This Is What Gary Vee Says He Would Do If He Lost His Job…

Over the past week or so, I have written quite a bit about my experiments with Facebook. As I have mentioned before, Facebook isn't actually one of my favourite platforms, although some of the results I have been seeing recently have made it impossible for me to ignore. I will put my two recent posts on the subject below.

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/roybretton/blog/im-not-a-fan-of-facebook-but-i-cant-ignore-these-results

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/roybretton/blog/is-linkedin-more-refreshing-than-facebook

LinkedIn is rather different for me because I have always liked the platform and taken it seriously. I like the more professional nature of LinkedIn, and I have always felt that it can be a valuable place for building connections, sharing useful content and developing an online presence.

That's why something Gary Vaynerchuk recently posted caught my attention. It wasn't necessarily telling me something completely new about LinkedIn, but I thought his way of looking at the platform was particularly interesting.

What Would Gary Vee Do If He Lost His Job?

Gary said that if he were laid off tomorrow, he would start creating lots of content on LinkedIn. He would share the top things he had learned during his career, lessons from previous jobs and experiences, and stories about occasions when he had learned something valuable.

He also mentioned using different types of content, including videos, photographs and written stories. After creating that content, he would connect with people working in the category where he wanted to find his next job. His conclusion was that creating organic LinkedIn content is a great place to start when you're looking for employment.

I thought this was interesting because Gary isn't suggesting that someone should simply create a LinkedIn profile when they lose their job. He's talking about using LinkedIn actively and demonstrating what you know through content.

Your Experience Is Content

This is probably the part of Gary's post that stood out to me most. Many people have years, and sometimes decades, of experience in a particular industry. However, much of that knowledge remains in their heads unless they deliberately start sharing it.

If somebody has worked in an industry for 20 or 30 years, they probably have hundreds of potential pieces of content without even realising it. They can talk about lessons they've learned, mistakes they've made, problems they've solved and things they would do differently if they were starting again.

Instead of simply telling a potential employer what they know through a CV, their LinkedIn content can actually show what they know.

The Same Principle Applies To Online Business

Although Gary's post was aimed at people looking for employment, I immediately thought about how well the same principle applies to affiliate marketing and online business.

We're continually being told that we need to create helpful content, demonstrate our knowledge and build trust with our audience. That's exactly what Gary is suggesting, although he's applying it to finding employment through LinkedIn.

If you're knowledgeable about gardening, technology, photography, fitness, internet marketing or almost any other subject, why keep all that knowledge to yourself?

A blog post can demonstrate your knowledge. A YouTube video can do the same thing, and so can a LinkedIn post, Facebook Reel or short video.

Facebook Has Been The Surprise For Me

LinkedIn isn't the platform that has surprised me recently because I have always taken it seriously. Facebook is actually the surprise. I've never been Facebook's biggest fan, but some of my recent experiments have produced results that I wasn't expecting. In some cases, videos that haven't received much attention elsewhere have achieved considerably more exposure on Facebook.

That doesn't suddenly make Facebook my favourite platform, but it does remind me that personal preferences and business decisions aren't always the same thing! I actually believe that my videos will do better long term on YouTube, but time will tell, hence the experiment.

If a platform is putting my content in front of people, I'm certainly interested in finding out what I can learn from it.

Different Platforms, Different Opportunities

Perhaps this is the biggest lesson I'm taking from my experiments. I don't think we necessarily need to decide that Facebook is better than LinkedIn, or LinkedIn is better than YouTube. They can serve different purposes and potentially reach completely different audiences.

My website remains important because that's something I control. However, social media platforms can introduce our content to people who might never otherwise find us.

Gary Vee's post reinforced something I already believed about LinkedIn: there is enormous value in sharing what you know rather than simply telling people that you know it. Whether you're looking for a job, building an affiliate marketing business, looking for clients or simply developing your online presence, that seems like a principle worth remembering.

Finally, I still think it's so important to have your website as your main platform, as despite the power of social media, we never know when any of these platforms can shut us down. I actually know quite a few people who have been shut down who have huge followings on the various platforms, and it's something I hear about regularly.

Do you use LinkedIn regularly for your online business, or do you concentrate mainly on Facebook, YouTube or another platform?

I'd be very interested to hear what other Wealthy Affiliate members are finding.

Why not get involved in the conversation below?

Thank you for reading.

Roy