Episode 99: How to Add Personality to Your Posts (Without Losing Your Professional Edge) | Story Snacks Series

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Let’s be honest: writing for LinkedIn can feel like walking a tightrope.
You want to sound smart, credible, and professional.
But also… like a human.

In this Episode, Stacy shares the exact approach she uses to walk that line between being personable and credible (and to generate leads for her firm, Havener Capital, in the process).

Listen in as she breaks down:

How to use the 5 Pillar framework to post with both authority and authenticity
Why your “boring” hobby might be the thing people remember you for
How sharing your quirks could actually build more trust, not less
One challenge that’ll help you ditch the jargon and sound more like you
And what your LinkedIn photo really needs to stand out (hint: it’s not the perfect blazer)

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.

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TRANSCRIPT

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

[00:00:00] Stacy Havener: Hey, my name is Stacy Havener I'm obsessed with startups, stories, and sales. Storytelling has fueled my success as a female founder in the Toughest Boys Club, wall Street. I've raised over 8 billion that has led to 30 billion in follow-on assets for investment boutiques, you could say, against the odds. Yeah, understatement.

[00:00:24] Stacy Havener: I share stories of the people behind the portfolios while teaching you how to use story to shape outcomes. It's real talk here. Money, authenticity, growth, setbacks, sales and marketing are all topics we discuss. Think of this as the capital raising class you wish you had in college, mixed with happy hour.

[00:00:46] Stacy Havener: Pull up a seat. Grab your notebook and get ready to be inspired and challenged while you learn. This is the Billion dollar Backstory podcast,[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] 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 Stacey digging into one question. This series has her talking stories. Sales. And so much more. Oh yeah, it's time for story snacks.

[00:01:24] Stacy Havener: How do I add personality to my posts when I'm trying to be professional? Ah, yes. The professional question. 'cause we all wanna be profess the vibe. I'm in a channel here is professionals, are still people. Okay? We can be wicked smart. And still be cool. We can be ourselves and still be very good at our jobs.

[00:01:50] Stacy Havener: So I'm gonna use a five pillar content framework. Okay. Five signature content pillars of the five, [00:02:00] four can be professional work related. Like what do you wanna be known for? Maybe your differentiator, something unique in your process. All of the profess stuff. One of those five pillars should be something that's more personal.

[00:02:16] Stacy Havener: It could be a hobby you're really passionate about. It could be something that you do in your five to nine as opposed to your nine to five. For me, in my signature content pillars, I usually try to weave in something related to soccer or being a female founder in finance, like things that are more about the heart perhaps, but less about like what I'm doing.

[00:02:41] Stacy Havener: In my day job related but not the same. Okay, so there's five signature content pillars. Four can be professional, one should be personal. Now, as we're forcing you when you're writing content to like you got that pillar, you have to touch on it somehow. Some ways you can do that if you're writing three posts a week.[00:03:00]

[00:03:00] Stacy Havener: Which would be like the minimum we would recommend. Then make one of those something more personal. And if you use the document, don't create framework. That could just be something that you did during your week. Maybe you ran a 5K, or maybe you went to your favorite restaurant, or maybe you were on your boat.

[00:03:17] Stacy Havener: I don't know. Something like that you're doing in your personal life, so to speak. So three posts a week, one of them make it. In a post, even in your other two posts that are very professional, try to challenge yourself to include two phrases that are written the way you talk. For example, I have said profesh about five times so far in the answer to this question.

[00:03:43] Stacy Havener: I might actually put the word profesh into my post. I think there's a tendency when we're writing to use the like SAT words and to be really. Smart and professional in our language. And sometimes that can do us a [00:04:00] disservice. So challenge yourself to include just some STAs or some yous in your content.

[00:04:07] Stacy Havener: And the last one is have a one element that is like quirky. Or like a you thing. So maybe I include a lyric from something because I like rap and thinking lyrics. Maybe I reference Dunking Donuts. Maybe I just include some little thing that lets people see you quirks your eccentricities, because those are actually the things that are very endearing.

[00:04:38] Stacy Havener: So I'm getting ready to redo my LinkedIn profile picture. Do you have any advice? I do, and I'm laughing because my most recent trip to London, there was a group of about six or seven fund managers and myself and my colleague Anna, and we met for drinks at the pub. It was a [00:05:00] very sunny, lovely day. It was wonderful.

[00:05:02] Stacy Havener: And somehow we ended up. Pulling up everybody's LinkedIn profile and analyzing their profile pictures and trying to figure out who had the best and who had the worst. So this is a very recent conversation and very real conversation that I've just had with fund managers. So I'm very grateful for this one.

[00:05:21] Stacy Havener: Alright. First thing, I know you're professional and I know you're smart and I know you smile. I know you can smile. I know you have teeth and I want you to show them. And it's not just because I'm saying it, it's because from a behavioral perspective, when people see a photo of someone and their teeth are showing, they are more relatable, approachable, likable, trustworthy.

[00:05:49] Stacy Havener: Like you want to connect with them. There's something about the teeth. Okay? I don't know. I don't make the rules. I'm just telling you how, how it goes down. So I want you to smile. I [00:06:00]understand it can be extremely awkward to get this photo taken. So my advice, bring someone with you. Okay? Bring a friend, bring a colleague, you know, have a buddy essentially for this profile picture.

[00:06:14] Stacy Havener: Go together and guess what? Like talk to them. And laugh with them and have the photographer take the pictures while that's happening. If you just stare at the camera and smile, you're gonna look weird. I'm telling you right now. Okay? No one wants a weird, creepy smile. We want like a real genuine smile.

[00:06:34] Stacy Havener: All right? The second thing is wear what you wear in real life. If you do not wear a suit jacket and a tie, do not wear your suit jacket and tie to the profile picture because you think that's what people expect. 'cause you're professional. So wear what you wear. Like right now I have on a black, I don't know, what is this?

[00:06:52] Stacy Havener: Jean Jackety kind of thing, and a black tank top and jeans. And guess what? If you met me in real life, I might have this on. [00:07:00] So wear what you wear. Show up as you are, not as you think people want you to be. And the last piece of advice I have on this one is Canva is your new best friend. If you have not met my friend Canva, I am introducing you to her right now.

[00:07:18] Stacy Havener: Canva is an app, a software application. Um, you can get it on your phone, you can get it on your computer. If you are doing this on your own, you need Canva. Okay. Because you can take a photo, like if a friend is taking a picture of you, which is okay, that's allowed. Then you wanna take that picture, put it into Canva and do some editing, like play with the lighting, fix the background.

[00:07:43] Stacy Havener: There's lots of things that these apps can do. Now, I'm not saying like blur all your wrinkles and like come out of this looking like a robot to create a profile picture that is professional looking. This the D means. Have a background [00:08:00] that's maybe a bright color, you know, zoom in so people can actually see your face.

[00:08:04] Stacy Havener: Like, don't have it. So zoomed out that like nobody has any clue what you actually look like. The whole point is for them to see your face and your smile, and to have something memorable behind you. So a color from your brand guide or just something that really pops. If you're having these photos professionally done, hopefully that person can help you do that.

[00:08:25] Stacy Havener: But I mean, even my professional photos, my LinkedIn photo is a professional photo, but I changed the color of the background in Canva because it was gray and now it's gold. So Canva. Your best friend. I hope that helps. Are you an investment boutique looking to grow your business and need a little help?

[00:08:48] Stacy Havener: If you feel like you're fighting for the spotlight and well still stuck in the shadows of the bigs, join us in the boutique investment, collective Haven's new membership community dedicated to the specialist in the investment [00:09:00] industry in the collective. We'll guide you through the billion dollar blueprint we've used to help boutiques add over $30 billion in a UM, you'll refine your story.

[00:09:09] Stacy Havener: Focus on your ideal target market and practice your pitch. You'll rethink your marketing materials, rewrite your emails, and refresh your differentiators. We'll even help you step up your LinkedIn game and give your profile a makeover. You wanna grow your biz, we've got your back. Learn more about the collective, the curriculum, and the amazing coaches who will help you on your journey.

[00:09:30] Stacy Havener: Visit Haven or capital.com/collective high five. Hope to see you in a coaching session soon.

[00:09:44] Stacy Havener: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. 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 [00:10:00] fluctuate and past performance is not a guide to future performance.

[00:10:03] Stacy Havener: All opinions expressed by guests on the show are solely their own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those at their firm. Manager's appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacey Haven or Haven or Capital Partners.

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