Informed: the podcast for LinkedIn® users
John Espirian
"Informed" is for you if you'd like to understand more about how LinkedIn works so that you can be an effective user of the platform.
It's hard to know whom to believe with so many self-appointed gurus out there telling you the latest hacks for going viral and earning 7-figure deals. And even LinkedIn's own publications often don't speak to the reality of using the platform.
But for those who see past superficial promises and sanitised reports, this podcast provides evidence and thoughtful opinion. With a track record of more than 10 years of sensible, no-nonsense advice about honest best practice for LinkedIn, Informed is a trusted source of insight by many thousands of regular listeners.
The show was created by Mark Williams, who's affectionately known as "Mr LinkedIn". Mark retired in late 2025 and handed over the reins of the show to John Espirian, the relentlessly helpful® LinkedIn nerd. John is a LinkedIn trainer and consultant, the founder of the Espresso+ community, the creator of the UpLift Live conference (the UK's original event dedicated to LinkedIn best practice), and the author of the personal branding handbook Content DNA.
John's reputation is for getting to the point and for not being a salesy douche canoe, so you can expect short, sharp episodes with zero ads or sponsored slots. This also is NOT an interview show, so if you've read this far then please don't pitch yourself for a guest appearance. However, you're welcome to get in touch if you have a LinkedIn question you'd like John to cover on the show. (To do that, search for the "Informed podcast" company page on LinkedIn and send a message.)
This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the LinkedIn® corporation. John Espirian is an independent trainer and does not work for LinkedIn® – while it would be great to have LinkedIn's endorsement, the show's independence from the corporation means you, the listener, are never fed an airbrushed political spiel.
It's hard to know whom to believe with so many self-appointed gurus out there telling you the latest hacks for going viral and earning 7-figure deals. And even LinkedIn's own publications often don't speak to the reality of using the platform.
But for those who see past superficial promises and sanitised reports, this podcast provides evidence and thoughtful opinion. With a track record of more than 10 years of sensible, no-nonsense advice about honest best practice for LinkedIn, Informed is a trusted source of insight by many thousands of regular listeners.
The show was created by Mark Williams, who's affectionately known as "Mr LinkedIn". Mark retired in late 2025 and handed over the reins of the show to John Espirian, the relentlessly helpful® LinkedIn nerd. John is a LinkedIn trainer and consultant, the founder of the Espresso+ community, the creator of the UpLift Live conference (the UK's original event dedicated to LinkedIn best practice), and the author of the personal branding handbook Content DNA.
John's reputation is for getting to the point and for not being a salesy douche canoe, so you can expect short, sharp episodes with zero ads or sponsored slots. This also is NOT an interview show, so if you've read this far then please don't pitch yourself for a guest appearance. However, you're welcome to get in touch if you have a LinkedIn question you'd like John to cover on the show. (To do that, search for the "Informed podcast" company page on LinkedIn and send a message.)
This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the LinkedIn® corporation. John Espirian is an independent trainer and does not work for LinkedIn® – while it would be great to have LinkedIn's endorsement, the show's independence from the corporation means you, the listener, are never fed an airbrushed political spiel.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 29, 2020 • 58min
LinkedIn Stories
LinkedIn have announced that they are currently testing Stories. This short form, 24-hour type of content was made popular on Snapchat and Instagram. Will it work for LinkedIn?Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Feb 22, 2020 • 1h 4min
A New Era Awaits
I’m back! What an amazing holiday that was and I’m not going to lie…this week has been really difficult with jet-lag coupled with a desire to stay in Thailand forever somewhat messing with my workflow!! So what happened whilst I was away? In short – not much but what did happen was massive! Jeff Wiener is stepping down and will be replaced by Ryan Roslansky. I’m not sure how much this was covered whilst I was away but let me tell you…This could be HUGE! So in this episode, I want to look back at the reign of Jeff and dig into the background of Ryan to assess how much things will change under his leadership. I also have a brilliant new feature to tell you about And a post of the week.Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Feb 1, 2020 • 1h 7min
Are You Relevant?
Welcome to episode 277 which should have been 278 but I failed to get an episode out last week so apologies for that. Despite missing a week and thereby needing to search the internet back across the last 2 weeks, I found hardly anything of interest! It seems Jan is a very quiet month for LinkedIn news – checking back this time last year was exactly the same! We do, however, have a brilliant post of the week to talk about as well as the main subject of relevancy.Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Jan 18, 2020 • 57min
The Delights & Downsides of Direct Messaging
Welcome to the second episode of the year. I’ve been seeing some great results on LinkedIn through direct messages (DM’s) recently and yet 12 months ago, I was recommending people only send them with people they already know well. So what has changed? More of that later but as usual I will start with… Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week...Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Jan 10, 2020 • 1h
A Review of 2019
Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of 2020! I thought it would be a good idea to start this year by looking back and what was a fantastic 2019 for LinkedInformed. In this episode, I will reveal the top ten episodes of last year as well as reminding you of what we covered in the top five of those. I also have a post of the year for 2019 and an overview of the challenges that lay ahead for LinkedIn.Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Dec 21, 2019 • 1h 2min
The Last Episode of the year
Welcome to episode 274 and Merry Christmas! I think the week before Christmas is one of my favourites of the year. It’s never a busy time for LinkedIn training so I get to enjoy the build-up to the Christmas break…Christmas shopping, which largely involves answering the door to the Amazon delivery person these days! Plus carol concerts, Christmas films on TV and lots of nice messages from customers, associates and listeners to the show. Unfortunately, Christmas is not always a happy time for everyone and I want to spare a thought for my buddy Steve Phillip. Steve bravely wrote an article this week announcing that he had recently lost his son to suicide. I’m close to Steve and when he told me the unexpected news I was completely numb with shock. I know it’s supposed to be a jolly time of year but I would ask all of you to take a few minutes to read his heartbreaking article..it’s important because we all need to more aware of the dangers of mental health issues. I have two main topics to cover this week – the new LinkedIn groups features and an Article written by a listener to the show ‘Lessons from my 2019 Linkedin experience’ In addition, I have some feedback from last weeks show, a couple of new features LinkedIn are testing and a fantastic post of the week.Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Dec 14, 2019 • 1h 3min
#&@
Hashtags and @mention tagging. Two often misunderstood and misused features of LinkedIn. Should you use them and what are the best techniques.Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Dec 7, 2019 • 56min
Top Voices 2019 – Should We Listen?
This weeks episode is mainly dedicated to this years 'Top Voices' list. Whilst there are certain aspects of these lists that I find bewildering, it is also a genuine opportunity to discover great content producers and assess why they are successful Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Nov 30, 2019 • 1h 3min
Best of LinkedIn Pages 2019
LinkedIn have announced the top 10 company pages of 2019...but are they actually any good?Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
Nov 22, 2019 • 50min
Is The Algorithm Messing With Us?
Welcome to this weeks episode in a baron week for news I’ve been noticing some subtle changes that suggest LinkedIn might be testing out falsely boosting the distribution of reshares – this got me thinking about a much broader issue about how much LinkedIn try to control our behavior.Mentioned in this episode:This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.
