If your business sells to businesses, you probably should be on LinkedIn. While you could rely on networking, emails and leads straight to your business’s website, building up your contact book on LinkedIn makes a lot of sense. People can hear from you, you can show them what you can do and it could lead to new clients and opportunities that you might otherwise have missed.
How to get 10,000 followers on LinkedIn
Sam Browne is founder of live music agency, Findaband. Based in New Zealand, he works on sales, marketing and SEO for his brand and loves experimenting with new tactics to measure their success. Over the last 8 months he built his LinkedIn account to 10,000 followers. He believes that hardly anyone knows how to do LinkedIn properly and wants to share his blueprint [BC1] how he did it for the benefit of other business owners.
Here is Browne’s step-by-step method to hitting your first 10,000 followers on LinkedIn.
Getting started
“People aren’t judging you when you hit ‘post’ the first time,” explained Browne. “They don’t have any more of a clue than you do.” Browne said that getting started involves writing your first ten posts. He said this is required to go, “from thinking about writing to becoming a writer.” Not only that, but “hitting publish instantly puts you in the top 1% of LinkedIn users.”
Browne advised you write your posts in chunks of ten. “With every 10 posts you gain insight into what people respond to and what you are good at that people care about,” as well as knowing why certain posts do badly and others do well. “No course will teach you this stuff. There’s no better way to learn than simply turning up and doing it.” His process involves, “write, post, reflect, adjust course.”
What should you write about?
Browne, like most entrepreneurs, knows how to do a bunch of things. He believes that “every great writer on LinkedIn made a choice. They picked their niche and ignored everything else.” Browne knows he could write and share about SEO, copywriting, marketplace sites, song writing, journaling and self-development, and he experimented with posts about each topic, but eventually he found his one niche, “and so will you,” he reassured.
Find your niche by thinking about, “the writing you most enjoy, that you will enjoy for the next decade at least.” Work out “which writing resonated with the most people.” Over time, Browne settled on entrepreneurship and LinkedIn. He is interested in both topics and his audience responds to them, so that’s his niche. Simple.
Comment your way to growth
“The rocket fuel that got me to 10,000 followers was following the big guns, identifying posts where I could contribute and leaving a great comment.” He advised that you follow this strategy on accounts with 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 followers and “leave a comment so goddam terrific, it’s almost like a post in its own right.” Here’s where you can, “agree with the creator and explain why, disagree with the creator and explain why, give examples, go deeper or summarize.” Browne says which you choose doesn’t matter, it’s up to you.
You are on the right track when this comment gets over 20 likes. This means, “people are resonating with what you wrote, you should turn your comment into a post, and that post will perform well.” Test on the posts of other people before taking it further on your own profile.
Find your LinkedIn gang
Browne found his LinkedIn gang and those people support him by liking his posts. He does the same for them, and they help each other win. “When you’re on LinkedIn daily, you’ll start to see certain names in your comments regularly. Shoot them a DM to let them know you like what they are writing.” Browne also advised you comment and connect with people, “with small followings but writing great stuff.”
Sharing tips via direct messages, with your LinkedIn gang members, is your watercooler and your biggest source of learning. Browne and his gang, “share killer tips in DMs, stuff that no one really talks about in posts.” Commenting on your LinkedIn gang’s posts will lead to them replying and recommending you. “You’ll build your audience faster because people who love their stuff go and check out yours.”
How to get 10,000 followers on LinkedIn
Get on the radar of the big guns
Start small, said Browne. “Find people just a few steps ahead of you. First those with 2,000 followers, then 5,000, and so on.” His strategy is to follow them and turn on notifications for their posts. When they post, comment meaningfully. “Find people who write great stuff, be cool in the comments, do that repeatedly.” He believes this will mean they see you.
Not only should you keep these interactions positive and be supportive, but you should also DM them at the right time. “Don’t do this on day one, or day ten. The longer you leave it, the better.” If you’ve done your job in the comments, they’ll see your name and know you’re someone who consistently supports them. “Most of the time, they’ll be happy to reply.” Then they become a contact, and perhaps part of your LinkedIn gang.
Build audience loyalty
The secret to building audience loyalty is not really a secret. Again, it’s simple. “Treat your audience like fellow humans, not your personal fan club,” said Browne. “They are real people who spent real time supporting you when they liked and commented.” Build audience loyalty by supporting them right back. “Thank them, tag them, acknowledge them as best you can.”
Browne wants you to get on direct message level with as many people as possible, and if it’s appropriate, leave them voice notes instead of just text-based messages. “It’s so cool hearing people’s voices, especially if they have an accent you weren’t expecting. It’s a real buzz to get a voice note, so be the person that gives someone else that feeling.” A final tip from Browne is to, “never ignore comments.” Always reply, at least with a thank you and their name but ideally with a proper reply. “Hit like on the rest and use different reaction options. Engage with every single person that comments.”
Time your posts for success
“Use a scheduling tool to publish your lovingly written LinkedIn posts at a time when they’ll be seen and engaged with the most.” Browne focuses on the USA, so his posts go live at 8am EST, because, “that’s when people are having their morning coffee and scrolling through LinkedIn.” He’s kept this timing consistent because it’s worked well for him.
Which scheduling tool should you use? Browne is a fan of Buffer and Taplio, and whilst he doesn’t always schedule, (because he “wants instant gratification, I’m the kid who would take one marshmallow rather than wait for two!”) he recommends it for maximum LinkedIn success.
Find your voice
Getting to 10,000 followers means developing a unique voice. But what does that actually mean? “Your voice comes through in the way you write,” said Browne. “It’s a series of choices that define the personality of your writing.” How is your writing voice defined? Funny or serious? Long or short posts? Instructional or story based? Aspirational or painfully honest? It’s your choice to make.
Browne’s voice developed with confidence. “I can see that my voice was there from day one, but without the confidence I have now.” He said the goal is really to be yourself. “The more you can get into your writing, the better, but you can’t know it from day one. It comes with time.” The more defined your voice, the more your audience feels like they know you. Familiarity is what you want.
Start writing and learn as you go, comment your way to growth, find your LinkedIn gang, then get on the radar of the big guns before focusing on building loyalty and scheduling for success. Eight simple strategies for reaching 10,000 followers on LinkedIn. Whether you’ve posted sporadically or never hit publish, test these methods and see where they lead.