Chantel Soumis, self-proclaimed Brand Sorceress and Disney fanatic, cast a wonderful magical spell of possibility and authentic power at the April 2019 Social Media Breakfast Madison event held at the Brink Lounge. It also served as the pre-#YPWeek event.

We learned of Chantel’s amazing journey as a differently-abled advocate who speaks at international venues, including the United Nations. Her battle with multiple sclerosis sometimes slows her down, but it hasn’t stopped her.

During her presentation, Chantel, founder and creative director of Stardust Creative, described how she jump-started her brand through LinkedIn—she won the #LetsGetHonest Campaign.

She shared two key statistics that demonstrate why LinkedIn deserves your attention: LinkedIn is 277% more effective for leads than other social media platforms. And only one percent of the 575 million users create content. With some effort, you can join that small minority.

How do you improve your digital presence? Chantel shared a five-step process for taking advantage of LinkedIn’s many opportunities.

1 – Build Your Brand

“What do you want people to think of when they hear your name?” Chantel suggested that you consider your end goal with your strategy. Is it sales, career growth or creation of your role as a thought leader? Then promote your engagement based on that objective.

Chantel lives her brand and expresses it in her content:

• Bubbly & Blessed
• Marketing Obsessed
• Brand Sorceress
• Differently-Abled Advocate

2 – Complete Your Profile

Maximize your profile picture and banner image. Chantel reported that professional headshots get 14 times more profile views. She says to “dazzle” your LinkedIn visitors with your portrait and banner. It’s the first thing they see.

Other key profile elements include:

• Title, Summary & Media
• Experience
• Skills & Endorsements
• Recommendations

For inspiration, check out the profiles of Richard Moore, business mentor; Erik Eklund, public speaker and storyteller; and Goldie Chan, LinkedIn Top Voice.

3 – Join a Campaign

Make Chantel proud and try something new on LinkedIn. She suggests you:

• Create content consistently (two times/week)
• Leverage a variety of content formats
• Join a campaign to get started on video: #LetsGetHonest, #3FreeTips; #21DayChallenge.

4 – Connect & Engage

Chantel’s insights will get you connecting with the right people in no time. When you engage with content, don’t just “like” it. Instead, make a comment or ask the creator a question.

She recommends:

• Following similar content and engaging by searched for related hashtagged content
• Providing value on other content
• Connecting with like-minded professionals with custom connection requests. Don’t send a connection request without adding a personal note.

5 – Collaborate

Consider these impactful ways to collaborate. Chantel suggests the following:

• Find likeminded professionals and have a video call to reuse as social content
• Co-author articles together
• Create an engagement community

Chantel demonstrated the value of authenticity. “Be you,” she emphasized. Check out one of her favorite quotes from Brené Brown.

Check out Chantel’s presentation for more information.

SMBMad News

Also at the April event, Josh Klemons, SMBMad’s newest president of the organization’s board of directors, recognized Shane Cicero, immediate past president, for his many years in the same role. Josh announced his new role at the March event.

Josh said, “We’re working to keep up with the legacy Shane created.” He added that Shane played a key role in the development of SMBMad to where it is today as a thriving organization.

Special thanks to Chantel Soumis for her inspiration and insights. See you our next event on May 15, which we are hosting in partnership with 1 Million Cups. The event, Keeping it Local: A Social Media Panel will be held at Dreambank, 821 E. Washington Ave., Madison. See you there!

Leslie Blaize wrote this post on behalf of Winbound, a content marketing firm. Winbound provides an all-in-one content marketing and conversion optimization package specifically designed for small marketing departments.