I Got 17,000 LinkedIn Followers in 4 Weeks
Here’s what I did differently.
I’ve been writing on LinkedIn for a year and a half.
I wrote a bit during my full-time job sharing inspirational stuff and my articles. But once I became self-employed, I started talking more about things I truly wanted to like:
- alternate career paths
- self-improvement
- importance of financial independence
Today, I just got paid by LinkedIn as they selected me for their LinkedIn Creators Accelerator Program.
Little did I imagine that towards the end of the program, I’ll gain an irrational amount of followers.
I Was Annoyed
Do you know what it feels like when you go on holiday and your boss tells you to send him an email?
Imagine this happened four times a week.
That’s how I felt when I had to post four times a week on LinkedIn as a part of the program last month.
I was away on a 4-week long holiday, and I had to publish four times a week for the first two weeks.
But my first post took off.
And then I replicated that process again, and again, and again. I’ll tell you that secret, don’t worry.
Here’s What Changed
I started using photos.
And as you can see below, my views went up from an average of 50,000 200,000+.
Here’s why I think it works, also based on the feedback I’ve got.
Puts a face to the text
Humans connect more to fellow humans.
Also, some people decipher photos better than text. So when you add both, you appeal to both audiences.
Adding a face enhances the story.
My first post was about taking time off and the burnout I’ve dealt with as a full-time creator.
Here’s what it looked like:
Takes plenty of space
Some people told me that when they browse on their phones, the image takes more space than the text when unopened. They automatically want to click ‘see more’ to read my post.
That increases views dramatically.
Is fresh
Very few people on LinkedIn are doing this. People love new content as long as it isn’t just a travel photo screaming ‘living my best life’ and is actually adding value.
But, Isn’t This Clickbait?
When I worked with LinkedIn during the program, they encouraged us to play with various formats like:
- text
- photo
- videos
- newsletters
- infographics
- presentations
In fact, my video series, Solopreneur Sundays, got more engagement than my viral posts which had over half a million views.
So no, it’s not clickbait as long as you add value.
But, you’re a girl
Every once in a while somebody will throw off:
- you’re a girl
- you’re turning LinkedIn into Instagram
To be honest, I’ve learnt this from 5 men:
- Ankur Warikoo: 1.8 million followers
- Akshat Shrivastava: 355k+ followers
- Rohan Jain: 109k+ followers
- Sharan Hegde: 128k+ followers
- Simmy Dhillon: 17k+ followers
Ankur has 2.1 million YouTube followers and 1.8 million on Instagram.
Akshat has 1.2 million on YouTube and 108k on Instagram.
Sharan also has 1.8 million Instagram followers and 987k YouTube followers.
Simmy is an entrepreneur and most of his posts have a photo and a story relating to them. His content is my favourite on the platform.
So you see a pattern here? It’s not a gender thing, it’s about adding value.
To be of service.
But…
If you’re fragile like me, I must tell you this.
And I feel really sad that I have to put it out there and tell you I’m fragile because that makes me more vulnerable.
As your traction grows, so does love.
But also negativity.
I think I was mentally more at peace with 35,000 followers than over 50,000 right now.
People comment a lot of BS and when you’re doing something with the right intention, it could hurt.
But you have to prepare yourself to not care.
Work on developing a thick skin to protect yourself.
5 Other Practices That Helped
When I was on a holiday, I still earned money and didn’t have to work at all. My presence across platforms continued to grow. This is all a result of one thing — consistency.
My daily reps are now compounding.
Here are my best practices for LinkedIn:
- Post 3x a week: I post at least 3 times a week. If you want to gain traction, you have to show up. Creating also becomes easier when you have momentum.
- Engage: In the beginning, you should reply to all comments. Also, respond to others in your niche so you get discovered. That’s how you build relationships.
- Format: Every platform has a format that works. For LinkedIn, it’s a powerful hook, a crisp body, and a take-home conclusion. Play with this.
- Edit: don’t be boring, you’re fighting in an attention economy. Remove everything that’s not absolutely required.
- CTA: Add a call-to-action in the comments. This could be your newsletter, email list, book, etc. This is how you generate business.
There’s also a new feature released recently where you can ‘pin’ a comment. So pin your CTAs to drive more attention.
Lastly
I don’t plan on exploiting the algorithm by continuing to put up photos.
I planned on using photos only while travelling, as that’s real-time content. But now, I’ll do it only if it’s extremely relevant.
My video series ended with the program, but I might continue because videos got me a lot of traction. I highly recommend them.
Finally, don’t forget that my first 18,000 followers took nearly a year, whereas these 17,000 took 4 weeks.
Don’t compare my long journey to your beginning. The only thing that didn’t change is showing up and putting in the effort.
So keep at it. One day when it compounds, it’ll all be worth it.
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