Dominate LinkedIn this Year: 20 Pieces of Advice to Get Started (and Not Give Up)

In October 2022, I asked my then 32,000 followers a question:

‘In 5 words or less, what advice would you give a LinkedIn newbie to get started?’

I picked out 29 of the best and formed an orderly list on a LinkedIn post shortly after that:

January is the prime time for people to do two very comically human things:

Set a New Years resolution
Start that resolution, only to give up weeks (if not days) later

Now, I’m not dissing anyone that sets resolutions.

They’re not for me. I believe setting a resolution to change or something too lofty only sets yourself up for failure and inevitably disappointment which leads to you hating yourself or feeling negatively about your level of motivation. Not good.

I prefer to set small realistic goals.

Make my bed every morning
Run 3 times a week
Do 20 pushups every day

When you hit small goals like this it compounds. You start living like you’re winning often and when you win often you believe you can win more and more and more. I really believe in the psychology of this.

That being said, I still want you to win.

Regardless of if you’ve set a lofty NY resolution.

I’m here to help and give you a nudge if that NY resolution is to:

Post more on LinkedIn
Post consistently on LinkedIn
Start posting on LinkedIn
Return to posting on LinkedIn

(a lot of people burnout over the holidays. It’s tough running a business, creating a special christmas for your family and kids, seeing friends etc as WELL as maintaining a daily habit of posting on LinkedIn)

So here’s what we’re going to do...

We’re going to list 20 of the best pieces of 5 word or less advice, and I’m going to expand on each one so you have an actionable insight or takeaway for you to go get it.

The goal:

Help you start the year with a BANG on LinkedIn and CONTINUE to crush it

(and not give up after a few days or weeks)

Because let’s face it, words of advice are useless if you don’t know how to go and do something about it.

Ready?

Alright, let’s go:

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1. Show up every single day

Takeaway: consistency + engagement = recognition. And more recognition means more opportunities come your way. Set a 30 minute slot in your calendar every weekend to comment on some posts you like, send a few connection requests to interesting people and then log off. 30 minutes, that’s it.

2. Write, post and engage everyday

Takeaway: I’ve posted every weekday since January 2022 and that’s because I batch write content. I put 1-2 hours in my calendar every Monday to get my content sorted for the week.

3. Comment, connect, post

Takeaway: pretty similar to 1. These are the golden trio of actions you should be taking to grow your LinkedIn presence. Do all 3 every single weekday for a year and watch your life transform.

4. Write to learn, not grow

Takeaway: if you have your mind set on growth, your intentions are in the wrong place. You become obsessed with stats. But you should be obsessed with getting better at writing and sharing more ideas.

5. Be a giver

Takeaway: think about the creators, influencers and figures you follow online. Think about WHY you follow them. It’s often because they give you something - a laugh, education, inspiration. Give people that same feeling in your content.

6. Experiment. Post. Engage. Repeat.

Takeaway: everything is a test. There’s no right or wrong post. No best or worst post. The mindset shift that helped set me free on this was understanding that I would be committing to growing a online presence for YEARS not weeks or months. Suddenly that 1 or 2 rubbish posts aren’t very important.

7. Forget the Algo , get creative

Takeaway: really easy to get caught up in what works best with the algo. If you get sucked into that you start looking like everyone else, because they’re doing the same thing. Flex you’re creativity and write and express what comes to you the most. I recommend following Eddie Shleyner to understand what this looks like.

8. Ignore the self-consciousness

Takeaway: if you’re just starting, your mates might take the mick. Mine did. But if I listened to them I would’ve missed out on $500,000. Literally. Nobody is watching you. And if they are then their lives are obviously very sad.

9. Stop overthinking it

Takeaway: really common problem. I’ve made a living ghostwriting for CEOs and Founders because they can’t stop overthinking when they write so they pay me to do it instead. But if you can keep writing, keep practising that overthinking will go. For me the penny dropped around month 5 of writing and I stopped caring so much.

**10. Post good f*cking content**

Takeaway: seems obvious, but yeah. I’d recommend finding 5 creators doing it really well on LinkedIn and emulating their content (the hooks they write, the structures of content they use, the style they write with) and adding your own spins on them. Great way to start writing great content without studying or wasting time reading, just pure action.

11. Engage in the comment section

Takeaway: the comments section is where you build relationships. Find a few creators on similar paths as you, start engaging on their content, encouraging them. The comments that stand out most to me are funny ones so make people laugh!

12. Start posting. Find what works.

Takeaway: you’ll never know what works until you try and fail. Simple as that. Brush that ego aside and take action. Action is the only difference between success and failure.

13. Bring your true self. Often.

Takeaway: hard to just DO, but the more you can be yourself the better because you then don’t have to pretend or keep up an act as much and it becomes more comfortable. I started out trying to be like everyone else, to fit in. Big mistake.

14. Just hit publish!

Takeaway: I actually don’t like this advice, it’s washy. But, like 13, you really don’t know what will happen unless you hit publish. It’s better to hit publish and find out than not and constantly wonder ‘what if?’.

15. Write to your past self.

Takeaway: this is the best way for anyone to get started writing content that relates and is helpful to someone. You don’t know it but you are an expert in something. For example, I’d just quit my 10 year career in marketing, but had zero copywriting experience. So my writing started out as writing to myself a month ago as I was quitting my job and starting copywriting. Then it developed into writing to myself figuring out LinkedIn.

16. Start posting without any care

Takeaway: the more you can detach emotionally from your content the better. LinkedIn is a distribution platform, not a diary. It’s not life or death. It’s just content. People read it then they forget 10 seconds later.

17. Cut the crap!

Takeaway: hell yeh. People don’t faff around for long online, so keep your writing concise and short. Try using bullet points often, remove the commas and keep sentences to less than 12 words at a time. Challenging, but these restrictions will keep you from waffling.

18. Be patient, enjoy the journey

Takeaway: you’re not in this for weeks, you’re in this for years. You’re building a personal brand online around your ideas and opinions. Strap in and enjoy doing something new and putting yourself out there. I was never a confident person. I feel a lot more confident now after writing online for 2 years.

19. Consistency trumps all

Takeaway: consistency in many forms - showing up, but more importantly consistently improving. I would never have gotten anywhere if I consistently posted rubbish content for 2 years. I kept improving and thats what you need to do too.

20. It’s never the perfect time

Takeaway: and there never will be a perfect time. Because the perfect time does not exist. Same with having kids, moving house etc. There is literally never a perfect time for anything. You will always find excuses to not do something. If I waited for the perfect moment to start I would still be waiting 2 years later.