Shelly Elsliger, founder of LinkedIn Express, explains how to actually use LinkedIn's 560 million users to build real relationships. She shares a 2010 story about paying for a stranger's coffee that led to a life-changing mentorship, and breaks down her core strategy: customize everything, connect beyond your existing network, and build a curated community of meaningful relationships.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Shelley Elsleger with us. She is a globally recognized LinkedIn trainer and content creator. She is the founder of LinkedIn Express and LinkedIn in High Heels: Rise Up and Lead Online. Shelley uses LinkedIn not only to empower people impact professional development, build confidence, and beat down imposter syndrome. She also uses it to change the world. So welcome to the show, Shelley.
Thank you for having me.
Of course, grateful to have you here. We'll jump right into it, Shelley. The first one I have for you is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So I think I have to go back to 2010 when I was in Calgary, Canada. And I had the opportunity to pay coffee forward to somebody who was standing in line with a LinkedIn jacket on. And I said to myself, oh, this is my opportunity not only to do something good, but to see where it could go. And I paid a coffee forward. I call it my LinkedIn latte now, and ended up sitting down with this person who happened to be at the same conference I was at, and he ended up being my mentor. So all because I paid a coffee forward. And it's changed my life both professionally and personally. So I guess the valuable message is never, you know, waste an opportunity. And number two, the power of giving is— will bring so many gifts back to you that it's unimaginable what it can do.
I agree. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So because I'm a LinkedIn trainer, I think one of the most valuable pieces of information I can pay forward is that LinkedIn is not going anywhere. With over 560 million people worldwide, it's a powerful resource. I think that there are a lot of people on LinkedIn, but they're not LinkedIn, unfortunately. And if they actually saw LinkedIn for what it was, and actually treated it like an amazing way to relationship build, then again, we would be building networks that would help us to grow both personally and professionally.
I could not agree more. I tell people all the time that they are underestimating LinkedIn. LinkedIn is huge, huge. So hey, maybe if you're willing, we could dive in a little bit to that. Like, so my next question is normally like, what's your best piece of overall business advice? But maybe because I'm sure a lot of the listeners are curious, like, do you have any just like LinkedIn tips that you can help us out with?
I have lots of LinkedIn tips.
Awesome. Give us some of your best ones.
Okay, so I'll give you a few. Number one, forget about that whole idea of only connecting with people that you know. That's crazy. Really go go beyond that. LinkedIn is about connecting with people that you know and connecting with people that you should know. So find out the people that you resonate with on the platform. So that means that you cannot just be a lurker, always just only looking. Look with purpose, find out who's out there, and then connect with them. My second piece of advice would be get out of that buffet mindset, meaning that everything is like, I'm just going to put it out there and treat everybody the same. Customize everything. LinkedIn is LinkedIn, but LinkedIn was meant to be customized. So everything from your background photo to your branding or your tagline statement, to your story, to your contributions, and to the people that you connect with, the messages that you send. Customize everything. It will help you to build your relationships, and it will help you to build strong relationships. I call it a people pod, my LinkedIn people pod. And the only way that I've gotten to have a people pod, a strong and powerful people pod, is because I've really customized my approach to building these relationships. And I think number 3 And probably the thing that I talk about the most when I speak is imposter syndrome. A lot of people are lurkers because they feel that they're not good enough to contribute or that there's always somebody going to be there that can give better advice or give, like, have more tangible information or more important information. But you know something, every expert was once a beginner and you have to start somewhere. So start contributing and start small. But then you'll see that, that as you become part of the community and become part of like sharing what you already know, and being involved in other people's conversations, you will grow and people will start to recognize you. And, and this will be your beginning.
Yes, thank you for sharing this. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice besides getting on like LinkedIn earlier or something, what would it be?
Beat to your own drum and stop comparing yourself to others. I know when I was younger, I did a lot of comparison, comparisons type stuff, you know, thinking that I could be this and could be that. And LinkedIn actually helped me a great deal. I actually got my voice online as opposed to offline first. I learned how to just have my own voice and not really compare myself to other people. We're all, we're all humans. We all have our unique offerings. We all have our own paths. And when we stop comparing ourselves to others, that allows us a chance to grow and find our own path and find what we're supposed to be doing and how we can contribute to the betterment of society and the world as a whole.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
The key to happiness is self-acceptance, I think. Like, I'm really a big— I guess because I was bullied as a young child, and I never felt that I had a voice, and I was always comparing myself to those who did. And now that I have my own voice and my own way of doing things, I don't compare myself at all. I accept who I am and I accept my— accept what I bring to the table. And it's allowed me to really, to really grow as an individual and as a professional. But when I was younger and I was surrounded by comparisons and what I could be and what I wasn't, it really dragged me down. So, you know, just accept yourself and accept all of the wonderful and amazing things you've done up to now, and everything that you can do in the future. There's no, there's no limits on what you can do.
And what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So my favorite book, and I have it beside me at all times, is Brené Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection. I like all of her books. They've all touched me in some way, but The Gifts of Imperfection just really, really touches me by allowing me to say that I'm perfectly imperfect. And, and that's a lot of weight that I've taken off of myself because I think that I used to be a perfectionist and It's good to have a certain level of what you want to do and how you want to do it. But when you find out that you have gifts and you have, and even if you're not perfect at everything, you have so much to give, it can take a lot of weight off your shoulders. And like I said, it's good to be perfectly imperfect.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
So my favorite quote is, "Never try to put yourself in a box that is way too small for the magnificence of your being." Oh, I like that one too. It's by far my favorite quote because I think at some point in our lives we all feel either not enough at some point. I know that I felt that you know, throughout, like, throughout my life at different times. And also, we can, on the other side of the coin, we can also feel maybe too much, and people either telling us we're not enough or we're too much. And never try to fit yourself into something that somebody else is trying to fit you in, because you're just way too magnificent for that.
Yes, thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online? And maybe it's LinkedIn, Actually, it is LinkedIn.
So people can find me on LinkedIn, and I'm always open to, to growing my people pod and my LinkedIn fam, as we call it. But you can also find me online. I have a website at linkedexpress.ca. And there you can find my contact information and more information about my business and what I do.
Perfect. Thanks again for jumping on.
Thank you so much.
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