's always men. I always get messages from men where they're like, my God, Jillian, you were on LinkedIn Lunatics today. I'm so jealous. And I'm like, hold on.

Rhona Pierce (27:31.906)
Why?

Jillian Richardson (27:32.628)
Your dream is like being known enough that people are making fun of you. But I think for them, they don't associate that with danger. Like, I'm like, men have Reddit, not famously the nicest, not famously the safest. Like, I am not trying to become the center of their attention. but I think a lot of dudes, they they only see it as like all press is good press.

Rhona Pierce (27:55.726)
Exactly.

Jillian Richardson (28:02.06)
And that's it.

Rhona Pierce (28:03.954)
I I mean I could we could talk for hours about LinkedIn lunatics, I think. it's it's it's a sad way of how our society's going where you think you can like totally make fun of a stranger for hours that there's post and post and post making fun of someone for like you don't even know them. You don't even know the context of that. And also, yeah, can I see your LinkedIn profile? Because you're probably writing like a robot on LinkedIn and

being a bully on Reddit, like it never fails. meanwhile, the people on LinkedIn are making money and not hiding behind a keyboard. That's all I'll say. But yeah, I I think as as creators, people and I guess it's the same thing that happens to like famous artists and stuff like that. Like people see one version of you and they don't.

fully understand, like this is a full human. No one wants to be like you have feelings. And I I don't know about you. I'll I'll say it for me. I will not remember like I can get 20 compliments on my content. Mm-hmm. I still remember, I'll I'll say this. I still remember my very first LinkedIn live that I did with LinkedIn News with the editors of LinkedIn. And I guess I was blinking because I I have

professional studio lights and sometimes I blink and I have dry eyes. And if I haven't done my stuff, I blink a lot. And as I'm on that live thing, they're asking me questions and stuff. This girl is commenting, why is she blinking that much?

Jillian Richardson (29:35.192)
Yeah.

Jillian Richardson (29:45.662)
my god. That's not gonna help you make it any better either.

Rhona Pierce (29:50.09)
That threw me off. I still remember that. And this was like 2021. Yeah. And it's like, I'm so self-conscious about like my blinking on video now. Yeah, like I forgot my drop, so maybe I'm blinking today. But it's like that type of thing like lives with me. It 20 people can say, I love your videos.

Jillian Richardson (29:51.982)
Of course it

Jillian Richardson (30:07.598)
Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (30:14.41)
I love this. I love this. I remember that girl who decided while I was on live with Andrew Seaman from from LinkedIn to say, why is she blinking that much? I can't remember what the topic was. I can't remember anything else. I remember that girl. It's like people don't realize how those things, it's like I'm human. Like maybe that's the you should be confident. Yeah, that sounds really nice, but like the truth is.

Jillian Richardson (30:25.07)
god.

Jillian Richardson (30:44.141)
Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (30:45.098)
It hurts. Like

Jillian Richardson (30:46.594)
Someone insult you to your face and you tell me if you don't remember it.

Rhona Pierce (30:50.718)
Exactly, exactly. So yeah, my gosh. you are a solo creator. how does that work? 'Cause you pump out a lot of content. Plus you're a ghostwriter.

Jillian Richardson (31:05.4)
I am. how it works is figuring it out as I go for sure. But it's interesting. I think since being like a LinkedIn creator, I've really decided to invest in finding community of other creators. Cause like the LinkedIn creator community is very small. Yeah. especially compared to other platforms. And so we all kind of are just like, my god.

Please hold my hand. Like, how what are you doing? How is this working? which honestly I think is to my advantage that there's not as many of us. but like I go to creator events in New York City, constantly try to swap tips with people of being like, Hey, I got offered this brand deal. Did they offer you the brand deal? How much money did they offer you? Like this literally happened to me yesterday. Hot tip for anyone trying to negotiate brand deals. They did this by accident.

One person was like, hey, this company wants to offer you this much money for a post. And then a friend of mine was like, competitor company of that company is gonna offer me three times that much for three months in a row. Do you want me to introduce that company? And I'm like, yeah. And then the original company was like, well, we can match it, actually. And I was

Rhona Pierce (32:28.778)
Of course they can.

Jillian Richardson (32:31.31)
so you say you have no money for you. And actually you can afford like 10 times what you just offered me.

Rhona Pierce (32:42.41)
It's it's like, I mean, it's yes, that's a f very important thing. Talk to other creators. And I tell people I will not post publicly about money. I don't for many reasons, mostly safety. but if you DM me and you ask me, Hey, I saw you on that campaign, how much did they pay you? I'll tell you.

Jillian Richardson (33:04.244)
Like, I'll give you everything you want to know. Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (33:07.862)
The reason why is because and I've I've seen like friends where it's like, I'm a an example, I was talking to a friend the other day and she's like, I'm I'm working with this I'm talking to this company and blah blah and I'm like, Huh. Of course you're not saying the name of the company and it's like that sounds a lot like the company that I'm talking to. Hey, I'm negotiating a contract with those people and like my contract is three times what they're paying you. So go get yourself some more money. Yeah.

And she did. Yes.

Jillian Richardson (33:38.542)
We all win with this. All it's a mess. I love hearing that.

Rhona Pierce (33:45.164)
No gatekeeping. Like talk because it it's so vague right now and like so up in the air and what anyone can pay. And also don't believe these budgets. Like push it as much as you can. Right. Because

Jillian Richardson (33:59.116)
This changed my perception of these things that they literally went from like two thousand dollars to fifteen thousand dollars. I'm like, my god, get banned, like

Rhona Pierce (34:13.866)
Yes. And that has happened to me very, very recently, where it's like, no, our budget is I think they said something like, Our budget is three thousand dollars. It's like, okay, cool. However, what you want is this. And I gave them a few options because I always give people options of packages. It's like, look, for $3,000, this is what I can do.

But you told me you wanted this. This costs ten thousand dollars. Now I'm not saying I don't want to work with you for three thousand dollars. I'm just saying this is what I will do for three thousand dollars. So you can choose every single time they go for what they actually wanted at the price that I said it was. I was and I always feel like saying, like, I thought you only had three thousand dollars.

Jillian Richardson (35:08.654)
interesting.

Rhona Pierce (35:11.303)
Interesting.

Jillian Richardson (35:14.072)
It is a good point of like paint what paint the picture. Be like, okay, I could get you more results if you want that. And like that, you win that way. And I win that way also. The negotiations, I'm really learning still.

Rhona Pierce (35:30.486)
It's it's a thing. It's a thing. a lot of the people listening are recruiters and the same energy, the same way that we've always negotiated in our with candidates, with companies, with hiring managers, you have to bring that same thing into brand negotiat brand deals. Like it it's literally just humans. It's business, it's the song and dance. We're just gonna do it. It I hate it. I literally just wish.

Now I can tell you there is I have a partner that I absolutely love. They're like this is the amount of money that I have. What can you do for that? And I tell them and we're good. Could I try to get more money from them? Maybe. But it's like they already came with this honesty. Maybe they are genius in their strategy.

Jillian Richardson (36:20.782)
Maybe. But like I feel so good and just open and trusting that there's no manipulation. Like I'm like, I trust this other company less now. That they were like, sorry, we can only do this in only one post. I'm like, freaking, that's not true.

Rhona Pierce (36:22.817)
Baby.

Rhona Pierce (36:40.79)
Yes. But i i it's it's like good to have these conversations for people to know. Like, yeah, you'll see the people on the online that are like, No way, don't c like if someone offers me two hundred dollars for ten reels, I'm saying no. Look, the same way that I'm talking about I've got more. I've also gone lower for the opportunity to work with someone where I saw a longer term thing. And I've charged less than what I would charge. Yeah and I've

over delivered. Mm-hmm. Like I recently did that. Someone came and they p paid for a photo post and I was like, I think this would work well on video. They didn't have money for a video post. I did a video post. Well guess who's working with them for a longer term on video posts now? Like so it's a give and take. It's it's it's

Jillian Richardson (37:28.801)
Yeah.

And video, like it's your business. So like I feel like this also works for you as a case study of like see video performs better and here's why.

Rhona Pierce (37:41.282)
Yes. And it's just yeah, I just sometimes I just want to do a video and look, I I'm always filming and it's like whatever, I'll do it. I have the the option to do that. Not saying to any brands out there that you should expect me to always do a video.

Jillian Richardson (37:56.721)
You're like.

Rhona Pierce (37:58.764)
This is not how it works. All right. So for someone who's been playing it safe and wants to start showing up differently, like where do they actually start?

Jillian Richardson (38:09.134)
Okay, so a thing I love about being a coach is you can literally just make up tools. so I made up a tool. It's called the Envy Disgust Matrix. And the way that it works is you figure out who online are you jealous of? Where like you see their posts, you see how much money they're charging, whatever it is, people who are creators, and you're like, okay, whose life do I want? Like whose skin do I want to wear?

Put them on this side. And then whose posts are the ones where you're like, if I wrote that post, I would leave the country and never come back. Like, whose posts do you see? And you're like, Woof, like this doesn't align with my values. This doesn't align with how I want to show up. And y then you're probably somewhere in the middle of those posts. But by having those creators listed out and the characteristics of them, you can see like, okay.

What is it that I want to be brave enough to move towards? Like what am I working towards? And also what are the kinds of things that are my barriers that I don't want to do? And like people will often say that they have no idea like what their voice is in terms of content. But I'm like, but you do have taste. You just have to take a moment to write it down.

Rhona Pierce (39:25.674)
love that and I I love that approach because it's true. Everyone is hate watching someone. Everyone has like everyone's has I'd be like, come on, let's be real. Let's be human. It's true. Like and everyone has someone who you're like absolutely the F not never doing that type of

Jillian Richardson (39:44.32)
Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (39:46.882)
And I love that you've said this because if you've ever watched the show, you know there's always a segment. And I think today, like it's time to air your most petty content creation grievances in a segment that I like to call let's sweat the small stuff. We're focusing on the tiny things that shouldn't matter, but today we're giving them the spotlight that they absolutely deserve. Are you ready?

Jillian Richardson (40:13.9)
I love this. my god, I'm so can you give me an example of what is small enough for this segment?

Rhona Pierce (40:21.004)
There's nothing small enough. There's literally nothing small enough. So let's go with the first one. Like, what's a post format that makes you irrationally annoyed every time you see it?

Jillian Richardson (40:32.844)
Ooh, this is a good question. A post format that makes me really annoyed. I mean, okay, maybe those posts, it's honestly, this is probably also just because I'm jealous. But those posts that are like, I make $500,000 a month in my business, and it's easy. Here's the system that you can use to do this. I'm like, it's not.

Easy. Like, and also this probably isn't a real system. Like, you made this up after the fact, but this is there's like a bunch of stuff in between where you messed up and you failed and you don't want to talk about that. That stuff makes me angry. But also I'm like, I wish I was the $500,000 a month business with a simple foolproof plan. God.

Rhona Pierce (41:23.33)
Don't we all want that? All right. Like what's a word or phrase that creators use that should be permanently banned?

Jillian Richardson (41:32.874)
A word or phrase that should be permanently banned.

my god, I'm trying to think. Nothing comes to mind immediately. Do you have one?

Rhona Pierce (41:46.808)
Mine is let me pop on here really quick.

Jillian Richardson (41:51.854)
You're like, let me do this. I mean, okay, this is so granular, but like when people do a post that's like, I'm so excited that this person is joining our team, like they're a rock star, but then like no other information. I'm like, I don't think you know anything about this person at all. And like, at least in my mind, I'm like, this is making you look like a worse leader rather than a better leader. Or like.

I've seen posts where something horrible happens in an employee's life, like someone has passed away in their family, and they're just like, Blessings to this person. And I'm like, Can you like write a little bit more from the heart for this thing that's like life altering?

Rhona Pierce (42:38.892)
Yes. Yes. what's a LinkedIn feature that exists purely to ruin your day?

Jillian Richardson (42:46.316)
LinkedIn feature systems purely to ruin my day. I mean, so there was the button at the top of the profile that for a while was free, where you could link to your newsletter or website or whatever. And then for some reason it just randomly disappeared.

Rhona Pierce (43:04.556)
And now it's part of premium only.

Jillian Richardson (43:06.868)
Part of premium. And I was like, this got me so many newsletter subscribers, and now you're just gonna vanish it from my profile. So I mean, it's more an annoying that it's not there anymore.

Rhona Pierce (43:18.306)
They totally sat there and plotted and you're like, you know what? We don't want Jillian to get more newsletter subscribers. We're gonna make this pay.

Jillian Richardson (43:25.824)
I hate a thing. And like the highest tier of premium too. I'm like ridiculous.

Rhona Pierce (43:29.55)
Okay, exactly.

Talking about that, like what's something people do in their featured section that makes you side eye them instantly?

Jillian Richardson (43:39.906)
Okay, so because I do LinkedIn profile makeovers, so I see this a lot, where people they'll just put like their most viral posts just because it's their most viral posts, but they don't teach anything about the person or their work or their businesses. So I'm like, this is cool. You t you shared like a meme that has a thousand likes, but like, who are you? What were the clients you work with? What's your newsletter about?

I feel like it's just a waste of space.

Rhona Pierce (44:13.804)
All right. I have a few more questions. what's something creators do in their hooks that makes you scroll faster?

Jillian Richardson (44:22.926)
Something that creators do in their hooks that makes me scroll faster.

Maybe like

A really overshai vulnerable story. Like, this is just my personal taste, but someone, you know, being like, I was full body paralyzed and I never knew that this would teach me about B2B sales. And you're like, I'm on.

Rhona Pierce (44:53.966)
It's like you didn't learn anything about B2B sales.

Jillian Richardson (44:56.568)
Yeah. You're probably just grateful to be alive. That's great.

Rhona Pierce (44:59.694)
Who came up with that post format? And who decided like everyone mocks it and everyone does it? It drives me nuts.

Jillian Richardson (45:07.692)
Yeah, I'm like, you don't need to share this story in this way. Or like, my biggest one, people sharing stories about their kids. Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (45:17.142)
Ugh. Yes. It's like, did this really translate to business? Like, there's definitely some cool things that happen. Like, I saw someone this week, I won't mention her name, but I love her. post that her daughter wrote her a a hat and she posted the the the picture of her daughter's handwriting note telling her to drop

everything and do the laundry for her. And she's like, this she didn't write, it didn't teach her about B2B sales, even though she is in B2B sales. It taught her that that's she that's the the toughest boss that she's ever had.

And it's like and it was funny. And it was like two lines. It's like, okay, this is a way to bring your kids into the mix, right? Because she could have taken it the whole other way, like this taught me, but no, it didn't teach you anything. It was funny. You wanted to share it on LinkedIn. It was cool. And yes, this is a tough boss that you have. You better drop everything and stop posting and go do her laundry type of thing. But like when people use their kids to like teach some brand, it's like,

Come on guys. This feels like you're exploiting your child, sorry. Yeah.

Jillian Richardson (46:33.196)
Like I don't think your kid wants their face on LinkedIn.

Rhona Pierce (46:36.736)
Exactly. All right. what's the type of comment on your post that low-key annoys you, even though it's nice?

Jillian Richardson (46:46.294)
Ooh, these are great questions. They low key annoy even though they're nice. I mean pretty rare. But someone being like, like you're actually funny. Or like, you you I don't like what you mean actually. Why are you surprised Eric Eric? Yeah. Like what a woman can't be funny, you jerk.

Rhona Pierce (47:10.284)
Yes. Okay, last one. what's something you used to do as a creator that now drives you crazy when you see others doing it?

Jillian Richardson (47:20.404)
man. Okay. I mean, I think it's literally I used to just write posts with no spice in them whatsoever. Where I think I I was doing what a lot of people do where I'm like, I hate posting on LinkedIn so much that like I'm just gonna write something, I'm not gonna put a lot of thought into it, and I'm just gonna hit post and like run away because doing this is already so beyond my comfort zone. and now I look back and I'm like, man.

Obviously, I didn't get anything from these posts because like I barely cared.

Rhona Pierce (47:54.966)
Yes, that's a good thing. If you barely care, literally no one else is going to. So you're just wasting time. Might as well not even post. I've loved this conversation. Where can listeners connect with you?

Jillian Richardson (48:11.906)
Yes, I am that Jillian on LinkedIn. I am that Jillian on like every social media platform ever. and you can subscribe to my newsletter. Also, if you go to the featured section of my LinkedIn, you can sign up. You can get some free tips, get in my newsletter and it'll be fun.

Rhona Pierce (48:32.482)
Amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show today. My pleasure. If you're enjoying the Workfluencer pod, share with someone who's changing how we talk about work or who should be. And hey, if this episode gave you ideas or inspiration, leave us a five-star review. Reviews help other listeners find us. And honestly, it makes my day. This show is produced by Workfluencer Media. Visit Workfluencermedia.com

To learn how we help companies build video first content systems that attract, engage, and retain qualified talent, that's WorkfluencerMedia.com. Thanks for listening, and I'll chat with you next week.