Standing Out in LinkedIn with Simple Strategies

Unedited Transcript

Jim Rembach (00:00):

Okay. B2B DM gang, I’m really fortunate to have the opportunity to talk to somebody who’s been doing something for a long time that ex not being around for awhile, that can have some significant

Jim Rembach (00:14):

And your digital B2B marketing activity.

Jim Rembach (00:17):

I have David Ubeda and he is the Chicago land area. He’s on the North. He’s on the Northwest side. I grew up on the South East side.

David Ubeda (00:25):

Oh, nice. And so, but I’m glad he’s here.

Jim Rembach (00:30):

So if you could give a little bit of background about the work that you are doing in context of a B complex sale.

David Ubeda (00:38):

Yeah, man. Um, and again, thanks for having always good to connect with fellow like minded entrepreneurs. Um, so B2B companies, so most people don’t know what B to B means, right? So that’s business to business, right. Um, they’ll reach out to us and usually they reach out to us, uh, for one of two reasons, one they’re in panic mode because they’re not able to generate enough business. And they’ve heard that LinkedIn is a great platform to do that, but then you’ve got the other side where they’re doing well, perhaps in other platforms. And then they want to try LinkedIn out. Because again, they’ve heard that it’s a good, good platform to generate business, which it is, you’ve got 600 million plus opportunities, people, um, that are on there. You’ve got millions of people in decision making roles. And so what we’ve corrected or what we’ve refined over the past five years is a strategy that will help our clients stand out in a very noisy platform like LinkedIn.

David Ubeda (01:40):

Um, as, as, as you know, you know, the whole, Hey, I can sell your services online or in public. Did we get several of those hits every day? Uh, which I love to read. Um, but you know, the whole point for us is we don’t, we’re not interested in necessarily trying to sell anything per se. We are, our philosophy is to get quality at bats for our clients leveraging LinkedIn. And that’s all we can ask for. So we’re not trying to sell your product. We’re not in the position to do that. We shouldn’t, because we don’t know what your product or service is. Right. But it’s more so making sure that business owners have a quality at bat are our strategy. That’s potential clients three times before, and they don’t even know they’re being vetted, but invest in three times before they even do one of two things, they’ll either schedule a call or, uh, to find out more about what you’re doing, or they’ll literally say, Hey, you know what?

David Ubeda (02:38):

I would love to learn more. Can you give me a call either today, tomorrow, or the literally just give you the phone number. I remember the first time when one of my clients, um, sent me a text message, Hey, this lady just sent me her phone number. What do I do? I’m like call her, call her. But I, I laughed about it because he was probably not used to, you know, seeing such results that quickly. Um, cause it really is very simple. I just kind of just, just share that with you because the first year that we actually went into business, um, we, we generated 1919 sales appointments for the entire year, for the entire year. And then last year, 2019, we generated for our business that our clients for our business 426, you know, quality at bats. And so, you know, the long and short of it is that our strategy is what put us in this position. And that’s why B2B companies reach out to us. They hear about it either on podcast or, or, or any of our, um, you know, referral partners, things like that.

Jim Rembach (03:44):

Well, as you’re talking though, David I’m, I start thinking about what I run into my clients for the type of work that I’m doing and I’m not doing what you’re doing. We do other types of, uh, you know, interactive, uh, educational type of, of knowledge opportunities. So it is more of the companies are coming to us in order to be able to say, Hey, can you help us with the whole nurturing process and the discovery process because I not only have a complex, you know, a sale process, I have a complex product overall, right? It’s not as simple as it’s just this particular thing and it’s easy to communicate, but I start getting the very clear understanding. You’re not talking about the quick hit and the quick lead and the quick turnaround and then something that’s transactional, you’re talking about, you know, a consistent diligent, you know, ongoing, you know, you know, continually type of process, aren’t you.

David Ubeda (04:47):

Yeah. So, you know, to give you like a high level view of the fifth step out of our five points before we even go live with a campaign for a client, it’s very thorough amount. Um, when I first started, I thought it would just be, you know, let me go ahead and get an automated tool and just blast everyone. That was what I, that’s, what I thought was the way to go. But the reality is no, that’s just noise. And you know, our society has conditioned, you know, they, they get hit 3000 times a day. Research indicates, uh, with sales pitches and we become known to them in a sense. So we turn that stuff off as soon as we, as soon as it even smells or look salesy, it’s like next. So we don’t, that’s not what we try to do at all. It’s more so, Hey, I’m adding value, uh, at first.

David Ubeda (05:37):

And then, you know, the word nurture is very common in our space. Uh, I like the word nurture, but I also like the word connecting. Right? And you can’t connect to someone which would lead to nurturing them. If you don’t know who your ideal client is, that’s the first thing that any of our campaigns go and I’m sure people have, you know, gone through maybe some of that process, but we have a specific tool within our strategy that helps us get crystal clear with who your ideal client is. And then what happens is that we both get gain that clarity for the purpose of targeting, right? So the whole longevity, this whole quick hit thing, can it happen? Yes. Can you turn clients a prospect into a client with one 30 minute phone call and make thousands of dollars off of that? Yeah, it happens all the time, but one of the reasons why we want to stay small is the relationship.

David Ubeda (06:34):

We want to continue to develop a culture where our clients are seen as partners and we want to serve them well in the process. And you can’t do that with the expectation of, Hey, we’re going to just go ahead and do a quick kit. Doesn’t usually work. Take the time, even from a statistical standpoint, like the fifth piece being email outreach, um, most people give up after the first or second time, but our research indicates it’s gotta be at least 12, at least 12 touches at least. And research says, Hey, after the seventh time, no one is there. So you’re the only one on the radar. So guess who’s going to get the Apple at that point. So it’s just understanding that it’s the long play doing it, right? Having systems in place to help you do that and keep you in the forefront, um, with a potential client. So

Jim Rembach (07:28):

Bring up some really interesting points that for me, you know, studying a little bit more about that whole entire process and some of the restrictions that come into play and what some of those people who you get five pitches to help you with LinkedIn marketing or sending you every single day. That, I mean, like the, I receive it, you know, there are some limits in regards to automating certain things on the LinkedIn platform that can get you banned. A lot of people don’t realize that. I mean, it’s, they don’t necessarily advertise it. They just ban you. So you have to be extremely careful. And then, so when you start talking about doing all of that, you also can’t, um, you know, say, okay, well I’ll just avoid it. And I’ll just create, you know, a particular profile or create something and then use that. You can’t do that either. Um, you will get found out

David Ubeda (08:18):

Yeah, for five years, we’ve never had any of our profiles banned because we know the rules of the game. And honestly, if the way we see it, it’s not how many messages or outbound messages you send. Because if you’re sending out two or 300 messages a day, for example, then you probably need to rewrite your ad. You need to rewrite the content of your message. You don’t know who your ideal client is. You’re wasting your time. And there is to be quite honest. So the reality is 50 messages, maybe a hundred in day. Um, there’s more than enough to pack your calendar with quality at bats. If your messaging, your targeting is spot on, if it is not, then you’re gonna be tempted to just send a slew of messages more. Cause no one’s responding, but it’s because your messaging is shotting your, your, your targeting isn’t refined.

Jim Rembach (09:20):

Well, as you’re, as you’re, as you’re talking. Um, and I have this discussion with so many people is that, you know, critical importance of the entire planning process. And, you know, I was just having a client with the work that I do, um, a discussion about the different metrics that come into play based on our engagement. So if you think about what I have to do now, versus what I had to do, some of the metrics that I may have looked at in the past that are maybe even driving some of my compensation and incentives and, um, you know, my review process are not the same metrics that we have to use now.

David Ubeda (09:56):

I mean, it’s changed. Yeah, very true. And, you know, we rely heavily on, on metrics like any other business, uh, should, um, simply because it’s not an emotional piece, right? It’s just the numbers, it’s just the math. And we know where the open rates should be. We know where, um, where specific pieces of information in terms of percentages should be, should they be at 10%? Should they be at 30%, whatever the case is, um, we have to have them in place and we have to follow them. It’s not personal. Uh, and then once you discover the bottleneck and things kind of just, you know, blow up in a good way.

Jim Rembach (10:40):

Well, as you’re talking to, I start thinking about, um, you know, obviously your pattern is leveraging LinkedIn in order, you know, into the sales process, from marketing and handover that, uh, what I refer to as a, more of a sales qualified lead versus a marketing qualified lead to further down the funnel. Right. But I start thinking about things that often times, and especially now when the world has kind of changed for people who have to her used to be doing the, you know, the, the community face to face and the regional, and then the national face to face types of events are not able to do that is, um, there’s some things that have become quite overrated in regards to digital B2B marketing. What’s something that kind of stands out to you as being quite overrated right now.

David Ubeda (11:25):

Um, what’s overrated right now, in my opinion, is blogging on LinkedIn. Um, simply because, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with adding value to the marketplace, right. But if your intention is to try to close business by, you know, blogging everyday on a LinkedIn page, you know, could you see some success? Yeah, sure. Um, but for me, it’s already a week never last year, 426 sales appointments for our business. Did we, how many times did we blog zero? Right. Zero, because that’s, I’d rather use that, that time and that energy in, in reaching out and establishing connections and relationships with folks who, who we know we can serve. And that’s the bottom line. We already know who our ideal clients is. Right. We, we vibe with them, you know, we can, I love waking up in the morning and knowing that I have like the coolest clients ever, simply because we’re just on the same page and we’re striving for the same, for the same outcome. So I think right now, blogging for me would be overrated in terms of the time it takes and just, you know, the intention with all the noise out there, everyone has, seems to be blogging, but you really don’t even have to do that.

Jim Rembach (12:41):

I mean, that’s quite interesting. And quite often I’m really contradictive to other folks who we’ve had on the show who are saying, you know, good quality content, a lot of good quality content, consistent quality content. And you’re saying not a few.

David Ubeda (12:55):

Yeah. You know, here’s the thing like it works. If you’re B to C like content is super important, but B2B, I mean, think about it. We’re both. We both want our companies and we want to sit there and read a 40 minute article on something. No, man, just give it to me straight. You know, it all goes back to the psychology of, you know, the four person, four personalities. So most entrepreneurial thinkers first and thinkers are not interested in the fluff man, but Hey, just give me the skinny, give me the details so that I can make a decision. So if you already know that and you know that your space like LinkedIn is full of thinkers, don’t go in there trying to be all super happy and trying to give people 40 minutes worth of content. It’s not going to serve them or get you any closer to determining whether or not you can serve them or help them with their problem.

Jim Rembach (13:51):

Okay. So when I start thinking about the whole issue of the world changing and the new realities, I start thinking about the whole thing that you just kind of alluded to, is that, you know, how, how do I make a difference? How do I stand out? How do I do that? So if you were to say, you know, that there was something that somebody could do in order to be, be that one that is doing the disrupting, you know, what would it be?

David Ubeda (14:16):

You know, that’s a good question. I would say for LinkedIn specifically, one of the steps that we incorporate in our strategy is optimization of your profile and optimization includes making sure that you’re utilizing the space that you’re communicating, that your communication is all about clearly concisely communicating to your ideal client. You get it, you understand what they’re struggling with. Most people make the mistake ongoing, uh, with, with their LinkedIn profiles. And they’re talking about how great they are, the upgrade air, you know, they’ve accomplished this award and that award, you know, I’m halfway done with the doctorate degree. It has not, it’s not on there because it doesn’t, it’s not going to help them, uh, land more business, like who cares to be quite honest, it’s not going to help them. It’s just a personal goal that I’ve had. And I don’t need to, you know, flop that because it’s irrelevant.

David Ubeda (15:17):

My ideal client is interested in generating more business. Why? Because of the heart, sometimes they’re struggling with payroll. Sometimes they’re struggling or recovering from a bad marketing, you know, experience sometimes, you know, they’re worrying about, about, um, uh, you know, putting food on their own tables, right? The consistency. That’s what they’re worried about as an entrepreneur. And if I can give them that, set it and forget it type of a strategy which we do, then it’s going to take the pressure off and they’re be able to, you know, be able to sleep easier at night. Right? So that’s how you make a difference in stand out by understanding who your ideal client is communicating on your, on your profile and making it all about your client. That’s how you stand out. Most people think it’s the opposite. Well, if I tell them how much I know about everything, I’ll get their attention. No people are going to be like, man, what a blowhard, right? Who the hell cares?

Jim Rembach (16:20):

Well, as you’re saying that though, I mean, a lot of people are about the whole, you got to give, give, give, give, give, give, give, instead of the receipt, even, you know, I’m dealing with the Gary Vaynerchuk, you know, model of, of all of that, but you’re even separate, you’re saying, okay, you can. Why jab, jab, jab.

David Ubeda (16:37):

Yeah. First of all, I love Gary V’s stuff. And, and you know, obviously he’s done very well and his methodology works, especially when it’s, when it’s B to C. Um, however, when it comes to B2B, you’re working with a different person. People, consumers tend to be more heart driven from the standpoint of, you know, they want to be entertained. And if it feels good, they’re making a purchase. I mean, that’s just the psychology of it all. But for B2B, you’ve got, you know, entrepreneurs who have the responsibility of families and a number of things weighing on their shoulders. So you’ve got to be sensitive to that. And if you can come in and communicate clearly, Hey, listen, I get it. I know where you’re struggling. I know, you know, you’re losing sleep at night. I got it. I was there at one time. One year we only generated 19 sales appointments and I don’t know how the hell we survived that year.

David Ubeda (17:28):

But last year, you know, we stuck with it 426 sales appointments later. Um, as long as you’re able to communicate again, um, content is great. Don’t get me wrong. It’s great if that’s what you want to do, but we haven’t had to do that because we’re so dialed into who our client is. So when we communicate something, the first thing they do is check you out online. They check out your profiles and if it’s consistent Lee communicating, Hey, I understand, you know, what your, what your challenge is. They’re going to take a second look. And once you have that second look in the form of a conversation, then you can determine right then and there, Hey, you know, can, can we actually serve this person if we can’t, then we’ll point them in the right direction.

Jim Rembach (18:11):

That’s a good point. Okay. So all of us have constraints that we have to work with the marketplace. Some of them process, some of that, um, you know, it goes beyond our control, one of them being budgets, right? So if you were to say, I have a current budget in place, where would I pull resources from and reallocate to given where we are,

David Ubeda (18:34):

Um, as far as what to generate more business,

Jim Rembach (18:37):

To accomplish my goal from a, you know, a marketing perspective to deliver that sales ready lead.

David Ubeda (18:45):

Yeah. I think if a company doesn’t have a line item already established, designed to either learn or two about the marketing space, right? Because it’s one thing I’m not saying that you have to take over and do it, but it’s just learning the space, learning how to communicate your message in a way that’s effective in a way that that actually will increase the likelihood of a, not a conversion on a connection. So for us, we understand that a conversion is not going to happen if the connection is not there to begin with. So I think sometimes we want to jump to the cake, but it’s like, Hey, slow it down. It’s a process. You know, you’re kind of courting in a sense that particular prospect and it happens over time usually. So I would say from a, from a business standpoint, you’ve got, if you don’t have a line item that says, Hey, I’m going to set aside this percentage for the purpose of learning more about marketing, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.

David Ubeda (19:46):

I would never just go ahead and say, Hey, trust a marketer to take the reins for me, without learning a little bit more about just the space, learning about some of the ins and outs, you know, because you know, the reality is not everyone is going to be, you know, walking in with high integrity, right. You and I are high integrity guys. We want stuff to be done the right way because we actually care about our clients and, you know, results for them are huge victories for us. We feel that. And we know that. Uh, so for us, um, well to answer your question, that’s what I would recommend.

Jim Rembach (20:22):

Well, and then the other flip side of that is if, um, we remove those constraints, we remove those things that are preventing us from, you know, moving in a particular direction at a particular pace. You know, we talk about, Hey, you know, unlimited budget and you can do whatever you want.

David Ubeda (20:39):

I would hire a coach. I would get consulting at that point because even then, um, let’s say, let’s say you had a million dollar budget. Right. I would invest it more. So, especially when it comes to generating more business, I would partner with like the, you know, the Russell Brunson’s of the world that charge a million dollars to consult. Right. That’s, that’s what I would do if that was the, if that was where we were, uh, we’re stuck at, for example, because I’m not looking just to create one strategy, you know, I’m looking at five, 10, 20 years down the line. Um, how can I go ahead and create that system? So that it’s something that can be easily managed. And we know that it’s duplicatable.

Jim Rembach (21:20):

That’s a very good point. Okay. So if I was sitting here in the position that I’m in today as a B2B digital marketer, and I have to do some of the things that you know are necessary and I have tons, what is one question I need to be asking myself,

David Ubeda (21:36):

Uh, about, about Legion.

Jim Rembach (21:40):

I am not going to frame you.

David Ubeda (21:42):

Okay. All right. Got it. Got it. So if I’m okay. So what’s one question that I asked myself, right? One question I asked myself always as a business owner is how can I make my client’s life easier? That’s probably the, one of the top questions that I ask myself on a regular basis is, are the systems in place, you know, making my clients life easier, the set it and forget it. Are they experiencing that because ultimately clients pay for our results, but they’re also paying for the experience. Right. You know, what’s it like to work with, with this guy and his team? Right. Do, do they actually deliver, am I seeing the results that, um, that, you know, we discussed on that first call? So that’s the number one question I asked

Jim Rembach (22:31):

David Ubeda. I’ve had fun chatting with you today. Can you please share with the B2B DM gang, how they can get in touch with you?

David Ubeda (22:38):

Yeah. So our website is [inaudible] dot com, um, short for MRD U global media, which is the name of the business. So M R as in mr. D E u.com. And I’m Matt again, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Jim Rembach (22:51):

All right. Thanks for joining us on the digital B2B marketer podcast. And you absolutely as a listener need to do David a favor by rating and reviewing and sharing this episode on all your social platforms. David, thanks for joining with us.

David Ubeda (23:09):

Bye.