KEY INFLUENCER
JILLIAN BULLOCK LinkedIn Ninja
Story and Interview by Jasmina Siderovski
I
f you want to have a successful career, maintaining an online presence on LinkedIn is crucial. Not only is it an effective way to network with other professionals in your field, but it can get you noticed by others and potentially land you several job opportunities. It’s an invaluable tool for job search, recruitment, engaging content, groups, recommendations and endorsements, boosting and creating a strong online presence of your organisation. LinkedIn has over 660 million in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe. Fifty-seven percent of LinkedIn users are male, and 43 percent are female. Meaning the platform is one of the top social networks today. It’s the world’s most dynamic professional networking platform to build connections in various industries, keep in touch and up to date with the industry news, economy, environment, business, sales, publishing, medicine, technology, innovation and more. As a LinkedIn user myself, building a network and close contacts, I have found the enriching qualities and possibilities LinkedIn has to offer members on all levels. Admittedly, a relatively new addition to the family, I have in a short period built a small but quality empire of contacts, friends and professional advocates in all fields. One of these amazing people is LinkedIn Ninja, Jillian Bullock. Jillian lives in Sydney, Australia and is a LinkedIn icon with a wealth of knowledge, experience and advise at all levels. Her calm and collected nature have a strong online presence and a fan club of thousands of experts in similar fields. Always waving her magic, Jillian weaves through challenges and has integrated LinkedIn engagement in marketing plans and sustainability for numerous organisations. Whether it is her workshops on Linked, or merely gathering diverse women to build community, continuously learn, be involved, and spread the word, Jillian is active and passionate about helping women leaders, and aspiring leaders, find their voice on and offline.
24 | eYs Magazine, Winter 2020
Jillian is a professional who brings all of the skills and expertise of a specialist. She is one of the best in the industry. An ambassador for Australia and mentor for thousands of professionals around the globe. Her core values are built on growth, great relationships on LinkedIn and time management for organisations building their brand. She has empowered, coached, and facilitated workshops, podcasts, and even has her very own LinkedIn show. Before being in business over the last 18 years, Jillian Bullock’s background was in various Corporate Marketing Positions. She always knew she wanted to run a small business ever since her teenage years. Her corporate days entailed thorough research into how business and management work side by side. In 2002 Jillian felt she was ready to do it solo and commenced as a Marketing Consultant in the Finance Industry, given her years of abundance of experience. As Social Media began to catch on, more and more of her clients approached Jillian about the new trend. Due to popular demand, Jillian knew it was her new career path.
When and why did you become a LinkedIn Ninja? In 2013 my company had increased to 14 staff, and we were managing LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus (remember that one?) accounts for people. One of my outsourced copywriters was Ohio based. The USA based LinkedIn Ninja was a colleague of hers, and she was looking to expand the brand outside of the USA. However, over a dozen Aussie’s had already applied, and they either couldn’t prove ROI, or there wasn’t a synergy with personality and business goals. My copywriter put us together. Once I commenced studying the LinkedIn Ninja Certification, it was a massive wake up call. I realised just how little I knew about LinkedIn. I decided if I was managing LinkedIn accounts for others but knew very little, how much didn’t I know about the other platforms too. It was during that year that I decided to finish the outstanding contracts with my clients and completely change the business to training and consulting instead of managing, as well as becoming exclusive to LinkedIn.