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FutureProof You is a team comprised of: Career Pivot Expert Dan Yu, Recruiting Master John Lovig, and AI Consultant Aaron Makelky. Listeners will hear discussions of job trends, career advice, and actionable tips for making sure their careers are future proof!
EP 25 Becoming a Consistent Creator on LinkedIn
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[00:00:00] Aaron Makelky: Welcome to this episode of Future Proof Use podcast. Go f yourself. I am your co-host, Aaron Makelky. Joined as always [00:00:10] by my fellow host, John Lovig and Dan Yu. Our topic today is what you need to notice, succeed [00:00:20] on LinkedIn 2026. You probably see people who post all the time. They're try hards like Dan and John and I, and you know, you should be [00:00:30] posting more, but you aren't.
[00:00:32] Aaron Makelky: We are gonna give you the no bs, what you need to know to start posting consistently and get results on LinkedIn without [00:00:40] the trendy influencer BS stuff that you see online. We have, uh, insider info from Dan who was actually at [00:00:50] LinkedIn's headquarters in 2026, talking directly to people there. What works, what doesn't, things to skip, things to use.
[00:00:59] Aaron Makelky: So with [00:01:00] that, let's start, Dan, the changes on LinkedIn. What's something that's different today that somebody who maybe used to post or thought they understood the [00:01:10] algorithm in years past needs to know, doesn't work the same on LinkedIn.
[00:01:16] Dan Yu @danoyu: Uh, well, I think um, [00:01:20] the basics of social media still still apply, right? And that you, if you have engagement. So if, if you ever [00:01:30] apply, you still have to engage back so that you can get exposed to your, your commenters networks. And I think that's [00:01:40] a lost with a lot of people. And so what's, what works today I think is actually having thoughtful comments back to your. It's, [00:01:50] and we've, you know, we've talked about this in, uh, other podcasts as well. It's commenting on other people's posts as well is also really helpful and it's a great way to scale your [00:02:00] networking. And so I think the first part is, uh, get over your apprehensions um, it's okay. You know what, it's, uh, [00:02:10] you just gotta get yourself out there.
[00:02:13] Aaron Makelky: Yeah. One of the things we talk about, John, is that posts on social media are by nature. Temporary and [00:02:20] ephemeral one, you can delete them later, but even if you leave them up, let's say on your LinkedIn profile and they're bad, who's gonna see them anyways? What are some [00:02:30] things that helped you get comfortable with posting regularly, even if you didn't initially see good results?
[00:02:37] John Lovig: Me. Um, I would say, [00:02:40] I think it's just, you know, for me it was always about personal brand and trying to gain some level of credibility in the role that I've been [00:02:50] in. And so I did that from. Uh, pretty early on in my career because I felt it was important and it was also a space where not as many people were posting.
[00:02:59] John Lovig: So [00:03:00] for me, it was a way to try and get visibility, try and get professional credibility. Um, and so that got me over the hump and over the years I learned some of the things [00:03:10] that, that really drive engagement. You know, I've, I've seen high impact photos, anything that's a really striking image that stands out when [00:03:20] someone's scrolling. interest. Um, so I, I tend to, to be very selective over the, the photography that I use or the images [00:03:30] that I use. Um, 'cause you can see a difference if it's something striking and bold and, and apparent, especially if it's bright and, or like sometimes [00:03:40] I've seen a lot of success with black and white images too.
[00:03:42] John Lovig: I think because people, people just gravitate towards them.
[00:03:48] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yeah. One of the things that, uh, I [00:03:50] learned at LinkedIn, right, is, uh, photos and videos of course do better, right? Because it's, that's part of the hook. And so one of [00:04:00] the greatest pieces of advice that I got. The, uh, [00:04:10] from the, uh, head of, uh, content at LinkedIn, right? So having a strong, uh, photo, having a strong, [00:04:20] uh, hook at the top. You know, your, your first two and a half lines. Is so important to have. Um, and so have, having that as a lead in will [00:04:30] create more engagement than more engagement begets impression.
[00:04:36] Aaron Makelky: Yes. When we talk about engagement, what are engagements on [00:04:40] LinkedIn? What are the different ways that people can engage with content?
[00:04:46] Dan Yu @danoyu: Uh, well, you know, there's obviously the, the easy ones, the buttons, [00:04:50] right? So like, you know, heart. You know, you know, you know, funny or laughing face. Uh, I think those are really easy. and [00:05:00] that, you know, those are engagements. Those do count. But I think those are commoditized. a real comment in, in your reply, you know, back [00:05:10] to your own post where somebody's replied to you or to somebody else's post.
[00:05:16] Dan Yu @danoyu: I think those are much more meaningful. Um, we can also, [00:05:20] um. You know, take a hard look at, you know, the, the congratulations button. Anybody can smash that button. [00:05:30] uh, the quality engagement that you have, I think, will increase your visibility much more than just any, any button.[00:05:40]
[00:05:40] Aaron Makelky: Yeah, and on most platforms, the cheapest form of engagement. Is the button dance talking about that's a default. Like on LinkedIn, one of the things [00:05:50] I try to do is I don't leave likes as of time of the recording, if you tap on like on mobile or hover your mouse, here's your options. You have like Celebrate, which is the [00:06:00] clapping hands support, which is the hand with the heart love, uh, insightful, which is the light bulb and then funny.
[00:06:09] Aaron Makelky: I don't think it makes a [00:06:10] difference which one that you do. They all essentially count the same. Uh, but just 'cause likes are default. I never leave likes the next highest [00:06:20] form of engagement in terms of algorithms saying, Hey Dan, put this post out and one person hit. Like that's not gonna push it out as much [00:06:30] as a comment.
[00:06:31] Aaron Makelky: And then like Dan said, an insightful. Value add, not just congrats or this is awesome, or AI generated. [00:06:40] Slop is gonna be the highest form of commenting, but a lot of people don't know. You can actually add images in your comments and. I don't think anybody knows this outside of LinkedIn, but [00:06:50] I have to think an image in your comment is gonna be weighted more than just text, and that's certainly gonna count higher than one of the reactions.
[00:06:58] Aaron Makelky: The like the support, the love. [00:07:00] There's also repost. There's repost with your thoughts. That's where you're gonna quote, and then it puts the original post below. That's definitely worth more than a [00:07:10] reaction. There's also the send button, so you can just send it on the platform and DM this article to somebody.
[00:07:18] Aaron Makelky: And then in the top corner, if you hit the [00:07:20] three bars, I think this is poorly designed. On LinkedIn's part, there is a save and a copy link. And those definitely count because the whole time you're staying [00:07:30] on the post, the dwell time of the viewer. That's signaling to the platform, Hey, this person didn't just scroll by and ignore it.
[00:07:38] Aaron Makelky: And that's gonna push it [00:07:40] out to, to more people.
[00:07:46] Aaron Makelky: So when, when Dan says engagements beget more [00:07:50] impressions, let's go back to that for a minute and use an example. So John posts, uh, Hey, we're looking to hire this role. [00:08:00] Dan, pick it up from there. What's the highest engagement way that gets spun up in this whole model of engagements? Be getting impressions.[00:08:10]
[00:08:10] Dan Yu @danoyu: So if I bumping from my network to his job post, that'll serve it to the feed [00:08:20] of my, you know, my, my few thousand, uh, followers, him replying back to my post, uh, to my, sorry. [00:08:30] Comment will actually re-serve it back up to my followers. So John, you know, has 11,000 followers or so. Somewhere [00:08:40] in there I have 11,000. know, so has that, uh, network effect, right? So, know, 11 plus, 11 times two, right. You has a [00:08:50] greater chance of being seen.
[00:08:52] John Lovig: Minus two 50. 'cause that's our overlap.
[00:08:57] Aaron Makelky: And, [00:09:00] and I, I think what this helps explain, we all know this across social media platforms, but on LinkedIn it's definitely true. The controversial posts [00:09:10] that the comment section turns into a debate. We've all seen those where someone comes into John's thread, I was like, no, that's not how recruiting [00:09:20] in 2026 works.
[00:09:21] Aaron Makelky: And it could be John, it could be a, a follower of John's. And it turns into a whole threaded conversation in the comment section. [00:09:30] That idea that somebody had to stop and put their 2 cents, whether they agreed, disagreed, whatever. It, it's actually best. I think if you get both, [00:09:40] um, that's feeding this effect that Dan's talking where it's like, oh, people like it.
[00:09:44] Aaron Makelky: People keep engaging. The dwell time is driven up, the engagement rate is up. Push it out to another thousand [00:09:50] viewers, and we've all seen those. Dan Yu have a habit of texting us and kind of teasing us, like, oh, this post is at [00:10:00] a hundred thousand views. And I'm not sure why that's, that's the algorithm at work and it's, it's likely a.
[00:10:09] Aaron Makelky: A result of this [00:10:10] idea that early on, so the number of people throw out, I don't know if there's any official info or anyone at LinkedIn told you this, Dan, but the number that I always hear is there's a 30 minute timer [00:10:20] that starts when you hit post. Getting those engagements in the first 30 minutes are the most impactful, and your response to them as the original post or the [00:10:30] creator is most important in 30 minutes.
[00:10:35] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yeah, I mean, I, I had a silly post just the other day. you [00:10:40] know, and, uh, really did not add any value to the universe, and yet it's my best performing post in the past year. who knows, [00:10:50] right? I mean, other than, other than I did the work, right? And I, I reengaged back the replies.
[00:10:59] Aaron Makelky: Yeah, and [00:11:00] John and I would disagree that your post and add value to the universe because nostalgia on a Friday is a powerful drug on LinkedIn, and you have proved that to be true with [00:11:10] your inter-office mail envelope post 'cause I'm pretty sure that's the one you're referring to.
[00:11:16] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yeah, that's the one.
[00:11:18] John Lovig: I, one of my colleagues [00:11:20] had a high performing post and it was about Catherine O'Hara kind of what she learned having met her in person real quickly and, uh, [00:11:30] that performed really highly.
[00:11:33] Dan Yu @danoyu: Right.
[00:11:33] Aaron Makelky: So.
[00:11:34] Dan Yu @danoyu: you know, I, I'm sure this week actually, uh,
[00:11:37] John Lovig: I.
[00:11:37] Dan Yu @danoyu: about the Super Bowl or the [00:11:40] halftime show, I think those would have done quite well this week, you know, given, you know, given that it was just this past week.[00:11:50]
[00:11:50] Aaron Makelky: Yeah. Uh, what are some other. Controversial things on LinkedIn, Dan, that you have a hard line stance on. I'm [00:12:00] gonna tee one up for you. Back in the day it was all about hashtags and you would see a post that was maybe a few sentences of text, and then seven [00:12:10] lines of every conceivable hashtag it could possibly relate to.
[00:12:14] Aaron Makelky: What's your take on hashtags on LinkedIn in 2026?
[00:12:18] Dan Yu @danoyu: Well, my, my take [00:12:20] doesn't really count. And I'll tell you why, I was that person who would have a ton of hashtags. You have seen all, you've seen my post over the past three years, [00:12:30] Aaron, four years. John's seen from, you know, for the past 11. I used to be that guy. I was that guy. But after meeting with the LinkedIn [00:12:40] people, um, you know, they're the ones, they're the experts.
[00:12:43] Dan Yu @danoyu: They actually say hashtags. Do not work because it's all searchable, right? It's all searchable. So [00:12:50] don't even bother using hashtags anymore. It's a waste of your space. Use the space in your post to have some meaning, to add value, to [00:13:00] have a call to action, right? You know, at the end. But that's gonna have way more efficacy towards your audience.
[00:13:09] John Lovig: I [00:13:10] used to always, even our, our posts, I would do hashtag future proof yourself and now means nothing.
[00:13:19] Aaron Makelky: I [00:13:20] mean, my take on him is this, I think. They worked longer on LinkedIn than a lot of other platforms. Got rid of them openly, like they said. Do [00:13:30] not use these on our platform. The only value that I see is there is a little nostalgia for people like Dan and John who remember the old days. And it can be [00:13:40] a funny, punchy way to end a post, but it's definitely not gonna show up.
[00:13:46] Aaron Makelky: Algorithmically different. It's not gonna drive impressions [00:13:50] because of the hashtag. So if you're using it maybe as a tongue in cheek way, like hashtag, um, sorry, not sorry. Or hashtag. [00:14:00] You know, millennial nostalgia Friday, you know, it's, that's not really a conversation, but somebody might see that and laugh how you used it.[00:14:10]
[00:14:10] Aaron Makelky: Um, how about this one? We haven't talked, so raw responses. Dan, what about tagging people and brands in your LinkedIn posts?[00:14:20]
[00:14:20] Dan Yu @danoyu: Well, uh, this is just like replying back right when you reply directly back instead of just. Started to fill in that blank space. When you hit the reply button [00:14:30] and it actually tags the person back. That creates that extra, extra push, that extra nudge. But yes, tagging people in the original post for sure [00:14:40] will help, right?
[00:14:41] Dan Yu @danoyu: Because you are getting exposed to their networks. Maybe you want to tag, uh, if it's about LinkedIn, then tag at LinkedIn, [00:14:50] right?
[00:14:50] John Lovig: You are also, you're also more like. To get someone to engage in your post afterward. Right? Like if I, if, if [00:15:00] Aaron and I, uh, met for coffee and we were networking, like, great catching up at Aaron Makelky, uh, loved talking about X, [00:15:10] y, z, Aaron's gonna comment underneath and say something, you know.
[00:15:17] Aaron Makelky: Yeah, I, I have mixed [00:15:20] feelings and I think you guys have had this experience. You tend to be on the receiving end of a lot of tags from other people. If you are a linked and try [00:15:30] hard yourself, so we'll use Dan as an example. He posts a lot. He has a relatively large following. He's very active. I am sure he has people that at the end of a post go, oh, this'll [00:15:40] do better if I just do at sign.
[00:15:42] Aaron Makelky: That's what we mean by tagging Dan Yu. So he gets a notification and you know that's gonna ding him or show up in his feed. [00:15:50] I, I think it helps, but I also think it's annoying and I get tagged with stuff all the time that I just, I wish there was a polite way to say, don't let that [00:16:00] person tag me anymore, uh, without blocking them.
[00:16:03] Aaron Makelky: I don't know if that's a feature. If it is, I, I haven't
[00:16:06] John Lovig: Is a feature to disable being. Be tagged unless, [00:16:10] yeah, I think there's a feature to disable it.
[00:16:12] Aaron Makelky: selectively, or is it a all or nothing.
[00:16:16] John Lovig: I think it's all or.
[00:16:18] Aaron Makelky: Because I, I mean, I want you guys to tag [00:16:20] me. You haven't been in my safe space, you know, violating my LinkedIn feed like these people have. But if I could say let them, but I don't even wanna block this person's content. I just don't want them. [00:16:30] Using me as their mule in the tags and what I've seen, maybe it's just my network is where people used to put hashtags.
[00:16:39] Aaron Makelky: So the [00:16:40] bottom block of text on a LinkedIn post, it might've had 12 hashtags a year ago. Now it has 12 people they think will engage or have large followings, and they [00:16:50] just. Tag him. It's not like thanks to John, you know, at sign, him and my friend Dan, outside him. It's just a block of tags and to me it comes [00:17:00] across as an insincere attempt to just manipulate the algorithm and kind of farm the engagement.
[00:17:08] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yes, for sure. [00:17:10] It's, it's definitely even kind of creepy,
[00:17:14] Aaron Makelky: Yeah. Especially if it's what if they keep tagging you and you're not responding at what point? You [00:17:20] know the please LinkedIn people add selective, uh, blocking for tags. Uh, I'll say this about brands. I think most of them get tagged for negative things. People [00:17:30] complain they have a bad experience. They hate your product.
[00:17:33] Aaron Makelky: Remember who reads those? It's probably marketing and social media people. It's very doubtful that [00:17:40] some executive, like the CEO is not seeing every tag on LinkedIn. But they probably have a LinkedIn account. So if you really want to get those people's attention, if [00:17:50] they allow the tagging, you might want to think about who you tag at the company besides just the brand account.
[00:17:56] Aaron Makelky: 'cause the brand account is just some marketing person usually, [00:18:00] unless it's a really small company.
[00:18:03] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yeah, I, I, I also find that, um, you know, when companies will tag each other. [00:18:10] Right. As part of a, you know, friendly trolling game. I think those get a lot of traction, right? So maybe it's not a customer, a disgruntled customer, but [00:18:20] you know, someone wants to challenge, you know, Wendy's right? Or, you know, maybe Elmo, right?
[00:18:28] Dan Yu @danoyu: They wanna, they want to, [00:18:30] uh, you know, tag them. I, I think there's, um. Some good possibilities for gaining exposure, but I also think there's some risk too, right? [00:18:40] Because then you get in front of a massive audience that loves that brand potentially, right? And they'll, they'll flock there to, uh, to defend that brand and then you'll get ratioed.[00:18:50]
[00:18:50] Aaron Makelky: Yep. Definitely a risk reward factor that you have to think about before you do that. Uh, but [00:19:00] that's also a great way to get engagement. You know, if you flame John's favorite company, John's. Likely to jump in in the comments and say, actually I use their product and like 'em, or I know the CEO, [00:19:10] he's a great leader, whatever.
[00:19:13] Aaron Makelky: Um,
[00:19:13] John Lovig: say, oh, you're just using it wrong then.
[00:19:16] Aaron Makelky: yeah. Yeah. [00:19:20] Um,
[00:19:21] Dan Yu @danoyu: Error.
[00:19:22] John Lovig: I know how to patronize people.
[00:19:26] Aaron Makelky: how about let's talk content formats on LinkedIn that [00:19:30] work, and let's start with what the old school. Meta strategy was, so let's say in 20 23, 24, when I first started paying attention to [00:19:40] LinkedIn, it used to be about carousels. One of the big things was put a series of images. If you're not familiar with the term, it's when you swipe through the images.
[00:19:49] Aaron Makelky: Like the old [00:19:50] Instagram used to be. Um, that's no longer the way. It's still a way. But Dan, what do you know from your own experience and from talking to [00:20:00] people directly at LinkedIn in terms of, okay, I have an idea what content format and media type is best, or what strategy should I [00:20:10] use to make sure I get good reach on my posts?
[00:20:13] Dan Yu @danoyu: Uh, they actually recommended, you know, still using writing. Just, just write the post. I [00:20:20] think there's, uh, there's definitely a trend of people being more aware of what an AI post looks like, and so I, [00:20:30] you know, I'd recommend, you know, instead of using AI to write your whole post and then cut and paste, you know, that post into LinkedIn, I think it's, it will [00:20:40] help you to. To, maybe come up with an idea in first mile, you know, what you might want to say. But after that, I mean, I think, you know, [00:20:50] authenticity is still gonna be the way to do it. And so writing still works, right? I think there's an inundation of video that people are now using [00:21:00] LinkedIn, uh, with, uh, with kind of the same mentality in Instagram, and I think that's, um, it gets to be a little bit of a no, you know, uh, [00:21:10] noisy. the videos these days, but I think a photo still works, especially if it's got, um, an impactful kind of nature to it. Maybe, know, it's got, uh, [00:21:20] your face on there, but I also think that there's that trend of using way too many selfies right in, in the video, in, in your photo. [00:21:30] Um, so that's, uh, you gotta mix it up
[00:21:36] Aaron Makelky: Yeah. John, what do you like for content formats? So even if it's in [00:21:40] the written category, like how you structure it, the length, the style, there is a post versus an article. What do you like in terms of formats in [00:21:50] 2026?
[00:21:51] John Lovig: I think short and sweet works well. people don't read very long. I see people with walls of text. I'm like, I'm not [00:22:00] reading that. an article post to me. Right? A wall of text, not a LinkedIn post. I always find thi if you can bullet things like when I'm posting [00:22:10] opportunities, if I am posting like everything I'm currently working on and I bullet each one with some short info about it, I get a lot of engagement from that. Just like a [00:22:20] ton. Like I still get one from one I posted in November. I get like 30 views on it. So it's interesting and I, and I think that's what drives some people to [00:22:30] my profile. I'll get people come, you know, reaching out directly to me saying, Hey, I'm a product leader and I'm looking for work. Can you help me? You know, and we'll [00:22:40] chat. Um, the other thing is. I started doing this, actually at Dan's kind of suggestion, is I just write a [00:22:50] hook and then I space down spaces and post the rest of the content. So people have to expand. Um, [00:23:00] and I, I also, you'll see a post that I post later today, a little after this.
[00:23:04] John Lovig: 'cause I had a idea for a post because of this conversation. And I wanna see how much it gets in terms of [00:23:10] engagement.
[00:23:11] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yeah, it is probably a good trailer for, uh, actually when we, we, you know, finish and edit and then post this, [00:23:20] uh, podcast could be a good trailer.
[00:23:24] Aaron Makelky: Yeah. So let's talk hooks then, since John brought it up after some [00:23:30] research. As of February, 2026, how many lines does a viewer see? E on a text based post. So say they [00:23:40] open their feed, it loads Dan's post. How many lines of text can we see in that preview view? Anybody know[00:23:50]
[00:23:51] John Lovig: I think it's three.
[00:23:52] Aaron Makelky: it is three?
[00:23:53] Dan Yu @danoyu: I think it's two.
[00:23:55] Aaron Makelky: Ah, well, yes, you're, you're both right.
[00:23:58] Aaron Makelky: So I researched this, and [00:24:00] I'm gonna use this as an example of a way to use AI that doesn't do any sort of ideating and content. Adjustments on your own ideas. Purely the [00:24:10] formatting. The first line is a maximum of 62 characters, so that includes spaces, apostrophes, m dashes, if you are bold enough to use [00:24:20] those in 2026, although I still like 'em, I, I hate how we all say that's just ai, but you get 62 characters across that first line.
[00:24:28] Aaron Makelky: Your 63rd is gonna be on the [00:24:30] second line. That second line also will show a maximum of 62 characters, but Dan is correct. The third line has a more strict [00:24:40] limit of only showing 50. So if you have a word that goes from your 50th to your 56th character on that [00:24:50] third line, your viewer's gonna see an ellips season.
[00:24:53] Aaron Makelky: They're gonna have to engage with your post, which again, is a one of those engagements that begets impressions to expand it [00:25:00] out and see the rest of not only that line. But the whole body of your post, the strategy that I like and that I'm experimenting with right now, [00:25:10] John, sounds like he's doing a version of this as well, is only put text on two out of those three lines and it makes sense to do it on the first line.
[00:25:19] Aaron Makelky: So what I [00:25:20] do is either first line 62, second line 62 or less, third line blank. Or if you prefer, you can put the space on the second [00:25:30] line and go first line, double return. Know that your word's gonna get cut off at 50, and if you put it in the right spot that somebody's [00:25:40] brain goes, I just wanna know what the rest of the sentence says from that second line.
[00:25:44] Aaron Makelky: If you put it at. 50th character, they're gonna have to engage to [00:25:50] get the preview and pop it out. Uh, of course there's not guarantee it goes viral or we're not, we're not hypesters, but it feeds the algorithm. It counts as an engagement. It drives up [00:26:00] dwell time. And I think the psych expert on our podcast would agree that's ultimately what a hook does, is it opens a loop in your brain and you're like, I can't scroll [00:26:10] by until I know, until I hear the rest of the story or the mistake I'm making click.
[00:26:17] Dan Yu @danoyu: Yeah, it's, you could almost make it like a [00:26:20] cliffhanger, right? It's, the greatest thing you should know is,
[00:26:25] Aaron Makelky: Yep.
[00:26:25] Dan Yu @danoyu: and then ellipses.
[00:26:28] Aaron Makelky: I, I just did one [00:26:30] today on a company page where I talked about a commercial that was made and I put text, first line, second line space, third line [00:26:40] at 50. It was explaining the name of a commercial, so it basically says. Hey, for the Super Bowl we made a commercial about, and then it [00:26:50] gets cut off. I was like, why not?
[00:26:52] Aaron Makelky: 'cause even if they don't care about the content, then we're be like, wait, what's the commercial about? And they're gonna click that to expand. So play with [00:27:00] that. It might change. Uh, but that's also the limit on mobile. So not just desktop, that's people on their phones as well. Um, how about this? [00:27:10] What? What's your rule when you write an article instead of a text post, Dan?
[00:27:15] Aaron Makelky: Because you do both and you've done them a long time. You've seen them change. Is it a [00:27:20] word length? Is it just based on this idea? I know I wanna go deep, therefore, it's an article. How do you decide?
[00:27:27] Dan Yu @danoyu: Uh, not necessarily word length. Um, [00:27:30] it's, uh, kind of that I would think about. Like, is this content ev uh, potentially evergreen? So if it's [00:27:40] potentially evergreen, I'll make it an article so that it goes into the, a different bucket on your LinkedIn profile and then, then it becomes actually easily shareable.
[00:27:48] Dan Yu @danoyu: 'cause you don't have to go, you know, hunt [00:27:50] for it. Right. And plus, know, if you're posting often, then stuff can get buried in your feed. And so having it in the, uh, articles bucket, I think is a [00:28:00] good way to, uh, to at least save things in a different way.
[00:28:07] Aaron Makelky: Yeah, that's a great framework and not one that I've [00:28:10] thought of, and I should use that more is, is this something that someone will still find value in a year from now that becomes an article versus a, what's trending in February, 2026 [00:28:20] is definitely not gonna be evergreen, so that should just be a post.
[00:28:24] Aaron Makelky: Um.
[00:28:24] Dan Yu @danoyu: right. And I mean, my, my, my article, um, on LinkedIn profiles, it's from 2017. [00:28:30] We still, we all use it. Right. We use it in our classes. Um, and that's in my, that's in my, uh, articles bucket, you know, same thing with, uh, [00:28:40] the Jedi Mind Trick article for interviews. You know, it's a technique we still teach to this day, you know, and that's an article.
[00:28:48] Aaron Makelky: Yeah. How about [00:28:50] going into 2026, Dan, based on what you've learned from both your own experience on the platform, but getting to meet people at LinkedIn and be at their [00:29:00] headquarters, what are you changing about your content strategy on LinkedIn? Something you're gonna start doing, stop doing more of less of.
[00:29:07] Dan Yu @danoyu: I think it's, uh, part of it's gonna be how I [00:29:10] interact with the, with LinkedIn. So one of the cool things that LinkedIn, um, added recently is AI powered people search. So, [00:29:20] and then there's also AI powered job search. But let's just talk about the first thing the people search. If you want to find, you know, people that you know in [00:29:30] Barcelona, that also happen to be in marketing. You can do that. Like, oh, do I know this person? Or are they maybe one, [00:29:40] uh, you know, one connection away? You're kind of in that second, you know that, that second, uh, ring contacts, uh, I think that's gonna be an interesting, and then [00:29:50] maybe, you know, that's a way for you to target that person. Potentially with, know, some kind of a local message, right?
[00:29:57] Dan Yu @danoyu: So there's, there's that AI powered job search. I [00:30:00] think that's something that everybody should be researching. Um, this is so you're not, uh, spamming, uh, recruiters, right? And, um, you know, [00:30:10] wasting your time too, right? I mean, we, we don't wanna waste anybody's time, including your own. so you're having. Having that, uh, AI powered job search will really help [00:30:20] match your skills. Um, but as far as content is concerned, um, I think you're just trying to figure out what is the value add, know, on a. [00:30:30] On a day-to-day basis, and, and also really thinking about is it evergreen? What can I do to add value to the universe?
[00:30:36] Dan Yu @danoyu: Right? And, and just, not just pitch [00:30:40] something, like, not every post has to have a call to action, right? You wanna make sure that you're, you know, you're reading your audience. Especially like, you know, on a, on a [00:30:50] Saturday, you don't want to have a hard hitting post. You wanna have a nice, relaxed post Sunday too. Right. You wanna have a, you want to have a, a, a more serious post. Put that on [00:31:00] Tuesday at 10:00 AM.
[00:31:04] Aaron Makelky: Yeah, that's good advice to fit it to the mindset the audience is in Saturday, read the newspaper at [00:31:10] home, eating brunch versus Tuesday at the office with the the business mindset, John. What about you? What are you gonna do more of, less of, or change with your own content on LinkedIn in [00:31:20] 2026?
[00:31:21] John Lovig: I think for me it's just trying. I've finally built out a little bit of a content strategy that I'm gonna start to try and follow. [00:31:30] Um, I've already started to try and engage more in other posts. Um. I think just more volume of content that might be meaningful. Try not [00:31:40] to overthink it. Quick posts.
[00:31:45] Aaron Makelky: I'm gonna push.
[00:31:45] Dan Yu @danoyu: you?
[00:31:46] Aaron Makelky: Yeah, I was. Thank you. I was gonna offer my opinion whether anybody asked [00:31:50] or not. Uh, I'm gonna go the opposite direction of Dan, not because Dan's wrong, just because, uh, I have different experiences and I have done [00:32:00] less video than I realize I should have. And LinkedIn, like many other platforms, has this feature that'll say one year ago you had this post [00:32:10] in January of 2026.
[00:32:11] Aaron Makelky: I got that popup and I saw a fairly low effort video probably took. Five minutes of my life to make. And then I looked at my [00:32:20] analytics for the past year and it was responsible for something like 70 or 80% of the total impressions I had for the entire year from this one video. [00:32:30] And I had this thought, okay, I knew that was the case.
[00:32:33] Aaron Makelky: This was not a surprise. Why did I not post videos regularly [00:32:40] and the way that I view video and, and in my circles, which includes Dan and John, but also some people who are more video-centric and less text-based. Creators [00:32:50] video seems to have outsized returns, so I think of it like this video is swinging for the fences.
[00:32:56] Aaron Makelky: Every at bat, you'll strike out a lot. [00:33:00] You will have videos with very low impressions that are probably more time and effort for you to make than a text-based post or an image-based post. However, in my own [00:33:10] personal experience, it can also get spun up in the algorithm. Inexplicably, it wasn't a great video.
[00:33:16] Aaron Makelky: It didn't get a ton of engagements, like [00:33:20] 80, uh, comments right away or anything crazy. It just got put in a feed somewhere that got spun up and I have not had, uh, an [00:33:30] article, a text post, an image post, do anything like I have seen with my own videos. So I've already done more video this year than I did [00:33:40] last year.
[00:33:40] Aaron Makelky: Still not enough. But I think in terms of the media first, and then I think of the caption or the copy, and it's so funny to hear Dan, 'cause Dan is very [00:33:50] much a text-based person. Like I'll write this out and then maybe think what would go with it for a graphic or a picture. I actually think the opposite.
[00:33:57] Aaron Makelky: And most of mine is a screenshot [00:34:00] where I have an idea for a video and then I think, well, what do I write to go along with it? Either way works. It just depends on what you're most comfortable with and [00:34:10] what I see all the time is do the one that's least friction for you. If a video seems like too much work to pick this up and put a mic and edit it, that's totally okay.
[00:34:19] Aaron Makelky: You don't [00:34:20] have to do video, but if you go, oh, I stare at a blank screen and dunno what to write, then don't do it that way. Start with, you know, a graphic or a screenshot or [00:34:30] a picture, and then think backwards from there.
[00:34:34] John Lovig: I start with the graphic.
[00:34:36] Aaron Makelky: Yeah.
[00:34:36] Dan Yu @danoyu: and that's really funny that we all have three starting [00:34:40] points. But, um, I, I think the, to your point, Aaron, I, I think the editors that are, you know, they're, they're so easy to use now, right? So whatever, whatever app that you may use [00:34:50] it, maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's TikTok, right? Or iMovie, like the editors are so easy to use and you adding elements like music or whatever.
[00:34:59] Dan Yu @danoyu: [00:35:00] Just so easy. It's all right there. um, the,
[00:35:04] John Lovig: It's Descript.
[00:35:07] Dan Yu @danoyu: Maybe it's Descript,
[00:35:09] Aaron Makelky: Yep.
[00:35:09] Dan Yu @danoyu: we're gonna plug [00:35:10] them too. But, you know, the, the idea is that, you know, the, um, the friction that you may perceive it to be is really not there, right? And so, [00:35:20] you know, image-based post your video based, post Me, you know, using, uh, AI to first mile my, you know, a potential idea. [00:35:30] Like the friction is really kind of in your head. I think so, uh, I hope this encourages everybody out there to, you know, go ahead and try different things.
[00:35:39] Aaron Makelky: [00:35:40] Yeah, and I think the reason why video is more of a focus is for now there's a higher barrier to entry for the AI spam [00:35:50] cannons, and we all have seen people, whether it's their posts or their comments, that the text is clearly low effort, AI generated lop, and you should [00:36:00] curate your feed. You should report the post or block the person.
[00:36:03] Aaron Makelky: That's great. Um, but I do think that video, especially if you've been doing it and you look [00:36:10] like your profile picture, there is more of a trust in video. Not absolute trust, but more so than text, that this is an authentic, real idea from a human [00:36:20] not clawed or chat GPT.
[00:36:27] Aaron Makelky: So, uh, with that we care [00:36:30] about this. Use the platform post. Share your opinions and your ideas. Do not be a doom, scroller. Do not be a lurker. [00:36:40] Do not be a low effort. I just repost my company's thing once every six months. Share your own authentic insights, and if you have questions, DM [00:36:50] Dan or John or I. Uh, and also just look at them as an example.
[00:36:54] Aaron Makelky: And one of the fun things when you become a poster is you view other people's content differently. Instead of just consuming it, [00:37:00] you start to say, oh, I like the hook that John uses. I'm gonna try a hook in my own post. I liked that image that Dan did. I like how Aaron did the green screen video. I'll try one of [00:37:10] that, you know, my own content, but his format that he showed, and you can just plug and play from everybody else and figure out what works for you.[00:37:20]
[00:37:22] Aaron Makelky: Uh, and then finally, our website, future proof y u.com. If you are looking to take control of your [00:37:30] career in a very uncertain time, whether that's you're a job hugger, you're a job seeker, a career pivot. There's always something [00:37:40] calling you, but you're not sure how to make that switch. That's why we exist, and our website has tons of free resources.
[00:37:46] Aaron Makelky: We have a blog. We do live classes in the spring of [00:37:50] 2026. Every other week we have a live class, including topics like a LinkedIn quickstart guide. And, uh, ace the interview. So especially [00:38:00] if you're somebody who's interviewing in a industry or a format like on Zoom that you're not used to. John is our resident psych expert and has been [00:38:10] through tens of thousands of interviews.
[00:38:11] Aaron Makelky: So he teaches our students how to. Ace those and be confident and then send us a message. If you have [00:38:20] questions, need help, career ideas, LinkedIn content, reach out to us. We also have future proof you on our LinkedIn company page, [00:38:30] so, uh, I have been your host, Aaron Makelky. Thank you co-host John Lovig and Dan Yu for your time and your expertise.
[00:38:37] Aaron Makelky: We are future-proof you. This is the Go F [00:38:40] Yourself podcast. Go make some awesome content on LinkedIn, everybody.