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Commenting is one of the most underrated relationship builders on LinkedIn, especially if you want to stay on people’s radar without cranking out content nonstop.

But most people comment in a way that does nothing, or worse, makes things weird.

You know the two classics:

1. “Great post!” (nothing burger)
2. And the thoughtful comment followed by an immediate pitch DM. (instant ick)

In this Story Snack, Stacy Havener breaks down how to comment in a way that actually builds familiarity and trust over time, without sounding awkward, annoying, or desperate.

Listen in to hear:

How to choose which posts to comment on so allocators and prospects start seeing you everywhere (in a good way)
The “what NOT to do next” move that instantly turns goodwill into cringe (and what to do instead)
The mindset shift that will help you stop overthinking and start commenting like a real friend giving out high-fives (not weird pitch slaps)

Because the people who’ve consistently shown up for Stacy on LinkedIn? She’d run through a wall for them.

That’s what you’re building toward when you do this the right way. Tune in to learn the right way to approach commenting on LinkedIn.

This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized, jam-packed series for fund managers who are ready to master strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.

TRANSCRIPT

Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.

[00:00:00] Stacy Havener: Craving more knowledge, but don't always have time to sit down for a five course meal. Take a quick snack break with story snacks. Bite-size content to feed your funnel. Each short episode features Stacy digging into one question. This series has our talking stories, sales, and so much more. Oh yeah. It's time for story snacks.

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[00:01:57] Got a question in the mailbag here [00:02:00] on one of my fav topics. LinkedIn. Let's see what we've got here. Okay, we have ... It's a great question. I want to engage with allocators and prospects on LinkedIn without coming across as desperate. What's the right way to comment on posts without being awkward or annoying?

[00:02:22] Good one. This is a great question. And also, you know what I wanna add? Awkward and annoying or desperate. So let's deal with awkward and annoying first, and then we're gonna talk about the desperate part. Look, commenting is a really powerful way to engage on LinkedIn. There are points of view that say commenting can even be as powerful, if not more powerful, than creating.

[00:02:50] And for sure when you're starting out on LinkedIn, and really at all times, commenting should be a big part of your strategy. And the reason is [00:03:00] because it's social media. Social. That means, like, talking to each other. Not standing on a, you know, grandstand, giving a TED Talk, and then writing off into the sunset and not talking to anybody, which is kind of what a lot of people do on LinkedIn.

[00:03:20] So the idea of engaging, commenting on other people's posts is a great one. The most basic way to do this without being awkward or annoying is actually to say something meaningful. Okay? I'm not gonna say that this comment is awkward or annoying, but it's a complete nothing burger. When you go onto someone's post and say, "Great post."

[00:03:45] I mean, thank you. I am a big fan of any sort of positive affirmation and reinforcement, but, like, that's not going to maybe have the power of reading the post, saying great post, and then continuing on, [00:04:00] "What was great about it? What did you like about it? What maybe would you add? What different point of view should we all be thinking about here?"

[00:04:10] The idea with comments is what can you write that adds to the conversation? And the reason that that's great is because the person who wrote the post might see it and be like, "Oh, that's a really interesting point," and respond back to you. And, oh, by the way, as those conversations keep going, all the people who follow that person or are also commenting are also seeing your comment.

[00:04:33] So it can be super powerful, but I think the way we go about it is easy button would be just say great post, great post or hire some bot or something. I don't even know how you do that, but I do think people do that. I feel like I see it on mine sometimes, like some AI commenting thing happening. Lame, okay?

[00:04:53] If you're gonna do it, do it right. And that means show up and add something to the conversation, [00:05:00] responding to what the person took the time to write about. Also, you know, thinking about whose post to comment on is part of this as well. So if you know you have a certain target market and there is a creator who has a larger following of that exact target market, super smart to engage on those posts.

[00:05:22] I have had comments of mine on on posts that get more views than my own posts, okay? So like if it's a big creator, people are gonna see that comment. So I think it's a really powerful strategy. Awkward and annoying only happens, you know, if you're awkward and annoying about it, don't do that, okay? So that's step number one.

[00:05:44] But now I wanna talk about desperate because I don't want you to be desperate either. These are all things I don't want for you in this year. So desperate would be something like you comment, even if it's thoughtful, and then you immediately hit [00:06:00] them up in the DMs and you say, "I have a fun. Do you wanna buy it?

[00:06:03] Or some version thereof. Not cool. Not cool. No one wants that. No one wants that kind of pitch slap action in their DMs, okay? And so just because you commented doesn't give you permission to unsolicited pitch someone. That's like knocking on someone's door and then here you are, like, holding a fact sheet when they open.

[00:06:27] We don't wanna do that because that is not only desperate, it's awkward and annoying, because now I have to figure out how ... I liked your comment, but now you're sort of showing up at my DMs and I don't love what's happening there. The easiest way to reframe this is to stop trying so hard to sell something.

[00:06:47] Instead, like repoint that energy into trying to be a friend, trying to be somebody who's supportive. It takes a lot of courage. I think we all know it takes a lot of [00:07:00] courage to post on LinkedIn. And the people who have shown up for me over the years, like I would do anything for them. I would run through a wall for them because in my moments of vulnerability and feeling awkward myself, they were there.

[00:07:17] So after that trust and likability is earned, then you probably do have permission to say, "Hey, would it make sense to jump on the phone and talk about ways that we could potentially do more together or whatever that might be or grab a cup of coffee or something?" But if you go the direction of, "I want to be a nice person and a good friend," before you're like, "I wanna deliver a killer pitch and, you know, close this deal," I think we're all better served for that.

[00:07:45] So I hope that's helpful. But I love the commenting. Definitely do it. Let's be real. No one wakes up and says, "I can't wait to build some operational infrastructure today." You're here to manage money, to build something that lights you up, [00:08:00] not chase down reports across five systems and 15 service providers.

[00:08:05] That's where Ultimus Fund Solutions comes in. They're your ops dream team, consolidating all your middle and back office chaos into one clean, scalable setup. Registered funds, private funds, SMAs, all integrated. One team, one tech platform, one rock solid source of data. But here's the real differentiator, service.

[00:08:31] I know that fund in a box sounds convenient, it's also a box. Know what you can't put in a box? A human who picks up the phone when you call and need help. Real life people who know your name and your fund and they care about getting it right. Ultimus was built on people doing business with people. You get institutional strength combined with boutique, level service without getting stuck in a phone tree of doom.[00:09:00]

[00:09:00] If you're ready to simplify scale and start working with a team that feels like an extension of yours, check out billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus. That's U-L-T-I-M-U-S. You've got the investment strategy, the vision, the track record. Now it's time to upgrade the engine behind it all with Ultimus. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

[00:09:31] The information is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any of the funds, services, or products, or to adopt any investment strategy. Investment values may fluctuate, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. All opinions expressed by guests on the show are solely their own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those at their firm.

[00:09:51] Manager's appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacy Havener or Havener Capital Partners.

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