Great news - I've reached 10k followers on LinkedIn! I can proudly say I’ve created my own consulting company and have become a LinkedIn Personal Branding Coach, but I, too, started LinkedIn with no following and no ghostwriting experience. I have seen the ups and downs of my LinkedIn profile and business, and I’ve come to learn a thing or two on how to grow your platform and following on LinkedIn. With over 10k followers on LinkedIn and a growing business, I want to tell you some of the things that I have learned over the years that have helped me get to where I am today.
Stay Consistent on LinkedIn
Consistency is key. You have to stay in it and remember that you won’t see success overnight. I’ve been posting almost every day for the past 3 years. Starting out, I followed other creators who had similar interests and began to post my entrepreneurial job search as I built LEAP Canada, Parkin Consulting, and MWM Consulting. You must stay regularly active on your account, including posting, following, and commenting. This will lead to more activity on your page as you put yourself and your brand out into the LinkedIn world. Remember that people will appreciate the value your profile brings, so stay consistent with the content of your posts as well!
Networking Effects
As I became more dedicated to my LinkedIn profile growth, I began to understand the true potential of the platform when I met my LEAP co-founders on the comment section of a LinkedIn live. Now LEAP is an empowering organization that aids students with resources for their post-secondary transition and experiences. By putting my name out there, I had recruiters at networking events saying they saw my content on LinkedIn, which then led to new opportunities and introductions. Soon enough, several inbound clients and job offers came my way from LinkedIn alone, and I truly realized the power of networking.
Test and Learn Mindset
After LEAP, I started Mornings With Matt Consulting (MWM Consulting). Through this, I started helping other entrepreneurs write their posts and best utilize the platform to reach their potential and build their brand since the platform did wonders for me. I adopted a “test and learn” mindset. Most of my early posts were terrible, big blocks of text with no storytelling. This wasn’t working or effective and I learned to focus on copywriting techniques and personal storytelling to be authentic and build rapport. Success never comes on the first try, which is why I had to pivot my strategy hundreds of times before I started seeing the engagement I wanted.
Engage with your Community
And lastly, you must engage with your community. Nobody will follow you if you don’t add value to their life. Just posting and logging off isn’t how to build relationships. Comment on other’s posts, search for creators in your niche, answer comments, send videos/audios, DMs, connect with people. Especially comments. It's incredibly easy to learn and meet new people. I frequently post polls or DM connections to ask what topics or questions I should cover or post about to both increase social activity on my page and to make sure I’m posting things that people want to see and care about. If you want to stand out, you need to do things that other’s don’t. Try sending audio messages instead of texts, people will wonder what you have to say!
Moving Forward
Building your brand and purpose on LinkedIn isn’t easy. It takes hard work, creativity, dedication, and a trusting of the process to work. You won’t see your effort follow through immediately, but that does not mean it isn’t working. Stay active, consistent, and take some lessons from my journey. Feel free to message me on LinkedIn and follow MWM Consulting on socials for more information and tips on building your business on LinkedIn.
Reach out to us via email at matt@mwmconsulting.org with any questions!