My personal playbook for LinkedIn: Audience, day-to-day actions, and how you can start doing the same.
452 days ago, I sat in an event center at my kiddo's birthday party. LinkedIn had recently released it's Newsletter - and we found time for me to create mine. My husband held down the fort, while I created the first edition of my LinkedIn newsletter and banner graphic in 62 minutes.
Since then, we've filled our consultancy to capacity with incredible clients, grown our team a bit, and my visibility has skyrocketed.
Are you telling me that because of a newsletter, all this success?
Nope. But it was a tool in my toolset.
That newsletter was started on the foundation I've built on LinkedIn.
Today, I'd like to open my own LinkedIn playbook - but before I do, let's talk about:
RISK.
Why?
We interrupt this regularly scheduled encouragement with some tough news:
THEY WILL CHOOSE the THOUGHT LEADERS
Y'all know me. I rarely am alarming. I'm your coach, encourager.
But you have to see the signs.
If you resist building in this area, you run a strong risk of not succeeding.
Being consistent in building your platform will keep you in the running.
It is risky to NOT differentiate, to avoid standing out - a starkly different landscape than ten, even five years ago.
It feels unnatural to put yourself out there.
BUT if you don't - there's someone in your field who does stand out, and they'll pick them.
They have to know where you shine.
They have to associate you with your area of expertise.
They want the best with their money.
It's not an option.
You have to grow your audience.
And you have to start before you are ready.
WHY?
One day, you're going to make your next move.
Corporate to consultant.
Consultant to corporate.
Corporate director to corporate VP.
VP to C-suite.
Volunteer to nonprofit board member.
_______ to ________ (what are your fields to fill in? DM me - I'd love to hear!)
Author writing a book.
HVAC repairman launching their shop.
In every instance related to career moves that I can dream up, in today's hyperconnected world, you are either shining or fading into the background.
Audience follows visibility + authority.
We want to hire and partner with the thought leaders.
If we are choosing between candidates on a short list, my next HVAC repairman, our next board advisor -
Or perhaps -
the next Vice President, Education & Events at the U.S. Green Building Council
or the next Vice President, Global Insights and Advisory at American Express
or the Chief Executive Officer, Digital Impact Alliance at the United Nations Foundation.
ALL either directly require or are significantly more successful with thought leadership and visibility. A following. People know you, follow you.
Ready to do this?
Remember - if I can increase my visibility and make dreams come true here on this platform, so can you.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming - so much good news!
It's time to put aside worries over being visible and growing a platform.
The outsized benefits of doing this are so much greater than the risk.
And this is coming from someone who lost her bread and butter client when I started to grow my platform. (More on that story later. But it was the best decision I could have made. And in a future edition, I'll talk about how to not let that happen to you.)
All I've ever done to grow our consultancy and build a thriving network is:
1. Confidently leverage LinkedIn
2. Join and engage in networks, communities.
Network, dreams coming true, clients - seriously.
Let's get to the HOW.
Let's open my playbook and see what I (aim to) do each week to build my audience and find great fit clients.
1: Choose your OBJECTIVE
Mine? Get clients for my consultancy, and grow my network with great people to do life with.
To accomplish this, my key activities are to build an audience on LinkedIn and join networks where my clients are engaging.
2: Build your AUTHENTIC personal brand
If you build a profile and write like something you aren't (perfect, never scared, never wrong, personality that isn't you), you will quickly grow bored and have zero energy for creating something you aren't. You have to make this the real you - a curated version to a degree, but it's you.
What should your platform be based upon? Your unique thought leadership - click here to download a worksheet!
3: Grow your network and build an audience.
This is a simple way of figuring out who to speak to in posts and connect with on LinkedIn.
Once you work through your three audiences, then do this:
4: Let's put that LinkedIn Profile work!
Your profile is a forever work in process.
Key to know about your profile - your personal billboard is your name, headshot, and that bio line under your name. Focus here primarily.
Then, once complete, activate Creator Mode to turn on your topic areas, those hashtags you find under your bio line. They are a main value proposition for you, and help folks at a glance know what you're all about, and help find you in search.
Be clear. Avoid fancy things no one is actually searching for. Have one or two brand hashtags (mine are #ServeAtScale and #HowToThoughtLeadership as I'm building a body of work around those - available at a click of a button).
DON'T OVERTHINK IT. Refine as you go.
I can quickly create content because I know who I speak to and how I will communicate.
Confident perspectives are seen and we pay attention.
If you aren't brave about your opinions, it's skippable in the LinkedIn feed.
Be more confident in how you write than you feel.
My family is staring at me - it's Saturday! My writing morning has become my writing afternoon. So for all our sakes, let's wrap this up.
Shoot your shot!
Bottom line: Write. Speak. Be seen, heard, noticed.
💯 You become an authority in a specific problem area.
➡️ Your audience becomes your clientele, network, employer, personal mission.
⚡️ You have real clarity, confidence, and are changing lives.
It's a journey that unlocks more than you would have imagined.
Questions? Thoughts? Reluctant? I'm here to help.
Listen to my talk on the LinkedIn Playbook on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, on your favorite podcast platform, or right here!
Julie is the founder of DIY Influence. She believes you shouldn't wait for recognition, that it's time to recognize yourself. She has partnered with 100+ thought leaders in the US and across the globe to drag the genius out of their brain, so they scale their impact - and to own it on LinkedIn. She hosts How To: Thought Leadership and co-hosts Live on Cyber with Dr. Stan.
