I could not have Justin Welsh’s movie star standing on LinkedIn with half one million 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 and marketing guide, abandoning my nine-to-five company engineering job in 2018. My LinkedIn grew to become my enterprise’ lifeline, connecting me with shoppers and world manufacturers, whereas giving me the liberty and suppleness to earn extra.
Whereas I loved my stint as an engineer at a giant 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 prospect to community with trade leaders and work with extra distinguished manufacturers.
I had dabbled in content material advertising and marketing, however that second 5 years in the past was after I began taking freelancing extra severely. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than LinkedIn grew to become my go-to platform for constructing consciousness about my providers, discovering thrilling initiatives, and networking with potential shoppers.
It’s been a protracted journey with a lot of 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 can assist you construct your LinkedIn following extra sustainably.
Observe: There’s no proper or flawed “technique” to develop your LinkedIn following. What issues most is how sustainable is a method for you, not for 100 different individuals. Elements similar to how a lot time you possibly can dedicate to LinkedIn, your expertise with content material creation instruments at your disposal, your writing abilities, and present connections play an enormous function in your success.
LinkedIn development techniques that labored for me
There are numerous techniques that folks swear by — submit six instances each week, publish a carousel, textual content, video, every little thing all of sudden, remark beneath no less than 50 posts as quickly as influencers hit publish, and so on.
The issue? It’s unsustainable.
You’re in all probability 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 for those who’re an introvert or nonetheless undecided on whether or not or not LinkedIn is “proper” for you and price investing effort and time into.
I’ve been there — I’d create a large Notion database with content material concepts, join a social media administration instrument, and look ahead to my posts to go viral.
After posting constantly for every week or two, I obtained first rate engagement. However the dopamine rapidly pale as a result of I had constructed this huge 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 completed and extremely suggest that can assist you develop your LinkedIn following:
1. Discover your distinctive perspective
To face out, you might want to have a particular perspective (POV). Once 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 usually.
However while you mix private experiences into your content material, it’s a lot simpler and extra handy to maintain going. Plus, it can 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 millions of professionals on the market who work in your area of interest. Is it attainable 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 tough 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 search out your POV:
- Take into consideration your core values and beliefs. One thing that different individuals might share however aren’t strongly opinionated about: discover one thing you genuinely care about and are captivated with.
- Do you’ve gotten a contrarian tackle a norm? Assume lengthy and exhausting about it — for instance, many firms put intense sources and time into hiring the fitting 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 spotlight my previous experiences and construct a way of familiarity with my viewers.
- Take into account tapping into your private pursuits, similar to baking, gardening, touring, or studying. Then, use that as a catalyst on your content material. Use phrases and metaphors out of your pursuits to elucidate the core subject of your LinkedIn submit. Amanda Natividad is a superb instance of this — she is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and usually shares cooking metaphors, recipes, and photos of wonderful 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. Keep in mind, there’s no magic method, simply small steps and far retrospection.
2. Create video content material to drive engagement
I’ve discovered that video content material will get greater engagement from the LinkedIn viewers. And with AI-powered video enhancing instruments like VEED and Riverside, you don’t have to be an enhancing wizard to create a video.
Just about any content material may very well be a great match for a video submit: it may very well be so simple as sharing your expertise, notifying your followers that you just’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 finest 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 sure that 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 slightly 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 following desired step (subscribe to my publication, observe me on LinkedIn, and so on.)
Some sources that helped me get began:
Keep in mind, no one is watching you reside, so that you’re allowed to make errors or get caught! A good suggestion is to have a script helpful behind the digital camera that can assist you bear in mind your imaginative and prescient. With time and observe, you’ll be making movies rather more comfortably and effectively.
3. Collaborate with others for even greater 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 on your information. So, for those who 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 possibly can solid a wider web, 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
- File a brief video collectively
- Tag them in your posts
- Depart a considerate touch upon their posts
- Host a LinkedIn Reside 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 is not going to solely drive extra eyes and engagement but in addition 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 unique and genuine content material — however that doesn’t imply you possibly can’t repurpose your individual content material.
Repurposing is among the most underrated social media techniques. Creators with enormous followings usually repeat their content material, and it nonetheless drives strong engagement.
Plus, a little bit of repetition will aid you construct your model. Individuals will begin to affiliate you along with your core messaging. For instance, each time I consider creators, I immediately affiliate them with Jay Clouse. Or, after 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 foul rap as a result of most individuals suppose it means posting the identical content material time and again (it doesn’t).
I divide repurposed content material into 4 main classes:
- Sharing completely different sides of the identical thought. 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 several codecs. e.g., A text-based submit was 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 one hundred pc of your followers, there’s a fantastic likelihood lots of them haven’t even seen your unique submit. Whereas this may appear 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. Preserve a constant voice and design fashion
A constant model means greater affinity and recognition. It additionally establishes belief and communicates your character, strengthening your distinctiveness. There are two vital items of the model puzzle: your tone of voice and design fashion.
With regards 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. Every time I need to create a podcast snippet for LinkedIn, I rapidly 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 be a necessary 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 may very well be pleasant, informal, authoritative, supportive, or formal.
Relying on what you’re snug with and what aligns along with your core values, select a voice and tone on your LinkedIn content material and stick with it.
Begin creating content material immediately!
LinkedIn has utterly modified the trajectory of my profession. If somebody like me, who has a technical background and no tutorial advertising and marketing expertise, can construct a consulting enterprise, you possibly can obtain your targets, too.
Concentrate on 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 study extra about construct a content material technique, take into account subscribing to my publication, The Content material Playbook.
