FutureProof You

EP 5 FutureProof You #podcast Content Creation #fu
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aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for attending and watching another episode of Future Proof Use Podcast. F yourself. Today, we're going to be featuring our Upcoming classes around job search masterclass. And this week we were talking about networking at scale with content. As always, I'm joined by my colleagues, John Lovig and Aaron Makelky.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Thank you, Dan.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: today, uh, we really want to talk about how. Networking at scale with content really means using content to further your job prospects, your job career search. Um, and of course, everyone looks at LinkedIn is pretty much the main venue for using content to create a personal brand. And, um, there's four ways that we've really, uh, featured in our classes.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: I want to tell you about that [00:01:00] you can use. Uh, four kinds of content. Four different types of content that you can use today very quickly on LinkedIn. So the first is sh uh, commenting. First is commenting on other people's posts. The great thing about commenting on other people's posts is That you get visibility to their network, not just your own network.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: So if you comment on somebody with a million followers, you just got in front of a million people. Like, how cool is that? It's so easy to do, right? And, uh, one other comment that I find, uh, slightly ineffective, and John, you know, you've seen this too, is when somebody announces they've got a new job. Right.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: It's people will smash the button, right? And you've seen that,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Or comment with the, uh, pre filling, pre filling response that

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: right? So

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Which just means, oh, I just did Smash

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: right. Smashbox, right? So instead of just liking [00:02:00] or thumbs up, it's congratulations on the new job or congrats, buddy You know, like, you know, that's a little bit lazy, right? Ultimately, right John? So, um,

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: and then the next one is sharing content So taking somebody's content and then sharing it to your network.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Now, if you don't put any Uh, of your own comments on it, right? Your own take on it. That's also kind of lazy, right, John?

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Yeah, and I also just don't think it performs as well. I think when you just simply re share, it doesn't get the same type of engagement that it does when you put actual content of your own. If I'm not mistaken, I don't even, I think LinkedIn doesn't prioritize

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: That's a great point. Absolutely. Great point. Um, and it's a little bit lazy, right? And so if you share somebody's content, this brings us to the third kind of content. It's. Uh, really great if you put your own take on it, because ultimately your [00:03:00] audience wants to hear from you, right? They want to hear what you have to say on whatever topic it is.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Maybe it's your industry, maybe it's job search, whatever it is. It's really effective, I think, for people to hear your voice. And, uh,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Yeah.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: and of course the last type is to create original. And so we've actually had this debate, Aaron and I, right? And John too, right? We've had this debate on, on, uh, how do you create original content?

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Um, you know, do we write it from scratch? Or do we use AI, right? And, uh, you know, we've had a lot of discussions around, uh, you know, where you can start, where you can finish. Aaron, I'd love to hear your take.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Yeah, I think a lot of people abuse AI with that, and they just spam things that are not authentically them, which is a great way to not effectively network at scale with your content, because you blend in with the masses.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah. And [00:04:00] so, uh, uh, we've actually talked about, uh, the, the concept of first mile. Right. So creating some content, but you know, using AI to just at least give you a little jumping off point, right. To get your concepts down.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: And one of the things people get wrong, it's exactly the same way students initially use AI. Replace me, do it for me, copy paste. And people think with content creation, Hey ChadGBT, write me a LinkedIn article about, you Content marketing. Copy, paste, done. And there are so many other more effective ways and more authentic ways.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: So we mentioned last mile, you give it a broad concept, it gives you an output, you tweak it, kind of like the self driving semi, that it might navigate on the interstate, and then the last mile from the off ramp to The grocery store, what's getting unloaded, the human drives it. That's where the analogy comes from. Here's one that I use all the time. I made a [00:05:00] content idea generator. It doesn't write anything for me. It takes a topic and gives me a hundred different ways I could package that idea. Then I write it authentically myself. And it just helps with the ideation process instead of the write it for me process.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Terrific examples. And, uh, these are such easy things that people can do. Right? And, and increase their, uh, networking and, uh, really networking at scale is what we're talking about today. Um, but, you know, we've also talked about, um, and we've taught this too, uh, the idea that, you know, networking obviously is just one venue.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Right. And John, I'd love to hear your kind of take around, you know, going into multiple places at the same time.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Yeah, and, and, and certainly LinkedIn is a great place to get yourself in front of employers and recruiters and, and just other people you want to network with, but it's, if you have multiple channels that you communicate across, especially if they're more professional versions of yourself, but even, even so, [00:06:00] again, authenticity means a lot. If you're not, if you're not. You know, posting anything too horrible on some of your other channels, it's okay to kind of blend your personal life with your professional life. Um, I think a big misconception is that, uh, you shouldn't post the same thing across different channels. But, how many people have the same Twitter followers as they do LinkedIn

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Right. That, that Venn diagram, right. That Venn diagram is probably very

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: And then you're assuming that they're seeing that piece of content on both. So why not also use Twitter? And I think certainly change it up for the format. So it's more digestible, maybe link to something broader, but if you can start to understand where you get traction in different areas, use those to their advantage and, and try and post something pretty relevant, I think it makes it easier to just repurpose content across different, um, channels so that you don't have to do, you know, rework the wheel every time.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: And so from a recruiter perspective, right. And you see somebody that, uh, and, and [00:07:00] you've actually recruited for many different types of creative roles, right. So product, digital, whatever. Um, you know, from a recruiter perspective, you know, what does that mean to you when you see somebody that's, uh, that's.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Uh, effective, or maybe they're at least a little bit more prominent, um, on working with their content, uh, you know, kind of schedule.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Well, I mean, imagine I, I've placed social media people, you know, marketers, imagine a marketer with lackluster content. What are you doing? Like you're not even using your own marketing brain to market yourself. You, you, you know, branding and personal, you know, brands, but you're not applying it to your own personal brand. That's such a waste of, of brain power. And you could do it much easier than other people because you do it every day. Now granted, maybe that's the same as me being like, Oh, well, I should be able to rewrite my resume really fast. Right? I'm great at critiquing other people's resume, but when I have to critique my own, I'm too in my own head.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: I have to make someone like you, Dan, do [00:08:00] it. So that I don't, you know, do the same thing over and over again.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: And so, um, uh, what, what's the, um, what's the effectiveness, right, of, uh, somebody that wants to use, uh, content, right, you know, in creating their personal brand and, uh, Is, is pinning, um, or, you know, featuring content at the top of your, uh, you know, the top of your profile. Is that important?

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: I think it's, I think it's, it's certainly an important and useful tool. You know, this is where you can curate, you Your content to reflect the most important things that you want, uh, to articulate about your personal brand. So, you know, featuring those right important things, those important things are, uh, I think a better way to quickly draw someone into content that you want to point them to. Especially again, we talked about this in our last course, uh, LinkedIn, the, the [00:09:00] power of LinkedIn over a resume is it's social proof. And so your content is a way of showing people how you write. How you think, um, what value you might be able to add. And if you're not highlighting that in a regular basis, then you're not really helping your personal brand much.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: You know,

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: And I want to add one that it, that it speaks to today. It shows that you're human.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: right. The authenticity comes out, right. And, uh, Aaron, I mean, you know, you've done such a, uh, an effective job and an incredible job in. Uh, creating massive scale using your content, um, and, and really just, I mean, tell us about your transformation, right, over the past, let's say, you know, year, year and a half, you know, using, you know, using content.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Make them sound like a butterfly.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: really is. I mean, I mean, yeah, I mean,

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: my metamorphosis.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: [00:10:00] Here I come out of my cocoon.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Students told me this all the time. You were the guy that told us how bad social media was and how we're wasting our time on TikTok, and now you're on my For You page every day. What are you doing? I've, I've had multiple students tell me that. The short version is my wife in March of 2024 said, you need to start posting stuff. I didn't even look at things. I thought LinkedIn, I put a profile down. It was. F minus bad. And it's like, that'll get me a job or whatever. I didn't post anything. And my wife told me I needed to start doing it. And like most things in my life experience, when I listened to my wife, uh, good things happen.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: And when I don't, bad things happen. And my seventh TikTok of all time got millions of views. People were texting me. Your video has a million views. And I was so bad at social media. I said, is that good or bad? I didn't know. Cause I didn't watch Tik TOK. [00:11:00] I didn't scroll them and have a feel for that. And ever since then I've expanded out, like John talked about, put it out on other platforms and Tik TOK, especially in 2024 was up in the air, so I really had to cross post and. Repackage content to go into different channels. And LinkedIn has been one for about six months that I focused on, started really slow, but has spiked. And in about six or seven months of posting regular regularly to LinkedIn, I crossed a million impressions, which

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: for someone who had an F minus blank profile a year ago, I think is pretty good. And you know, the, the big debate is this, and you guys can weigh in here. Is the volume a surface area for luck? If I post a hundred videos, the chance that one of them gets a lot of views, is that just a scale math game? Or am I sharpening the sword every time I post, look at analytics and refine the craft [00:12:00] because I'm actually getting reps?

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: It's kind of a balance

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: of both. right? There's, you know, you mentioned how your videos on LinkedIn perform so much, especially the short form content videos, perform so much better than your other content. Reason being, a lot of people aren't doing that and so, and the algorithm is prioritizing that, or it even has a special section to feature it.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: So when, when you're doing something like that, the volume is just going to ensure that you're very recognizable. And there are people in different fields that, there are people, if I guarantee you, I can go to almost any recruiter and say their name and they will know that person because they are so widespread. Um, on LinkedIn. Um, and I even, my, uh, my friend the other day was commenting on a post by someone who is a recruiter, who he keeps seeing them and he's not even connected to them. I, [00:13:00] I am. I'm like, Oh yeah, I've been seeing her content for a year and a half. And it's just, it expands your chance of, of, of getting

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah. Yeah. The algorithms, you know, are actually there to help you if you know how to use them. Right. And so, um, but you have to still do your testing, still do your kind of AB testing on, on the types of content. Right. And Aaron, you're, you know, you're really good at multiple, uh, formats. Um, uh, you know, written versus audio versus video, right.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Is it memes? Is it just an image? Right. And Aaron, you know, your video content, I mean, it's, uh, it's so impressive what you've done. You know, with that.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Yeah, I don't do memes, hardly ever, and there are a lot of people who say you should, for sense of humor, reasons, and connecting with your audience. I just see a lot of low effort memes and

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: it [00:14:00] turns me off. They also seem to burn fast and hot, but then fizzle out, and if you're one of those people I work with teenagers, so they call it dragging the meme. And dragging the meme is cringe. Uh, translation for the Gen X

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: listeners. It's better to not do the trend than be late on the trend.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: look at that. Alright.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Yeah, but to me, it's just this, if you realize the power of this, uh, if we look at it from the algorithm John mentioned, it's just in your favor to post because so few people do and so many people scroll and search and watch. That right there is a reason,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Lots of lurkers.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: yes, but, and LinkedIn is the lurkiest, uh, that's not a real word, but it has the lowest percent of people who contribute, which means they Those who do, like us, see great results because most people are just scrolling, doom scrolling, and not posting. But I think if you [00:15:00] can do it in a way that is documenting what you already do, and you get in the habit of just, here's something I learned today, here's something cool I discovered, Here's a misconception I've had three clients bring to me. I feel compelled to share that to the world. I mean, my first video on LinkedIn that got in the tens of thousands of views was people kept asking me new features of iPhone and I'm, I'm that guy. So I was like, I'll just make a video about the new RCS texting. It was stupid, simple, just about iPhones. And I thought, Oh, it's LinkedIn.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: I'm the AI guy. Does that really fit? Uh, the next day or two, I look back 90, 000 views from that video and it just got spun up in the algorithm. And every time that I've seen a spike, it's been from a video, but I think the consistency. And just doing it in authentic ways is a superpower compared to most of your competition.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah. What were some of the stats that you've seen as far as percentage of [00:16:00] LinkedIn users actually posting content?

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Yeah. According to LinkedIn itself in 2024, they said 97 percent of the platform's user base does not regularly post content. 3 percent does.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: We are in that 3%. That's, I mean, right, and so, so 3%, and then how many do you think, you know, actually post video?

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: A percent of that percent. And in the fall of 2024, if you're on mobile, LinkedIn added the video tab view like TikTok, where you can just

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: scroll. And so, you know, That might be more of a Gen Z, younger LinkedIn audience, but it's a whole new content channel that they're pushing and they're going to promote video when they're adding a new view like that.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Yeah.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Well, this is,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Well, let's face it, at the end of the day, LinkedIn makes its money off of advertisement [00:17:00] just as much if, probably not even more than, uh, their LinkedIn recruiter licenses.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: it has to be, right? I mean, how many users are on LinkedIn, right? Probably, you know, 100 million, 200 million.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: I

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Okay. Well,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: but still, it's a per, it's still a relatively small percentage of, of users compared to other

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: of course, right? It's, it's definitely more targeted, right? And towards one part of your life, right? Instead of your, you know, let's say you're, you're completely personal brand instead of your professional personal brand, right? So,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: And it also tends to be white collar workers, you know, people who, you know, work for larger companies. Not necessarily, but

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: white collar in

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah. All right.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Here, here's one that I want. I want you guys to answer this. I get asked all the time. I've never posted anything. How do I start? What's my first piece of content going to be? What encouragement or advice would you give to somebody in that [00:18:00] situation?

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Anything that interests you that you think you could get engagement from and can keep engaging with people, right? If there's something you want to post, post something that interests you. Because if somebody makes a comment on it, you want to continue the conversation in that thread. Those things where you get that engagement, that stuff keeps showing up in people's feeds.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: That's, that's what gets pushed. If you don't get engagement on your content, nothing happens. It just lingers. So, anything that you feel like you could have an opinion on, a subject matter, uh, that you find engaging, Do it. And then, oh, and of course, I think the other thing is anything that might future proof yourself, right?

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Like a future oriented post that, that shows users or users shows, uh, what, what you're looking for in a way, you know, uh, uh, we're, we're getting into AI more, I'm recruiting a lot for AI. So I'm posting more about AI so that I show up in those circles.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah. Yeah. [00:19:00] I mean, uh, where do you want to go? Right. And, you know, of course you want to talk about what you're doing today, but where you want to go, I think is a much more interesting prospect for the reader, right? The, the watcher, right? Where you've been, uh, I think can be effective, right? Things you've done in the past can be effective if you you don't want to ignore it, but I think that kind of content can be effective.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: You, if you put it in the context of today. Right? Say, Oh, you know, I had this experience, you know, a year ago and wow, it was, it reminds me of something that I just ran across today. And it actually applies to where I want to go. I mean, you're, you're kind of hitting kind of the whole spectrum with it, with a piece of content like that.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Um, uh, I think, uh, even, even just sectioning off one day, right. Let's say it's Friday, right. Cause Friday is kind of like a, uh, more casual day, right. And in, in work circles, uh, I think if you have a casual [00:20:00] Friday where you're not so buttoned up, right. And it's like, you know, that's where your personality can really come out and make that your day of personality.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Um, I've seen some, uh, content creators have, uh, Monday being one topic, Tuesday being something completely different, right? Wednesday going back to the first topic, right? And you're creating a schedule like that. So then, you know, that. Um, as an, as an audience or a watcher of somebody that potentially, you know, if you want to remember that Monday is that topic and you're, you know, you have interest, then you're really playing to your audience.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Right. Then you're really playing to, you know, what their schedule is, right? Cause it's not about you. It's about your

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: was, I was coaching somebody who's trying to make a transition into, uh, project management, right? And, I think you're both familiar with this person. They [00:21:00] wanted to know, you know, what's a good post? I said, you know what gets a lot of traction? Uh, polls.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: And since you're not a project manager, but you want to be, why don't you ask what the best, Project Management Certification is in the market today, or you know, the best value that you get. And then when you get responses from people, the people that you see who responds, it's going to be more than your first degree connections. Now connect with those people and say, thanks so much for participating in the poll. I've been trying to figure out where I should direct myself. It becomes a natural talking point that warms up a conversation so that you have people coming to you and yet at the same time you're not selling

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: something.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: You're, You're, starting a dialogue with a new professional

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: And then connect to them. Right. And, and then you've just been able to, uh, connect to their network, right? Cause it's all about the second iteration, the second circle of, of connections. And then when you comment back to them, let's say it's just [00:22:00] your post, you're Comment, you know, their, their, uh, their engagement with your post.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: You got, you just got in front of all, you know, their whole network, right? So connecting also with your commenters is a good idea, right? Cause then their audience sees you.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: And then what you can do is repost your poll, thank people by tagging them and say, here's what I did with this information. This was the highest option. I went out and got it. Here's my new certificate. Instead of just doing a post saying, hey, everybody, I have a new

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah, oh, that's right, thanking your commenters, so effective.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Yeah.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Yeah, just, I mean,

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Yeah. And I think the biggest one people have to turn on their Creator brain. Uh, entrepreneurs say this too, like the first time you make a dollar on your own, it sparks something in your brain and you just change how you view the world. The same is true with content. If you [00:23:00] hang out with Dan Yu for more than five minutes on a Zoom, you'll hear him exclaim, we just made content.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Somebody record that or post that.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Mmhmm.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: And it sounds so dumb, but walking into work can be a selfie video opportunity for content or a win after a meeting. And you get off of zoom and go, I should 30 second retell this awesome win that I had for a client. There's your content. It's there. You just have to turn on your content brain and start capturing it.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: yeah, I, I remember making a video the day after Jimmy Buffett died, and I started thinking, you know, I was listening, I was walking my dog, And I was listening to a playlist of Jimmy Buffett songs and, uh, A Pirate Looks at 40. That song came on and I started listening to it and I realized it was about job search and pivoting and networking.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: And I thought, there's no way. And so I made a video right then as I'm walking my dog. I'm like, I'm covered in sweat, but I've got a ton of [00:24:00] engagement. Right? And, you know, and I posted it that day because it was the day after he died. So, um,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Well, let's face it, if you're comfortable with video, it is the easiest to

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: do from a capturing perspective, as long as you, you know, have a good train of thought going into the conversation. So, like, why not do it? I say this as someone who doesn't post video often, because I get really uncomfortable with it, but obviously we post videos of us doing this stuff all the time, so I guess I gotta get more comfortable.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: I post enough for everybody in the

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: That is true.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: you're okay.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: That is true.

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: Yeah. And I, I think all the. Platforms are becoming more TikTokified and that is short form, vertical video on X, on LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, you name it. That's what's going to grow and it has the lowest barrier to entry because if you have a phone and a camera roll app, that is all you need to make a 30 second

aaron_1_02-17-2025_105815: [00:25:00] video.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Well, uh, I also would like to let the audience know About our merch that we are starting to build a portfolio of merch. We've got our little, little vests today though. I'm I'm on the mirrored camera. Um, John, you've got the new logo, right? That's uh, that's our, that's our mascot there.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Our buddy

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Future Fox, right?

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: And Aaron and I have got the, uh, original version of the FU, uh, the original logo. But, um, you know, we will have merch coming out soon.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: I think these are just variations,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: Dan, just

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: That is true. But hey, we're, hey, we're, we're doing our testing. If, uh, our audience would like to weigh in on which vest do you like best, you know, let us know.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: Right? Hey, look at this. I just made a poll. Look at that.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: At least for those that have

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: video versions

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: That's true.

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: For those who don't,

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: you know, we'll

john-lovig_1_02-17-2025_125815: take a screenshot.

dan-yu_1_02-17-2025_125816: So, uh, thank you so much to our [00:26:00] audience for watching and listening to our podcast, Future Proof, Use F Yourself. Uh, this has been another episode, uh, until next time. Uh, but thank you so much.

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