093 – How to Position Yourself on LinkedIn with Bofta Yimam

Karen Yankovich 0:00
You’re listening to the good girls get rich podcast, Episode 93.

Intro 0:06
Welcome to the good girls get rich podcast with your host, Karen Yankovich. This is where we embrace how good you are girl, stop being the best kept secret in town, learn how to use simple LinkedIn and social media strategies and make the big bucks.

Karen Yankovich 0:23
Hey there, I’m Karen Yankovich, the host of the good girls get rich podcast, and we have an amazing guest for you today. But first, just know that we are brought to you by up level media where we teach simple relationship and heart based LinkedIn marketing, we are completely revamping our digital program, I can’t wait for you to see it. I think it’s something really no one else is doing.

So really keep your eyes open for that we what we’re teaching is how to get on the phone with your perfect people, those perfect people that can bring the money and the profits into your business. You know, we’re seeing a lot of spam, LinkedIn, we’re getting lots of messages, people we don’t know, offering, do all these things that we don’t need, I don’t want to be that person, I don’t want you to be that person.

So I’m going to teach you how to do it completely flip that on its head. And we’re excited about that. And to kick that off, we’re going to be doing a LinkedIn profile challenge completely free, because none of the strategy we teach, even the stuff we talked about here today works as well without a great profile. So check that out at LinkedInprofilechallenge.com, you can get on the waitlist for the next challenge. And the upcoming one right now is October 28th to November 1 2019. After that, we’ll be doing them a couple times a year, hopefully.

So you saw the opportunity to get on the waitlist for that. Even if you even if it’s past the dates I just mentioned at LinkedInprofilechallenge.com completely free. And again, we’re flipping the traditional training on its head, you’re going to learn how to set up a profile, that really, you’re going to be amazed as you when we’re done, we’re going to be authentic, but we’re gonna it’s gonna be really powerful. I can’t wait for you to see it, because we’re really excited about it.

Okay, so if you you know, stop what you’re doing right now take a quick screenshot, so that if you love what you’re listening to today, you can share it on social media. So both both to who you’re going to meet in this episode, and I can share your posts with our audience, make sure you tag us both. And then we all get more visibility that way, right. And this is how we start to show up as a leader, we start to show up as an influencer. And we get more visibility. And you know, that’s how we keep this ball rolling for all of us. Right?

So I would be grateful if you did that. And in return, of course, I’ll share it with my audience. There is a link in the show notes also for speak pipe. If you go to KarenYankovich.com/093 you’ll see that they’re not only can you give us a review for this episode, or you know, you can also just tell us, you know who’s a guest you want to say you think we should have or if there’s a topic you want me to talk about speak pipe is a great way to let me know that.

And if it is a review, we can always play it for our audience. So that’s fun to do as well. So I’m not going to keep babbling here. I can’t wait for you to meet Bofta We met at a conference a few weeks ago. I loved what she had to say. And I thought she’d be a great guest because we talked about using. She talked about how to get more podcast gigs, how to become a guest on podcast. And a lot of what was talked about was LinkedIn focus. You know, I love that. And I wanted you to hear about that. So here we are. I can’t wait for you to meet Bofta Yimam

Okay, so I’m excited this week on good girls get rich podcast have Bofta Yimam with us. She is an Emmy and Moreau award winning journalist, Washington D based national news correspondent, international speaker and executive coach.

She’s the first Ethiopian American newscaster to receive an Emmy for her work for more than a decade. She’s reported live on the morning and evening news for TV affiliates around the country. CBS and ABC, as a coach have to work to help change agents and industry transformers, craft and syndicate their compelling signature talk. So they can deeply connect with their audience establish authority, create impact and transformation from the stage and on screen, while reducing the fear and anxiety of sharing their story to a group of to helps your clients achieve a powerful signature talk that they can share ondemand while replacing their fear of validation with incredible confidence.

And time I met at a conference about a like a week ago, and I did a talk on LinkedIn. And she came up to me and did a talk on speaking and she had so many things to say about LinkedIn when she was done. I was like, Oh, my gosh, I need to have you on my show. Thank you so much for agreeing to do that.

Bofta Yimam 4:46
Absolutely. And here we are making it happen.

Karen Yankovich 4:49
Yeah, absolutely making it happen. I was which was great, which is great. So the conference where I was at a podcast conference, and I was doing a talk LinkedIn for podcasters. And just talking a little bit about what you guys on the show heard me talk about a lot micro targeting how to really connect and build relationships. So I love love having the opportunity to kind of hear from the other side about what they look for from us. But before we do that, can you tell us a little bit about your journey, and we read your bio, but let’s hear like the real deal. Tell us a little bit about your journey and what brought you to the coaching world?

Bofta Yimam 5:23
Wow, how much? How much time do we have?

No I’ll sum it up, you know, the coaching world to me. I started really by just being interested in business. And it was this itch that I could not get rid of you know, and I was working full time as a journalist and was a TV anchor and reporter. And I started by hosting workshops.

But the way I really started was asking some friends, if you had a day with me to learn something, what would you want to learn? And so I knew that through coaching, because I had had a business coach that I was really gravitating toward this. And I came to her for something completely 360 different. And so when I now was gravitating toward this coaching model, I thought, well, what am I going to teach? What do I want to share with people, I’ve always loved helping people, Karen.

So I knew that I wanted to do that. But I also wasn’t sure how to go about it just to know how. And so having a coach led me to really asking so many different questions and being able to have that one to one time and really just probe the mind, you know, how do I do certain things. But coaching I think I was drawn to because it, it helps me have high impact with people in a way that I felt like I couldn’t before just that one on one and truly creating transformation in someone’s life. And really being able to help them take their message and share it with the masses.

And so it’s different from being on TV and writing a story. And it airs that one day, because this way this person’s story, if they’re living for the next 40 years, and they’re sharing it on stages, they’re touching thousands of people, you know, every time they speak every time they share and the impact, really, I can’t even imagine just how big of an impact if you keep working with different clients that would be so I was just drawn to coaching with the idea of helping people in my expertise. Once I really thought about what really is the thing that I do that’s different from so many people and where I really shine and have my special sauce. And for me that’s crafting stories, which I’ve been doing for years as a journalist.

Karen Yankovich 7:38
So cool. That’s so cool. Tell us a little bit about what you mean when you say you help people craft a signature talk.

Bofta Yimam 7:45
Right, so I think that sometimes when somebody has a strong desire to speak, one of the first things they think about is well, why would somebody want to hear me, and I always go back to their compelling story, meaning all of us have a story that’s compelling. And that can use some structure and crafting because here’s the thing, we have many stories in our lives, but extracting and picking the best ones can be a little bit tricky when you are in fact that person who went through what you went through, you went through the journey.

So to you maybe no big deal that you survived something that was incredible, incredibly hard. But to somebody else listening, they’re thinking, Well, I’m going to do the same thing just in a different way. And so that compelling signature story is really what you would say and how you position yourself in your niche when you want to talk.

So for example, you Karen and I know you very like let’s say lightly right, because we just met at a conference and then here I am on your podcast. Sure you have this ability to help people through linked in and through social media.

But there’s probably a part of you where there’s something deeper, maybe that has led you to this moment, maybe you your network, or your relationships or your connection, something that’s deeper, where you could craft a story around it and bring it back to what you do now and your expertise. Yeah, and that requires some digging, right. And that requires some digging.

And it usually it’s like well, all I so people will say well, all I am is a social media marketing guru, or all I am is this but there’s something that led you to that desire to want to help people and coach people and walk them through the step by step. And there’s something about you, and your character really, that shines through that. And that’s what I tap into.

Karen Yankovich 9:36
I love that. And you know what else I love about that, and I know you talked a little bit on your, your bio about about this, when you have a signature talk. Like for me, I have a signature talk. But that’s the and that signature. And it’s really a signature system, our success path or whatever, like everything I do every course I teach every talk I give. There’s there’s the same overlaying, you know, theme overlaying path, right?

Bofta Yimam 10:03
Yeah.

Karen Yankovich 10:04
And sometimes I’ll do just a piece of it, right, sometimes the whole path doesn’t get rolled out depending on how long I have or what they’re what they’re asking for. But what’s interesting, and what took me a long time in business to realize is it simplifies your business when you do that. Because you know, and it’s so funny, because somebody said to me at that same conference, and maybe it’s the third or fourth time, they’ve heard me talk.

And they’re like, every single time I hear you brand, and you always have a fresh angle on this and things like that. And I actually cracked up because I was like, in my head, it’s the same dog. It’s just tweaked and formed a fresh angle, or a fresh I may have made us different stories that supported in different ways, depending on the audience, depending what they’ve asked me to, to cover. And maybe I will maybe I will kind of emphasize different pieces of that kick that signature talk again today on the audience.

But it’s so it makes my life so much easier to know to have done that work up front, on what that signature talk is, and then be able to just deliver it and tweak it. And I mean, I’m doing a talk on Thursday that I’ll be honest, but today’s Tuesday we’re recording it, I haven’t barely started it. Because I know it’s done already, I just have to tweak it for the audience,

Bofta Yimam 11:21
Right for that particular audience. And that’s exactly you being seasoned and you are someone who’s been speaking for a while and of course, has a podcast where you’re using your voice or constantly talking to people and, and extracting and kind of also placing your story within it, right, you’re part of this podcast, you created it for a reason.

And you have this awesome title and all of those things. And I believe really, Karen, when somebody owns their story, there is this shift that happens if they truly own their story. Because we’re going deep sometimes in the work and not that everyone’s comfortable with that because it can be kind of uncomfortable, sometimes depending on the nature of the story. And of course, the person and what they’re trying to do and share.

But when somebody owns their story, they are clearly more comfortable on a stage, because it’s kind of like they’ve owned their message decided what they want to keep it in what they don’t, but they have really shed themselves of that weight of not owning pieces they didn’t like

Karen Yankovich 12:23
And also becomes their story, right, as opposed to the same talk everyone else is giving.

Bofta Yimam 12:28
Exactly. And it’s why people are attracted to them. It’s because they have a story and they’re vulnerable and willing to share it. And it’s how you share it. Right? It’s with integrity, it’s with its with some framework, it’s giving some teachable moments to people so that they walk away.

Also it’s not, you know, some people think, well, isn’t it going to be turned into some pity party? No, it’s just revealing pieces of you. And sometimes I have clients because I speak and then I also land clients, you know, when I speak and, and we’ll go in a month or two, and I’m working with them. And I and I think that Remember, you also were attracted to me somehow, because we ended up working together. And it’s because I shared a piece of my story on the stage.

So I am practicing. You know what I preach here and that you attract people to you when you’re willing to go places that some people aren’t always willing to go and just owning kind of the mess and then how you got out of it. And teaching people I’m really big on providing them with here’s what I learned. And here’s what I want you to know, through this so that they walk away feeling like, wait a minute, I can do something with this right now I can feel empowered. And that’s what you really want to leave the audience with.

Karen Yankovich 13:40
Awesome. I love it. I love it. Okay, so when we met at Mapcom, one of the things you talked about an attempt that you did was the ways that you can use obviously, we’re talking about podcast guests, right, and becoming a guest on a podcast and the things that you look for.

Bofta Yimam 13:55
So I think LinkedIn is super powerful for Yes, speaking engagements. And when I mean speaking engagements, I also mean podcast, because that’s another way to use your voice just like you do. Karen, right. So it’s a great way. And being a guest on a podcast is amazing. Because you can really show up as the expert, you can also practice speaking, if you right now feel a little bit uncomfortable, it’s one way for you to just start speaking and practice getting your story out there your why the mission for your business, and really showing up fully as that leader in your niche.

And so I think LinkedIn is powerful, because when you have your headline and your about section and everything fully crafted, really in a powerful and compelling way. And you’re reaching out to, let’s say podcast hosts and your niche, they are immediately going to your about section. And so if that’s not tightened up and does not reflect your expertise and doesn’t reflect what you’re about, then it’s really not serving you in the way that it could and and the way that you I imagine want it to be so who’s in business or trying to be more visible, you’re a coach or consultant or whatever might be your particular position right now as even as a CEO.

And so that headline, and that also that line in your about section where if you’ve been on a lot of podcasts, mention it, you’d be amazed at how many people who I coach really dismiss all of their expertise and their visibility and what they’ve already done. If you give more than 50 talks a year on a certain subject, say it, right, but we often just dismiss it because we don’t think about it, we don’t really reflect on all we’ve done. So I think it’s really powerful for you to insert it there. And then also, as we were talking about even off the podcast, Karen, just making sure that you’re posting about your expertise that you’re providing value free value to the LinkedIn marketplace. Because

Karen Yankovich 15:50
So cool. Yeah. And you know where that you know what I mean, as a podcast host, I get pitched a lot I get people pitch me all the time to be on the podcast. And I am at this moment in time, we’re not even accepting pitches, mainly because most of the pitches I get, I have no way to get a sense of if I think there’ll be any, any chemistry between me and the person that’s being pitched to me. But if you have a great LinkedIn profile, and I can look at it and I can you make it really easy for me to listen to another podcast episode that you did, or somewhere else that I can hear your voice and see your you know, feel your energy, it makes it easier for me to say yes to that.

And more and more people are relying on like podcast guest services to not only get to be a guest on podcasts, but to also get guests on their podcast. And I think that that I actually haven’t figured out how to make that work for that for my podcast. Because I feel like when I’ve done that they may not, they may not be the best shows that I’ve done. Because I don’t have any sense. And maybe I need to get better at it. Maybe you know, that’s my inexperience as a journalist, right. But I don’t have any sense of what the chemistry is between us.

So if you’ve done the work and made my job easier, you have a better shot of getting on my show, then just you know, sending me a pitch and then saying, you know, with your one sheet which I want, right, but but if I can actually see what you’ve done and have a little sense of of your message, right, not just your topic, but what your message is behind the topic. That makes it an easier. Yes.

Bofta Yimam 17:28
Absolutely. And inserting that I think even a sentence or two into the about section can help that podcast host really see it. And one other thing to to mention is that when you are connecting as a guest, and you’re seeking podcast hosts, I think it’s important that you know you you do it in a very organic way.

So you’re just saying you know, great to connect with you I happen to listen to your last podcast, big fan of thanks for sharing your golden nuggets on X y&z just showing some interest back at that person versus Me, me me I want to get on I want to get on right, especially because that happens so much. And like you said, your pitch to a lot. So I think it’s also coming from that, you know, really different approach where you’re, you’re actually paying attention to the podcast that you want to be on, where most people are just blindly applying, I actually don’t do podcasts will now i will be doing a few more as a guest, just because I went to a conference and there was all these podcast hosts.

But typically, my schedule is really tight. So I don’t really do them that often right at this moment. So usually when I do them as because I really liked that person and I connected with them or vibe with them at a conference. And I said yeah, I’ll do it. But for those who are seeking it, another thing you can do, and this is another or organic ways to post on your Facebook or your LinkedIn profile and say, I’m looking to speak more about my message on whatever your message is on speak on your message on XY Nz.

On three podcasts next month, I’m opening up a few slots, please let me know if you’re interested or shoot me a message, you know, you can say something along those lines where you’re putting yourself out there on your profile, with a big message of you know, I’ve got a few slots open for podcast, to be a podcast guest next month, looking to speak about my message on XYZ who’s interested and just love it. Who actually responds. And that’s a powerful way of you showing up and putting yourself out there as a leader. And is there risking it? Oh, wow, what if nobody said everything? Fine, you can delete it two weeks later, you know what I mean?

Karen Yankovich 19:39
Or you could say DM me instead of that so that way nobody knows if there’s nobody responded. Right? So

Bofta Yimam 19:44
you could buy but by not forcing the DM one thing, you know, to Karen, is that when people comment and you’re liking, guess what you’re doing? You’re also improving the chances of other people too? That’s true.

Karen Yankovich 19:56
Yeah.

Bofta Yimam 19:57
So I do think there’s Yeah, there’s a little risk involved putting yourself out there. But again, just a quick tip for someone who is looking to become a podcast guest more, and increase your visibility through that same thing with Speaker engagements. You know, if you just got one talk about it, but your last word to doing it, you know, and cross promote that that event. And for me personally, that’s, that’s how many because people one for one, see that I’m speaking, right. And number two, they see that I cross promote, you know, and I want to help your name get out there too. And so I think there’s a couple of different ways about, you know, putting yourself out there, but being consistent, and having compelling posts that share your story are fantastic.

Karen Yankovich 20:43
So cool. So cool. That’s such a great tip.

I love that. And you know, at the end of the day, you really want to be I love that you said something about like, connect with them authentically and build a relationship. I always tell my clients like creating, like, if especially if you saw, if you saw something that was just recently in the public, are on the station that you loved talking about that share that tag the minute, you know, like that’s valuable to them, right? Because now you’re getting their work in front of your audience, and you’re giving them value before you’re pitching or asking, you know, anything like that. Does that make sense?

Bofta Yimam 21:17
It does, it does. I just think, you know, relationships are relationships. And so you want to concentrate on high value. And we care about our audiences and what our audiences are going to walk away with. And maybe to empowering story, maybe it’s new information and content that just came out about that particular industry. But we want the people at home to genuinely have some information that they may be seeking, meeting wanting, desiring, and we want to be able to provide that in a really in a really powerful way. And so if somebody feels like they can contribute that conversation, then you know, sure you can connect on LinkedIn, or you can just email the station directly.

Karen Yankovich 22:06
Right, right. So I what I’m hearing and which I want to make sure everybody else that’s listening is hearing is that, and at the end of the day, if you’re telling us, you know, on your LinkedIn profile, you’re telling you, the world about you. But really, it’s about the in your case, it’s about the the the consumer, the listener or the reader, right, the so your you know, your job is not saying I’m booked and I’m amazing, your job is to say, I’m booked and I haven’t met, I want to get my map, you know, I want to make sure that the message I’m delivering is really valuable to the people that are listening to it.

And I think that that same message translates to LinkedIn. You know, yes, we’re telling you about you. It’s your personal brand. It’s about you. But the end of the day, tell me why I care. Right. Give me a reason that you’re different than other people or that you know, how you help the people that you support, whether you’re looking for a job, or a client or whatever, right, what makes it what makes this less about you and more serving to, to the audience you’re looking to reach?

Bofta Yimam 23:07
Mm hmm. Absolutely.

Karen Yankovich 23:09
Yeah. So any other tips for us around how we can how LinkedIn serves like have given me like creative ways that or, or stories that you’ve used LinkedIn with that I don’t know that might help us get creative about how we can use LinkedIn to further serve our audience. Because I think if you’re tweeting somebody, I think that’s valuable. But you don’t really know who I am from my tweets, you do know who I am, if I do a good job of creating a LinkedIn profile connect with you there.

Bofta Yimam 23:35
Why can say that as a coach, I do post quite a bit. I post organically about what I’m doing, or things that I noticed or breakthroughs a client had, or, you know, valuable things that my audience can, my audience being linked in, can find value in. And I think that just coming from a value perspective, and being consistent, and what you’re doing on LinkedIn goes a long way, if you are trying to connect with more coaches, and I think that that’s what you need to be doing. But most people are not doing that consistently.

And then they’re not also branding their their summary along with their posts as that same thing. So it’s just lack of consistency that I probably see more than anything as a coach, where it’s that, that mixed kind of way of doing things where they’re expecting results. But it’s been three weeks since our last posts, they don’t really message people and they’re not really networking.

And so I think that posting is something that still is few and far between are doing it on LinkedIn, even though more are doing it not to the level that I think is the most powerful way, which is consistently posting a few of these few days a week about what you do, and about the value and about who you are and about why you do what you do. And all those things that people just tend to overlook.

Karen Yankovich 25:06
So did you notice just recently, I mean, for me, it was just I think yesterday, the day before that, I noticed that the message button on LinkedIn is now called chat. So LinkedIn is encouraging more conversational type engagement by they’ve changed the summary section to about they’ve changed messaging to chat. So I think these are all very like, psychologically, they’re big changes, right? Instead of messaging, which I feel like is is a one way kind of thing like, yes, I’m messaging you.

And I hope you messaged me back the word chat, assumes you’re going to respond back to me, right? So I think that there’s, I think that we need to be conscious of that and be ready to chat. Right? Not just login once a week, and see what messages we have. Now we’re like, who wants to chat with us. And that’s huge, right? If you get a somebody reaches out to you that a journalist or the media or a speaking engagement or something, only din, about something that could really provide value to you or your business? That’s not a chat. Right. So be around chat back.

Bofta Yimam 26:09
Right, exactly. Be be around to chat back. I think that’s powerful. And, you know, speaking of speaking engagements, you know, what I do is really help people get out there, craft your story, get visible and land on stages with that well crafted that framework, that story.

And I have landed an international speaking engagement, very organically did not know the person, and it was through someone who reached out and on LinkedIn, set up a call wasn’t really quite sure where the call would be, took the call. And then towards the end, you know, it ended up being a phone call about that, and I, you know, was caught off guard, but that Okay, that’s pretty sweet.

So, you know, don’t discount what opportunities may come, you know, with you being visible on LinkedIn, and increasing followers and increasing senior engagement, and also commenting on other people’s posts. It’s not just all about, you know, me, me, me, it’s, it’s really being part of a community more than anything else. And I just think some people and I know you teach it really well, but missed the boat on that, you know, it’s, it’s more than just about you.

It’s commenting and liking other people’s content and sharing their content to and just being part of the active community without expecting something back, you know, there’s different from putting something out there. But then the expectation that if I do this, this happens. And so it’s just really a mindset of relationships. And I think that it’s a really powerful tool. Like I said, I’ve learned it for speaking engagements, clients, really anything and everything that I can think of LinkedIn has been helpful as one of the different tools that I use.

Unknown Speaker 27:49
So let’s talk about speaking engagements. So for a second, so you, I mean, it’s phenomenal when people just reach out to for that, right. And I love when that happens. And it will happen if you’re doing this, right. But I also don’t like to wait for that to happen, right? I like to have something that’s repeatable. So when you work with your clients, do you incorporate LinkedIn strategy to help them find and land more speaking engagements.

Bofta Yimam 28:15
So not specific only to LinkedIn and but more of a social media strategy in general. And so you know, a lot of it is about also reminding people about the story, because that is why they’re bringing you on, and your expertise. So really combining that. And that’s what we do when we craft the signature story just to back up for a second. So it’s mixing your expertise along with your powerful story and why you’re doing what you’re doing and mixing that into this awesome story.

But what the beauty of that is, Karen is that then you can take pieces of that. And now sprinkle that inside of your social media pages, I always say the one that you use the most double down on that. So if you are someone who’s doing Facebook, and you do not want to do linked, and then double down on Facebook, and here’s how until we work through a strategy of how to do that.

But I’m also big on massive outreach through a conference template that I have, you know, really structure that anyone can use for my clients where they do this massive outreach through your structured speaker bio, your conference template, your marketing tools that you really need, and then you can begin to massive outreach. And so it’s really, it’s really coming at it from several sides. But none of it works to me if you don’t have a story in place, because you haven’t effectively communicated to the audience of why you are uniquely different, and why you should be brought up.

Karen Yankovich 29:41
I love that

Bofta Yimam 29:41
Yeah, so. So I’m not saying nothing matters, but you’re playing at a smaller level, if you haven’t really identified, hey, here’s how I’m different. And here’s the value, we go back to value, the value that I actually bring your audience. And I’m also big on that co collaboration, you know, the idea that you come on to a speaking engagement, but that you also cross promote, you know that you also participate that you’re not just there to come up and just get off the stage, I get it, people are busy, we have things to do, but you’re showing up as fully as you can, or at least you’re telling them how full you can show up ahead of time. You know, so if you need to check out early or what have you, great.

But I think there’s something to be said, when you have a speaker who’s still connecting with the audience afterward, cross promoting afterward. And before just doing those things that make you again, stand out as a speaker.

Karen Yankovich 30:33
Yeah, I love that. And you know, one of the things that I teach and that I do is when I’m speaking at a conference, I reach out and connect with all the other speakers at the conference and make sure that we’re connected to Hey, we’re both speaking at this conference. But also, I reach out if I’m attending a conference, I reach out and connect with the speakers at the conference.

Now you speak at conferences, I speak at conferences, how does that happen? It hardly ever happens, where somebody says, Hey, Karen, I’m, you know, looking forward to seeing your talk at, you know, the middle and podcasts conference next month, it hardly ever happens. And I teach LinkedIn. Right? So if it does happen, I pay attention. And I’m looking for you when I go to that conference. And that’s how you start to develop relationships with sometimes, you know, the most influential people in the room.

Bofta Yimam 31:18
Absolutely. And and they can refer you to other speaking engagements, it said that 80% of the speaking engagements that you will get are from referrals. So the more you speak, guess what, and if you’re good, which I know you are, but then you will land more speaking engagements, because you putting yourself out there get 80% that’s a huge number.

So if somebody out there is listening to this, and you want to speak more, think about how often you’re speaking now, are you really somebody who wants to speak more, you feel more comfortable just saying I want to be a speaker, you know, there’s a really big difference and doing the work and the action and the outreach. And I love that you said that because it does remind me of something that I do use with LinkedIn, because I’m kind of going off the cuff here with Karen. And we didn’t even you know, craft any crazy questions, we just kind of

Karen Yankovich 32:03
Literally like five days after we met in person.

Bofta Yimam 32:06
So you know, one of the things I do is I take the conference booklet, after and I add every single person to LinkedIn or have my team do it. And everyone already is warm, because they just met me or I just spoke on the stage or I was also in the conference booklet. So it’s not like it’s a stranger. And so now you’re connecting with LinkedIn.

And like you said, growing that, but that conference booklet is, again, really underestimated there because it has all of the power players, the sponsors, the people who actually spoke on the stages, the organizers, and these are the people who are part of your network, and who will also share your name, you know, so you know, we all do different things.

hey’ve all got creative niches, you know, going on in the coaching world, especially. So keep that conference booklet and start using LinkedIn to connect with people. So I just think leveraging that booklet is really good.

Karen Yankovich 32:58
I love that. And I think about how much more powerful That is, if you’ve done the work first and having a great profile, because then they’re going to be like, wait, who’s this person she was at that conference, I need to dive a little deeper into relationship with her because you’ve done the work to make sure that you are worthy of them wanting more from you. Right?

That doesn’t happen by some magic one that happens when you doing that work up front and creating the brand and telling them like you said, from the very beginning, how do you describe yourself in your headline, all right, and and that’s what we’re going to see when you start to connect with them. So sure, they’ll probably accept your connection request if you haven’t done that. But now you have another connection in your collection of connections, as opposed to somebody that really wants to get to know you better and collaborate with you maybe bring you in to speak hire you whatever,

Bofta Yimam 33:45
Right. And we can’t also underestimate the 234 touch points sometimes that it requires it’s like a follow up, right? How often is it the follow up to the follow up where you actually land something, you know, in the speaker world, sometimes it’s the follow up that really, really, really got you in? It’s following up that third time, sometimes just circling back, like, Hey, I know that three months ago, you hadn’t let it you know, finalize all your speakers at curious to know, do you still, you know, have that have that room?

So, you know, I think that we underestimate just having those touch points. That Yes, you can have it from the stage, but also LinkedIn and then adding them to Facebook, I’m active on Facebook, and I have a Facebook group called speaking influence. And so, you know, I also will add people sometimes straight to the group. And so it’s really a way I think speaking social media against that whole 360 were like, everyone’s connecting on all of those platforms.

And so if you’re not, you know, really work in it like you can you have to ask yourself, you know, what, what’s one step that I could do, to really, really engage better and just picking that platform. And if you’re like, Karen, then it’s LinkedIn or you’re like me, I do a little bit of both. And just roll with it. And just make sure that you’re doubling down.

Karen Yankovich 35:04
Yeah, so cool. So cool. So I know that you tell us a little bit of how people can learn more about you, I know that you have a really cool way to help people get some of those speaking engagements

Bofta Yimam 35:15
I do. So I do have a course if that’s something that your audience is interested in, where I walk you through the step by step everything from crafting your signature story, to landing speaking engagements to even getting paid as a speaker, your speaker, contract, all that packed inside this course that I have, and and you do that live calls with me as well. So if you’re stuck, you get that benefit. I also, of course, work one to one with folks as well.

Either way, the best way that somebody can connect with me is to text 555882 story2019. So it’s again, 555888 story2019, no spaces, you’ve got a problem to put in your email there and press enter. If you don’t press enter, it won’t go through. And that’s a way for you to to actually receive my 14 strategic ways to land speaking engagements at at no cost. But you can get that directly to your inbox, if that’s something you are in fact interested in.

And then we’re connected and you can email me back and you can say, hey, I want to learn more about X, Y, or Z or whatever it might be, or what you said on Karen’s podcast was pretty cool. Whatever it might be, that’s fine. But again, that’s my 14 free strategic ways to land speaking engagements that I’ve implemented myself. And so if my clients, and it’s super powerful that look, we’ll go straight to your inbox again, 555888 story 2019, no spaces.

And that’s the way to to directly be connected with me. And I also share pieces of my journey and my story in it. So you will learn more about me along the way. And then my speak and influence Facebook group is just called speaking influence. And that is a free group as well, where I have a bunch of free trainings where you can hop in, and you can just engage and be part of the conversation. And I’d love to hear a little bit about your story there.

So those are two really great ways to connect with me. You’ve got the Facebook group, and then the text at 555. Add to story 2019.

Karen Yankovich 37:15
Cool. So put all of those all of that in the show notes and in the blog. So they can do that. And I have one more question for you. You want to me? What can you tell us about that moment?

Bofta Yimam 37:26
Oh, I did win an Emmy. And, you know, really, I’m honored to win the Emmy, it really was because I young woman, Kimberly really spoke out about her story. And she talked about what she’d gone through was a horrible tragedy, she found out that her the person who was convicted of the crime was now going to get out there was a loophole in the Tennessee law.

And through her sharing her story, I can’t emphasize that enough. She, you know, really helped change Tennessee law for the future. And so that moment was spectacular for her I think just to give her that moment. And we were in Tennessee when it happened. And it was a powerful moment is to receive it. And again, she shared her story. And it would not have happened. I don’t think without that at all.

Karen Yankovich 38:18
Now, so cool. So cool. Well, thank you so much for sharing that. Congratulations on that, because that is amazing. And I think this was really helpful. So thanks for being here today. We’ll definitely link to all of this. So people can get to know more about you and the work you do and hopefully get some strategic ways to land some speaking engagements, because for most entrepreneurs, speaking really is a way to establish yourself as an expert, or for many, maybe not most, but for many entrepreneurs, it’s a way to, even if you’re not looking to travel the world speaking, even speaking locally, is a powerful way to grow your business, get your name out there and stand out from the crowd. And that’s really, a lot of the work we do here on good girls get riches. How do you stand out? How do you step into the power that that you bring to the world? And?

Bofta Yimam 39:03
Absolutely, you thanks for the well.

Karen Yankovich 39:06
Thanks for sharing that. And thanks for being here with us today.

Bofta Yimam 39:09
Absolutely, absolutely.

Karen Yankovich 39:11
I am so grateful that I have people like both to in my life. She’s amazing. It was we were like Kindred souls, we met this conference. I love the messaging she had, and we can talk for hours. So I hope you enjoyed what she had to say as much as I didn’t really take to heart the fact that you can, again, build relationships with people that maybe you didn’t think that you could before, you definitely can. So and definitely take her up on her offer on how to get those speaking gigs.

So remember to that. Everything we talked about here today will work so much better. And you’ll be adding so much fuel to the fire. If you’ve taken the time initially to create a LinkedIn profile that was positions you as somebody worthy of getting to know. And I’m here to support you with that, check out LinkedInprofilechallenge.com, join us in the upcoming challenge. I can’t wait for you to see it. We haven’t done this in years. If you get the waitlist page, no worries, we’ll be doing it again, we’re doing it in the fall of 2019.

And then again, probably in the spring of 2020. So while I’m still going to be here in the meantime with all of that, but make sure you get on the waitlist you don’t miss out on that because that’s where you’re going to get really specific LinkedIn profile training completely free. And it’s not your bros LinkedIn profile. Okay, this is a, this is a different kind of training. We are I don’t want to give too much of it away, because it’s we’ve really created some exciting, fun experiences for you within this training. So for now, to find out about those experiences and to join the party, you’ve just got to get on the waitlist LinkedIn profile challenge. com. I will see you there. And if you haven’t already done so please share this on social media that you’re listening to this episode, tag both to an eye so we can both share it with our audiences. And we can all get more visibility that way. I’m here to support you. I want this to be simple. So let it be simple and let’s come back next week for another great episode of the good girls get rich podcast.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai