I kinda sucked at LinkedIn 😬

I’ve been on LinkedIn for a very long time, but I didn’t start to REALLY crack the code until last year.

I saw OTHER people killing it on LinkedIn, building great personal brands and driving tons of business… but for me it was a whole lot of nothing.

Until I decided to give it one more shot and take LinkedIn seriously…

And I’m glad I did, because damn!!

I may not be Justin Welsh, but so far this year I’ve gotten about 30 clients based purely on LinkedIn inbound (I do almost zero outbound, although I plan to start doing more soon)… not bad if you ask me.

But putting aside the obvious (I like money, so it’s cool that I’m building my business), the best part about LinkedIn is that I no longer feel professionally isolated and alone like I did for years.

I’m a weirdo, and I love talking about work, but I never felt like I had anyone to talk to and bounce ideas around with… I felt a little lonely if I’m being honest 😢

But now, thanks to LinkedIn, that’s all changed (sounds corny but it’s true):

I’ve created friendships with a ton of genuinely cool, smart people in all kinds of fields— speaking coaches, product designers, brilliant marketers, agency owners…

Honestly, I haven’t felt this excited about my work and network in a decade, and I feel like I’m only getting started 😌

And here’s what really unlocked LinkedIn for me:

Niche down. Then niche down more.

Everybody (including me) is scared to niche down, but it’s CRITICAL. As we all know, if you try to appeal to everybody, you’ll appeal to nobody.

Be specific about exactly what you do, and who you do it for:

🚫 🚫 Marketing

🚫 Content marketing

✅ Content marketing for early stage fintech companies

For me (after lots of experimentation), it was personal branding for solo entrepreneurs.

And if I’m being honest, I should probably niche down even further.

Optimize your profile.

This is a whole other topic for another newsletter, but the most important part is your headline. I like the format of:

[what you do and who you do it for] | [demonstrated proof of your expertise]

For example:

Content marketing for early stage fintech companies | 3x marketing leader

Also make sure your banner, about section and featured links are laser-focused on your niche.

Get in the DMs!

I know, I know… DMing people is scary. But you gotta do it, because this is where everything goes down.

If you’ve spent time commenting back and forth with someone, that’s a great invitation to get to know them better.

Don’t make it weird. Just say, “Hey, really liking your content on here. I’d love to hear more about what you do if you want to get on a call sometime”

I don’t think I’ve had anyone say no… as long as it’s authentic, and you aren’t being a punisher, people generally like to chat!

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Honestly, putting this much into LinkedIn is one of the absolute best things I’ve done for my career… probably the best thing since I started my YouTube channel back in 2017.

Would love to hear what your experience is on LinkedIn… smash that reply button and let me know!

PS - Here’s the part where I try to sell you something… if you want to work with me to grow on YouTube or LinkedIn, just reply to this email or set up a call here