Welcome to Episode #226 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast.
Changing careers or seeking your dream job can feel overwhelming, especially as a professional woman navigating LinkedIn and other social platforms. Social media tools like LinkedIn are invaluable for building your personal brand and unlocking opportunities beyond your current role. But where do you start? How do you authentically show up without feeling like you’re bragging or overpromoting yourself?
Today, we’re diving into how to make LinkedIn work for you—whether you’re transitioning careers, looking for your next opportunity, or simply wanting to elevate your professional brand. I’ll share actionable strategies and some personal insights on how I’ve navigated these waters myself.
Let’s Bust Some LinkedIn Myths First
Before we dive into the how-to’s, let’s address two common misconceptions about LinkedIn:
- “LinkedIn is just for job seekers.”
While 97% of hiring professionals at Fortune 500 companies use LinkedIn to fill roles, it’s not just for job seekers. LinkedIn is a professional networking platform with over 1 billion users. Building relationships and visibility on LinkedIn is a long-term career strategy, not just a job search tool. - “You need to post constantly to grow on LinkedIn.”
The truth? You don’t need to be a prolific poster to stand out. According to LinkedIn, posting once a week can help you see a 2x lift in your engagement. Consistency matters more than volume.
How to Start Building Your LinkedIn Personal Brand
Here are three key strategies to optimize LinkedIn and grow your professional presence:
1. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Your profile is your digital resume—and first impressions matter. Spend time updating each section with clear, concise, and keyword-rich descriptions. Highlight your experience, achievements, and future aspirations.
Why keywords? LinkedIn’s search algorithms rely on them. Including terms related to your industry, roles, or skills helps recruiters and potential collaborators find you.
For example, when I started helping my clients optimize their profiles, they didn’t just get more recruiter messages—they got relevant opportunities aligned with their dream jobs and organizations.
2. Network Strategically
LinkedIn is a social networking site, which means connection is key. Focus on creating meaningful relationships online and offline.
- Engage thoughtfully: Comment on posts, share insights, and message contacts.
- Be targeted: Avoid spamming. Personalized messages go a long way.
- Take it offline: Request a quick coffee chat or Zoom call to deepen connections.
The best time to grow your network? Before you need it. By building relationships early, you’ll have a support system in place when it’s time for a career move.
3. Share Valuable Content
Many people hesitate to post on LinkedIn, fearing they’ll come across as “salesy.” The key is to focus on adding value.
Here’s how:
- Share wins, lessons, or personal milestones.
- Post about roles you’re hiring for or projects you’re proud of.
- Write thought-leadership articles or short posts on trends in your industry.
Even if you’re in a corporate role, you can share without revealing trade secrets. Highlighting workplace culture, leadership lessons, or challenges you’ve overcome gives others a window into your expertise and values.
Remember: Once a week is enough to start.
Why This Matters
Investing in your LinkedIn presence isn’t just about getting noticed; it’s about building a community. Opportunities like speaking engagements, job offers, or client inquiries often come from people who’ve seen your posts or engaged with your content.
When I began posting on LinkedIn, I worried about what others would think. Would people question my commitment to my corporate role or my coaching business? Over time, I realized that sharing my story and insights wasn’t about self-promotion—it was about helping others.
And here’s the thing: people notice. I’ve had individuals approach me, saying, “I’ve been following your posts and love what you share.” It’s a reminder that even if people aren’t engaging publicly, they’re often watching—and they’re inspired.
Take Action Today
If you’re ready to take LinkedIn seriously, here’s your one-hour action plan:
- Update your profile with keywords and detailed descriptions.
- Send 5 connection requests to people you admire or want to collaborate with.
- Draft and post one piece of valuable content (a win, lesson, or insight).
Repeat this weekly, and you’ll start to see results.
Your Next Step
Feeling stuck or unsure where to start? Join my Spiritual Achiever® Coaching program. Together, we’ll craft your story and share it authentically across LinkedIn and beyond. Technology isn’t going away, so why not use it to grow your career and create a life you love?
LinkedIn isn’t just a platform—it’s a tool to help you dream bigger, connect authentically, and take bold steps toward your future. Whether you’re changing careers, building your brand, or simply exploring new opportunities, the time to start is now.
Thank you for listening to Episode #226 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast. If you found this helpful, share it with someone who’s ready to own their best life, too.
If you’d like to become a Spiritual Achiever, I invite you to watch the free training on how to Stand Out and Lead, using spiritual, high-performance strategies: STAND OUT AND LEAD.
You can apply to join my Spiritual Achiever® program, where you’re going to create your next chapter with spiritual and high-performance strategies to achieve time and financial freedom using my proven method. It’s risk-free. You either start seeing results within your first month or I give you your money back. Schedule your call here at www.mayempson.com/contact. We’ll see you inside.
Want to know more about what happens when you join?
- When you join Spiritual Achiever® Coaching you’ll be supported for a full year: Career Revelation Academy: A 5-step career change process (if you have a job you want to stay in, I’ll show you how to love it even more) that can launch you into your next career chapter in 30 days.
- 2x/month group training and coaching on Spirituality, Achievement, Earth Energy and Harmony. You’ll know how to design your days for breakthroughs, create a personal brand and community, lead yourself and others through change, become more physically and mentally fit, reduce stress and reinvent what’s possible in this next chapter of your life.
- Discover your Leadership Strengths and Branding Workshop: Increase your awareness of what makes YOU different from others and how to become even better at your genius zone.
- Your Best Year workshop: Create your one year plan and design this next year, no matter what time of the year it is.
- Your Next 5 Years one-day virtual retreat: Vision what’s possible 5 years from now and break out of your old routines so you can step into new habits, behaviors and routines.
- Tickets to all in-person Spiritual Achiever retreats (discounted rates): Highly immersive and intimate gatherings where we spend time in nature, experience energy work, eat and move well – all while making big decisions and committing to what’s next for us.
- Monthly 1:1 Coaching Sessions: To help you break through obstacles, define your individual path, and to work on both strategy and mindset.
The next step?
Schedule a consultation to get clarity on how coaching can help you on your journey.
Once you’re accepted into the program, you’ll receive a calendar invite for a 2-hour deep dive 1:1 session to map out your personal goals and your own year-long journey.
You’ll have immediate access to the Spiritual Achiever process and philosophy – how to achieve your biggest goals and reinvent your life.
You’ll have immediate access to 5 modules of Career Revelation Academy – to love your career even more and launch that next chapter of your career in 30 days.
You’ll have the calendar invites for the upcoming group calls and retreats.
If this speaks to you, I can’t wait to talk to you live: Schedule a consultation.
Reach out at www.mayempson.com/contact for more information on my Spiritual Achiever coaching program. You’ll figure out what’s next and actually go and do it.
That’s it for this week. Have an amazing one and I’ll talk to you next time.
ADD A COMMENT