Media Magnet EP 62_ Natalie McDonald
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Liz Nable: [00:00:00] It's not often you get to hear directly from someone who's been inside the walls of a major media platform helping shape what gets seen, what gets surfaced, and what voices get amplified. But today we are bringing you something special. I'm joined by Natalie MacDonald, former TV journalist. Former LinkedIn news editor and founding member of LinkedIn News Australia.
Natalie didn't just use LinkedIn. She helped build the editorial engine behind it. During her time there, she covered small businesses through crisis led conversations around diversity. And inclusion and launched LinkedIn's first global editorial campaign for International Women's Day shaping how professionals show up and get recognized on the platform.
So in this episode, we are going beyond surface level tips. We are talking about what actually gets attention, how LinkedIn news works behind the scenes. And why LinkedIn now with over 1 billion members worldwide [00:01:00] is one of the most powerful visibility tools available to small business owners today. If you've ever wondered whether LinkedIn is worth your time, this is the conversation you've been waiting for.
Hello and welcome to Medium Magnet, the podcast for female founders and women owned businesses, startups, and site hustlers who want to learn how to grow their business, leveraging the media and free pr. I'm Liz Nale, and I'm your host, personal publicist, PR strategist, and dedicated hype woman. My goal with this show is to give you a behind the scenes tour of how the media works to break down the barriers between your business and the big MA heads.
So you can see how easy it is to get featured simply by giving journalists what they want at Media Magnet. You'll also get access to the top journals, editors, [00:02:00] writers, and PR people in your industry and beyond sharing their secrets and expertise on the how, why, what. When of pitching and getting featured in the media consistently, I will share with you how to build your reputation as an industry expert so successfully the media will be knocking down your door.
When I first started in small business 12 years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had spent 15 years as a television news reporter working at several major networks in Australia, and then as a freelancer in the US and around the world. I spent years dividing my time between working long shifts on a news desk and traveling the world chasing stories.
It was unpredictable and exciting until it wasn't anymore. I decided I wanted a life where I was in charge of what happened next and where I was working to build my own empire, not someone else's. There was a lot I had to learn about running my own business, [00:03:00] but getting media and great free PR was not one of them.
I already knew what the media wanted. I knew the secret formula for what made news, and I knew how to leverage those media outlets to build my business, get more exposure, and ultimately make more sales. I was featured in every major media outlet in the country, and I never spent a single cent on pr. I took that knowledge for granted until it dawned on me one day that I could teach what I knew to other businesses, let them in on the secret, and they too could build their brands with organic media and pr.
Let me help you take your brand from Best Kept Secret to household name. This is Media Magnet, the podcast, and I'm pretty pumped to have you here.[00:04:00]
Hi Natalie. Welcome to the Media Magnet Podcast.
Natalie McDonald: Thank you so much for having me, Liz. I'm so pleased to be rounding out the year getting to chat to you.
Liz Nable: Yes, absolutely. I've thought for a really long time or I've wanted for a really long time to have a LinkedIn expert inside the podcast. Um, and I've obviously, there's lots of LinkedIn experts in inverted commas out there, but you are really the only person I've met who has experience on the inside working at LinkedIn.
Can you tell us a little bit, a bit about. Who you are and what you do before we kind of dive into the podcast.
Natalie McDonald: I think you are totally right. There are a lot of people that profess to be LinkedIn experts out there, and there are so many small businesses and individuals looking to, to fly that plane that I had the good fortune of essentially helping to build for [00:05:00] seven years.
Uh, so I am a. Business journalist by background. That's my, that's my trade as it were. Um, and I joined LinkedIn as a founding member of the LinkedIn News Australia team, uh, essentially to help make the LinkedIn platform a better place for professionals to spend their time. So that was things like building out the LinkedIn news presence, coverage of stories that were important to professionals.
Um, and as my role grew, I covered. Things like small business during the bushfire crisis and then into the pandemic. I covered diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace, and interviewed people like Olympian, Ian Thorpe about community. Um, and then in the later part of that career, um, I essentially ran editorial campaigns across APAC and internationals.
So listeners might be familiar with things like LinkedIn's, top startups or top companies, um, and the Top Voices program, which is LinkedIn's influencer program. I helped scale that into new industries like tech and [00:06:00] innovation or, or retail and finance. But I guess one of the things that I'm actually most proud that I got to do, uh, was launch LinkedIn's very first global editorial campaign for International Women's Day.
So this was a huge global moment. That was launched out of Australia and we managed to get people like Jacinda ert and Princess Beatrice and, and Melinda Gates involved. So, to your point, a lot of LinkedIn experts out there. Um, but I've really been on that front row seat of how to build meaningful messaging and, and helping, you know, not only what makes good content, but also how to get there.
Liz Nable: Yeah, I think, I mean, look, it's really exciting to have someone who is, it's not often you get someone from the inside of these big social media platforms to speak. Um, so it's exciting to have you here to kind of give us your insights because there are a lot of myths about LinkedIn. I think for a lot of the small business owners who would be, and the audience or the listeners of this show, we might not even realize that LinkedIn isn't [00:07:00] just for, um, corporate types and big business.
What is the. I guess in a nutshell, what's the purpose of LinkedIn and why would it be important for a small business owner to have a presence on that platform?
Natalie McDonald: That's such a good question. I mean, LinkedIn is, it's the largest professional social media platform in the world. It has over a billion professionals on it.
So if you think about it, almost like a knowledge marketplace or a knowledge library, people go to LinkedIn not only to give, but also to get help back as well. And I think it's strength. And the shift that I was part of it was, is yes, once upon a time, LinkedIn really did, used to be just a place where you went and you, you put your CV and it was only really of use to you if you were job seeking.
Liz Nable: So, Natalie, a lot of the business owners who listen to this podcast, um, a lot of women led businesses who are new to media and PR and maybe even marketing in their business, um, [00:08:00] might not see LinkedIn as a platform that they need to be on. Can you explain a little bit about, um, you know, I think traditionally even, I've often thought that it's just for people who have corporate jobs, who are looking to network and that sort of thing.
What is LinkedIn and why would a small business owner have any interest playing in that space?
Natalie McDonald: This is such a good question, and I think as we've looked at the evolution of social media platforms, you know, for smaller macro businesses, obviously initially it was all about Facebook. You know, Facebook was, was really that, that, that digital home and then obviously Instagram, but LinkedIn has really evolved in its use case, essentially.
Um, it's the, it's the largest. Um, collection, it's the largest social media platform professionals for professionals with over 1 billion members globally. But think of it like a knowledge marketplace or a knowledge library. It's somewhere that you can go to, not only to. Give knowledge and, and give expertise and insights, but also to get [00:09:00] that knowledge and help back as well.
Um, and if you think of it, so top performing CEOs spend around 30% of their time managing external stakeholders. And an even larger amount of their time, they're managing internal stakeholders and you have the opportunity to use social media to cut that time right down and to be able to get your message out there to be able to talk about your business.
But I also think, and again, speaking about the evolution of social media platforms on the whole I. I think you're right. LinkedIn absolutely did just used to be a place to go to put your CV online or maybe if you just needed a job. And certainly, I mean, that was part of my role was to make LinkedIn somewhere that people wanted to spend time and to share and, and as I say, build community and build their network and, and get that expertise.
And now what we see is it's a real place for people to. Showing up both professionally and personally, and sharing what makes them human customers don't want to be sold to anymore. Um, I think it's something like 72% of [00:10:00] decision makers lean into thought leadership, not just marketing. Um, I think since things like.
COVID and and beyond. You know, this real overlap between who we are as professional and who we are as people, um, has, has really come together. And as I say, people want to do business with people. They don't wanna do business with marketing campaigns, they don't wanna do business with assholes. Um, and so LinkedIn is a place for you to demonstrate who you are as, as an industry leader of choice, as an employer of choice, as a brand partner of choice.
Um. Fab. I'm sold on it.
Liz Nable: So I've often heard, um, again, correct me if I'm wrong, that LinkedIn is also a really great social media platform to be, you know, to exist on or to, um. To spend time on because it's not like Instagram with its algorithms or Facebook. I mean, obviously you can take out LinkedIn ads and those sorts of things, but because it's a much more [00:11:00] organic process in reaching out to your network and being able to be seen in front of the right people would, would you say that's correct?
Natalie McDonald: Absolutely. And that's, I know we're going to come to the work that I'm doing now, but that's really. Part of the, the con, the work that I do with working at it now, and that is essentially helping people show up as themselves on purpose, um, and getting their message seen by the people that matter and LinkedIn.
It is clever in that, in that, you know, you. Can signpost who you are, you know, be through things like having skills on your profile, your headline, your experience, um, the content. And that then helps you reach people who also, through the things that they engage with, are also signposting that actually they want to learn about your market research business.
They are interested in pr in rural communities. Um, and so, you know, like any sort of, um. Algorithm system, you know, it's good data in, good [00:12:00] data out, um, and you are able to train the feed, um, in terms of what it is that you, that you want to see and, and, and what you want to receive. And, and so that's where you're really able to build, um, those, those networks and communities.
I will say people often forget that people often forget that they are in charge of their own feed. Um, the thing that I always remember is, um, with Instagram, back when I was on parental leave, and I don't, I, I think I was in a moment where I wasn't feeling great about myself and I was unfollowing like a whole bunch of like fitness influencers.
Um, and Instagram at that moment had this really great thing where it popped up and said, oh, you follow six other accounts that, that do the same thing. Do you wanna unfollow them as well? I was like, yes, get outta here. I I don't need to see your gorgeous hot bikini body right at this moment in time. Um, and I always use that analogy about LinkedIn as well.
So you have to be proactive. I always call it building those, those LinkedIn healthy [00:13:00] habits, which is going on there for 15 minutes, commenting on a few posts, replying to, to responding to your, um, connection requests your dms, and you will see slowly but surely. The feed starting to give back to you as well.
Liz Nable: Is it? Little side detailed question here. I know with Instagram at some point there was like, if you follow too many people, your actual posts and those sorts of things didn't work as well or get exposed. So ba essentially you had to have less. You had to follow less people than followed you or something like that.
Um, with LinkedIn, is it the same? Like does it matter if you've got like a thousand connections or should you get rid of all the ones that don't serve you? Because I know that I have so many random people request connections with me, or should I just say yes to them all?
Natalie McDonald: No, please don't be discerning.
And again, think about it as your own, your own experience as well. If you want to come to the platform and you want to see content that is going to fuel your voice, not just be like [00:14:00] a hate scroll on a random Tuesday night. Um, but if you want content that is going to inspire you, that is going to inform and educate you, that is going help you in your day to day as a professional, as a business, be discerning about who you connect with.
I've. Because of the nature of my role that I was very public facing, that I did used to do a lot of, um, interviews with, with big personalities, and I had have a, a newsletter that goes to 115,000 people. I, my, my connection requests have always been on the larger side. Um, but I've always been really discerning about, um, who I have connected with.
And that isn't to say that this person is a bad person or they're not worth my time, but it's just really about thinking, okay, are we in the same. Industry, are they someone that I would maybe want to do business with that my services are of used to taking a look at their content? Is it something that I think I'm going to get something out of?
So again, having control over over your own feed as well. The other thing people always forget is that you can. Unfollow someone on LinkedIn, but [00:15:00] still be connected with them. It's a little bit like when you've got like that grumpy old aunt on Facebook and you just like quietly mute them because you don't need to see like their inappropriate jokes or memes.
Um, so with LinkedIn you can actually unfollow someone. Um, and, um, still be connected to them. So you're not gonna be offending anyone. They have no idea. But also, similarly, you can follow someone and not have to connect with them. Um, and that again, is a way to still get their insights in your feed, but without.
Having to be explicitly connected to them. If you don't have an existing relationship, who knows, you may one day.
Liz Nable: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so we'll get into like some of the, your tips, I guess for small business owners who perhaps have a profile that they've never used or maybe they don't have a profile yet, and how the best practices you've seen of small business owners using LinkedIn.
Well, but before we do that, I wanna touch a little bit on your experience. So you were the LinkedIn. News editor. [00:16:00] Um, talk to me a little bit about that because I really love, and I talk about this a lot in my media master's course, is using social media to create news and then also LinkedIn News as a reputable news source is really growing in credibility as well.
Tell me about that role and, and your opinion or your insights on LinkedIn news and I guess how people can use that to generate a, an authoritative voice, um, on that platform and beyond.
Natalie McDonald: Absolutely. So, um, I was a founding member of the LinkedIn News Australia team, and I highly, highly recommend as on your, who should I follow?
Um, go to the LinkedIn News Australia page, or if you are, if you're listening overseas, go to whatever your, your local market LinkedIn news page is. Follow that because it is so full of the news and views and the conversations that you need to have to, to inform your day. Um, so it's. Focused on professional news, and it does, it explores different things like, um, you know, current [00:17:00] trends, workplace trends, workplace news and headlines, um, things that people are talking about on LinkedIn.
Um, it speaks to, you know, cultural days of significance. Um, you know, I'm already looking ahead to things like International Women's Day, for instance. Um. And it's a really great place to be surfacing those trusted voices and those expert voices, not the people that just shout the loudest, but the people that are actually sharing meaningful information.
I know there's so much concern around social media at the moment when it comes to AI slop. And generic content. 2026 is gonna put those creators on their asses. Um, it is really, really, really going to be about sharing expertise and knowledge that only you have, and the LinkedIn platform is going to get smarter at identifying that as well.
Um, but when it comes to to to to LinkedIn news, so a lot of people don't realize that when it comes to these LinkedIn news stories and if you go onto your feed and if you see it on desktop, on the right hand side, those LinkedIn news stories [00:18:00] are populated by. Member posts and that's collected by people like that is, that is editors, that is journalists.
That is people like you and I, well definitely I, um, during, during that period. Um, and that is going through the feed and that is hand selecting these amazing insights. I. And people listening can be featured in those insights. Um, and so what you do is, I mean, first of all, you need to be posting. Yeah. Um, so take inspiration from what you're seeing in that right hand rail on, on desktop.
Um, and that is posting and making sure that you are doing something that is purpose driven. It is knowledge sharing. It is value add. It's not just promoting your business. Um, always ensure that you are adding, uh, a media source to it. Tag. LinkedIn News Australia in the comments, um, to, to be surfaced. And if your post is featured, what happens is everyone in your, firstly, you get a notification that says LinkedIn News have chosen you to be featured in this story, which I've been [00:19:00] part of the system and even been out of the system.
Now sometime I still get a thrill from that. Who doesn't love that? Like positive validation and feedback, but more importantly, your whole network. Gets that notification that Liz's post has been featured by LinkedIn News Australia in um. End of year small business admin or, um, how small business can be, you know, um, leveraging social media.
And so immediately it gives that, what I refer to as strategic recognition. Immediately you are showing up as a thought leader, as an industry leader of choice. Um, and it's just great. It's really, really great real estate that is one really small but like immediate. Thing that, that the LinkedIn news team does.
The other thing, as I say, is, is sort of editorial campaigns throughout the year. So top companies, top startups, they've just released. Um, big ideas, which I had the pleasure of being the custodian for, for a number of years and big ideas is looking at the big [00:20:00] workplace and business trends and themes that are gonna come through.
Um, in 2026, we didn't always get them right. But they're amazing conversation starters, and they're really cool. So, yes, um, I, as I say, I was part of the team for seven years. I've, I've been on the outside now for six months, but I am still just the biggest fan of, of the work that the team does and continue to work very closely with them.
Liz Nable: Yeah, I think it's so, um, it's so amazing that you can literally be creating news as a business owner, as a thought leader, um, you know, as a, as an industry expert, and having that picked up by something like LinkedIn News, um, and building momentum around that. Um, and then even potentially getting picked up by mainstream news in some, um.
In some instances is, you know, like, that blows my mind because 20 years ago, like, who would've thought that was possible? Can you gimme an example of someone who might, how they might use that? So you're, you're posting, let's say for example, you, um, have a skincare business. [00:21:00] You sell, um, skincare products for women 45 years and up.
You might pick one area of the skincare industry or something you are passionate about and you write about that and you post about it. Is that right? And then you are waiting or you're hoping in, in, you know, um, in some instances that LinkedIn News will pick that up because it's newsworthy and it's, you know, part of the zeitgeist or it's something that is interesting to them.
Tell me a bit more in detail how, how that looks.
Natalie McDonald: I would sort of suggest reverse engineering it a little bit. So one example is, um. I have a, a client who's in the market research space, um, and she had, um, the LinkedIn news team we knew were covering cop, were covering sustainability, and they wanted it from a consumer angle, um, and or what people could do.
And so this, um, client of mine of, of working at it, um, she wrote a post around consumer [00:22:00] behavior through a market research lens because. That's, that was the business that she ran and it was this really interesting piece around consumers say that they want sustainability, that they're willing to buy, you know, to pay for it.
But actually what I know as a market research expert who works with brands, you know, during that, those development phases. When we did, when we're doing q and as with them, you know, during a, a product or campaign evolution, um, actually there are loads of, there are loads of other different factors. So what she did was took this topic and then distilled it and put it in her voice and her expertise and like I was saying earlier, made it something that only she could share.
So. It's kind of, I would, would reverse engineer. So, um, seeing what the team is covering and then thinking, okay, how do I, how do I shape this? How do I make this different essentially? And another thing to really consider, um, a former colleague of mine, um, Lorraine Lee, who again, put her on your must [00:23:00] follow list.
Um, she speaks about LinkedIn content in four buckets. Um, and her buckets are expertise. So here's something I'm going to teach you how to do. Much like this podcast, um, professional. So here is something that is happening in the world. Maybe it's a, a trend or, um, an event, um, or a cultural day of significance.
And I'm going to take it, I'm going to distill it and I'm going to share with you what it means from my professional experience. So an example that we see a lot of, and, and these are a bit. Naf, but they're the most obvious examples. You know, marketers talking about, um, the Taylor Swift Eras tour, or even economists talking about Taylor Swift and the economic impact.
Um, you know, the Super Bowl, the assessments that we always see of like the Super Bowl ads from the advertising space. But it is taking something that. Everyone knows about and distilling it and putting it out there. And again, positioning yourself as an, as an expert. Um, [00:24:00] then there's the professional bucket and this is the one that is so meaningful to me personally.
I'm someone that speaks the posts a lot of content around being a working parent. I've. Two small children. I love them. But it, it's, it's fun. And
Liz Nable: you say this from the, the floor of your bedroom if your phones on and tasking, like
Natalie McDonald: hoping that my 1-year-old stays
Liz Nable: asleep. It's with your 1-year-old asleep.
Exactly.
Natalie McDonald: Yeah. But I, so I, I, I have always shared a lot around my family journey. I've also spoken a lot about, um, pregnancy loss, postpartum mental health, all of these bits and bobs. Um, and so it's not, I'm not by any stretch ever saying, yo. Cut yourself open for the engagement. But there is value and there is deep connection in sharing those personal stories.
And it might be about the juggle, it might be about resilience, it might be about a learning journey that you've been on. It might be about managing, um, you know, older, um, parents and, and caregiving and, and [00:25:00] all sorts of different things. But we're really seeing a lot of resonance on LinkedIn in those beautiful personal moments as well, because again, it just shows who you are as a.
Human being, and then the last bucket is promotional. But quite frankly, if you've been doing those other three buckets well, you are already doing the promotional buckets.
Liz Nable: Yeah. In a more authentic way.
Natalie McDonald: Exactly.
Liz Nable: Interestingly, it's important to note at this point that in terms of media and pr, traditional media.
That's exactly what's trending, um, in the media as well, you know, personal stories, your expert opinion on your experience through menopause or, you know, having teenage children or, um, managing, you know, teenage children and you know, your elderly parents. All those things are all also earned media opportunities and you can create.
So I always say to the students inside my course. You need that content anyway for your LinkedIn, for your Instagram, for your social [00:26:00] media. So why not, you know, put it out there anyway and then perhaps you'll get picked up by LinkedIn News. Mm-hmm. You'll get picked up by Mama Mia. Or you know that Instagram reel that you posted about the work life juggle?
Um, that's all. It wasn't 20 years ago, but it is now. It's all really newsworthy content, isn't
Natalie McDonald: it? Yeah. I had, um, and we know that it leads to economic opportunity. Um, I have a, a beautiful mentee that I work with. Um, I. Ally Smith, she's um, uh, an elite netball. She's just launched, um, um, air It Out, which is, is a youth mental health space.
Amazing work. Um, she had initially was using Instagram and TikTok as her real home base to, to connect with individuals, and I had messaged her and said like, this needs to be on LinkedIn. Bring this over to LinkedIn, have a chat with the grownups. She posted, and immediately. A corporate speaking engagement outta it.
Liz Nable: Wow.
Natalie McDonald: Um, because it just had that presence and just also [00:27:00] that visibility, that visibility. So frankly, and I know what we're saying, is adding almost another task to the plate of people who are busy running their nine to fives, they're dealing with their five to nine of small children, or you know, dogs or.
Elder, um, elderly parents that they need to support. Um, but there are ways to think smart about it. No, you can't just be blasting, you know, your cute TikTok feeds with that same messaging, but a little tweak, a little sharpening, and you're talking to the grownups, you're talking to the decision makers, um, and you're talking to potentially your, your future business opportunities.
Yeah,
Liz Nable: 100%. And the good news is, is. I don't know if this is good news, but it, it's better news than, like you say, creating another job for busy small business owners. But for most of us, um, I mean there's, there's the rare, there's the rare exception where a small business owner doesn't need to have a presence on social media.
Maybe if you have like a concrete company or you [00:28:00] are. Plumber. You don't need to be on social media. Maybe you do, but for most of us, you need to have some sort of presence on social media. If you want to amplify your brand voice, your marketing, get more leads, make more sales, et cetera. So you need content anyway.
You may as well make it newsworthy content because you, you know, you might put, like you say, a tweaked version of the same, of a real talking about work-life juggle for Instagram. Could have a slightly more professional angle for LinkedIn. Yeah. And then, um, you, you know, maybe there's a, you know, a Celia kind of more Mimi virally thing that you'd put on TikTok if, if you need to even play there.
So it's important to sort of think about like, you can like kill five birds with one stone in this space because you, we need content as business owners, unfortunately, or fortunately for some who like this, who enjoy this. But I know for a lot of small business owners. They do feel like this is another task, but they can leverage that across multiple platforms.
Natalie McDonald: And I also, if I may, I just want to speak to [00:29:00] the women for a moment, and that when it comes to social media and when it comes to building a digital footprint and a personal brand, it is just smart. It is just smart economics. Um, we know that. There are a number of societal barriers and a number of hurdles and biases that, that we as women already operate within.
And that actually, when you think about investing in yourself, we're the last people to do it. Um, but it is so important because it offers future opportunity. It future proofs your business, your career, um, and ensuring that, that you have opportunities. And that to speak to my story, you know, for transparency, um.
I came back from parental leave and unfortunately just shortly after was made redundant from LinkedIn, but I had a platform that I had invested in, um, and, and grown to 35,000 followers. And as I say, a newsletter with over a hundred thousand [00:30:00] subscribers, that meant that I had opportunities. Um, and that is so important.
We know that in the current sort of economic environment and landscape, um. You know, women particularly are the most vulnerable, um, in, in these changing circumstances. And it is so important to be future-proofing and to be investing in yourself and your platform and your your vision.
Liz Nable: It's so true because.
Back when I had fitness businesses, I, I, I still have one. I I, I just knew, and I teach this inside the course as well, to think forward and think, okay, you might feel like it's cheesy and salesy to, to be on social media promoting your business or your brand or your founder's story, but I knew when I had that fitness business that I wouldn't have that forever.
So I was really strategic about where I built my personal brand because I wanted to be able to take that with me even when that fitness business was sold or, or I'd moved on from that. Um, and maybe I just saw that because of the work that I'd done in journalism and [00:31:00] I, I could see that there was a writing on the wall in a way there.
But I agree with you completely. You have to that personal brand, whether it comes in use now, six months from now, five. Mm-hmm. Now, there's a value on you when you are perceived to be that expert in that industry. Or that keynote speaker or whatever that is that, you know, no boss or no business can kind of take from you because that's you.
Natalie McDonald: Mm-hmm.
Liz Nable: Um, and it's really important to think beyond feeling weird about self-promotion and sharing your story because it's really like a, a non-negotiable in my mind. If you are in small business and you're looking to build something that's worth something in the long term,
Natalie McDonald: it's your story. And it is ultimately the only thing that you own.
It is yours. It is your skills. It is your ip, it is your value. Um, and it is so important to ensure that you are putting that out there because no one else is going to do it for you. Um, and that's unfortunately what I've found, um, you know, through. [00:32:00] Developing, working at it, which is my consultancy, which helps to essentially empower professionals through storytelling, um, on social media.
Um, is that more often than not, you know, women particularly just aren't equipped with the tools, the confidence that the time, um, to be able to do it. And, and while I do look after all professionals, um, at, its at its heart, like that's, that's what I want to fix. Yeah.
Liz Nable: Just before I let you go, can you give me some advice or give our listeners some advice if they are brand new to LinkedIn or they have an account that they haven't touched for a few years, like what are some of the basics that they need to think about in terms of, of like building their, I guess their profile on LinkedIn, something really easy and tangible that they can take away from today's podcast and action in maybe 10 minutes?
Natalie McDonald: Yeah, absolutely. So let's do like a quick. Profile review, I guess. Then make sure you've got a picture and a picture that, that looks like you, that feels like you, you've got a banner [00:33:00] image as well. Um, you've got a headline and it may just be, um, you know, founder of X, Y, Z, but also use it as an opportunity to share a little bit more, offer, a little bit more of a tagline in terms of actually what does your business.
Do, make it punchy, make it hooky. Um, look at your skills. Make sure that your skills are updated. As I mentioned earlier, they, they help signpost to the algorithm. Um, you know, what content you're putting out there and, and what you want back, essentially, um, make sure that you are about, is personable. Does it read as you, does it?
Tell people who you are, what you work on, what you are interested in, maybe the types of people that you want to connect with or the conversations that you want to have. Um, and as I mentioned earlier as well, just start spending. Twice a week. Go on LinkedIn for 15 minutes. Engage with maybe three posts.
Write a comment. It doesn't need to be, you know, sort of a novel, but make it meaningful. Don't just do a thumbs up, like actually use it as, you know, a bit of a hacky way to, to share your [00:34:00] expertise and start building out your network that way as well. People are sleeping on the comments at the moment. It takes half the effort of posting.
Hmm, but you're still, you are still starting to kind of create that footprint for yourself. Um, and as I say, really start building a feed that, that fuels you. Come follow me, come follow Liz. To start, really, and most importantly, to start getting those, those expert voices in your feed, go and follow the LinkedIn news profile of, of wherever you, of whatever country you may be in.
Um. And just start making the feed somewhere that you're a little bit more comfortable, you're a little bit more comfortable spending time there. And then when you're ready, you can start doing your little posts again. I'm always open. I'm gonna see something, whether it's online or whether it's in my emails.
Um, and, and just start really, and, and don't procrastinate. The, the, the, the best post is a published post and not something that just lives in your drafts. I. Experience [00:35:00] perfectionism. I struggle with it a lot and it is not unheard of for me to give myself a little countdown before I hit publish on something or send on an email.
So if you need a countdown, go for it. But just post,
Liz Nable: post. Do you have any inside knowledge on if someone's going for media? Um, they're pitching for media, traditional earned media, um, you know, they're putting themselves out to journalists, creating relationships, those sorts of things. Is there a huge, like, is there a large amount of journalists to your knowledge or people in that media and power space that go to LinkedIn as a way to research?
Tell me.
Natalie McDonald: Oh, so much so, so much. So, um, and again, this is something that, um. For LinkedIn team has really worked on and nurtured as well. But there are so many journalists who come to LinkedIn to look for sources that want, uh, that are looking for case studies. Um, and a lot of them are now really, really proactive about it.
Um, so they will put their [00:36:00] journalism, their media call outs on LinkedIn. Um, so as we were saying earlier, you can follow someone without having to connect with them. So find, um, journalists who are reporting perhaps in your field if it's. Healthcare, um, or who work at mastheads that you want to be part of.
Um, and again, it's not, it's not a blanket across the board, but the, the ones that you want to be engaging with, um, you know, the, the afr, um, the ABCs, for instance. Um, they're there. Yeah,
Liz Nable: you
Natalie McDonald: can, you can find them. They are accessible.
Liz Nable: And that's why it's important to have that profile up to date, even if you're not there.
Amounts of time.
Natalie McDonald: Yeah.
Liz Nable: One last little thing. I wonder how many people, this is what I use LinkedIn for. I know I've got a newsletter on LinkedIn and all those sorts of things, and I have to say I haven't, it's on my to-do list for 2026. We've talked about this to get that to amplify what I have, so I'm gonna practice what I preach, but I have gotten so many meetings with.
Like even this afternoon, I have [00:37:00] a meeting, a coffee meeting with the CEO of a major bank because I reached out on LinkedIn. I mean, it blows my mind that that's even possible. I, I reached out to this person thinking she's never gonna reply. And it was about a week later, she came back and she said, I'd love to have a coffee with you.
Um, as a small business owner, I said, that was my sort of, obviously I won't reveal all what we're having a coffee about, but to me that blows my mind. You have access to all these really high profile people, incredible opportunities to meet if you're looking for investment for your business or if you're looking to pitch to journalists, if you're looking to get media exposure or you know, meet with someone like yourself.
We met on LinkedIn, so. Do lots of people do that or do you think that more people like does people understand that there's this massive opportunity to be connected to these high profile individuals?
Natalie McDonald: Yeah, but I think also, again, like I was saying earlier with connections, like be discerning about it.
Like, and if you're just spamming someone, like you need to, like, you need to be showing up with like, but so an example, [00:38:00] I, so I was made redundant in May. I launched working at it in August and I was attending South by Southwest Sydney in. October, I went through the speaker, the session speaker lists, and I sent 48 connection requests and InMails.
Um, not everyone replied. Some people replied two weeks later, like, oh, sorry, like I missed this. Clearly I need to have a conversation with you about how I use LinkedIn. But a lot of those turned into coffee chats, virtual meetings. Real life meetings and have turned into business leads. Um, so it absolutely is.
It's so worthwhile. But again, to come back to, okay, if I have kind of sent you a bit of a warm outreach note, someone's gonna go to your profile. Um, and they're going to be, and sometimes they may even be like, oh, actually I've seen some of your content. Yeah. Like, this totally resonates with me. Let's get together.
Um, but thinking about. If you post once a week on LinkedIn, [00:39:00] that Forex is your profile views twice a week. Five times.
Liz Nable: Yeah. Um,
Natalie McDonald: so there, so there is an immediate, you know, cause and effect kind of thing. Um, so again, if you do do that warm outreach, you want to be telling someone, here's who I am, here's how it aligns with you.
And then they can go to your profile. And that acts as your, your digital homepage. Yeah. Essentially. So again, you wanna make sure that you're backing that up with the goods.
Liz Nable: Yeah. Amazing. Um, I know we could sit here and talk about this all day. How can people get in touch with you, um, and maybe work with you more closely or get to learn a little bit more about what you do?
Sure,
Natalie McDonald: there's this thing called LinkedIn. Um, I'm, I'm very, I'm very ironically, I'm, I'm critically online. Um, so you can, um, follow me, Natalie MacDonald on LinkedIn. You can follow the working at it page. There's a lot of tips and advice there. Um, I'm also on Instagram and all other socials. Uh, you can follow at working at it, um, [00:40:00] or head to my website.
So learn more about my services working@it.com au.
Liz Nable: Awesome. And that'll all be in the show notes, guys. So no need to
Natalie McDonald: beautiful
Liz Nable: down. We'll all be there for you. Um, thank you so much, Nat, for being on the show. This has been so insightful. Um, love talking to you.
Natalie McDonald: Thank you so much. Lots of exciting things to come in 2026.
Liz Nable: This episode of Media Magnet was brought to you by my signature group coaching program, the Media Masters Academy. The Media Masters Academy is a live online six week course taught by me and designed to teach you how to become your own publicist and give you exclusive access to pitch the country's top journalists and editors doors open just three times a year.
Check it out@liznabel.com, along with a ton of free resources to help you get started taking your business [00:41:00] from best kept secret to household name. Write now. If you love this episode of Media Magnet, please share it with your business buddies or on social media and tag me at at Liz Naval. And if there's a specific guest you wanna hear from on the show or a topic or question you want to know more about, please tell me so I can make sure the show stays dedicated, especially for you.
