10 minute read
LinkedIn Ninja
Story and Interview by JASMINA SIDEROVSKI
If 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.
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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.
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. It was always my favourite platform as it was the closest to direct marketing from my Diploma in Marketing days.
Can you walk us through the process of developing your brand/ reputation as an entrepreneur?
The business name came from the Certification. People seemed to remember the Ninja part so I thought it’s obviously catchy might as well register the name with ASIC. Regarding my branding, I often still to Japanese themes as that’s where the Ninja originated. Visually this is strongest on Instagram.
My logo has a sword, adapted from the USA LinkedIn Ninja who also has a Male Ninja on hers. Didn’t like the idea of that, so I simplified it to just the sword with an orange handle and the same blue as LinkedIn uses.
One thing I do regarding my personal brand is I also speak on stage with an Asian inspired top or dress. When you have a great theme name like a ‘Ninja’, it can be reflected in what you wear just like Red Balloon CEO Naomi Simson, who always wears red. I didn’t want to be locked into LinkedIn’s blue or a karate type shapeless uniform of white with a black belt. So, I decided to be inspired by traditional Asian clothing such as the Cheongsam. It’s a little more glamourous and doesn’t lock me into one style or colour, yet an Asian look every time (which is not very common in a room full of people).
What are the valuable lessons you have learned along the way in the business industry?
Number One lesson, surround yourself with people smarter than you, and equally don’t believe someone is an expert just because they say they are. Do your homework; there are a lot of sharks out there.
Who is your inspiration, and why?
I admire different people for different things. There are famous people like Oprah Winfrey for being such a pioneer in her field and being one of the wealthiest women in the world. However, there are also people I know personally who have overcome enormous tragedies in their lives, and they are still soldering on beyond it all.
What is your favourite pastime when you aren’t working?
Watching my kids get super excited when I play with them. Being a part of something they are interested in (no matter how boring I find it) is very bonding. Video games on their Nintendo Switch are the main one. They saved up the money with chores for over six months to purchase it, so they really value it. I’ve played a lot of Mario Cart now!
Tell us about your podcast partner Jane Jackson? How did Jack & Jill become a brand in itself?
In 2017 LinkedIn Local events were popping up all over the world, and I saw this early on had the potential to become very big. I jumped onto Sydney and was the 23rd location to embrace the concept and organise these events. I knew that if I was giving LinkedIn lead generation advice, many many people have questions about career transition, and it isn’t something I do or have interest in. However, I’d been referring to Jane leads for years, so I asked her to co-host with me. We’ve always had the philosophy ‘if it isn’t fun, we aren’t doing it’. A year into the monthly events, we realised our names together made Jack & Jill, and we’d been talking about starting a podcast for ages by then.
The natural name for the podcast just had to be ‘Linked into Jack & Jill’. Therefore, just like people remembering The LinkedIn Ninja, we figure Jack & Jill was pretty easy to remember also. Jane and I are also very different; she was educated with a tinge of a British Accent, so she speaks a little like the royal family. And me? Well, I’m as Australian as they come so people shouldn’t ever be left guessing which one of us is speaking on the podcast. The podcast is about all things LinkedIn from the lead generation perspective from me and her careers and job-hunting perspective. Our dynamic works well as I don’t hold back with how uninterested I find recruitment.
Do you support any charities or contribute to the community in any way?
I’ve always been a charitable person. I’ve supported animal charities since my first wage set up automatic deductions. Humanitarian issues are more recent, especially since I became a mother and abuse, homelessness and their welfare are more to the forefront of my mind. When Covid19 hit Australia, I was hearing
more and more humanitarian-based charities were suffering from corporate sponsorship stopping. I felt compelled to do something about this. I figure if I could teach the managers of these charities how to post and manage their LinkedIn activities better, it might soften the blow or create new sponsorship for them.
So, I decided to offer a scholarship to my flagship 12-week program. What they didn’t know is that I was going to take up to 30 of them—Yep 30 scholarships valued at more than $3k each.
I put out a post on LinkedIn and asked connections to tag CEO’s of charities that might like to apply. Just a one-page application nothing outrageous. But the application was more a test than a deciding factor. After all, how can you choose between domestic violence and cot death, childhood sexual assault and hospice care for children under 16? An impossible decision to deifier who was less deserving. The application was really to gain commitment in a short time frame. After all, if they couldn’t fill in one page in three days, how could they commit to 12 weeks?
Twenty-seven people put their hand up in that post but only eight filled in the application. So, all eight scholarships were awarded to a truly inspiring bunch of people who I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with. At the time of print, we are at week seven, so only just halfway through the program, but some participants have already set up meetings with potential sponsors for once Self Isolation lifts.
I think having a scholarship participant should become a part of each 12-week program I offer from this point. It could make a big difference to a lot of people over time.
What do we not know about Jillian Bullock?
Married, mother of two beautiful boys, also mother to two fur rescue babies. Fluffy Catso short-haired domestic cat, rescued as a kitten from being thrown into a bin. Herbert my loyal Australian Terrier cross Jack Russell who was on death row at two years old. He was fired from being Head of Security at the LinkedIn Ninja Downunder HQ as my staff recognised, he was more suited to Head of Health and Wellbeing.
Achievements/ awards
1998 Completed Diploma in Marketing
1999 Completed a Cert III in Advertising and Communications (PR)
2002 Started Business as Marketing Consultant
2014 Completing the 12 months LinkedIn Ninja Black Belt Certification
2015 USA The LinkedIn Brain Trust Top 200 LinkedIn Trainers Worldwide list
2015 European Top 150 LinkedIn Trainers list (only 8 Aussies made it – only three are still in business).
2017 Worked with LinkedIn HQ in USA on a 12-month project with 11 other LinkedIn Trainers (all the rest in Northern Hemisphere). We are allowed to say we were recognised as ‘Independent LinkedIn Experts’. See Jenae Kaska’s LinkedIn recommendation on my profile on 28 Oct 2019.
2018 Winner ‘Best Use of LinkedIn Australasia’ SMMI Social Media Marketing Institute.
2019 Top 50 USA LinkedIn Rockstar’s Worldwide List. Ranked 24 Oct 2019
2019 Finalists ‘Best Use of LinkedIn Australasia’ SMMI
2020 February No1 USA LinkedIn Rockstar’s Worldwide List
