How to Grow Your Linkedin Following

When we started HireSweet, I had zero LinkedIn presence. 8 years later and after a lot of testing and iterating, LinkedIn drives ~30-50% of our leads & revenue. Lately, I've been getting a ton of questions about our learnings. So, here it is - the founder-led LinkedIn playbook I've been giving to anyone who asks 👇 1. Start with the lowest hanging fruit: invitations to connect. They work (30-50% conversion rate) and they allow you to control the direction in which your network grows. Start with 2nd degree connections in your target audience, based in your area. Surprisingly no personalized notes will yield +80% more connections! Free users can send ~50 per week. Paid users ~150 per week. Hit that quota every single week, or lose it forever. 2. Optimize your profile. Clear headline, nice picture (I would avoid AI-generated), and a detailed company description. Use the "featured" section, include a nice call to action and illustrations. 3. Enjoy the process, listen to your audience, build relationships. Play the long game. Build a real sense of community. Don't be pushy, nurture people over time with posts, so they come to you when they're ready. 4. When reaching out to cold prospects, add value. Send a guide, white paper, or video that helps your prospects succeed in their job. Personalize. 5. Post 3-5 times per week, high-quality posts. Turn on Creator Mode, get a paid LinkedIn account, and add a "Visit my website" button to your profile. 6. Best times to post: mornings on Monday to Friday, as people are getting to work (8-9AM) or heading to lunch (12PM). 7. Create a process to help you generate posts. Examples: What have you learned recently? What unique industry beliefs do you hold? What do you often find yourself explaining to clients or new hires? 8. Don't come up with 5 new ideas per week. Find 1-2 good ideas and repurpose them as text, images, videos, and polls. 9. Posts perform better in that order: - Polls (+100% vs text) - do one per week - Text + relevant picture (ideally a selfie - I don't really do this myself but it works) (+50% vs text) - Text with no picture - Videos (about the same as text but more time-consuming) - External links --> Avoid them 10. For text posts, open with a strong hook, focus on readability, keep it simple (one key idea per post), and end with a question to make it simple to engage. 11. LinkedIn Live is the most underrated LinkedIn feature. Each attendee can invite up to 1,000 people per week (!!) - as long as they're 1st degree connections. Do more LinkedIn Lives! 12. It's rather easy to get a "Top Industry Voice" badge. Go to the Collaborative Article page, pick a relevant topic, and leave 3 valuable comments per day. This is how I got my badge within a week. Now it's your turn - do you agree/disagree with this recipe? What are your top LinkedIn tips for founders? 👇 (If you made it this far, feel free to bookmark this post to revisit it later!)

I grew from 2,400 to over 10,000 followers in just six months, and I’m sharing exactly how I did it. Growing on LinkedIn isn’t about luck or gaming the system. It is about showing up with purpose every single day, being consistent, and intentionally engaging with my audience. I'm sharing my exact playbook because I believe in transparency, and I know how overwhelming it can feel when you're trying to grow your presence on here. No vague tips or generic advice – just the precise strategy that worked for me. From my: -Weekly content plan -Exact tools and Chrome extensions I use (and how) -Examples of my most viral posts -Mistakes I made along the way ...and a lot more! In my Monday Marketing Tip, I mentioned how busy people are on LinkedIn—no one has time for overly long content. That’s why keeping your content concise is key. But when it comes to everything I’ve learned about growing on this platform, there’s just too much to fit into a single post. This blog is the most detailed, in-depth piece I’ve ever written on here, and honestly, I’ve seen others sell less information than what I’m sharing here—for free. Why? Because I'm not a "guru". I'm just a marketing data nerd who loves the community I'm building here. I recommend reading the entire blog. But if you’re short on time, here’s a quick summary: ↳ Niche Down: Focused on three content pillars: Mine are- actionable marketing tips, career advice, and relatable humor. ↳ Ideal Audience Persona (IAP): I crafted "Alex," my target audience, to ensure all content resonates. Alex is a marketing manager at a mid-sized company who is focused on career growth, staying ahead of industry trends, and finding efficient ways to engage their audience. ↳ Engagement First: I spend time daily commenting, responding to messages, and starting meaningful conversations. I treat comments as "mini-posts" and add value to every one. ↳ Real-Time Posting: I never schedule posts and publish manually to align with LinkedIn's algorithm for maximum engagement. ↳ Consistent Schedule: I stick to a weekly content cadence while staying flexible for trending topics. ↳ Learned from "Quiet Posts": I use underperforming posts as data points to refine strategy. ↳ Tools I Love: Taplio, Favikon, AuthoredUp, and ChatGPT help streamline and optimize my process. ↳ Mistakes I Fixed: I stopped trying to please everyone, embraced humor, and included calls to action. ↳ Patience Pays Off: Growth doesn’t happen overnight—stay consistent and keep learning. I’ve also included a detailed action plan as an infographic (FREE) to help you get started and grow your LinkedIn presence. You can save it and reference it throughout the year to stay on track! Share your biggest takeaway or your own growth tips in the comments—let's learn from each other! 👇 --------------- 1. Follow me Nicole (Nikki) Ramirez to grow on LinkedIn. 2. Hit the bell icon 🔔 and never miss a post. 3. ♻️ Repost to help others succeed

Grew my LinkedIn following from 8,000 to 83,000 in two years. My best advice if you want to start: 1. Before you begin, start engaging with others. Look for those that have similar content you will be sharing. 2. Dedicate 15-30 min a day to it. Likes, thoughtful comments, DMs. These people will turn into your supporters when you start. They just don't know it yet.... 3. Start small posting. Be consistent. 1 post a week until it's easy. Then 2x a week. Then 3x a week. Max out at 1x per day. 4. Go outbound to grow. Connections count towards followers. Max out the 100 connection requests a week. 5. Create an idea bank of post ideas on a notes app, sticky, pencil/paper, whatever. You'll start to think of ideas all the time. Write them down. 6. If you're posting multiple times a week, you'll need a system. Write in bulk. Carve an hour out every Sunday to write 5 posts. Coffee and headphones. Pull from the idea bank. 7. Get inspiration from other people's posts. If someone shares their favorite discovery question, you can write on that topic too. Topic copying is fine. Copying the content in it, is not. 8. Write about your own journey in your career. What's working, what's not, lessons learned. That's the most authentic type of content. No matter what stage, someone in their career is a few steps behind you that would love to learn from you. I promise. Theme here in #1 - #8 ... nothing that glorious. No AI agents, outsourcing, or hacks. Just the little things that add up.

Seven Tips That Helped Me Reach 40,000 LinkedIn Followers I recently passed 40,000 followers on LinkedIn. Several folks have asked: How did you get there? The easy answer? I joined over 21 years ago — back on March 1, 2004 — when LinkedIn had fewer than 300,000 users. Today, it has over a billion members, with nearly half logging in daily. But longevity ≠ popularity, and “stick around 20 years” isn’t helpful advice. So here are 7️⃣ real tips to grow your LinkedIn presence: 1️⃣. Connect Generously (but Authentically) You can connect with up to 30,000 people. If you’ve met someone — even briefly — it’s fair game. Don’t wait for the perfect reason. ✅ Block off two 30-minute sessions weekly to send or accept connection requests. Steady effort > sporadic surges. ✅ “LION” = LinkedIn Open Networker — they accept most requests. 2️⃣. Post Interesting Content — and Engage Don’t just post about yourself. That gets old fast (even to your mom). Share insights, articles, questions, and stories that add value. Comment on others’ posts too — it sparks conversation and connection. 3️⃣. Show Up Regularly Post at least 3x a week. Nick Martin (307K followers) posts one thing every day with the goal of helpinging “at least one person.” This strategy has worked really well!  Consistency builds trust and visibility. 4️⃣. Join Active Groups Find groups in your field or interest area. They help expand your network. Key: participate — don’t just lurk. 5️⃣. Optimize Your Profile If people like your content, they’ll check your profile. Make sure it tells your story: • Clear, professional photo • Compelling headline • Summary that shows who you are, what you care about, and how you help others 6️⃣. Collaborate & Tag Thoughtfully Engage with influencers and peers — through thoughtful comments, collabs, or tags. ⚠️ Don’t over-tag. Relevance = respect. 7️⃣. Focus on Helping, Not Selling If your content helps people — with insights, resources, or encouragement — they’ll return. Build trust. Be generous. That’s how you grow followers. 🎯 Bonus Tip: Don’t obsess over the follower count. Hitting 40,000 felt good — but the real win? Hearing someone landed a job because of one of my posts, or one of my newsletters addressing a struggle in their lives - that is the reward. LinkedIn — like life — rewards self-interested altruism. Help others, and the platform helps you. That’s been my experience. Maybe it’ll be yours too. Want to stay in the loop? 📩 Subscribe to my free newsletter: Scott’s Leadership Matters: https://lnkd.in/eNDfHiec 👉 Click the 🔔 on my profile (near the top right) for post alerts 📬 DM me for Executive or Career Coaching 💡 Got content ideas? I’d love to hear them Thanks for reading — and for the follow. Please SHARE if these tips could help others! P.S. I have more tips on growing your network in the "Know Your Links" article I published recently: https://lnkd.in/eYU2BP7F

Most LinkedIn advice is garbage (here's what actually grew my account) Most creators overcomplicate LinkedIn. They chase hacks instead of fundamentals. Here's the 6-step framework that actually works 👇 1. Find Your Zone of Genius • What you love + What you're good at + What pays • Mine: LinkedIn growth through design • Stop trying to be everyone's expert 2. Give First, Always • Write to educate, not to sell • Share your best tactics freely • The money follows the value 3. Get Personal • Share your failures and wins • Tell stories that spark emotion • People connect with humans, not brands 4. Comment Like It's Your Job • Use comments to start conversations • Reply to every DM that matters • Relationships > follower count 5. Be Concise • LinkedIn readers skim fast • Brief beats verbose every time • Make every word earn its spot 6. Just Keep Going • I posted 500+ times this year • Lots of posts flopped. Some flew. • Consistency compounds invisibly The secret? There is no secret. Just these 6 fundamentals repeated daily. I started with 1k followers in Jan 2024. Now I'm at 40k+ Not because I'm special. Because I stick to the fundamentals Your audience will build slowly. Follow these 6 steps and stay the course Show up until they do. P.S. Which step do you struggle with most? 👇