Building a Strong LinkedIn Presence for Photographers with Donna Serdula

Pat Miller: 00:00

I'm Pat Miller, and this is The Professional Photographer Podcast. Name a social media site. Okay. Name another. All right. Name ano—you didn't name LinkedIn yet, did you? Well, if you're wanting to grow your studio, you're wanting to connect with other professionals. LinkedIn is where it's at, baby. But we don't talk about it very much. I mean, when's the last time you really sat down and thought, what should I be doing on LinkedIn? And how can I unlock the opportunity to meet with the people that can hire my studio for big time business? That's all waiting there on LinkedIn. And on today's episode, we're gonna talk with Donna Serdula. She's a LinkedIn expert, and she's gonna go through what should we put on our profile? How should we engage with other people? How can we show off our work so people can see our beautiful photos and get interested in what we're doing? And then, how do we strategically build our network to meet the people that we need to know to continue to grow? And that rhymed. I didn't even do that on purpose. We're just on fire today because I'm psyched to be talking about LinkedIn. It's an important social media platform for your professional life. And if you've spent not enough time developing it, today's show is for you. Grab your notebook and get ready to get down with LinkedIn. We'll be back with Donna Serdula after this. Donna, welcome to The Professional Photographer Podcast. How are you today?

Donna Serdula: 01:35

I am doing great, Pat. Thank you so much for having me.

Pat Miller: 01:38

Well, thanks for coming because we have so many questions about LinkedIn. And I'm not sure if everyone knows how to use it, not only for professional connections and development but also for showcasing their work, which is such a big opportunity. Our time today will be powerful because of that, and we're going to explore how to expose our work and build a professional network. But I wanna begin all the way at the beginning and discuss the platform itself. How should we, as professional photographers, think about using LinkedIn?

Donna Serdula: 02:14

Yeah. You know, I think a lot of people and this isn't just photographers, but I think a lot of people think of LinkedIn as a place to go when you're looking for a job. And that is an issue. This isn't a place that you get on when you're looking. It's a place that you should always be on because it's your network. It is a place to go to, to not only build a network, but to network with people, you know, to be seen, to get heard, to demonstrate your expertise. It's such a powerful platform. And one of the reasons that I think it's so great is it's for professionals. Right? It's not just a place that you're going, you know, for personal reasons, you know, to find out what's happening on television or what's going on in politics. This is truly a, it's for your career. It's a professional platform. And because of that, the people that are on it are also like you. They're professionals. They're entrepreneurs. They're business people. And so it's a great audience to tap into.

Pat Miller: 03:14

We have our personal life, and we have our work life. And in our personal life, we've got social media apps and sites for that. In our professional life, LinkedIn is the undisputed leader for our professional life, but it seems like it's, I don't know, not as mainstream as Instagram and Facebook and others. But it's trying really hard to become more of our everyday presence. Do you sense that as a LinkedIn expert that they're trying, but they're not quite there yet as opposed to the other platforms that are out there?

Donna Serdula: 03:47

You know, I feel that LinkedIn has absolutely clawed to the forefront, but it has taken a long time to do so. I mean, when I started my business in 2009, I remember telling my family, my friends, "Oh, I'm starting a business, and it's all about LinkedIn." And they were like, "Lincoln? Like Abraham?" Like, they had no idea. This was 15 years ago, and LinkedIn had been around for quite some time at that point. It was formed in 2003. So I mean, by 2009, it had, you know, it had been pretty much cemented. And yet, very few people had heard of it then. I do feel that right now, LinkedIn has the biggest audience they've ever had. I think they are absolutely seen as a player. I think where LinkedIn is right now is they do, they want more share. They are working really hard to make that LinkedIn platform sticky. They want people to come. They want people to stay. That's why they've introduced games onto the platform. You know, and they're really trying to make that LinkedIn feed something that a person is compelled to go, to scroll, to comment, and to be there, you know, in a way of, you know, networking. So I do think that it may not have the same, you know, popularity as TikTok or Instagram. But I think it's got a better, more niche audience, and an audience of people who are truly, they’re business people. They’re professional people. They’re high net worth people. And that's a good place to be.

Pat Miller: 05:35

It's a great group to be around. And it starts when we tell our story. And if you're not a power LinkedIn user, it's your profile. It's your page. And sometimes you think of it like a living resume, but it's really where we get to start telling our story. Can you tell us a little bit about the profile and the way we should think about it?

Donna Serdula: 05:53

Yeah. And for the longest of time, LinkedIn used to say, "This is your online resume." And that's something that I've always disagreed with. I don't think it's your online resume. Even if you are a job seeker, it's not. It shouldn't be your resume. Your resume isn't something that you wanna show to everybody and their brother. That's something that you wanna hand out specifically. But that LinkedIn profile, think of it more as that first impression, that digital introduction. Think of it more as a manifesto as to who you are and why do you do what you do and how does it make a difference, how does it help, and, you know, who do you support? You know, like, what are you about? You know, what do you represent? And I think if you look at it in that manner, that's something that people are hungry for. They wanna know who they're working with. They wanna know who you are and why you do what you do. And so use that LinkedIn profile to tell that story. And then, if you infuse it with the right keywords, you can also collide with opportunity because LinkedIn is used as a search engine, not just as a social media platform. So if you wanna get found by people who are looking for someone like you, just make sure that when you tell that story, you include those keywords that a person might be using.

Pat Miller: 07:12

Now I'm scraping my brains off of the wall because you described a profile in a different kind of way that this is almost a personal brand, that this is really who we are and what we're about, and that is different than I've heard other people describe that portion of the platform.

Donna Serdula: 07:30

Yeah. A lot of people will say, “Oh, copy and paste your resume, or, oh, this is the biggest sales page of your life.” You know? Like, make it as salesy as possible. You know, I really do believe that if a person wants to be sold, they're gonna go to your website. You know, they're gonna go to a landing page. But if they have visited your LinkedIn profile, they wanna learn something a little bit more deeper about you. And they may already be sold. They really want to work with you. But now they're doing that due diligence to really see, is this person who they say they are? Is this person someone that I can see myself working with? Is this person someone that I like and I trust, and I wanna work with? And so it needs to be different messaging. And that is an issue, where it's hard. Even with AI, it's hard to write about yourself. You know? It's hard to figure out what that story is. And so, oftentimes, people will generate text or they'll just find something that was written, you know, ages ago, and they'll just copy and paste it. You know, that's why we see a bio or a resume in there because it's just, it's easy. Copy and paste, you're done. But when you do that, you're really missing out on a great opportunity.

Pat Miller: 08:39

You're motivating me here because if I'm hearing you correctly, it's putting authentically who you are on that page, which may, I don't wanna say alienate, but it may turn off some people who aren't your ideal clients or partners. And that's okay because you need to be yourself.

Donna Serdula: 08:55

And that’s a great thing. Yeah.

Pat Miller: 08:58

But I'm really belaboring this point because that happens all the time on a personal page. I'm a Chicago Bears fan, and if you don't like it, too bad. But in a professional setting, it's, “Oh, I'm a high achiever or hard charger. I'll work with anybody.” And we don't often, or at least I don't see people often, you know, say what they're not for or what they're really for in a professional environment. It seems more vanilla than that usually.

Donna Serdula: 09:24

Yeah. And I do believe that we will, hey, there's going to be people out there that don't resonate. But you don't want to work with them. Find your tribe. Your tribe is out there. And if you tell the story that is true, authentically yours, you will attract. You will attract the people that want to work with you and that you want to work with. It's really taking that scarcity mindset and switching it to that abundant mindset and saying, there's definitely enough work out there. There is more than, there's a big enough audience out there. Let me shine in my own unique way and let me attract what, you know, the people and types of businesses that, you know, work for me. Work with me.

Pat Miller: 10:10

Yeah. I love that. So we are off to a killer start because I'm really just like taking notes. You just can't see it. This is awesome. I wanna ask one more question before we get into some of the other parts of the interview because we're gonna talk about how to expose our photography work online, how to make power connections, and find our ideal clients. We'll get to all that. But I wanna draw attention to something that is set around the LinkedIn campfire. Right? Imagine we're all sitting around the LinkedIn campfire. It's, “Oh, you can't post something like that on LinkedIn. This is a professional environment. Oh, you can't have fun on LinkedIn.” Like, do you know what I'm saying? Like, do we have to be super selective about the posts and the comments that we make? Or is it really, as you just said, “Be yourself, and if they don't like it, too bad.”

Donna Serdula: 10:55

Within reason. Within reason. Within reason. I do believe that you want to be authentically yourself, you want to shine, you want to, you know, be you, that's important. But also recognize that this is a professional setting. And there are certain topics that just, you know, if you wanna talk about them, I'm not saying don't talk about them, but maybe talk about them on Facebook or Instagram. You know, go to a network that supports that type of conversation. On LinkedIn, I do want you to keep it professional. But with that said, you know, when you are in an office or you are with colleagues, there are certain things that you'll absolutely talk about. You know, there are accomplishments that you've had in your life. There's things that are going on that you do wanna share. And I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing them on LinkedIn. But it's just being able to recognize that balance that, you know, we don't wanna see, you know, vacation photos on LinkedIn. That's just not something that we see often. We don't wanna see pictures of kids. Maybe at graduation, yes. But, you know, again, there's a limit there. We don't really wanna talk too much about television shows or, you know, things like that. But with that said, in every single one of those instances that I just gave you, I can think of a way of pivoting and utilizing it as a topic, but translating it in a manner that talks about something professional or something career-wise or a lesson that was learned. And then suddenly it's okay.

Pat Miller: 12:33

Yeah. We talked about the profile. We talked about the posts. We talked a little bit about commenting and really showing up authentically. Are there other nooks and crannies around LinkedIn that we might wanna pay attention to that have opportunity or are often ignored that we could get value from?

Donna Serdula: 12:51

You know, it's funny that you should mention that because something that I have been noticing, and this is something that I don't think anyone is talking about. And that is, for the longest of time, on the LinkedIn profile, there is a section for recommendations. And it was something that people spent, you know, put a lot of effort into it back in the day. And that was because LinkedIn, they said, you know, if you want your profile to rank, if you want to, you know, hit all-star, you needed to have so many recommendations. And that sort of lit a fire under people. They peeled that back, and they stopped requiring recommendations to have your profile be considered complete. And because of that, I find that very few people ask for or even give recommendations anymore. And when you do look at profiles, it's not unusual to see recommendations that are like 5 years old. So, but I would say this, I would challenge everyone who's listening that LinkedIn is a great place for recommendations. And even though they're not pushing it, and even though it's not something that I'm seeing a lot of people doing, I think we should reverse that. I really do. You know, to have current recommendations, but also to give recommendations, especially when someone hasn't asked, is quite powerful. And so if we're talking about, you know, what's there that we aren't really utilizing? Recommendations.

Pat Miller: 14:24

That's gold. I'm just, that's gold. The surprise recommendation when they don't expect it. Like, I can't think of a bigger love letter that would make someone just absolutely appreciate a gesture. That's, I'm writing that one down too. So you can't see me. I'm writing that down right now. That's great. We're talking for photographers, building our business. And if I ask them, where should we showcase our work? LinkedIn would not be the first thing that they say. However, I know that you know how we can showcase our work on LinkedIn. So how would we go about doing that to show this professional audience that we're a darn good photographer and we can serve them too?

Donna Serdula: 15:03

Yeah. Well, you know, and there's a number of places that work really well to showcase. So I would say first, let's look at the foundational aspect, and that's the profile. Let's make sure that the background image has perhaps even a montage or maybe just one image, but something that really illustrates who you are and what you're doing. That's going to be a really, that's the first thing people see right next to your profile picture. So that's important. If we scroll down just a wee bit, there's the featured section. And that's a fabulous place to really showcase some of your key images, but also offer a way off LinkedIn and to your website where there could be a bigger portfolio for you. Even scrolling down into your experience section. Your current experience, you can have multimedia images show up there as well. So just on the profile alone, that's what? 3 different places that, you know, absolutely can showcase your work. But now I want you to think more in terms of not just once and done, but how can you continue to showcase and how can you get a lot of eyeballs on your work? And that's through the LinkedIn feed. Right? And so one of the things that, especially if you're doing headshots, you know, make sure that this is something that you work into your agreement. You know, I'm going to take your headshot and I would love to be able to show it on, you know, my LinkedIn feed. Make sure that the client says yes. And then when you do post perhaps some final images, but maybe some images in between just to show, you know, how you go about the process and what it's like and that it's fun and it's comfortable. But once you start to add those images to a post, make sure you're tagging that person. Because the lovely part here is once you tag that person that you've just shot, their network is going to see it. And what a greater commercial, right?

Pat Miller: 17:02

Yeah.

Donna Serdula: 17:03

And recommendation that says, “Hey, you know, someone that you know has used me. Look how great they look.” And before you know it, you're gonna find that your phone is ringing because their friends and their family and their colleagues need exactly the same thing.

Pat Miller: 17:16

It is definitely an implied endorsement. Because I took Donna's picture. Now Donna's entire network has seen that Donna allowed me to take her picture. It is a way to get them to endorse you without them actually typing out the endorsement, which is really valuable. Oftentimes, we're coached or I've had people coach me, find a bit that you can repeat. Like it's Senior Saturday, it's Headshot Tuesday. It's Family Session Thursday, and you're doing something similar week over week, month over month. Is that a no-no on LinkedIn, or is that just perfectly fine if that's what it takes for you to get stuff on the platform?

Donna Serdula: 17:55

Absolutely. The latter. Exactly what you just said. If that type of structure is what invigorates you and holds you accountable and makes you consistent, go for it. Absolutely go for it. With LinkedIn, to be memorable is to be consistent. And so, we want that type of consistency. And you just wanna show up. You wanna show up. And what's, especially when we think of photographers and we think of headshots, they go so beautifully with LinkedIn because everyone needs one. But when you think of yourself, even when you're, anyone, when you're scrolling through the LinkedIn feed and you see someone, someone's face, and you see their eyes shining, and you see their teeth and their smile, you can't help but stop. And LinkedIn loves, loves to look at dwell time on a post. And so, if even if they slow down just a wee bit, it's something that catches the algorithm. And so, you know, when you say have smiling faces, those posts tend to do very, very well.

Pat Miller: 18:57

Hold on. We gotta reverse here because you said something I've never heard before. Did you say dwell time and LinkedIn values that? What is that?

Donna Serdula: 19:05

So what LinkedIn is doing is they are really looking to see, you know, are these posts, are they good? Are they valuable? Are they engaging? And LinkedIn has a number of different things that it looks at and one of which is dwell time. So, did you pause? Did you spend a little bit, a bit of time on the post? And so, by spending time just dwelling on it, that conveys to LinkedIn that there's some quality here. And so, that's a good thing. Now, at one time, dwell time was really, really huge. It's not as huge as it used to be, but they still factor it in. So, a person who slows down and spends time on your post, that means something. You know, by reposting a person's post. That again contributes to quality. Someone who saves the post, bookmarks the post, they send the post to someone, they comment on the post. These are all actions that a person has taken and that conveys to LinkedIn, “Hey, this post is good.” And that's what LinkedIn wants. LinkedIn wants quality. And so, whatever you can do to make that post something that people wanna engage with, that's when you're going to start to see more and more eyeballs finding and looking at the post.

Pat Miller: 20:19

Okay. Donna, don't listen. Headshot photographers, this is for you. Okay, Donna, iIf you were talking with someone making their LinkedIn profile and they had a headshot that was like this, as opposed to a professional headshot, what would you tell them? And what is the impact of an awesome-looking professional headshot on your profile?

Donna Serdula: 20:36

I have been talking about the importance of a professional headshot ever since I started writing LinkedIn profiles back in 2009. It is so important. It is so important. You know, and why? I think it shows that you're serious. Right? It shows that, you know, even think of, you know, it looks like money. It looks like you're successful. You know, a person who recognizes the importance of their brand, they're going to invest money in a professional photographer to make sure that they look great, that tells you something about just the core values of that person. And that resonates with the movers and the shakers and the VIPs. That's the type of person they wanna do business with. And so, to me, if you're going to have a professionally written LinkedIn profile, if you're actually just going to spend any time and really make sure that the profile is optimized and tells a story, it would be a huge, huge deficit if there wasn't an accompanying professional photograph on that profile picture.

Pat Miller: 21:45

Oh, the headshot photographers are gonna love that. They love you, Donna. Thank you for that. That's really good stuff. Okay. One more question about exposing our work. And then I definitely wanna talk about the blocking and tackling of getting in front of the right people and building a network. Because it isn't just about showing off our stuff. It's about meeting the right people. But before we go there, it's not always about new jobs. It's not always about getting business. Publicity is an opportunity, and PR is an opportunity for a photography studio. So any ideas on how we might be able to generate goodwill and publicity from posting our stuff?

Donna Serdula: 22:20

You know, I think when you are looking at LinkedIn, a huge part of it is the reputation management piece of it. And by telling your story and really showcasing your accomplishments, that's going to build that goodwill. It's going to build that trust. You know, when you look at LinkedIn and you start to post and you start to comment on other people's stuff, that's great. But definitely, if you're looking for publicity, if you're looking for that type of, you know, notoriety and attention, you know, think to yourself, like, who's out there that you wanna collide with? So who are some people that are writers, who are influencers? You know, who are those people that you would love to collide with? Make sure you add them to your network, or for that matter, hit the follow button. If you don't know them well enough to add them, then at least just follow them. And then start to interact with their post, what they're doing. Before you know it, they'll start to recognize you because people on LinkedIn, they're hungry. They wanna make sure that people, you know, are interacting with their content. And if you pop up a little bit, they're going to eventually start to recognize you. And at that point, who knows what might happen?

Pat Miller: 23:33

Mm-hmm. And people will notice. Hey. You've got a new follower. Hey, that person's commented on 3 of my posts. I'm going to connect with them because clearly they're into what I'm doing. And that's, you know, good hygiene, would you say?

Donna Serdula: 23:47

Good professional hygiene.

Pat Miller: 23:48

Like, this is just how you feel about it. Because LinkedIn can be a little weird when you're trying to grow your network. People are sending the automated bots through the DMs and people are, we've talked about AI comments are showing up inside our comments now. But if there's someone, let's say, you, I really wanna make a connection with you. You mentioned follow, comment, til they notice. But if I wanna just do a cold outreach, is that a total no-no? Or is it how we go about it? How would I do that if I wanted to connect with you?

Donna Serdula: 24:18

You know, and you can. And that's one of the nice things about premium. So a lot of times people ask, you know, should I be paying for LinkedIn or is the free version good enough? And what you just mentioned, if a person is paying for LinkedIn and there's a yellow badge on the upper right part of their screen on their profile, that says, “Hey, they're a premium member.” And most premium members have open profile available, and they enable it. And what open profile means is anyone can message them on LinkedIn. And that's a good thing. So that's a great opening. You're not even, you know, you don't have to be premium if you just make sure that you're targeting people who are premium. And in that situation, you can absolutely hit the message button, and you'll know that you're getting a free message because it will say on that message, this is a free message because they're an open profile user. But at that point, absolutely reach out, but reach out in a manner that's human. Right? So I find that you don't just wanna like, you know, “Hey.” Ask for something that's, you don't wanna make that person, like, wonder like, "What's with this person?" Like, why, but really, if you have something to say, if you want something, be very specific. Be very quick, very succinct, and lob it out there. And then if they don't message you back, you know, be persistent. You know, message again and again, and, you know, you'll find that, you know, if you're doing it with a good, giving true type of spirit, people will reach out and respond.

Pat Miller: 25:54

In your world, it's salt and pepper. These are terms that you throw around all the time. But to people that are learning the platform or wanna get better at it, can you step back and explain the difference between a follower and a connection, and what the value of those two things would be? Because they're different.

Donna Serdula: 26:09

They are. They're very different. And it is. It's very, very confusing. So, at one time in the LinkedIn universe, they only had connections. And so, I would send you an invitation to connect, and you would accept it. And then suddenly, we are 1st degree connections. Not only are we 1st-degree connections, but all of your 1st-degree connections are now my second-degree and vice versa. And anyone who is connected to them would then become our 3rd degree. And that is really what comprised our network is that first, second, and third-degree levels of connections. This was great. This worked really, really well for a very long time. But suddenly, LinkedIn started to really push the LinkedIn feed. The LinkedIn feed became really important, just like it is on Facebook and Instagram and the old Twitter and the now X. But what happens is you don't want that not everyone wants that two-way type of connection where you see my updates and I see your updates and all of that good stuff. Sometimes we just, you know, I don't know you, but I really do wanna pay attention to what you're doing. And that's where the follow button came in. So a connection, that's a two-way. We're both getting each other's streams of activity on LinkedIn. But when I follow you, only I'm subscribing to your updates, and that's what I'm getting, but you're not getting any of mine. And we're not sharing a network. So that's the difference. I hope that made sense. So think of it like connection is two-way, follow is one.

Pat Miller: 27:41

That is awesome. Thank you for sharing that. Here's a just-for-real question, and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. But do you connect with people that you don't know?

Donna Serdula: 27:49

So I have close to 30,000 first-degree connections.

Pat Miller: 27:53

Oh, my gosh.

Donna Serdula: 27:54

So that should pretty much give you an idea. You know, I've changed. I have changed quite a bit over the years. I mean, and I joined LinkedIn in 2005. So I've been on it for a very long time. And when I first joined, it was important to connect with everybody and their brother because I wanted to be in as many networks. I wanted to get found, and I wanted to be heard. I wanted people to be able to see my updates and my posts. But that was back in the day when there was only a connect button. So, things have changed. You know, now that there's a follow button, it's not as important to collect all those connections like we used to. And in some ways, I do regret having been so, just so loose in the connections. Because there is something nice to be able to go in and know everyone who is in your network and know that you can recommend them, you can refer them, and you know who they are. So what I would say is this, you know, understand why you're on LinkedIn and what you're trying to accomplish. And then at that point, you know, decide, you know, how do you wanna connect? And there's nothing wrong with connecting. Just know that there is a 30,000 limit and that's, you can't get past that, unfortunately. But it's one of those things where I do feel now it's best to have a stronger network, a network of people that you know. And those that you don't know, follow them until you do.

Pat Miller: 29:40

That gives us a starting point. Because if someone's watching this because they want to begin using LinkedIn in a better, more intentional way, what you just said is follow till you know them and then connect. That gives us something really clear to go on. And I wanna go one step further. So someone's watching this. They are into corporate imaging. They like to take CEO and boardroom shots. They do headshots. They do professional imaging for big businesses. And they know that CMOs, for example, are their target audience. Let's pretend that you're that photographer. Can you walk us through what we would do to earn the connection and start the conversation with them? Because we touched on it a little bit, but I want it to be really literal so someone can go, “Okay. I'll do this, and then this, and then this, and this will happen.”

Donna Serdula: 30:26

Yeah. You know, and here's the thing. There are people out there who absolutely tap into the LinkedIn API, and they're sending connection requests to those CMOs, one after the other, hoping that the message that they're sending is one that that person is willing to accept. And there are people that are using the platform in that way. And I don't think, and I wanna say this, don't think there's anything wrong with that. You know, if that's how you want to utilize it, it's absolutely there for you. So you can get that list of CMOs and you can connect with them. You can absolutely do that. On the flip side, you could also look at those CMOs and you could say, let me follow them and let me see what they are producing. And then you can jump into those comments and try a more organic way of getting in front of them. We also have to keep in mind that there's not a lot of people on LinkedIn that are actively creating content. And so if you do try to do it in that manner, it might be a little difficult because you're waiting for them to post. So that in itself could be, you know, it could take time because not everyone is posting regularly on LinkedIn. But I would say this, if you have a message, if you have something to say, definitely make sure that you're on LinkedIn and you're posting. You're posting good content, quality content. That you're looking, you're seeing what's out there, and you're commenting and networking with other people. And when you're doing that, and you're doing that regularly, good things start to happen because the right people will start to notice, and your phone will ring.

Pat Miller: 32:06

Is this an everyday thing? Are we on LinkedIn everyday liking, commenting, sharing, following? Is that what you would recommend?

Donna Serdula: 32:13

You know, it would be a fabulous thing if you could, but we do all have jobs. So, there has to be a limit. Right? And so, you may find that LinkedIn is something that you use. You bring up the app, and you scroll through the LinkedIn feed, and you try to, you know, add a comment here and there. And that might be something that you can do every day. And you might then say to yourself, "Well, you know what? Twice a week I'm going to post, you know, a headshot that I did. I'm going to tag that person." You may also say, you know, every, even past that, I'm going to make sure that, you know, I'm always spending at least one Friday in the afternoon connecting with all of the people that I photographed. Right? So you might want to just look at it and just say rather than say, "Oh, it's every day I'm doing something." Just know that there's a structure to how you're interacting with LinkedIn. And maybe it's every day a comment, twice a week a post, and maybe once every 2 weeks, you know, a true networking session where you're adding these connections to your network.

Pat Miller: 33:25

Whenever I get a chance to talk to a subject matter expert like you that's trying to get us to do something to grow the business, I always like to hear a story. Can you think of a time that you worked with someone who took it seriously, dove in, and it grew their business? They actually put a quarter in the machine and a cookie came out. Can you think of a time when it worked? Because I want us to have hope that this isn't just another thing that someone tells us to do. No, if you're like this person and do these things, look at the results they got. Can you think of a time?

Donna Serdula: 33:55

Yeah. You know, truthfully, when anyone decides to own their story and put themselves out in a manner that makes it easy to be found, easy to be discovered, easy to work with, good things happen. It's a very natural type of thing. You know, right off the bat, I'm thinking of Jason Ranalli, who is a photographer friend of mine. And I absolutely, I suggest checking him out on LinkedIn to see the wonderful stuff that he's doing. He has a beautiful profile that absolutely talks about who he is and why he does it, and why it matters. You know, he posts on LinkedIn with great, you know, images of the work that he's done. He's created videos of himself in his studio. And, you know, people visit his website and they book with him. And they, and I believe, can I tell you that all of it is due to LinkedIn? I don't think all of it is due to LinkedIn, but I think LinkedIn plays a really big role in what a great photographer and a popular photographer he is.

Pat Miller: 34:58

I think it's pretty much all because of LinkedIn. You have to take some credit on that one. I think it's all because of LinkedIn. Take some credit on that one. I think it's I think it's all because of LinkedIn. This has been a great discussion. I could talk to you for another 2 hours about LinkedIn pet peeves and questions and comments, but I know we're gonna get the chance to learn from you in the coming months. So thank you so much for coming on The Professional Photographer Podcast. I really appreciate it.

Donna Serdula: 35:19

Oh, Pat. Thank you so much for having me.

Pat Miller: 35:20

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of The Professional Photographer Podcast. I got some LinkedIn homework to do, and I would imagine you do as well. I'm already looking forward to next week's episode, but before you go, make sure you subscribe to the feed. Click the like button and please leave us a comment. That way, we know wherever you're watching, we know what you're enjoying, and which topics are resonating with you. That feedback will help us create better episodes in the future. And if you're not yet a member of Professional Photographers of America, you're truly missing out. PPA offers incredible resources like equipment insurance, top-notch education, and a supportive community of photographers ready to help you succeed. It's perfect for photographers who are serious about growing their business in a sustainable and profitable way. At PPA, you belong here. Discover more about membership at ppa.com. That's ppa.com. You can also follow them on LinkedIn. They have like a zillion followers. I'm Pat Miller, Founder of the Small Business Owners Community. Thanks for joining us on this episode and on this educational journey that we're on. We're really working hard to try and help you build a better business. We'll be back here real soon with more tools to help you grow with The Professional Photographer Podcast. See you next time.