I could not have Justin Welsh’s superstar standing on LinkedIn with half 1,000,000 followers, however my journey is price sharing. With simply 30,000 engaged followers on LinkedIn, I managed to take my consulting enterprise from a $0 startup to a thriving $100,000 yearly.
I began as a content material advertising advisor, forsaking my nine-to-five company engineering job in 2018. My LinkedIn grew to become my enterprise’ lifeline, connecting me with purchasers and international manufacturers, whereas giving me the liberty and adaptability to earn extra.
Whereas I loved my stint as an engineer at an enormous company, I quickly realized it wasn’t for me. I needed to construct one thing of my very own with a versatile schedule and higher pay. I needed the possibility to community with business leaders and work with extra distinguished manufacturers.
I had dabbled in content material advertising, however that second 5 years in the past was once I began taking freelancing extra critically. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than LinkedIn grew to become my go-to platform for constructing consciousness about my companies, discovering thrilling initiatives, and networking with potential purchasers.
It’s been a protracted journey with numerous trial and error to get to the place I’m now. There are such a lot of issues I want I had realized sooner — which is why I took all of my core classes and created this information that will help you construct your LinkedIn following extra sustainably.
Be aware: There’s no proper or mistaken “technique” to develop your LinkedIn following. What issues most is how sustainable is a technique for you, not for 100 different individuals. Components comparable to how a lot time you’ll be able to dedicate to LinkedIn, your expertise with content material creation instruments at your disposal, your writing expertise, and present connections play an enormous position in your success.
LinkedIn progress ways that labored for me
There are numerous ways that folks swear by — submit six instances each week, publish a carousel, textual content, video, all the pieces abruptly, remark underneath no less than 50 posts as quickly as influencers hit publish, and so forth.
The issue? It’s unsustainable.
You’re most likely going to create content material for a few days, get overwhelmed by these quantity-first methods, and abandon your LinkedIn content material creation journey. That is particularly probably if you happen to’re an introvert or nonetheless undecided on whether or not or not LinkedIn is “proper” for you and value investing effort and time into.
I’ve been there — I’d create an enormous Notion database with content material concepts, join a social media administration software, and await my posts to go viral.
After posting constantly for per week or two, I bought respectable engagement. However the dopamine shortly pale as a result of I had constructed this large content material machine earlier than I used to be prepared for it.
However after years of experiments (each failed and profitable), I’ve lastly cracked develop your LinkedIn account sustainably whereas driving nearer to your targets.
Listed here are 5 issues I’ve achieved and extremely advocate that will help you develop your LinkedIn following:
1. Discover your distinctive standpoint
To face out, you must have a particular standpoint (POV). Whenever you parrot another person (or lean too closely on AI-generated content material), it’ll quickly grow to be a painstaking endeavor to create content material repeatedly.
However while you mix private experiences into your content material, it’s a lot simpler and extra handy to maintain going. Plus, it’ll make sure you stay genuine, which, in flip, will aid you construct belief and credibility along with your followers.
This implies leaning in your wins, failures, errors, decision-making processes, character, and instincts. Give it some thought: there are literally thousands of professionals on the market who work in your area of interest. Is it doable everybody has the very same day-to-day duties? Or does everybody share the identical challenges and have the identical decision-making processes?
Your experiences and the way you understand them are distinctive. The difficult half is discovering and sticking to your POV. It’ll take a few first ugly drafts (FUD), however over time, it’ll grow to be second nature.
Right here’s an train you are able to do to seek out your POV:
- Take into consideration your core values and beliefs. One thing that different individuals could share however aren’t strongly opinionated about: discover one thing you genuinely care about and are obsessed with.
- Do you have got a contrarian tackle a norm? Assume lengthy and onerous about it — for instance, many firms put intense sources and time into hiring the proper individuals however don’t spend sufficient time constructing a information vault for simpler product information switch and higher onboarding.
- Dig deeper into your private life experiences. For example, I’m a software program engineer turned marketer. So, I usually speak about engineering ideas like agile and sprints and sprinkle them throughout my content material to focus on my previous experiences and construct a way of familiarity with my viewers.
- Contemplate tapping into your private pursuits, comparable to baking, gardening, touring, or studying. Then, use that as a catalyst to your content material. Use phrases and metaphors out of your pursuits to clarify the core matter of your LinkedIn submit. Amanda Natividad is a wonderful instance of this — she is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and usually shares cooking metaphors, recipes, and photos of fantastic home-cooked meals on her socials and publication.
It would take you a few weeks to determine your voice, however when you do, it’ll aid you create genuine content material that resonates along with your viewers. Bear in mind, there’s no magic system, simply small steps and far retrospection.
2. Create video content material to drive engagement
I’ve discovered that video content material will get larger engagement from the LinkedIn viewers. And with AI-powered video modifying instruments like VEED and Riverside, you don’t must be an modifying wizard to create a video.
Just about any content material could possibly be a great match for a video submit: it could possibly be so simple as sharing your expertise, notifying your followers that you simply’re open for work, or a cool automation you lately constructed to cut back your guide duties.
Once I began sharing snippets of my podcast, The Content material Playbook, on LinkedIn, they instantly gained traction and drove viewers to my YouTube channel.
Listed here are a few greatest practices I observe for high-engagement movies:
- Intention for movies between one and three minutes for higher retention
- Create a template for a constant design
- Be certain your audio is crystal clear for higher viewers expertise
- Have a compelling hook firstly to seize your viewers’ consideration
- Add subtitles out of your video editor moderately than counting on LinkedIn’s captioning
- Don’t submit a standalone video. As a substitute, write a text-based submit alongside along with your video for extra context.
- Add a call-to-action (CTA) on the finish of your video to information viewers to the subsequent desired step (subscribe to my publication, observe me on LinkedIn, and so forth.)
Some sources that helped me get began:
Bear in mind, no person is watching you reside, so that you’re allowed to make errors or get caught! A good suggestion is to have a script useful behind the digicam that will help you bear in mind your imaginative and prescient. With time and apply, you’ll be making movies far more comfortably and effectively.
3. Collaborate with others for even larger engagement
It’s not straightforward to start out from scratch and construct an viewers, not to mention get them to purchase a service from you or belief you to your information. So, if you happen to can collaborate with individuals who have already got a longtime viewers, take into account partnering with them to co-create content material.
This fashion, you’ll be able to solid a wider internet, faucet into their viewers, and drive followers to your account — all whereas delivering worth to their viewers and constructing credibility.
Listed here are a few methods to companion with others on LinkedIn:
- Create a carousel
- Document a brief video collectively
- Tag them in your posts
- Go away a considerate touch upon their posts
- Host a LinkedIn Dwell occasion collectively
- Ask if they might be up for mentioning you (you’ll be stunned how pleasant and supportive some LinkedIn members are)
Partnering with different creators on LinkedIn won’t solely drive further eyes and engagement but additionally aid you perceive how others work, what their viewers thinks, and the way they create content material to drive engagement.
4. Repurpose your content material to be memorable
It’s important to create authentic and genuine content material — however that doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t repurpose your individual content material.
Repurposing is without doubt one of the most underrated social media ways. Creators with enormous followings usually repeat their content material, and it nonetheless drives stable engagement.
Plus, a little bit of repetition will aid you construct your model. Folks will begin to affiliate you along with your core messaging. For instance, every time I consider creators, I immediately affiliate them with Jay Clouse. Or, once I consider creating resonance-first content material and storytelling, I take into consideration Jay Acunzo. In the identical method, you’d need your viewers to recollect you for particular subjects.
Repetition on social media usually will get a nasty rap as a result of most individuals assume it means posting the identical content material time and again (it doesn’t).
I divide repurposed content material into 4 main classes:
- Sharing totally different aspects of the identical concept. e.g., Two posts round constructing a content material technique for small groups; one focuses on challenges, and the opposite in your private experiences and wins.
- Repeating the identical content material in numerous codecs. e.g., A text-based submit became carousels or a video into an infographic.
- Repeating tweaked variations of your core messaging. e.g., As an engineer turned marketer, I spotlight this fairly a few instances all through my LinkedIn posts.
- Sharing your older posts once more. Since LinkedIn doesn’t present your posts to 100% of your followers, there’s an incredible likelihood lots of them haven’t even seen your authentic submit. Whereas this might sound a lazy strategy to content material creation, bear in mind the time it took to create the unique piece of content material within the first place!
5. Keep a constant voice and design fashion
A constant model means larger affinity and recognition. It additionally establishes belief and communicates your character, strengthening your distinctiveness. There are two important items of the model puzzle: your tone of voice and design fashion.
In relation to the latter, I’ve discovered having a template in Canva makes this straightforward. I designed my podcast template with a set of colours that represented the vibe and message of the present. At any time when I need to create a podcast snippet for LinkedIn, I shortly seize the intro template and sew collectively the precise clips.
Equally, my LinkedIn banner, publication’s touchdown web page, and graphics share the identical coloration palette.
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Getting your tone of voice proper can also be an important a part of model consistency. Your voice defines your model’s character, whereas your tone impacts how individuals understand and work together along with your content material. It could possibly be pleasant, informal, authoritative, supportive, or formal.
Relying on what you’re comfy with and what aligns along with your core values, select a voice and tone to your LinkedIn content material and persist with it.
Begin creating content material at this time!
LinkedIn has utterly modified the trajectory of my profession. If somebody like me, who has a technical background and no tutorial advertising expertise, can construct a consulting enterprise, you’ll be able to obtain your targets, too.
Give attention to cultivating relationships, constructing real connections, and exploring alternatives — all whereas delivering worth to your viewers. As a substitute of making a cumbersome tech stack, think about using these three instruments for simpler and quicker content material creation:
If you wish to be taught extra about construct a content material technique, take into account subscribing to my publication, The Content material Playbook.
