UpLift Live - Mission Control: Gus Bhandal

Mission Control: Gus Bhandal

09/27/23 • 8 min

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Here's another member of the Mission Control organising team for the UpLift Live conference. It's marketing expert The M Guru aka Gus Bhandal.

TRANSCRIPT

The important thing about being there in person is that you get access to the speakers, there's no separate areas or anything like that. Basically, we're going to be one big happy family on the day.

Welcome back to the UpLift Live podcast. This is John Espirian from the Mission Control team for UpLift Live, which is the UK's first LinkedIn-focused conference for LinkedIn specialists, power users and enthusiasts.

It's time to speak with another member of the Mission Control team, and our interviewee today is The M Guru, Gus Bhandal.

Let's hop aboard and get to the interview with Gus!

OK, Gus Bhandal, welcome to the UpLift Live podcast.

You are one of my co-organisers for this conference.

Gus, for people who don't know you, tell us, who is this M Guru person? Thank you, John.

It's a pleasure to be a part of not only the Mission Control team, but you know, part of this recording as well.

So, my name is Gus, I run a business called The M Guru.

And the M stands for marketing.

I'm a marketer of numerous years of experience, 20 plus.

And what I do is I help businesses with their marketing.

Over the last few years or so, 3 or 4 years, I've specialised in LinkedIn, particularly in terms of content creation, getting people to be better at LinkedIn, and how to improve their LinkedIn presence, quite frankly, to get clients, to have conversations, to make friends and ultimately to make money.

Yeah, nice one.

And so you've got an interest in LinkedIn.

But why a LinkedIn conference? I know why I want to go to a LinkedIn conference.

What do you think about this one? Having worked in social media for a number of years, I know that the phrase digital marketing and social media and all that is such a massive phrase, and it kind of encompasses so much, and quite frankly, it's encompassing even more.

So, we started with the likes of Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.

And now we've got kind of BeReal and Clubhouse and T2 and Spill and all that.

And it's just never ending.

And I think particularly having a LinkedIn-focused conference, because I believe that LinkedIn is the platform for everybody.

I think it's the all-singing, all-dancing platform that covers everything for everyone.

And I think every business owner, senior executive, team leader, etc., should be on LinkedIn.

So, I think a LinkedIn-focused conference would be really good for the UK to make sure that we to make the most of the platform because I think it's the one platform that a lot of people have trouble with, but also the one platform that we can also make the most out of.

Yeah, nice one.

And you as part of the Mission Control team, I mean, you know so many people, and you go to so many events, so you've got some events experience as well, which I don't really have.

So, I've got domain experience with LinkedIn, but things like organising an event, organising a venue, thinking about maybe a pre-party or anything like that, is just totally alien to me.

So, we are going to be doing the conference, actually, well not in your home city, but near enough: it's going to be in Birmingham.

Tell us something about how you recommended that place, or what people should expect when they come to Birmingham? Absolutely.

I go to an incredible amount of networking events, conferences, etc., all over the world.

I believe that networking is massive.

I believe it's very important for business owners and lots of people to kind of to meet other people and get to know other people etc.

And I've, you know, in previous roles, kind of employments, I've run a lot of conferences myself, gala dinners, etc.

So, I like to think I know what I'm doing.

But at the same time, I also have a good handle on what makes a good event and what people would need, particularly in Birmingham, it's practically the centre of the UK, it's in the Midlands.

It's about a 20-minute drive from my home.

So, it's, it's perfect for me.

But it's great.

It's very easily accessible.

The venue itself, I actually went to an event there last year, and I thought, this venue will be perfect.

A, because it's massive.

It's got a massive screen, it's got a big stage.

It's got lots of networking opportunity, space.

So, I think it'd be ideal for our conference as well.

Yeah, nice one.

I mean, I haven't seen the venue yet, as the time we record this, but we are going to be visiting it together soon.

But when you were telling me about it, I was thinking, yeah,...

Here's another member of the Mission Control organising team for the UpLift Live conference. It's marketing expert The M Guru aka Gus Bhandal.

TRANSCRIPT

The important thing about being there in person is that you get access to the speakers, there's no separate areas or anything like that. Basically, we're going to be one big happy family on the day.

It's time to speak with another member of the Mission Control team, and our interviewee today is The M Guru, Gus Bhandal.

Let's hop aboard and get to the interview with Gus!

OK, Gus Bhandal, welcome to the UpLift Live podcast.

You are one of my co-organisers for this conference.

Gus, for people who don't know you, tell us, who is this M Guru person? Thank you, John.

It's a pleasure to be a part of not only the Mission Control team, but you know, part of this recording as well.

So, my name is Gus, I run a business called The M Guru.

And the M stands for marketing.

I'm a marketer of numerous years of experience, 20 plus.

And what I do is I help businesses with their marketing.

Yeah, nice one.

And so you've got an interest in LinkedIn.

But why a LinkedIn conference? I know why I want to go to a LinkedIn conference.

So, we started with the likes of Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.

And now we've got kind of BeReal and Clubhouse and T2 and Spill and all that.

And it's just never ending.

And I think particularly having a LinkedIn-focused conference, because I believe that LinkedIn is the platform for everybody.

I think it's the all-singing, all-dancing platform that covers everything for everyone.

And I think every business owner, senior executive, team leader, etc., should be on LinkedIn.

Yeah, nice one.

And you as part of the Mission Control team, I mean, you know so many people, and you go to so many events, so you've got some events experience as well, which I don't really have.

So, I've got domain experience with LinkedIn, but things like organising an event, organising a venue, thinking about maybe a pre-party or anything like that, is just totally alien to me.

So, we are going to be doing the conference, actually, well not in your home city, but near enough: it's going to be in Birmingham.

Tell us something about how you recommended that place, or what people should expect when they come to Birmingham? Absolutely.

I go to an incredible amount of networking events, conferences, etc., all over the world.

I believe that networking is massive.

I believe it's very important for business owners and lots of people to kind of to meet other people and get to know other people etc.

And I've, you know, in previous roles, kind of employments, I've run a lot of conferences myself, gala dinners, etc.

So, I like to think I know what I'm doing.

But at the same time, I also have a good handle on what makes a good event and what people would need, particularly in Birmingham, it's practically the centre of the UK, it's in the Midlands.

It's about a 20-minute drive from my home.

So, it's, it's perfect for me.

But it's great.

It's very easily accessible.

The venue itself, I actually went to an event there last year, and I thought, this venue will be perfect.

A, because it's massive.

It's got a massive screen, it's got a big stage.

It's got lots of networking opportunity, space.

So, I think it'd be ideal for our conference as well.

Yeah, nice one.

I mean, I haven't seen the venue yet, as the time we record this, but we are going to be visiting it together soon.

But when you were telling me about it, I was thinking, yeah,...

Previous Episode

Speaker announcement: Richard van der Blom

1 Recommendations

Our final speaker announcement is a Dutch superstar based in Valencia, Spain. It's the man who knows all about the LinkedIn algorithm, Richard van der Blom.

TRANSCRIPT

Back 2 years would practically do nothing for the reach.

Now, you get more people to repost your stuff, it accelerates your growth.

It's time for our final speaker announcement, and this time we're shooting over to Spain to speak to a Dutchman. It's social selling and LinkedIn algorithm expert, Richard van der Blom.

Let's hop aboard and get to the interview with Richard!

Richard van der Blom, welcome to the show.

You are going to be a speaker at the UpLift Live conference in Birmingham in March. Welcome aboard.

Tell us, what do you know about LinkedIn? Thank you, John, first of all, thank you for having me both here on the show and in March in Birmingham.

What do I know about LinkedIn? I guess I'll know quite a bit, just like I think all the other speakers.

Have been active on LinkedIn since 2005.

Started to give my first LinkedIn training back in 2009.

So, what I'll probably bring to the stage is about plus 14 years of experience on how to leverage this platform to grow your business.

Basically, that's it, to grow your business, whether you are a solo entrepreneur or a marketing professional, or whether you are in B2B sales.

And that's basically what I hope to share with the audience.

Awesome.

And you're well known for your skills in social selling, but I think probably most people who are watching this or listening to this on the podcast will know you for your algorithm report.

You've become really famous for that.

And you've got more than 140,000 followers, mostly off the back of that, I would guess.

Yeah.

Tell us a little bit about where the algorithm report came from, and what kind of insights people get from that.

Yeah, well working with, so, my main focus is to work with mid-size, larger enterprises.

And back in 2018, we had two enterprise clients.

And they were baffled by the fact that when they publish a white paper or a really well-thought article, they would reach, let's say, 5000 views.

And they were baffled by the fact that if they would publish like a team picture of like, any event that they would participate in, like, I don't know, half the marathon at Boston, they would get like 30,000 views, and they were like, we want to switch that, you know, we want to have 30,000 views for the article and just 5000 views for them.

So, they started to ask us questions.

And back then we only knew from our own experience based on our own postings what would happen, but we could only guess, and then I teamed up with some really amazing people.

And they helped me to, I delivered them with the questions and they started to research like what happens if somebody likes if somebody comments what happens if you change the post in terms of format.

And basically, we released like an algorithm report in October 2018.

That was the first one and it was actually shared first with the two clients.

And they were very, very enthusiastic about it.

So, I thought, OK, let's just publish it.

And it went like, it blew up.

I remember I had almost 1 million views on that post, which was for me back then it was like huge.

And so that was a start, actually.

And back then I didn't thought even about redoing the same thing next year.

I just thought like, OK, it's a one time exercise, job done.

And then I think it was something in May 2019.

May, June 2019.

And people actually came back to me and said, like, are you going to do the research again this year, because we have seen some changes.

And that was when like, it occurred to me like, hey, maybe if we do this on a more regular basis, then you know, people would benefit from it.

So, we started to do it again, October, same month, 2019.

It went even bigger, we have more data because we were more prepared, we know how to examine it.

And that's actually how it started, and indeed you're right.

That's when also my personal growth accelerated my personal page accelerated because social selling is really cool but it's rather boring to post on but if you post like the secrets of LinkedIn content, algorithm, well, you probably know that, then people like really want to have this and really grabbed you know.

Yeah.

And tell me do you agree that the pace of change on LinkedIn is speeding up...

Next Episode

UpLift Live "LaunchPad"

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Got a ticket to the UpLift Live conference? This high-value freebie is for you!

TRANSCRIPT

How do you feel about getting an UpLift Live freebie? Let's talk about it.

Welcome back to the podcast. I am John Espirian, part of the Mission Control team for the UpLift Live conference, which is the first LinkedIn-focused event of its type in the UK.

We're going to be getting together on Thursday 21 March 2024 at Millennium Point in Birmingham in the UK, for a whole day of learning and networking with some of the apex operators of LinkedIn.

We struggled to contain our excitement at the full set of 8 speakers, which has now been announced through our blog and this podcast and our company page and other LinkedIn posts.

I should say as well that my interview with Mission Control member Gus Bhandal is now live on the podcast, so do check out that 8-minute slot with him.

Now, I'm not good at keeping secrets and it was particularly hard with the speakers because I'm so proud of the lineup.

And now we have another offering for you. I'm sharing this here on the podcast as a bit of an experiment, to see who is really eager for what I'm about to say.

So, here's the thing: every time I've been to other conferences, there's been a little trepidation about who you're going to meet, what it's going to be like. And I think it's possible to address at least the first of those things by having some sort of get-together beforehand.

And indeed, our plan for the night before UpLift Live is to get together and host an informal gathering of our attendees so that we can break the ice in Birmingham.

But I think we can do better than that and get to know each other before anyone arrives in Birmingham. So, my plan is to run something called the UpLift Live LaunchPad. This will be a set of Zoom calls over the course of the next 6 months, so that people who have bought a ticket can join a group call and get to know each other while also asking me any questions they have about the event.

Now, if you're an Espresso+ member then you'll be used to our regular monthly Q&A calls. This LaunchPad idea will be separate and in addition to that, and available to anyone who has an in-person UpLift Live conference ticket, regardless of whether you're a member of the Espresso+ community.

So, to be clear, membership of Espresso+ is not a requirement here, and neither is it a free pass to the calls. If you have an in-person conference ticket, you're welcome to come to the calls; otherwise, this ain't for you.

As I record this, I haven't set a date for the first UpLift Live LaunchPad call. I'm interested in seeing what people think of the idea, so if you're hearing this shortly after this podcast goes live, then you'll be one of the very first to know about the idea. Drop me a DM on LinkedIn if you want to take part. And if you haven't got your ticket for the conference yet, now is the time: tickets are available at uplift-live.com

The Mission Control team recently visited the venue in Birmingham. It's called Millennium Point and it's a fantastic multi-purpose venue ideal for this conference. I thought it was really fitting that it's built on top of a science museum, given the outer space nature of our branding for this conference.

And the auditorium itself looks fantastic: it's got comfy chairs and a giant screen, and I think we're going to have a great time there in March. It felt like being in an upmarket cinema, and I really can't wait to see our apex operators show what they're made of on that stage very soon.

OK, that's it. Please do get in touch if you've got a ticket and want to be part of the UpLift Live LaunchPad calls on Zoom. I'll get timings sorted soon and we will probably be aiming at late afternoon UK time, to cater for most of the time zones of our likely attendees.

It's going to be great to get to know each other a little bit better and to build up the excitement to the UK's first LinkedIn-focused conference.

Until next time, this is John Espirian for Mission Control, saying ... over and out.

UpLift Live Mission Control

🟦 John Espirian

🟩 Jeremy Freeman

🟧 Gus Bhandal

TICKETS: uplift-live.com

QUESTIONS/FEEDBACK: [email protected]