I posted a photo of me kissing my wife on LinkedIn. Would you ever do something like that?
I bet most of you would say, ‘No, that’s not what LinkedIn is for.’
“LinkedIn is a professional networking site,” you might continue. “No one wants to see your family photos on LinkedIn. That’s what Facebook is for.”
In general, I might agree with you. It’s highly subjective what is ‘appropriate’ to post and where to share it.
Why this photo stood out.
Here’s the photo I posted. You can click here to read the comments.
The caption reads, “My wife, Beth, who did not speak at my fifth annual 10x Medical Device Conference, raised her hand and made the last comment of the conference. She said, “Let’s hear it for my husband!” Love.
I believe the post generated more than 15,000 views. It got more than 200 likes.
The comments ranged from:
- Robyn’s “Let’s hear it for you both. It was a great event,”
- to Richard’s “Good ending for a great event. I’ll try to attend next year,”
- to Marissa’s “Sweet! Joe, It was an incredibly productive investment of my time! I reconnected with many industry professionals, as well as made a few new contacts that look very promising. Great job!”
But the most striking message came to me in private. You kinda have to see it to believe it.
Here was this stranger from Morocco who had me all figured out.
“This picture (this kiss) just made you human. Instead of the cold hearted I’M SUCCESSFUL KIND OF GUY SO PLEASE DON’T TALK TO ME kind of guy.
He encouraged me to “keep up the good job,” acknowledging that I was ‘progressing.’
His whole opinion of me changed because of my show of affection.
Your point being?
I think I told you the story about my mentor who, in 2011 after Cardiac Science got bought out, suggested I stay with marketing medical devices.
Despite 3½ enjoyable Cardiac Science years I told him, “I don’t know if I want to, because medical devices are boring.”
He said, “Well, you can make them less boring.”
To which I immediately replied, “You’re right! I can make them less boring…” which I’ve been doing for nearly eight years now.
Curing Cancer
Often, I find the average medical device persona as saying, “We’re curing cancer. We’re serious people doing serious work,” intimating shows of affection like my kiss or laughter don’t belong on their websites or anything having to do with their professional personas.
I say just the opposite.
Curing cancer can be fun if you’re ‘in the flow’ with your work. Of course, you’re happy! You’re doing meaningful work you love.
You want to say, “We have fun at this company. We’re a family. And we’re more than just our medical products and services.”
The candidate will conclude, “That looks like a company worth considering.”
Enter the kiss. Maybe it told someone, “Maybe Joe is worth considering,” despite all the “serious stuff” I had previously shared online.
Taking calculated risks
The point of today’s Journey is obvious. I encourage you to open up a little and share a piece of yourself that shows the fun side of you.
You don’t need to go as far as the two videos below, both included on my LinkedIn profile page.
But maybe somewhere between where you are today and, well, the following. Enjoy.
Above: The Donut-Eating Contest I got a little over-excited at the end.
Above: The Sales Meeting Kickoff I kinda cheated a little. That one’s from my days at Campbell Soup. Beware the ducks. And I almost lost my glasses at 1:30.
Fast Round
-
Brag a little. On the bottom of my blog and Journey pages are testimonials about my greatness. Of course, that’s them saying I’m great – far more credible than me saying I’m great.
With enough testimonials, you might consider having a different testimonial displayed on each page. Mine are coded to randomly select among dozens, so you never know what you’re gonna get.
-
Blogging Statistics and Trends: The 2018 Survey of 1000+ Bloggers I always can reliably find good research from Andy Crestodina. Click to read. The first stat resonated with me, that’s for sure. I routinely spend 3+ hours on each Medical Devices Group and each Journey email.
-
Check on your self-talk. I talked myself out of a good medical device marketing gig because of a story I was telling myself.
I know that’s a bit cryptic. Suffice it to say, if you’ve ever danced around the edges of depression, anxiety, or self-doubt, I heartily recommend “Feeling Good,” subtitled “the new mood therapy,” by Dr. David Burns.
That, and a good friend to call you out on it. You know who you are. Thank you.
Thank you for joining me on The Journey.
P.S. The point of today’s Journey was loosening up and sharing your personality with your professional network. If you want to practice, email me back with something interesting: A story I wouldn’t have known, a photo, a link to a video… something to tell me more about you.
