Connect & Level up- Top Professionals to follow right now!!!

"LinkedIn now has a whopping community of 610 million #professionals. Much Brilliance! But, Aashi... I am kind of clueless. I have 1000 + connections, yet no relevance. How do I enrich my community here? Who should I really follow to read the content specific with my interest areas?" asked one of my friend who recently started exploring #linkedIn.

"That's simple, Neha. You are an aspiring architect. Start connecting with professionals in your field and you're good to go", I promptly responded.

"Umm.. Everyone tells the same thing- Engage with people in your field. But, That's not the case. You see, I plan to start my own Interior Designing studio. So, I need to have a knack of the key aspects of running a business... from operations to technology to marketing and everything else. For a solopreneur like me, it is so essential to develop my entrepreneurial skills and what better than to learn from the Professionals who've mastered their art. Can you please help me to research and find the people I should connect and learn from?" Neha spilled the beans to me.

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You see, this is a real problem. We have all been there, Haven't we? It is a confusing process to #optimise your feed, as we are either new to #linkedin and don't know whom to follow or we randomly follow numerous people and end up seeing unrelatable dissatisfactory content in their feed. 

There is humongous content flushing in #linkedin at every hour. Can you believe over 2 million posts course through our feeds every day? It has thus become a need of the moment to figure out "What kind of content lights the bulb of your mind?" and "Who are the top-voices that you should essentially know on #LinkedIn to amplify your knowledge?"

So, my friends... Here, I've compiled a list of reputed leaders who are at the top of their game. If you are into any of the key areas mentioned below, simply start out by #following them, cuz' I bet, they are L E G E N D S in what they do!!!

1) Sales & Marketing - Every young entrepreneur dreams to establish their business and generate a good ROI. This is only possible with a well-planned approach along with skilled sales & marketing professionals. Marketing is strategizing while Sales is execution. Get to know various sales recipes by following these spectacular leaders:-

Mark Hunter || John Barrows || Lori Richardson || Gary Vaynerchuk || Morgan J. Ingram || Dale Dupree || Joshua W. Desha || Gurdeep Mann || Colleen Francis || Joe Pulizzi ||

2) Technology - A progressive business never compromises with efficient technology. Strong IT infrastructure is the 'key' for cost and time effective operations of a business. There is no point ignoring to learn which technology is revolutionizing your industry. Research shows that 89% of companies expect their IT budgets to grow or stay steady in 2019. And who says you've to be a "geek" or a "nerd" to be updated about the best technology? If you're always blown away with the latest tech advancements, but find it hard to keep up with "what's new" in this field.. Take a simple step and follow these spectacular leaders:-

Manu Goswami || Yasi Baiani || Susan Etlinger || Anant Gupta || Paul Daugherty || Jennifer Pahlka || Adam Danyal || Cathy Hackl || Lisa Seacat DeLuca || Sara Holoubek ||

3) Digital Branding & Analytics - The most magnetic way to grow your small business is to promote it in the market. You may wonder, how to do that effectively within a tight budget? The answer is Digital Marketing & Analytics. The Internet has massively boomed with 56.8 % (4.3 Billion people) of the world's population using it, as of 2019. Mark your business' online presence and target the potential customers with social media marketing, content marketing, online advertising, etc.. The cherry on the cake is Analytics that gives you data-driven results to decide which form of online marketing best suits your business. Start doing more in less by following these spectacular leaders:-

Neil Patel || Allen Gannett || Ann Handley || Kim Garst ||Richard Shotton || Kristin Gallucci || Jill Rolley || Annesha Dutta || Ryan Deiss || Larry Kim || Jeff Bullas ||

4) Growth Hacking - What a fancy term, no? Indeed is. And so is the work. Growth Hacking is an amalgamation of all possible strategies to acquire a large number of new customers in a short span of time. Ever wondered how brands like Uber, Zomato & Oyo boast a great customer base within a few years? It's because of the minds that design customer-centric strategies making you their loyal member. Research also proves that Retention is the new growth hacking. Learn cost-effective hacking tricks by following these spectacular leaders:-

Sean Ellis || Nir Eyal || Sujan Patel || Vaibhav Sisinty || Lincoln Murphy || Andrew Chen || Brian Balfour || Goldie Chan || Brian Dean || Dharmesh Shah ||

5) Life Coaching - Growing a business from its nascent phase to its full potential is not a cakewalk. It comes with numerable challenges- from budget to operations to decision-making. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is the major problem every entrepreneur deals with and Life coaching fills that gap seamlessly. You'll be stunned to know that around 86% of companies who hired a Life Coach believe they made their return on investment. It's not just a counselling, mentoring, or therapy session, in fact, it combines a lot of techniques to enrich your personal and professional well-being, making you excel at self-confidence, team management, and business management. Expect better productivity? Then sure, follow the best tips from these spectacular Life- Coaches in the world:-

Stella Da Silva || Michael David Chapman || Deen Dayal Yadav || Sam Chein || Rita Andorinho || Natalie Forest || Lacey Abbacchi || Jasmine Wilson || Jessica Yarbrough ||

By now, you'd have known some AMAZING professionals to follow on LinkedIn. Hope you connect with them, learn more, grow even more and keep building your network just the right way. In my next article, I will share a very interesting 15 minutes health Checkup (Nope..it's not about your health). Confused already? Well, stay tuned to know all about it :)

Also, I would love to know your favourite people on LinkedIn whom you never miss out to read? Tag them in the comments below, Let's share the good in goodwill :D