How to Start Sending Video DMs on Linkedin - Teacher: Jarrod Best Mitchell

People are lazy, Juma. Every client I've spoken to, and I'll be honest, 90 percent of the clients that I've spoken to who I say, Send the video. When you follow up with them, you send them a message. Yeah. Was it video? No. If you are doing the exact same as everybody else, how was your intended audience going to pay attention to you? And we could use the reference of Seth Godin and purple cow. If you're seeing black and white cows after while you tune them out, that's what people are doing in DMs if I see a video message, I would pay attention to it. Then I would even respond because if it's really personalized to me, boom. 

Hello and welcome to the useful content podcast. And today we have a brand new teacher in our useful content classroom. Jarrod Best. Mitchell. Hi, Jarrod.

Good day folks. How are you all doing? Thanks for having me on juma.

Yes. It's great to have you on. This is not the first time you've been on with me. Um, it's true. And, uh, I, most people don't know this, but I, I knew you from before when you had less of a beard and, um, and you, and you weren't necessarily wearing yellow every single day cause you were working Nokia at that time, I believe.

Oh, it's quite no kidding as well. Yeah.

All right. So let's, let's, uh, some people may not know who you are. I don't know how that's possible. Could you please share with the people what you do and how you help your clients make useful content? 

I am a sales trainer, LinkedIn coach based in the absolutely beautiful island of Trinidad and Tobago. I am known for three things, which is sales, LinkedIn, and yellow. Um, as Juma said, um, I wear yellow all the time. It's not a branded thing for me, like 24 seven 365. And I always used to wear yellow, especially when I wasn't working. Um, it's just that in 2018, I was inspired by a lady called Ella London. And from then I just said, listen, It's yellow 24 seven. Um, since switching to being a sales trainer in 2019, I've trained all over the Caribbean. Um, I think there are probably two English speaking islands that I have not touched on in terms of training. Um, but I've been able to impact thousands, generate millions in revenue for companies. And it's honestly, because I have a love and a passion for what I do, but over the years, and I think you will enjoy this Juma, anybody who asks me and tells me, Jarrod, I have a problem in sales, and this is where it ties into everything. The only way to fix all those problems is through content. Like I have no other response. Like what I encourage my clients to do is understand that if they want to dominate their market, if they want to eliminate their competition, they need to start creating content. If they want to make a fast, if you want to create a faster sales cycle, you need to start creating content. That is literally it. It is one of the best things that I can recommend to anyone.

Yeah, and, and you, you, you don't only talk the talk, you walk the walk. Many people talk about content, but you actually walk the walk and you have very interesting content creator. In fact, on LinkedIn at this point, up to this morning, if we were to check, you would have created. 2, 039 pieces of content on LinkedIn in total.

How you catch that? How you do that? What? What? 

I, I do a tiny bit of research. 

Oh, I would have calculated that. 

I'll tell you afterwards how I, how I calculated it. I'll show you, I'll show you, I'll show you, right? I'll show you how I, how I did it. And here's the other thing. 1, 011 pieces of those pieces of content, is video. 

Right. 

close to 50 percent over. 

Close to 50 percent of, um, then you have images, which is, uh, a close second and, and so on and so forth.

But it tells me that you clearly have a preference for a certain type of content, right? Why video? 

two things. Um, Tom Ferry said it years ago, nothing builds your brand and awareness and trust faster with strangers than video, like pictures. And I want to print this on a t shirt today, which is a picture no longer paints a thousand words video does. I don't think. Anybody who's listening to this has gone through their day and not looked at a video on some platform. Doesn't matter if it's YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, it doesn't matter. We are all engaging in video more than we ever had. And for me, honestly, it's a better communication tool. I could, I could do a video faster than I can actually write a copy, which is a lot difficult for me, which is why I see typos. And then video for me is the pinnacle of content. Remember you could take a video and it could grab the audio and I could grab still shots from it and I could chop it up into different types of content. I can't do that if I just take a picture. So video for me is just, it's just the best thing overall.

And that's why I always go to it first and I utilize it in every aspect. Like right now I need to delete some stuff off my phone because I'm maxed out on, on, on memory right now, 

Right. Right. Cause you're always creating something. You know, I think one of the interesting things about how you create is that both of us, we will create stuff. Right. But we are very different creators, right? The thing that I admire about how you create is that you have no qualms with just picking up the phone and seeing what's on your mind at that particular point in time and getting that out.

And I suspect that you probably might create two or three pieces of content in a row. So you're doing it spontaneously, but maybe you're also batching a bit. Is that true?

I, I might batch sometimes, um, because it's sometimes easier. So yes, so what my, sorry, here's my current process and I know we'll lead to later on what I'm doing now, but my current process is, I, well, I have no camera equipment, by the way, it's a phone and the fanciest thing I bought recently was the Hollyland Lock M2 mics. Um, that's how I record essentially, but what I do is that I have an idea and I write it into my, I write, I send it to myself on WhatsApp. Literally just have it under the title content and the ideas I can search through I think as 2018 In terms of my content ideas so I could just search And I have the idea so when i'm ready to do the content I go back and I look at it and I remember the Emotions and the thoughts and everything behind it and then I capture the video And then I probably do two versions of it and I pick whichever one is the better one and then that's what you see Going out That's

the process,

right. So it's less of batching was more of, you probably try it a couple of times and then you pick the one that you feel you've communicated the thing the 

probably two versions because I don't, again, I don't write scripts or anything. I have the general concept and idea and I just go with that and boom, that's it. It makes it a lot easier for me. And I, and I like it that way because I honestly think it comes across for my style of how I like to do stuff, like very genuine and a lot more in energy.

And I think sometimes even too, maybe the environment and sometimes that does not allow me to get the messenger process. In my true authentic self because I might be in a coffee shop. So people around me said I don't talk too loud So you might hear my tone of voice change and a couple other things But other than that do my best to keep the process simple 

Yeah, you know, you said something interesting there. You, you, you mentioned the word style and this is not something that is often spoken about when people create. So everybody has a different way that they'd like to do things. So in terms of structuring, how you create video content, I tend to think of three ways.

I tend to think of the, the batch creator, the spontaneous creator, and the co creator, the co creators, the people who make these long form content, and then 

okay

they make the pieces out, but you are very comfortable in your style. How important. Is it for anyone who is creating their own content to develop their style?

I think it is because if you have your style, it's easy to create content Because you would understand the environment you need to be in in order to get it out But what I encourage persons to do is if if you really want to get into video content You I think you should commit to creating content for 90 to 100 days, simply because that will give you your time to develop a lot of things.

You'll develop your voice, your style, your way of messaging. You're probably learning editing after those are the things that you're using. And then most importantly, you'll get to understand a bit more of what your personal brand is. Because all that comes when you start developing the style. So it's like a muscle. It's through repetition that you are able to do it quickly. And I think that's why like, when I do videos and clients see me do it, they're always shocked and saying, I could never do that. And I have to remind them, I have about 15, 000 steps ahead of you in the race. So you just need to start. It's going to look ugly the first couple of times, but after a while, the messaging is the most important thing. After a while the style the flow and all these other things go back like no lie I was looking back at some of my old videos. Like if you if you search on instagram hashtag Jarrod bm sales, you'll see some of my old videos. Sorry to some connie. I wanted to delete them, but I was like, oh god I was like What is that?

I was like, that cannot be me. Like it's, it's slow. It sounds like it, it just, but again, it's because I just started and I, I got into a better flow. So like, it's good to see where I was to where I'm now.

Yeah, yeah when we interviewed you back in the day, When you were still working at nokia and we we didn't interview with you back in the day No, I didn't really know you you didn't really know me. In fact, uh, the only Only reason I remember that video is because

one was it? 

Well, Well, here's what it was. You, you came as a sponsor. At Tellio's Code Jam and you are, you, you are the sponsor desk and we were interviewing the sponsors and you had to speak to us. 

You see 

You

know?

But again, it shows you how long I've been doing video, 

and implicitly within. Is, is a bit, well, very different to who you are now. So I can understand what you're saying that when you go back and look at the older videos, um, that now is like, Oh, it's a little cringy, but how, how important is that? How important is it, is it for any creator to go through that cringe phase?

I think every I think everybody no matter what they're doing will go to a cringe phase. I'm talking about even a doctor who does brain surgery will probably look back at his first brain surgery to probably his hundredth brain surgery and say, Oh my God, what did I do in that first surgery? So I think it doesn't matter.

I think once you are practicing a skill, you would always cringe at what your day one is compared to where you are now. And I think for me, that's what I think is important to look back at all those things, because I remember doing some of those Nokia videos and everything. And I'm like, I'm just like, number one, the focus I have is look how long I tell people, look how long I've been doing video and I understand video. Like I don't look at the cringe factor. I'm just like, Jarrod, the fact that you were doing it then just shows that you were onto something back then. 

Right. 

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you always, given over to that, that type of, of content creation, which is interesting to know. so you went, uh, full time in November of 2019 into your own business, right? Uh, that's right before the pandemic hit

and everything went haywire. Um, some of the advice you gave, cause you posted on LinkedIn at that time, Like sometime after the following year, I think maybe on the anniversary of, of being the first anniversary of being an entrepreneur, some of the advice you were giving is about what people should do when they go full time and, um, when they have to transition from their career.

One of the things that you said is that, Anybody who's considering doing this should build awareness so that the people know so that they can become their first, uh, customers and, and you advise that. And I guess at that time you were talking about building awareness through content. Would you still give that same type of advice now to anybody who's transitioning?

And I would add one more. So here's the importance of it. A lot of people go into entrepreneurship by force. So in other words, um, they were either fired from their job or they quit their job or something jolted them into entrepreneurship. So therefore they don't have the things in place and they always have to do an upward struggle. Whereas the people who prep and people are aware of what they do and they have that visibility, like they have that brand out there, they're creating content. It's easier for them to transition in and out to entrepreneurship because people will be following them and the community will be attached to them. The other advice I would add, which is just some financial advice. For everybody have one year of savings when you have one year of savings in It makes you so much more relaxed to focus on the business because you're not thinking about paying bills Like everybody who is in entrepreneurship and anxious It's simply because they're trying to figure out how to pay the next bill because they want the business to work and they make the wrong Decisions versus they want to have that cushion and that safety net So that'd be my my two pieces of advice and that and also to announce it. So like When I announced my last day in Samsung, I did a video on LinkedIn saying, Hey, leaving Samsung, going out on my own. And again, it was just a buildup because I was constantly posting on LinkedIn, creating that awareness and presence for myself. 

Yeah. You know, why LinkedIn? Why not just stay on Instagram and Facebook and those places? Why did you even consider going on LinkedIn?

I don't know. I was creating on the other platforms, but something with LinkedIn just clicked. I don't know. I don't know if it was just, it was because I saw who the audience was, because it's completely different. I saw who the audience was and I saw little things that were making an impact. So like I remember back in the day I wrote an article about something with Hi Low and when they were switching to the bags right before they switch to Massio over this investment, Matthew was switching to the bags and I remember their management team on the communication side come meeting to talk about it.

I can't remember because I think I mentioned why the bags would work. 

wait, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me get this straight. So you made a piece of content

I've written, it was a article I, I wrote article on it. Yes. 

Where did you on LinkedIn? Okay. So for everybody who doesn't know, um, Hilo now Massey is one of the biggest grocery chains in the Caribbean, one in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. So that's the context. So you are talking, you're writing this article about this massive chain of groceries and what did they say to you?

The, the, I can't remember who the person was. There's somebody in their markets and reached out to me, kind of wanted to talk about the article, normal thing of, of companies where they were essentially upset of what I wrote and was trying to ask where I got my basis from. And I'm like, Oh, I'm just sharing an opinion. And you could see from the comments that a lot of people agree with me. So I was just confused as to why the meeting was, but again, it started to draw in my head of who was looking at stuff. And then I remembered at the point in time, um, this is when did you sell play launched? And I remember going into flow cable and wireless at the time to return my box to switch and I remember writing an article saying Why aren't you trying to win back your clients?

Like I remember sitting along in there and whoever came to return their box It just took it

nobody was giving them an offer nothing 

and I wrote an article about it and there See you at the time. I think of the b2b manager at the time sent it to the head of their marketing Like saying, Hey, check this out.

And it created a brief conversation. So the reason why LinkedIn clicked for me is that I just realized the audience was different. Like I could see it like it was just the CEOs, the leaders, et cetera. And even now to today, like I always tell people this, I sit down in meetings with CEOs and the CEOs take dictate for me every single thing that I'm doing on LinkedIn. Like they look at it and it just confirms to me more and more that that's the audience that I need to make sure I put my main focus on, like on a second, uninstall all the other apps. I don't care for that. Like they're distractions, honestly, and I think I may do that, but LinkedIn is number one. 

I didn't know you felt that strongly about LinkedIn. I know you're a LinkedIn trainer, a LinkedIn coach. 

all the other platforms create awareness. LinkedIn drives business. It's different. People get aware and they see what I do, but I didn't know it's because people look at LinkedIn as the buying platform for what I do, like specifically, because it's a B2B thing I'm offering that they come to me on that platform to buy every other platform.

It's just awareness. Like, if I count of all, like, I share this similar content on both Instagram and LinkedIn. I could honestly say for the year, maybe two, three leads of coming from Instagram, everything else is LinkedIn. Like, so to me that there just is my direct indicator of, Oh, forget the other platforms like post when you might need to, but the awareness on who your audience is, especially now as LinkedIn is still hot in the crib and it's on, it's still on the rise of popularity and awareness. Why am I stopping now? Why am I reducing my focus? That's, that to be detrimental to my business.

Yeah. Yeah. I hear you 100%. do you, um, still dream of working for LinkedIn?

I don't

Mm.

because at the point in time, I think is when I was incredibly passionate about working for them because of how many things it has done for me. Um, I would say I'm not leaving it closed, but I think I'm just, it helped me create a better understanding of, I want to work for companies where I know I can make an impact. Like, and I, yes, you could see that with LinkedIn and other companies because I don't think they have a focus on the Caribbean yet. And I think they should, but yeah, that, that at a point in time for like six months, that was my gumball focus. Um, but just to like everything else and my short attention span, I got distracted.

Yeah, it happens. It happens. Sometimes it's worse than other times. Yeah. I find that, yeah. I find that in Caribbean, it's, um, LinkedIn doesn't really pay close attention to Caribbean creators as they should. Uh, this is me personally. I've observed and again, let me say to be fair. Not that this is who's only meaning in the world, but I think by now you should have a proper top voice badge, like the one of the blue ones, not the 

I know the orange. Oh, I, I wish you could talk about that. It's not to knock people, but I laugh when I see people profiles saying, um, um, like they literally have their head, like top sales enablement voice. I'm like, no, that's algorithm when you have a blue. Checkbox on your profile. That's legit. That's LinkedIn giving you that.

The other one,

the orange one, that's just you playing the algorithm. Nothing

else. There's, you just responded 10, 15 times to post. Nothing else. Like, but I, I, I think I would cry the day for LinkedIn ever gave me or anybody in the equipment who creates content like effectively like that kind of honor. But again, I don't think they look at us. that with that type of detail, unfortunately

And I mean, some could argue that it doesn't, it's not a fair system now, but I think even in this system that is, doesn't seem to be fair, like still getting it is still like, Oh, somebody's looking, somebody's paying attention

to the efforts you're making to your consistency, to the quality of the content and all those different things.

So I think if anybody deserves it, you would be among the top people in the Caribbean that should in fact have 

Thank you for that man. That means a lot and and by the way, the ones who i've seen receive it as in the sales award I I know their content. So like morgan j. Ingram marcus chan Neeraj kapoor 

john barrows um Quite a few others the ones who have seen receive it. They put out fire content amazing stuff So I I would never say You It's a game.

If I say somebody, I understand why they do it. Because these people have way bigger followings than I do. These people get way more engaged naturally because of it. And they have done work directly with LinkedIn and stuff too, as well. So to me, I can't get upset at it. What I have to do, I just look at it and say, what I have to do is be better and create more content.

Yeah. Yeah. And also LinkedIn a little bit about looking into Caribbean a little closer, 

I would say one person who deserves it now, like Alex B Sheridan, you and I would, you and I could agree on it.

Alex B Sheridan needs a batch. Like for video content, Alex B Sheridan needs a batch. LinkedIn.

Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. That's it. We 100 percent agree on that one, you know, I mean, I don't know how we think of it, but if, if it is in fact the highest recognition you can get on the platform bestowed by the platform, then yes, agreed. 

and a Salesforce, a Salesforce recognition. Oh,

Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Well, since we're talking about recognition, right, let me talk about some of the things that has happened to you over the past few years. So we know you've gotten brand deals, you to become brand ambassadors, multiple of those. Uh, when I know that you've, um, written this, uh, the whistle there, there's a whistle.

The whistle is A present, right? Um,

Claire, Sian and the team.

right, right. Big shout out. Uh, I know you've written, uh, the book, the, uh, Daniel Disney's book, the, the chapter on, on sales, right? Yeah. Oh, the ultimate LinkedIn messaging guide,

which we want to talk about a little bit later on too. And that's another 

page 

169 folks. Okay. Page 169.

I was 

mentioned and

I was also mentioned as one of his favorite creators in his 500 LinkedIn content ideas.

Right. Right.

quite a, an amazing thing to happen.

So that's like two big things. I know another big thing that happened to you was when you, won the chili Piper chili challenge competition.

That was epic. 

that was an amazing thing. In fact, I think the video that you created in response to the Cause you know how, you know, if anybody knows Jarrod, you know, he has this laugh. Hi, he does this thing. Right. So, um, he wins the competition when he does the video. Of course the video is, is great with him and his starting line.

And, and he rent the whole stadium or something like that. I don't know what happened. And, um, so it's him on a track Jarrod is on a track and he's at the starting line and he does the whole script and goes over the hurdles and jumps up with his prospect and, and everything. And then gets the thing, which was a trip to anywhere in the world.

Right.

Right. Okay. Good. Gets that prize comes back, makes a video about how we won. And that video gets more engagement than the initial video, which I found to be an amazing. Now I know you've gathered all these different wins. Um, could you attribute these wins, uh, to your content only? Or do you think there are other things that work in order to get you this type of response on the platform?

No, it's content. It's, it's the color yellow as well, but it's the content. It again, every answer I have now to anything, it's, it's content. Like I literally just recorded a video and I was just saying, Hey, everything is kind of attributed to content. There's, there's nothing else. If I did not, if I wasn't posting consistently on LinkedIn and a combination of picture and videos, I don't think Chili Piper would have noticed. I don't think my audience would have backed me up on this. And I don't think they would have celebrated with me when it is that I want. Like, I don't think. those things that happen if you just wasn't posting consistently. And I think to the other factor, what a lot of people don't see is how many conversations you have on your DMs.

Like that for me is another major thing. Like I'm always sending people a quick DM with some advice, having conversations with people back and forth. I think a lot of people don't see that particular aspect, but it's, it's equally important and that's how you build a community. That's how you build a nice group of people that you could. Bounce ideas off of and honestly, that's what I know brings the success on the platform. 

agreed. And you, you mentioned there. That there's a lot of things that people don't see, right. The, the, the part that is not public. And I guess you're referring to like your video DMS and things of 

Yeah,

people, people who, so a lot of people don't like when I explain to clients what the process is, a lot of them like eyes open up wide cause they're like, Oh, I didn't realize it was all of that. I'm like, yep. It, It, it, takes a while, but for me, a lot of it is based on the premise of I'm planting a seed without expectation. Like there's no expectation. I'm just honestly doing it because um, I, I, I enjoy doing it. I want to do it. Like I look forward to doing it. I look forward to learning from people. So to me, that's, that's literally the best part about it. 

I remember when I came on, you sent me a video DM and I was like, Oh, this is great. And I decided I would try it a few times. Well, I've fallen off now, but, what's your stats on that now? How many have you sent now?

Um, I had to delete some, but I'm, I'm, I'm around 7, 000 right now. And I

know, I know no one has that record. Actually, no, there may be a few people in the world, but I don't think. I think we're in a rare breed. So I'll honestly tell you, I think there are probably 10 people in the world that may have that, and that might be really being generous.

right, 

think it might just be about five people who could honestly say they have sent personalized videos.

And by the way, for all these AI companies, I don't mean a recorded AI. I mean, these videos are personalized, individually done, all 7, 000. It's not pushed out with AI. Just saying as great as those tools are, it doesn't beat that level of customization. And please tell me why people aren't doing it yet.

Because the amount of people who would always mention that Jarrod is the only person to send me a video and I'm like, I sent you a video three years ago. Nobody has ever sent you a video and like you're a CEO of a company. And they're like, nope, never had, they'll just send in text messages. 

is just now occurring to me

Mm hmm.

earlier in our conversation. I gave you the start of you posted 2, 039 pieces of content on LinkedIn. 1, 011 of those were video. It's just not occurring to me while you're saying that, uh, number that you've posted seven times, or you've created seven times more private videos than you have done public pieces of video content.

I think that might be just be a big secret to your success with content. What do you think? 

I would agree with you because here's how I look at it. LinkedIn is a community. You connect with somebody Why aren't you sending them a video message? Here's and again, I look at things in a stupid way. So let me explain this We go to a networking event and I walk up and I greet you Do I walk up when I greet you and I take out my phone and I text you.

Hi. Hi My name is Jarrod or do I say hi. My name is Jarrod. Nice to meet you I I and because I have linkedin or I could see stuff about you that I could context You Into the message. Why not do that? Like that to me was just my logic like I remember and by the way when linkedin only had text I used to send text messages to people Every time he connected then when they introduced voice, I only used to send voice messages to people and I have it Recorded on my instagram profile when somebody said thank you.

This is the best voice message I've ever gotten then when they said we're doing video I just switched the video because all I thought was it's just another level to build a connection and again Because so many people we are connecting with we may never see physically in our life Why wouldn't you want to send them a picture?

I think even now there's an advantage of it where You could send a video that proves you're human and this AI world that we live in and so much automation is going on I could literally send a video that proves i'm a human being and I know for a fact now that It builds small reciprocity because once I connect to people and I send a video especially for the ones who respond They always look at the content because now they feel there's an attachment like i'm I i'm the human who's behind this sent me a dm that's personalized Like, it's a bigger connection if you just text them and say, Hey, Ja, da da da da da da da. 

Video, video, video, video, video. All day. Nothing could beat it

I really do think that might be the secret sauce to not just the, um, let's, so part of it is the actual business success,

but part of it is the reach being known,

right? And making yourself memorable. I think that those things that might be the missing piece of what people are not getting. So you tell people to make content, which they should,

but I, but I think.

On the back end of that, you have to say, well, what else are you doing to support that? Well, how are you, how are you using the content? So it's not just creating the content, but what are you using it for?

People are lazy, Juma. Every client I've spoken to, and I'll be honest, 90 percent of the clients that I've spoken to who I say, Send the video. When you follow up with them, you send them a message. Yeah. Was it video? No. I was like, all right. And what was the result? Didn't respond. Guess what they have

in their inbox.

Tons of text message. Like what it like, I remember I showed this to a group of people in a training last week when I literally said, if you are doing the exact same as everybody else, how was your, how was your intended audience going to pay attention to you? And we could use the reference of Seth Godin and purple cow. If you're seeing black and white cows after while you tune them out, that's what people are doing in DMs If I see a video message, I would pay attention to it. Then I would even respond because if it's really personalized to me, boom. 

I agree. I think, I think I'm going to take that advice I got from you about three or four years ago and start to use it.

off for a while. Yeah. I wasn't consistent. Like I, this month, August and September, my goal is to get back more on it because I agree with what you said. I do realize there's a direct correlation with After the connection of sending the message That it sees more engagement with regards to the content i'm doing like you see more people engaging with the content Because I think they feel that As cool as it sounds connection between me and the content because that personalized video was sent to 

now that we've. Kind of zeroed in on this as an important part of your content creation process, your reach, your, your being known process. Let's talk a little bit about these DMS and how you go about them, how you make decisions as to what to send and how you come up with it. Was the length of them, how frequently you send them.

Was it right time to do it? Is there anything that we need to know? Is there any structure that we need to think about? Is there any way that you actually approach it? Can you share that with us?

I'll say it's in this format because Again, I would love for us to I would want to repurpose it. So here's the exact formula, right? Start with their name First, I don't say hi, g'day, nothing. And here's the other thing folks, cause I've seen it on a lot of DMs. Some of y'all write a text and say, Hey, hi Juma, this is Jarrod.

What? Like, you mean the person who inboxed it came from Jarrod says this is Jarrod? Woah! Like my god, y'all just are wasting time in communicating a message. So, look at it as capturing their attention. Say their name first, nothing else say, Hey, Juma, then immediately. And I'll give you the three categories. If I'm just sending you a message because we connected, there's no familiarity. There's not somebody I did. I want to connect to, but the profile is interesting. I have a standard message that I send you. So it'd be like, Hey, Juma, thank you so much for connecting. Um, let me know what prompts you need to connect, but overall really appreciate you, um, appreciate connecting with you here on LinkedIn, which I think is the absolute best platform in the world. Looking forward to engaging. That's the end of the message. If it's somebody, and this is what I teach my clients that you want to get business from, this is where the, the, the trick comes in, right? I'm giving you two mess, two options. This option is the easiest one. If you create content, I would literally say, hi, Juma. Thanks so much for connecting. My reason for doing so is that I'm helping a lot of our companies, helping a lot of clients in your industry achieve X, which is their pain point, right? My content gives that information and how to get it done. So I'm, I'm, I'm not even pitching. I'm letting you know it's there for free, right? The advice. However, if you would like to get more information on a one on one basis, I'm always available via DMs. But I just wanted to introduce you to it because a lot of people who found me on LinkedIn found value out of the content. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to the message. Even if the person doesn't respond, I take that same written copy. Because I could transcribe it and I send it back in a text message like a week after if I haven't seen a response Just saying hey not spam, but just summarizing what the video message was about Right if it is that you're not creating content and you just want to connect to people and it's your ideal client You could go and say, Hey, Juma, thanks so much for connecting was wondering is X problem something that you might be interested in solving? Um, I don't want to sound like I'm pitching, but I'm really reaching out to a lot of people and actually not switching and say a lot of people who have connected with in the past and LinkedIn reached out to me with regards to getting that problem solved based on what they saw on my profile. 

right, right,

Time to take in the time to respond and that's it. And to me, I just send out the messages and that's it. That you could use those three simple options in your format. And it encourages a conversation And by the way when I checked it and I have to go back and check it really I would say the response rate I have on videos is around 30 percent But that's I checked which is good in my opinion.

I don't think it's bad I would love to get it back up to like in the earliest like Pandemic days was like 50 percent response because people had nothing else to do But now it's like

30 percent and i'm okay with that So

it, because the ones who it impacts, it's really resonating with them and it turns into future clients. 

right. That's great. That's great advice. That's a great structure. And I guess the, these, uh, the last one you talked about is when you, people can reach out to connect with you. That's the message that you would send them. 

Yeah. And I, and

by the way, I, even this morning I had a response with other interaction with somebody. I think I need to do a video on this where I would say, you know what, pitch slapping is okay, but I want to give the context. I don't think, and I don't think it should be called pitch slapping if you have targeted the right person and you have drawn some context. So why it is that you're reaching out to them? I think pitch slapping comes from where we just connect you. I think you have a pulse and I pitch you a random product that you are not interested in has no relevancy to you. That is why I think pitch slapping comes from but other than that

Yeah. 

think if you connect with somebody we aren't here to sell our products and services if your ideal client Pitch them tell them why you might be a valuable connection. 

Yeah. I agree. I think that, um, the reason we hate that pitch slapping thing so much is because mainly because people have no context. You just come in and just say stuff 

Yeah, the message not relevant

It's not relevant. You know, they've done zero research. They don't, they don't even know what you really do. Some people offer you services you offer and, um, 

messaging is horrible

And can I also say, even if you're doing a text message, let's talk about the length. If you notice those videos, those DM scripts I just gave y'all, it averages between 15 to 30 seconds, max, max, by the way, the next piece of content in DM that you should do is always reference if they post something and mention the value and ask a followup question just as a side note. But again, those DM messages are 15 to 30 seconds, max. Here's the other problem I see a lot of people doing, even if they're DMing and using text. Those messages are long. Like why are you all sending essays? Like don't you know how to abbreviate stuff? And again, think about the user, they're on their device.

They're not going to scroll through a paragraph of messages. Like three, like three lines. If you can't communicate in three lines, you have lost them. 

Yeah. I agree. I think that's a good thing. Cause people especially if they are. Somebody who's popular, they have little time to go through all of these different messages. And so it helps you if you get to the point basically.

I've done LinkedIn profiles for a lot of CEOs. So because I'm doing their profile, I could see the DMs. Like, cause my eyes pop up and like how you do LinkedIn. And like, I'll click some of the messages. And I, they say, and I laugh because I'm like, yo, what's up with these essays? And they're like, yeah, I'm not really an artist.

Like I saw it and they literally say, from the time I saw Hollywood, I just closed it back. I'm like, yep. Cause

nobody has time for that. And when you look at the message, it's all about them. Age humor, I'm the greatest this,

yeah, 

there's no value. Like think about the end user. Think about the recipients.

yeah, yeah. And I, I have a good example of that that happened to me recently where I saw a video I released recently has brought in a lot of attention to. My profile. Um,

That's one really people saying it's a great question.

yeah, yeah, that, 

That's, Oh, that's beautiful.

that sounds, I appreciate that. And you happen to make an appearance in that video too. 

Right. So people have been messaging me so I've gotten different messages. A lot of them are generic things, you know, help with your podcast, you know, I can get you listed here, you know, things like that, one person Uh, it wasn't a video, but it was a good message. And they said, they didn't even try to connect.

They use the premium feature on LinkedIn to message me. And they said, I went, I saw the video. They said what the video was about this video. They referenced the actual video. Then they said, I went into your profile and I, and I checked out what you did. And then they, They, they said what my profile was about, and they talked a little bit about the, some things I've said in the recent past, right?

They do a lot of research. And then they said, I heard that you, um, I saw that you said this and. If you are interested in, in us connecting to do X thing, and they were talking about content on YouTube and you would like that, then maybe we could be somebody who might want to talk to, and we'll be happy to help with the other thing.

Now,

I love if they use, if they actually use that word, maybe and consider, I would love it. I think that's brilliant. 

I can't remember the exact words. I don't have it in front of me right now. But I responded to them and I connected with them first of all, they sent me a premium message. I went, I connected with them, right? And then I messaged them and said, Hey, listen, thanks for the message. I appreciate it. I'm going to check out the thing that you sent to me.

Right. And I immediately did that because they went and they did a little bit of research. They 

all they need folks 

And they give me something interesting to think about that might be useful to me. Yeah.

And it's specific in what they reference. So like, you know that other people, um, get caught with Um and connection requests on linkedin when somebody messages and say hey juma Um saw your profile and I thought it was pretty awesome and I wanted to connect i'm like cancel the generic message ignore What was it that made it so good that you wanted to connect?

Like I remember Somebody, I have to look back in it. That's a while ago. Somebody sent a message in a connection request that was like so specific. I was like, no way this person used a bot to send this out. This was, it was,

specific, not just with yellow, but also sales and then something else from Instagram that they referenced in the LinkedIn thing.

I was like, That is what I would accept a connection request for not

anything generic that is being specific So yes, you would get five minutes of my time and we could have a conversation 

Yeah.

Yeah. 

And I find it makes such a big difference when people put a tiny bit 

Yes

Like why don't you want to put some effort? 

And then you can take it to the next level by sending a video DM, of course. 

Hands down

the 

it. 

thing to do

Take it to the next level.

All right. So we've been talking for a while and I know we probably was supposed to talk about profile optimization, 

Now that borrow a nice standard Profile optimization is like a high school diploma now that you should have one should It's it's like and I told everybody this so And again, for two contexts, high school diploma or getting your CSEC passes, right? And I told the audience this yesterday, profile optimization is bare minimum.

Now like content is what's the difference? Like there's nothing else. And especially if you are a job seeker wanting to be found or you are providing services, Content is the only way to break through the noise, not an optimized profile. Doesn't matter how great the graphics is or how well the headline is written.

If you're not creating content, written audio, um, video, you are not going to differentiate yourself on LinkedIn. 

Absolutely. Absolutely. I want to talk about one last thing before we wrap up. We are, we are coming up on an hour and I want to talk about one final thing before we wrap 

up. 

hmm.

So I mentioned your consistency when we began to talk.

Right.

And one thing that has, has, has not changed one thing about your language.

It has not changed. You've always described yourself as a sales trainer. A LinkedIn coach, those two 

things,

sales trainer, LinkedIn coach, sales trainer, LinkedIn coach. Were you ever tempted to change your focus on the platform of LinkedIn?

Changes in what sense? Away from sales on LinkedIn? I don't know, but one day it probably will. Good. Like I'll, I'll give you, I'll give you two directions. I'm seeing it going in. Yeah. I don't know if you may be shocked with this. Um, the obvious one is focusing more on content 

Mm.

and showing people how to sell.

But again, it's because of who I target in the Caribbean. A lot of people still don't have that fundamentals of sales. So I would focus on it. The other one, and I could see myself getting certain qualifications in it is marketing.

Right, right. 

as crazy as it sounds because I don't know. I just think in terms of what's the next direction I could go that could compliment the things that I do. And because a lot of clients keep thinking I do marketing, it's not that I'm pointing the direction that they're going. But again, I realized, as I said, and my, one of my favorite people who I follow is this guy called Ryan Silhant. He's a real estate guy. I don't know if you know who I'm talking about, 

but Ryan Silhant said it best way long ago. Your skillset was what got you business. And he said today's world attention is what gets people your business because then the attention gets them aware of your skillset and then they get the best, and then you get the business. So if you're not creating attention, then you're not getting the business.

Doesn't matter how good your skillset is. So for me, content and everything, and what I talk about now is it's really is marketing. It really is creating that demand generation for what you do and creating that awareness with your audience so that. They can actually buy your products and services and what you do now at the end and see it, it's almost at the bottom of the funnel.

It's probably a direct selling based on what you're doing. And I think in the future, it may change because even though, and then this other thing, this other thing I know for sure, I don't think I would do this forever as in not only do I have a shorter attention span, but I love what I do, I do miss corporate because like. It be by itself as an entrepreneur, like when you're an entrepreneur, you're by yourself, like you get to interact with people, essentially by yourself. And I miss a corporate environment where you had connection. Like, you're not like you're making friends, but it was more interactions with people. And I think that

that really helps me in terms of my creativity. And I also think too, I would be in an environment where I could learn different things. So I, and I like testing and flexing what my capabilities are. So I think that's the direction I see myself, um, going.

I could see that. I could see that. I, I think I could understand why people. Think that your primary thing might be marketing, because essentially what you're doing is marrying the two functions. You're marrying sales and you're marrying marketing together by telling people to, you know, you need to create content because the way in which it's done has changed, right?

The it's, it's more closely aligned, even if you, um, you know, people have to separate the two. But now it's like you have to be multi talented, multifaceted in those areas of being able to get your product out the door.

And so I, I could see definitely how that could be a fit. I say go for it. If you think that's something that you'd want to dabble in 

I would, I know I'll find you right for it's only time and for everything. I know that's how my mind always thinks. So I I just know as well as the songs I have to stay on the course now because it would get me to, to what the next path is. 

absolutely. Well, this has been a great conversation, Jarrod. As usual, you brought a good and very interesting perspective. I didn't get to ask you about the edutainment part of your content, which is built in and weaved in, but maybe next time when we have a conversation, we could talk about that, but it's so good to have had this conversation.

Some people may not know where to find you online, which is near to impossible. But could you please tell the people where they can find you online if they do want 

LinkedIn is the best place. You could search Jarrod Best Mitchell and you would find it. Um, you can also find me through my website. You can also check out my YouTube channel. And then you can also check me out on Instagram and TikTok. If you search for the same name, Jarrod best to Mitchell, you would find it. You know, you're funded when you just see yellow all over the page. 

Excellent. Excellent. So thank you so much students for joining us on this useful content podcast. Thank you, Jared, for staying with us for this time and sharing your expertise.

Useful content classroom dismissed. And we're clear.

People always laugh at that

I like that.

laugh

at that part. 

Jarrod one says that if you want to kidnap him, put a yellow sneakers in the back of a van

Yeah. Just say yellow sneakers available and I'm gone.

yeah. Yeah. And, and kidnap him. I've tried to entice him with the other sneakers in, in messages, but so far none have really hit the note. I have to find one that he likes. 

I found one that I like and then it's limited release. And then it's this stupid Forex that we have. So I missed out on this. I'm like irritated. Like I like, Or somewhere, because I'm generally a positive person, I'm having a bad week because of that. Like, it's irritated my soul, because I didn't get that yellow sneaker.

Nothing brings me 

Yes. Yeah. I could, 

getting

a yellow sneaker. So like, To not have that. Do you think that was good though? Or, and the other grandma seems just because she has some more, I have like three new African kids. You bring Fusi?

No, I'm not going to see, I, I got invited and, um, you don't know how much I like to stay home. I love to stay home. Uh, but you go in clearly. Cause you're addressing for it. Right.

Yeah. I know I go in, I go in. Cause I, I find he's a captivating speaker. And what I saw from him is enough for me to say, yeah, I'll pay money to see what it's like to hear the whole speech in real life.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. He has

and then it's aspirations. One day I want to be be flown into a country and people are excited to come and hear me talk.

Like, what does that look like? So, It's all, um, it's all aspirations and, and just seeing how people's styles are and everything like that. So I'm incredibly excited for it.

yeah. Thanks so much for joining me, man. Uh,

I appreciate it. I appreciate

now your level of research has make it worth it. I remember that from the first session with the amount of things that you brought up. Cause I, I didn't even think about that. Oh, you found out how much pieces of content that's what on LinkedIn itself,

All right, let me let me tell you what in order for that to not reveal this to the people I'll stop the recording

right? though 

Mhm.