I Got 11.9 Million LinkedIn Views in 365 Days

For all those who are trying to ace LinkedIn.

I’ve been writing on LinkedIn for a little over a year.

14 months ago, I had around 2500 followers. Today, it’s north of 28,000.

It’s funny because increasing my follower base wasn’t the intention. I just wanted to write good stuff that makes people think.

When I started writing, I still had a full-time job and was a bit cautious. Especially because a colleague spurted out in a team meeting,

“Niharikaa hit like on a very radical LinkedIn post. It was against the corporate sector.”

It was just another post about someone pissed at corporates and I hit the like button.

What was wrong with that? I felt like I’m being watched.

From writing cautiously during my job to writing about the bliss of self-employment, my content has grown with me.

And last week, I saw this:

That’s nearly 12 million views in 365 days!

Now, here’s what happened.

Random Bursts of Virality

There are some spikes in the photo above, and those are random bursts of virality.

The first one had over a million views and my best post has over 4.8 million views. All out of nowhere.

This is where the Pareto Principle comes to play. Investopedia defines it as:

“80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.”

All you have to do is keep showing up.

But, here are some common themes of these viral posts:

Personal experiences

What makes you unique is your experience.

If you’re going to talk about health, talk about your battles and what you did to overcome them. Don’t just put out a random fact.

Add more you to your content. Let people feel connected to you.

Don’t be a guru

I don’t want to be somebody who knows it all. I clearly lay out what I’m doing, what I suck at, and what I may be a tad bit better at.

You don’t build an audience by being perfect.

Nobody expects perfection, people just want honesty in a time where everybody posts a sponsored skincare routine.

Be vulnerable

It’s scary, I know.

My first viral post was this:

I was scared out of my gut about people making fun of me. My friends and ex-colleagues judging me.

This was all overthinking, though. The response was super supportive.

How Did This Help Me?

Sadly, I don’t have a story for you about how I built a six-figure business via LinkedIn (yet).

Or a number of any sort of conversions because LinkedIn is one place where I just play around.

But here’s what helped:

1. Relationships

My mentor is the reason I had the courage to quit my job and create a business from writing. I found him on LinkedIn. Plus several people I’m friends with all because of this platform.

2. Personal brand

Writing a few sentences often but consistently automatically builds your personal brand. This helps if you’re looking to attract jobs or clients.

3. Jobs

Ever since I became self-employed, I’ve started getting jobs?! The irony is uncanny. If this is your motive, creating content could help. Job hunters can already see your personality via the content you post.

4. Attract leads

A few students in my course told me they came after spotting me on LinkedIn.

In fact, one told me she saw me eight months ago and was in tune with my content and then she saw I launched my course. So she hopped right in because she’d been enjoying my content for a while.

5. Mailing list

With every spike you see, I have a spike in newsletter subscribers, too.

Add your newsletter, freebie, or whatever you want in the comments section after you post.

Also, add it to the ‘featured’ section of your profile, so whenever somebody looks you up, they see your offerings.

Quick Tips to Grow Without Thinking Too Hard

I went for my first in-person meeting after two years a few days ago.

A founder who has multiple companies asked me about what's my strategy. And I told him, there is none.

I don’t have a content calendar planned.

I don’t look at the stats of all posts to analyse what works and only publish around that. I just have fun creating and keep writing what I feel like.

And people seem to like it.

So here’s my very honest advice for you:

Know the platform

It’s a work-related platform. Whatever you write, try to relate it to work. The audience comes to the platform for this reason.

This is one point many people overlook!

Forget followers

If I bothered about followers, I would’ve tried too hard and never posted the experiences that I have. Just create what you enjoy.

Don’t think hard about the niche or anything — get the juices flowing in the start.

Don’t try to be an expert

We have enough gurus, you don’t have to be one.

Be real.

Speak about your downfalls, failures, successes, challenges, how you overcame them, your work habits, anything.

Don’t sound like somebody you’re not hoping to sound smart.

Go offbeat sometimes:

There’s so much similar content flowing, give people something different sometimes.

I did a 5-part series in 2 weeks about my solo travel experiences.

People enjoyed it and I received a lot of love (plus millions of views). You can view it here to get an idea.

Engage

Reply to comments, and comment under other people’s posts to get noticed.

A guy, let’s call him Mike, got in touch with me a few months ago about growing LinkedIn. Lately, I’m seeing his comments under big accounts getting hundreds of likes!

What an offbeat way to build an audience.

Frequency

Start with publishing once a week and ideally publish at least 3 times a week.

Whatever platform you create on online will give you better results if you’re consistent.

For those of you doing a full-time job

Play it safe.

I used to write about health and self-improvement with a dash of personal experience. You can write about a subject you’re an expert with or anything as long as it doesn’t piss off somebody.

It’s better to play it safe than to ruin your career. It’s the reason I don’t write about politics or my strong opinions on any platform.

Lastly

Honestly, just have fun.

Don’t try a way to ‘hack’ in or strategise things. In the beginning, focus on creating and not the numbers.

It’s a fun platform and the best part is that it's open and organic like Twitter — people don’t need to follow you or connect with you to view your content.

That’s, in my opinion, is the biggest advantage.

Create around a few themes, circle them around work/workplace/career, and you’re good to go.

Click here to grab your free Side Hustler Checklist.

Enjoy reading on Medium? Buy a membership for full access.