We’re forever telling advisers and planners how powerful LinkedIn can be.

But it’s one thing to hear it from us. It’s quite another to hear it from your peers who are already using LinkedIn to build trust, start conversations, and grow their businesses.

When I thought about financial service professionals doing fantastic work on LinkedIn, two names came to mind straight away. Say hello to Rob Atherton (Melbourne Capital Group) and Jay Dhaliwal (Chase de Vere).

I asked for their real-life lessons about what works (and what doesn’t) on LinkedIn.

Here’s what they said.

1. What’s one LinkedIn tip you wish you’d known sooner?

Rob

“Every week, use your full allocation of connection requests. This will help you build up your network faster in a controlled and reliable way.”

Jay

“That LinkedIn isn’t just for recruiters or finding a new job! I had always been under the impression that LinkedIn was essentially a virtual CV and only updated my profile or network with information related to my career development. This was further enforced by the number of messages I received from recruitment consultants on a regular basis.

“However, I believe that the real value of LinkedIn comes from building relationships over time – my network has grown massively because of it, and I’ve connected with some really inspirational individuals in recent years! Sharing insights, best practice, positivity, and supporting others in their own journeys is now what I use it for.”

2. How do you come up with ideas for your LinkedIn content?

Rob

“I’m constantly thinking about financial planning and business. These are my hobbies and passions. Malaysia, food, current affairs, travel, culture, and football also feature. Again, I am passionate about all these topics, so it is easy to come up with content.

“I also open up my personal life, which I think is important. As I think and reflect on financial planning, business, the world around us, and life in general, I get my ideas for posts. I try and balance the serious with some fun/banter.”

Jay

“My LinkedIn content usually revolves around insights that I think others might find useful – the events I’ve attended or the initiatives that I’m involved with – such as the Personal Finance Society POWER Panel, becoming a governor for the secondary school I attended (King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls), and the educational workshops I lead to teach finance to 16 – 18 year olds.

“These are all topics that I’m very passionate about and would like to raise more awareness of, especially as a young, female financial adviser. One of my new year resolutions for 2025 is to post at least once a week, so in all honesty, I’m probably still figuring it out for myself!”

3. Why should financial advisers/planners take LinkedIn seriously?

Rob

“Many reasons. Increased social capital. Increased advocacy. Increased trust and reassurance. To raise the profile of our wonderful profession. I could go on.”

Jay

“LinkedIn is a fantastic platform to build your profile, trust, credibility, and long-term relationships with clients. I have also found it’s a great way to build professional connections and relationships with other financial advisers in the profession, as well as solicitors and accountants that may be in a position to give client referrals at some point in the future.”

4. If you could only post about one topic for a year, what would it be and why?

Rob

“About the advice gap. We desperately need to attract more people into financial planning. This means those changing careers, young people, and women. It is a wonderful profession, but we are in danger of becoming extinct! From 200,000 to 27,800 authorised financial planners says it all. Yet it is the most wonderful profession.”

Jay

“My mantra for life is “work, gym, travel” so I would like to find a way to incorporate more of this into my content and share the knowledge that I’ve gained in these areas of life too. I’m a Chartered independent financial adviser, I’ve been weight training since 2014, and I’ve travelled to 32 countries. A healthy balance of these three things keeps me happy, but creating a travel blog has been on my bucket list for a while… so I think it would be travelling!”

5. What types of posts have performed best for you, and why do you think they worked?

Rob

“Authentic posts from the heart. Nothing contrived or fake. They work because they are real. You will also notice that some posts gain little traction. This is fine. I want to get my messages out. It is for someone else to decide whether it is relevant or not. Don’t post for other people. Post for you based on your beliefs and passions. People will spot fake and contrived over time.”

Jay

“The types of posts that have worked really well for me are those where I’m able to show snippets of my personality, my career development, success as a young financial adviser, and the positive things that I’m doing for the profession as a whole. It’s often commented that financial advisers can seem too corporate at times, but there’s a saying that “people buy from people”, and I have found this to be somewhat true.

“I’ve been in the profession for 10 years, and advising for six of those years, but when I first tried to make the jump from admin/paraplanner to advising, it felt like an almost impossible task! In sharing my own journey, I’ve received quite a few connection requests and messages from newer advisers, and I think it’s very important to help where I can.”

6. Whose LinkedIn profiles do you learn the most from?

Rob

“I don’t! While I enjoy the content of others, they are uniquely themselves. Why would I copy? I do, however, learn from the conversations I have on Teams and direct messages from followers. It is the 99% of people who don’t comment who ask me questions that provide the real inspiration based on their insights.”

Jay

“There are definitely too many to name, but Sam Oakes is someone whose journey I’ve been following for a while. His Financial Planner Life podcast is one that I regularly tune into, as I’m really interested in hearing other people’s stories and learning how they did it.

“I recently met him for the first time in person at a Hoxton Wealth networking event, and the level of knowledge he has is very clear to see. He is also someone who regularly gives his time to help others and genuinely wants the best for this profession, and I really admire that.”

Time to turn inspiration into action

If there’s one thing we can take from Rob and Jay’s advice, it’s that LinkedIn works best when you keep it simple. Show up consistently, add value to your network, and let your personality shine through.

An effective social media strategy is built over months (even years) of trial and error. It takes time to discover what works for you and your audience. That’s why 60 of your peers have fast-tracked their results by joining our LinkedIn workshop.

We’ll show you exactly how to:

• Design a profile that speaks to the right people
• Create value-adding content that actually gets engagement
• Use LinkedIn strategically to win new business, not just likes.

Our next workshop is scheduled for Wednesday 6 August between 10 am and 1 pm.

Click here to secure your space and take the guesswork out of LinkedIn.

PS. Who should I ask for their tips and tricks next?