Gen Z's Next Side Hustle: Building a LinkedIn Live Panel Agency

Gen Z's Next Side Hustle: Building a LinkedIn Live Panel Agency

LinkedIn, once perceived as the domain of Boomers and older Millennials, is rapidly becoming a crucial platform for Gen Z professionals and entrepreneurs. While TikTok and Instagram remain dominant for personal branding, LinkedIn is where Gen Z is increasingly focused on career advancement, networking, and establishing thought leadership. This shift presents a unique business opportunity: a LinkedIn Live panel agency specifically geared towards helping businesses connect with this demographic. The core idea, stemming from the Turkish phrase “LinkedIn Live panels yapın” (meaning “do LinkedIn Live panels”), is to become the go-to resource for organizing, moderating, and promoting impactful LinkedIn Live events.

Understanding the Target Audience (Both Clients & Talent)

This business operates on two key target audiences. Clients are businesses – from startups to established corporations – looking to reach Gen Z. They understand the need to be present on LinkedIn but often lack the internal resources or expertise to create engaging Live content. They’re seeking to build brand awareness, generate leads, position themselves as industry leaders, and recruit talent. Their pain points include low engagement, difficulty finding relevant speakers, and a lack of understanding of LinkedIn’s algorithm.

Talent is the Gen Z professionals themselves. These are the rising stars, the early adopters, the individuals with unique perspectives and valuable insights. They’re eager to build their personal brands, network with industry leaders, and demonstrate their expertise. They often lack the platform or connections to reach a wider audience independently. This agency acts as a bridge, connecting these two groups.

Services Offered: The Agency's Core Value Proposition

The agency will offer a tiered service model:

- Panel Concept & Topic Development: Brainstorming relevant topics that resonate with Gen Z, aligning with client goals. This includes keyword research for LinkedIn SEO.
- Talent Sourcing & Vetting: Identifying and recruiting Gen Z panelists with relevant expertise and strong online presence. This involves LinkedIn searches, outreach, and vetting for presentation skills and audience engagement.
- Panel Moderation: A skilled moderator (potentially the agency founder or a contracted Gen Z professional) to guide the conversation, keep it on track, and ensure audience participation. This is -critical- for a successful Live panel.
- Technical Production: Managing the technical aspects of the LinkedIn Live broadcast, including setup, sound quality, and visual presentation. This could involve training clients on LinkedIn Live functionality or providing full production support.
- Promotion & Marketing: Creating a pre-event marketing strategy to drive registration and attendance. This includes LinkedIn posts, email marketing (if applicable), and potentially paid LinkedIn advertising.
- Post-Event Reporting & Analytics: Providing clients with detailed analytics on viewership, engagement, and lead generation. This data is crucial for demonstrating ROI.
- Content Repurposing: Turning the Live panel recording into shorter video clips for wider distribution on LinkedIn, TikTok, and other platforms.

Tools of the Trade

- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: For identifying and connecting with potential panelists and clients.
- LinkedIn Campaign Manager: For running targeted LinkedIn ad campaigns.
- Canva: For creating visually appealing promotional graphics.
- OBS Studio (or similar): For professional-quality live streaming production (if offering full production support).
- Google Workspace/Microsoft 365: For project management, communication, and document sharing.
- Calendly/Acuity Scheduling: For scheduling meetings with clients and panelists.
- LinkedIn Analytics: For tracking event performance.
- Descript/Otter.ai: For transcription and editing of panel recordings for repurposing.

Monetization Strategies

- Project-Based Fees: Charging a flat fee per LinkedIn Live panel organized and executed. This is the most straightforward approach.
- Retainer Packages: Offering monthly retainer packages that include a certain number of panels per month, along with ongoing support and analytics.
- Panelist Placement Fees: Charging panelists a small fee for inclusion in a high-profile panel (this needs to be handled ethically and transparently, ensuring value for the panelist).
- Content Repurposing Packages: Offering additional services like video editing and content repurposing for an extra fee.
- Sponsored Panels: Connecting clients with potential sponsors for their panels, taking a commission on sponsorship revenue.

Marketing the Agency (To Gen Z & Beyond)

The agency itself needs a strong LinkedIn presence. Content marketing focused on LinkedIn Live best practices, Gen Z insights, and case studies will be crucial. Leveraging TikTok and Instagram to showcase the agency’s work and attract potential panelists is also important. Networking within Gen Z professional communities and attending relevant industry events (both online and offline) will help build brand awareness.

Scaling the Business

Initially, the agency can be run as a solo operation. As demand grows, it can be scaled by hiring freelance moderators, graphic designers, and video editors. Eventually, building a team of dedicated Gen Z professionals will be key to maintaining the agency’s core value proposition and staying ahead of the curve.