If your business sells to companies, you should probably be on LinkedIn. While you can rely on networking, emails, and direct leads to your company’s website, building your contact list on LinkedIn makes sense. People can hear from you, you can show them what you can do and it can lead to new clients and opportunities that you might otherwise have missed.
How to get 10,000 followers on LinkedIn
Sam Browne is the founder of live music agency Findaband. Based in New Zealand, he works sales, marketing and SEO for his brand and likes to experiment with new tactics to measure their success. In the past 8 months, he built his LinkedIn account to 10,000 followers. He believes that hardly anyone knows how to use LinkedIn and wants to share his blueprint [BC1] how he did it for the benefit of other entrepreneurs.
Here’s Browne’s step-by-step method for reaching your first 10,000 followers on LinkedIn.
To work
“People don’t judge you the first time you hit ‘post’,” explains Browne. “They have no idea more than you.” Browne said getting started involves writing your first ten posts. He said this is necessary to go, “from thinking about writing to becoming a writer.” Not only that, but “clicking publish puts you right in the top 1% of LinkedIn users.”
Browne advised you to write your messages in tens. “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 why certain posts do poorly and others do well. “No course will teach you this. There is no better way to learn than to simply show up and do it.” His process includes: “write, post, reflect, adjust course.”
What should you write about?
Browne, like most entrepreneurs, knows how to do a lot of things. He believes that “every great writer on LinkedIn has made a choice. They chose their niche and ignored everything else.” Browne knows he could write and share about SEO, copywriting, marketplace sites, songwriting, journaling, and self-development, and he experimented with posts on every topic, but eventually he found his only niche, “and you too,” he assured him . .
Find your niche by thinking about “the writing that you enjoy most, that you will enjoy for at least the next ten years.” Find out “which script resonated with the most people.” Over time, Browne chose entrepreneurship and LinkedIn. He’s interested in both topics and his audience responds to them, so that’s his niche. Easy.
Comment on your path to growth
“The rocket fuel that got me to 10,000 followers was following the big guns, identifying posts I could contribute to, and leaving a great comment.” He recommended that you follow this strategy on accounts with 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000 followers and “leave a comment so damn awesome it’s almost a post in itself.” Here you can “agree with the creator and explain why, disagree with the creator and explain why, give examples, go deeper or summarize.” Browne says it doesn’t matter which one you choose, it’s up to you.
You’re on the right track if this comment gets more than 20 likes. This means “people resonate with what you wrote, you should turn your comment into a message, and that message will perform well.” Test on other people’s posts before continuing 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. “If you are on LinkedIn on a daily basis, you will regularly see certain names in your comments. DM them to let them know you like what they write. Browne also advised you to comment and connect with people, “with small followers but write great things.”
Sharing tips through direct messages, with your LinkedIn gang members, is your water cooler and your greatest source of learning. Browne and his gang, “share great tips in DMs, things no one really talks about in messages.” Responding to your LinkedIn gang’s posts will get them to reply and recommend you. “You build your audience faster because people who like their stuff are going to check out yours.”
How to get 10,000 followers on LinkedIn
Get on the radar of the big guns
Start small, Browne said. “Find people a few steps ahead of you. First the one with 2,000 followers, then 5,000, and so on.” His strategy is to follow them and enable notifications for their posts. When they post something, make meaningful comments. “Find people who write great things, be cool in the comments, do that repeatedly.” He believes this means they see you.
Not only do you need to keep these interactions positive and supportive, but you also need to 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 answer.” Then they become a contact and maybe part of your LinkedIn gang.
Build audience loyalty
The secret to building audience loyalty isn’t really a secret. Again, it’s simple. “Treat your audience as fellow human beings, not as your personal fan club,” said Browne. “They’re real people who spent real time supporting you when they liked and commented.” Build audience loyalty by supporting them right away. “Thank them, tag them, acknowledge them as best you can.”
Browne wants you to get to the direct message level with as many people as possible, and when it’s appropriate, she’ll leave voice notes instead of just text-based messages. “It’s so cool to hear people’s voices, especially when they have an accent you weren’t expecting. It’s a real buzz to get a voice note, so be the person who makes someone else feel that way. A final tip from Browne is to “never ignore comments”. Always reply, at least with a thank you and their name, but ideally with an appropriate response. “Hit like the rest and use different reaction options. Engage with any person who comments.”
Time your messages for success
“Use a scheduling tool to publish your lovingly written LinkedIn posts when they are most seen and engaged.” Browne focuses on the US, so his posts go live at 8 a.m. EST, because that’s when “people are drinking their morning coffee and scrolling through LinkedIn.” He has kept this timing consistent because it worked well for him.
Which planning tool should you use? Browne is a fan of Buffer and Taplio, and while he doesn’t always make a schedule (because he “wants instant gratification, I’m the kid who’d rather take one marshmallow than wait for two!”), he recommends it for maximum LinkedIn success .
Find your voice
To get 10,000 followers, you need to develop 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 determined? Funny or serious? Long or short messages? Instruction or story based? Ambitious or painfully honest? It’s your choice to make.
Browne’s voice developed with confidence. “I see my voice was there from day one, but without the confidence I have now.” He said the goal is to really be yourself. “The more you can get into your writing the better, but you can’t know from day one. It comes with time.” The more your voice is defined, the more your audience will feel like they know you. Fame 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 planning for success. Eight simple strategies to reach 10,000 followers on LinkedIn. Whether you’ve posted sporadically or never hit publish, test these methods and see where they lead.
