How I Became an Accidental LinkedIn Influencer (and You Can Be Too)

I never expected to have 12,000 LinkedIn followers. In fact, I never set out to have any LinkedIn followers. It just happened. 12K followers might not be much compared to Bill Gates (36 million followers), but in my small industry it's a Big Freakin' Deal. So I have re-traced my steps to discover how it happened and I worked out that there was nothing particularly unique about it. Yes, you too can be an LinkedIn influencer, if that is your aspiration. Particularly if you are old enough not to care about becoming a TikTok star instead.?(If you want the 10 Step Plan, skip the background and go straight to the second half.)

Like most people who have been on LinkedIn for a while, I joined it when it was a way to get hired, rather than noticed. I was also too lazy to regularly update my CV, so it became a good dumping ground for my past employment and recent work achievements. Then something happened, roughly around the time Microsoft acquired the platform. LinkedIn became a little less suck-y. It also became an acceptable social media platform, not least if you wanted to scroll through a feed at work without looking like you were not focusing on that project with a deadline of last week. There is still a lot wrong with the current LinkedIn, but it is much better than LinkedIn 1.0.

Let’s be clear, I have not met 12,000 people, so the majority of people following me are strangers I will most likely never cross paths with IRL. Secondly, I don’t blindly accept every connection request and I block a few suspect followers (few followers and an empty profile is a tell-tale sign). The good news is that LinkedIn is mercifully free of bots, which is more than you can say about Twitter. Also, I didn’t buy any followers. (Because what would be the point?) Thirdly, I am at best a medium-size fish in a medium-to-small pond. Nobody follows me because they see me on TV, YouTube or in arenas. I also don’t post motivational or inspiring quotes (please never do that).?

What happened was that I started posting articles about the industry I am in and people started to take notice. There was never a coherent strategy behind it. Confession time: I did it because I could never get my head around those apps that lets you bookmark and save articles online. So I dumped them on LinkedIn, usually with some scribbled comments about why it was interesting, as much to myself as to anyone else reading. Occasionally I would scroll back to find an article that was relevant for something that I was writing or giving talk on, so it had its uses.?

Then something happened. Some of my posts would get thousands of impressions, well over a hundred likes and sometimes over a dozen comments. Occasionally LinkedIn would inform me that my post was in the top 5% or 1% of all posts. I am not bragging, because I do not ascribe any particular genius to my output, only a modicum of insights about my business. Nor do I cover some hot new topic like blockchain, crypto or AI, or a sexy company like Apple or Tesla. I am part of a business that is over 125 year old and has been written off as dead many times. I cover the cinema industry.?

Now, you are probably thinking red carpet, Oscars and hanging out with film stars. Nope. I work on the un-sexy end of it known as theatrical exhibition, writing about everything from cinema ticketing software to the manufacturers of cinema screens and seats. Want to know about Dolby amplifiers, TMS (theatre management systems) or why staff recruitment is an issue for multiplexes, then I’m our man. I don’t get invited to film premieres; I get invited to cinema openings. Because that is what I care more about. Sure, I like films, but I would hate to be a film critic, cover film festivals or write about film productions. Please don’t ask me about film recommendations, but I will happily tell you what my favourite cinema is in any major city around the world.?

So, you’ve read this far, when 9 out of 10 of you just want to get to the bit when I reveal the ingredients in the Secret Sauce of How You, Yes YOU, Can Also Be a X Guru in your chosen field. Which is a good time for a disclaimer that the title of ‘Cinema Guru’ is never one that I picked but was semi-jokingly bestowed on me by several industry colleagues. Much like a piece of gum under your shoe, it seems to have stuck. It also makes it simpler to say than to explain that I am a journalist/consultant/webinar host/public speaker. Because even my mother to this day isn’t sure what exactly it is that I do. “Something to do with cinemas,” she will tell me uncles and aunts.?

So with this over-long preamble out of the way, gather around, seat yourself in a lotus position, don’t close your eyes (it makes it harder to read) and I will tell you how you can become a LinkedINfluencer (sorry, couldn’t resist). There isn’t a silver bullet, but if you want one anyways it is this: consistency. Now for the longer bit:??

1. PICK A TOPIC. This might seem obvious, but worth starting off with. There’s no point trying to cover several un-related or semi-related areas of business. Preferably pick a topic that you are well familiar with and already have some industry traction in. If you can pick a niche it is even better than going for a big and most likely crowded topics like #sustainability or ChatGPT. Chances are that there are many more smarter people covering it already. For the sake of this step-by-step guide I will use the example of cauliflower, because I’ve had more experience with cauliflower than ChatGPT.?
2. DON’T WRITE CAULIFLOWER RECEPIES. By this I mean that you need to know how or what aspect about a topic you plan to cover. The Internet is full of cauliflower dish recipes. Don’t add to those. You should instead focus on news and insights about cauliflower growing, trading, handling, shipping, retail, display and something occasionally about cauliflowers in pop culture. That is the way to became the go-to authority on Cauliflower, get called Cauliflower Guru and invited to speak at Non-Root Vegetable Conferences.?
3. GOOGLE ALERTS IS YOUR FRIEND. There is a lot written about cauliflowers online everyday (I'm guessing, because I didn’t bother to check). You can’t possibly keep track of all the agricultural journals, department of food reports and farmer blogs every day. So let Google do the heavy lifting for you. Set up a daily (!) Google Alert for the term “cauliflower” to be delivered to your inbox with all the links and article excerpts. It’s free and remarkable, because your parents or grandparents had to use something called a ‘clipping service’ for this, back in analogue days. They were expensive and had a built-in time lag. Thank Mr Google that you get this for free.?
4. CONFIGURE GOOGLE ALERT EN FRANCAISE. Be an international cauliflower expert. Don’t confine yourself to cauliflower news from the Mid West and Lincolnshire. Set up Google Alerts in a dozen different languages, so set up to get news about chou-flour, coliflor, Blumenkohl, kalafior and more. Go for the biggest languages for which your topic is relevant, but at the very least, go for French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, as well as Arabic, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. You say you don’t speak those languages? Just use Google Translate. It is automatic on most emails (on my desktop browser, but not in my Android app). It takes a little getting used to, particularly for languages like Chinese that do not have capital letters and combine characters for new terms (electricity+provider is the Chinese character for e-commerce - that one took me a while to figure out).?
5. START POSTING ON LINKEDIN. Select up to half a dozen stories that are particularly interesting and post them on LinkedIn. Add your comments summarising the news or explaining why it is particularly interesting or relevant. Sometimes the article is self explanatory, in which case just quote a key paragraph. Just be sure to use “quotation marks” around it, to make sure people know that you are quoting rather than opinionating.?
6. TAG, TAG, TAG. Whenever there is a person or company mentioned, be sure to tag them. So if it is @CauliflowerConglomerate or @ColinCauliflowerCEO tag them. LinkedIn still not great at always identifying the right person/company you are after, but it increases the likelihood of your post getting more widely read and shared. You can use #hashtags as well, but I never do and I am also not sure how useful they are, though LinkedIN #wants #me #to #think #that #they #are.?
7. CONNECT LINKEDIN TO TWITTER. It is relatively easy to link your LinkedIn account so that your posts also appear on your Twitter account (Google it). This will increase your coverage a bit, particularly with people who prefer Twitter (media folks and people who rant a lot about Cauliflower). Just remember the character limit, so that your writing does not get cut off before you get to the relevant bit.?
8. ENGAGE WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS. Algorithms favour engagement. Algorithms don’t care what you talk about, just as long as you and others hit ‘Reply’. So every time someone posts a comment, be sure to reply to them, even if it is just to thank them for their comment. Ideally get a conversation going, but do it in a nice way, even if you disagree with the comment. If you can post a question in the original post (“Anyone agree?”), even better, because it is an open invitation for people to comment. The more likes and comments, the higher up your post will end up on other people's feed. This is particularly important for it to get seen by those that do not follow you (a.k.a. 2nd degree followers, or connections of connection), but might be interested in cauliflower and see what your mutual connections have liked or commented upon. These will hopefully convert into direct followers for you.?
9. BE CONSISTENT. Here comes the difficult bit. Really difficult. You have to make it a daily habit. Just like exercise and eating your greens (or in the case of cauliflower - whites) it won’t make a real difference unless you do it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And it gets boring after a while. Whether cauliflower or ChatGPT. Writing and posting about it day and day out is a chore. Especially weekends. Do it enough and it will become routine and sometimes even fun. But you have read this far, so clearly you have stamina. You can do it! Don’t let someone else beat you to being the Cauliflower Guru.?
10. BE NICE. I can’t really think of a good way to conclude this piece, plus it is way too long already. So be nice. People respond to positivity. You don’t need to be a cauliflower cheerleader in every post, because sometimes broccoli is better. But you can probably find something positive or hopeful to write whatever the news is. Only a small percentage of your followers will comment regularly, so there is no point alienating them. Those people who want to know about cauliflower will eventually start to look up to you and search you out for cauliflower news, updates and analysis. Fortunately LinkedIn makes it hard to be a troll, but you will still get annoying people that think that you actually sell cauliflower, or want to work in the cauliflower business. Don’t be rude or dismissive, but explain to them that “sorry, I can’t help you with this.” It really pays to be nice, particularly if you aspire to be a guru.?A bonus is that a lot of strangers will eventually start coming up to you and tell you that they follow you and really appreciate your cauliflower posts on LinkedIn.?

That’s my take on my journey here on LinkedIn and whatever learnings it may hold for others. I never did land a job thanks to LinkedIn, but I have learned a lot, met some interesting people, engaged in some worthwhile exchanges and even picked up some paying freelance gigs.?I have probably also spent too much time here on LinkedIn, instead of engaging with people more IRL. So hopefully I will get to meet more of my 12,000 followers in person.?Thank you for reading.?

P.S. If you wonder about the Cultpix in my title, as well as working in the cinema business I run a streaming site for classic cult and genre films - but that's a story for another day.