Among other topics, this week's show is about LinkedIn voice notes. I love them!

Postbag

Mark Lee voice note on spam comments

Niraj Kapur has sent a voice note about AI, based on the content of last week's episode.

I'll be sending more voice notes from now on – see my guide on LinkedIn voice notes

My average post length based on 5 years of data

I want to do more guest podcasts! See my past appearances on other podcasts

LinkedIn's weekly sharing tracker now gone. There are more than 10 such updates coming in the next LinkedIn Roundup for Espresso+ members.

LinkedIn Local in Birmingham: join us on 6 March.

There's now a "living" LinkedIn newsletter that links to all my episodes of this podcast and that I will update each week.

Is AI coming for all our jobs? That's the main topic this week, with lots of resources for you to check out so you can work out on which side of the fence to fall.

Anon: How can I make my Featured items look the same size?

Other topics in this week's show:

Something Big Is Happening AI article by Matt Shumer

Frank Prendergast has shared a voice note about this. Check out Frank's podcast with Justin Collery: The AI Argument

See this annotated version and podcast as a rebuttal to Matt's article, produced by Ed Zitron.

About that Matt Shumer post – another rebuttal, by Gary Marcus.

Watch a clip of Mustafa Suleyman, CEO at Microsoft AI, speaking to the Financial Times about what AI will do to white-collar jobs.

LinkedIn Local programme to shut down at the end of 2026.

LinkedIn action on automated comments

LinkedIn Future of Work fund open till 15 March 2026 – apply here

What's your oldest post on LinkedIn?

Bonus content I found after recording: check out episode 11 of The Last Invention, which includes interviews with Ed Zitron and Gary Marcus.

This week's show comes out early to remind you of this weekend's price rise for the UpLift Live 26. We have an interview with our final speaker, the host of the Nudge podcast, Phill Agnew.

Postbag

Ashley Leeds: Premium banner image buttons

Caryn Yuen: Some experts say that sharing glimpses of your personal life can help build your brand and make it easier for your audience to connect with you. How important do you think this is? How often should one be doing this? How do you decide what’s worth sharing, and what’s not?

———

Phill Agnew interview: our final speaker at UpLift Live 26 on 26 March 2026. Get your ticket at uplift-live.com and see all speaker interviews at uplift-live.com/speakers

More in this episode:

1. Conference planning video
2. Banner image size blog
3. About those post-it notes

Being away for a week in Milan did wonders for people asking me questions for the show!

Richard G Abrahams: As a fiction author, given that time learning and using social media is time not spent writing and editing fiction, and given that LinkedIn is a business platform, is there really any value for me to go through the learning curve to promote my novels? Will I really get return for the effort?

Ashley Leeds: How are LinkedIn group recommendation emails generated? How is your Espresso+ podcast on Apple?

Kate Clark: What's your view on LinkedIn events?

Caryn Yuen: Some experts recommend posting daily to build your personal brand, and some even suggest posting multiple times a day. What posting frequency would you recommend on LinkedIn, and why?

Also in the show:

Updates on my speaking gig in Milan, with slides for Espressians.

Banner image safe zone tip

Saves and sends – how to access what you've saved

Link click analytics

MS earnings call FY26Q2

Open Profile Premium messaging

Top Voices UK

UpLift Live price rise to £299 on 14 February. Get your tickets for our third annual conference in Birmingham on 26 March soon!

This week we look at audio pronunciation on your profile.

Sara Gallagher: How can I realistically tell what advice is applicable to me, and what "works" because of the skewed sample but won’t in the broader LinkedIn universe? Does it just come down to trial and error?

1. Is your security certificate valid?
2. Recording an audio pronunciation
3. Mystery speaker for UpLift Live 26 – who is it?

Illiya Vjestica is running a bonus UpLift Live 26 webinar on Thursday 5 February at 4pm, on the topic of presentation best practice. This one's free for all ticket-holders to the 2026 conference.

Main topic is how others can be your marketing department via their recommendations and video testimonials.

Postbag

Mark Lee: I’m wondering what would happen if I chose to start another newsletter on a different topic potentially of interest to a different subset of my connections. Do all my connections get notified of the new newsletter? Does it have an impact on what happens with the other newsletter? Do all new connections get notified that I have two newsletters?

Do off-topic posts work?

Dates and times on posts

Recommendations and video testimonials

What is real and what is fake on LinkedIn? We're looking at some fake accounts this week.

Gillian Whitney voice note

Can anything be done to stop DMs fragmenting when sending LinkedIn recommendations?

LinkedIn security fake account

Update on fake LinkedIn security accounts via Guy Strijbosch

Where did all the Top Voices go?

Keep your headline short: check out some tips on the importance of making a quick impact with your profile headline.

Our most recent LaunchPad call went well, and now we're offering a conference discount to Informed listeners.

Use INFORMED to get 20% off an in-person ticket to UpLift Live 26. That offer is valid until 11.55pm UK time on Saturday 17 January, and then it's a 10% discount after that.

Happy New Year!

Postbag

Hanne Møller – reposting your own post

Caryn Yuen – hashtags

I know LinkedIn has removed the ability to follow hashtags, but people can still use them. Some include hashtags within the body of their post to draw attention to certain words, while others add several at the end in a more Instagram-style approach. So what purpose do hashtags actually serve on LinkedIn now?

My top LinkedIn questions

1. Where do I start?
2. What do I post about?
3. Should I post personal stuff?
4. How do I approach people?
5. Do I need LinkedIn Premium?
6. Should I switch to creator mode?
7. How do I increase my Social Selling Index (SSI)?
8. Should I put links in posts?
9. Do I need a company page?
10. How do I get more engagement and visibility?