From Doubt to Success:
My LinkedIn Journey and How You Can Follow It Too
I had many doubts before starting to engage on LinkedIn.
Limiting beliefs like:
- “Will anybody listen? I am not special.”
- “There are much more experienced sellers out there.”
- “This is not for me. Social media is fake anyway.”
- “What will my boss and colleagues think?”
These doubts prevented me from starting for a long time.
Luckily, I was inspired by a few people and did it anyway. That was in November 2023.
As I approach 30,000 followers, I am grateful for the connections I have made and the new projects I have started.
I can tell you with confidence… building your personal brand on LinkedIn is worth it, whether you have a business or work for someone.
It’s really powerful.
The Beginning of My LinkedIn Journey
I was inspired by two people to start engaging on LinkedIn as an experiment last November.
I had tried before but quit soon after getting nowhere.
I started with 4,400 followers (my contacts), often getting 2-3 likes and 300 impressions per post. On some posts, I got zero engagement.
These were my first 4 posts in November:
- Focus on your customer (3 likes, 0 comments, 400 impressions)
- SaaS Cheat Sheet (0 likes, 0 comments, 300 impressions)
- 3 words (3 likes, 1 comment, 500 impressions)
- Number of deals you chase (0 likes, 2 comments, 400 impressions)
Even then, I invested a lot of time into my posts.
Just to give you an idea – the SaaS Cheat Sheet took a whole day to complete!
You can imagine my disappointment when I published it and NO ONE CARED!
And you’ve probably been there.
It’s not the quality of content that often wins on LinkedIn.
I have seen other posts that are far worse than my first posts.
The reason was simply…
I did not know the rules of LinkedIn.
You see, LinkedIn, like any other social platform, has specific rules.
Because I wasn’t applying them, I really struggled when I started in November.
Like before, I almost completely gave up because it was so frustrating.
Luckily, I discovered what is working.
It changed everything for me.
Knowing what to do daily gives you confidence and peace of mind.
It allows you to focus your energy only on the actions that work.
The rewards on LinkedIn are incredible.
Things you can do to:
- Attract thousands of followers from your target audience – not just any followers
- Get connection requests from the major players in your market (you read that right – they will want to connect with you!)
- Make sure each one of your posts gets engagement from readers
- Achieve specific results with your content whether it’s getting leads & sales or growing your audience
Here are some of my posts:
- 48 Sales Books for Top Performers (865 likes, 321 comments, 73 reposts, 136,000 impressions)
- SDRs and BDRs deserve more appreciation (409 likes, 81, 20 reposts, 28, 000 impressions)
- This list is every cold caller’s dream (557 likes, 109 comments, 36 reposts, 133,000 impressions)
- She rejected my cold call (389 likes, 57 comments, 14 reposts, 44,000 impressions)
A huge difference from the humble beginnings.
You know why I am confidence similar results are possible for others too?
Because this was not based on a hype, like AI and ChatGPT in 2023, but on solid principles that I’ve adapted and applied from blogging and internet marketing.
Here are some visuals of my statistics:
How LinkedIn Changed My Life
Since taking LinkedIn seriously in November 2023, here’s what it has done for me:
- Quit my well-paid sales job and become a solopreneur
- Get 30,000 impressions on average per post
- Went from 4,400 inactive followers to 27,000 followers
- Invited to a dozen top podcasts
- Built a profitable sales newsletter with 3,000 daily readers
- Created paid courses and started 1:1 coaching
- Connected with 80% of the sales influencers
All of this was achieved without spending a single dime one advertising.
Oh yeah, did I mention that I currently get paid $500 to $1,000 to do a sponsored post for brands?
This alone could be a full-time income if I focused on it.
You know, I started as a huge social media skeptic.
Today, I can tell you with confidence: LinkedIn is an extremely powerful platform.
Without it, I would not have been able to quit my job and become a solopreneur.
It’s the most powerful tool for personal branding and sales in our times.
But most people don’t treat it like that.
A huge part of LinkedIn success is avoiding the common mistakes I see every day.
Common Mistakes on LinkedIn
The most common mistakes I see people make on LinkedIn are:
- Bad content
- Generating content with AI and copy-pasting it to LinkedIn
- Scheduling posts
- Posting for fun and entertainment
- Relying on pods
- Having no content strategy
- Bad formatting
- Not knowing what the most powerful post formats are
- Bad use of the featured section
- Not finding the right balance between educating and selling
- No clear positioning
- Wrong experimenting
- Trying to go viral with funny, inspirational posts
Your Path to LinkedIn Success
Currently, if you want to be successful on LinkedIn, you have these options:
- Buy a course
- Get 1:1 coaching
- Join a cohort
- Try to copy others and figure it out
All four of these are valid, but there’s one thing missing.
LinkedIn is not something you can learn in just one session.
It takes constant learning, feedback, and experience sharing.
It also takes a long-term approach and discipline.
That’s why I have decided to start a monthly coaching program for LinkedIn growth.
My LinkedIn Growth Club
It includes:
- Regular group calls where I share exactly what I do and we look at specific posts
- A group chat for specific questions and post reviews
- Stats, videos on specific posts, how I made them, etc.
- Access to my online course on how I gained 10,000 followers in 100 days
- All my Canva templates for you to use
Basically, it’s a mixture of feedback, sharing best practices, and templates.
P.S.: If you have questions, just shoot me a quick DM on LinkedIn.