How I Accidentally Reached 50,000 LinkedIn Followers
After I got laid off from my last job, I started my consulting business. In order to learn how to do marketing, I started posting on LinkedIn.
Recently, I crossed 50,000 LinkedIn followers and wanted to share a few thoughts on getting to this point.
What's the significance of LinkedIn as a marketing funnel?
Think of LinkedIn as the very top of your "funnel."
A follower or connection doesn't count for anything on its own. Those followers allow you to say something interesting and attract new business.
How does trust play a crucial role in LinkedIn marketing?
Trust Beats Consistency, and Consistency Beats Message
Ultimately, if people don't trust what you have to say, the rest doesn't matter. What you say needs to communicate trust. If you are consistent, you will learn what to do.
How long does it take to find your voice on social media, particularly LinkedIn?
Finding Your Voice Takes About 6 Months
Most people don't find their voice on social media because of consistency. It takes practice and time to find your voice. It is scary to post something where your friends at the companies you are posting about might find offensive.
What key questions should you consider before posting on LinkedIn?
"Can the audience learn something from this?"
"Would I have liked to learn this earlier in my career?"
"What are people in the industry thinking about but are afraid to say?"
"Is the intention of your feedback to tear down or to guide improvement?"
"Do I have something unique or different to say about this issue?"
"Do I have a bias here, and is it apparent to both me and the audience? Better to address it openly."
I fail at this often, but these are the questions I think about when I post something. A corollary of this: stick to your expertise. When you find yourself overreaching your expertise, you risk your credibility.
If I've hurt someone along the way, I'm sorry about that.
How did my LinkedIn journey progress from 2,500 connections to over 50,000 followers?
When I started posting in 2019, I had about 2,500 connections and thought LinkedIn was an online resume site. After a few months, I saw it as the future of B2B marketing and doubled down on it.
For over a year, I posted twice every business day. Eventually, I settled into every business day posting something that I saw interesting in the industry.
I gain about 1,000 followers a month. 4 years later, that's how you end up with over 50,000 followers.
How Can Unique Assets and Practice Drive LinkedIn Success?
I do have some unique assets that help me. But you still need practice.
I enjoy speaking and writing, and I have for most of my life. I was on the debate team in high school and continued that through college. I thought about going to law school but decided computer science was a more fun path for me. But I never lost my love for writing.
I am skeptical of and continue to be skeptical of "influencers". I never set out to be seen this way. Only to communicate my expertise, advice, and observations each day in the hope that someone could benefit from it.
Consistency comes from urgency
When people ask me: "How do you post every day", my answer is simple: I post like my business depends on it. Because it does.
Tony Robbins would call this "getting leverage."
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When growth is elusive, I am an expert at asking incisive questions to surface the real issues and then present straightforward ideas that your team can actually implement.
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