How I Built Over 10,000 of Real Connections On LinkedIn in 10 Months

When I first started this journey, I had no idea I would end up with over 10,000 connections seeing, liking, sharing & commenting on my posts.

 I still remember the day & time I got started.  It was XMAS 2014/2015, I was in Darwin visiting my sister and I said to her “I am going to start writing”.  She looked at me and said “Okay……and what will you get out of it?”  And I said “You know what.  I really don’t know.  I don’t know what I am getting out of it.  But I would like to start sharing my voice with the world.”

 And in myself, I felt really clear that I wasn't doing it to “get anything out of it”.  I was doing it because I had reached a point where I couldn’t not do it anymore. 

My articles were writing themselves in my head at night, my voice swirling around inside of me un-expressed and it was keeping me up at night instead of sleeping!

 So I put pen to paper and started writing.  I wrote every day for 30 days on LinkedIn.  And that was when the first jump of people happened.  I went from 38 connections to around 1,000 within that first 30 days which was January 2015.

And then things steadily grew as I wrote more articles, shared them around and started to gain confidence as a writer and a thought leader.

 Around June 2015, another big shift occurred.  I started doing videos on Facebook.  Everyday I would do a short, simple straight forward video on a topic of value & importance to other people.  And as things started to explode on Facebook, things started to explode into LinkedIn as well as my profile started to build as an Online Marketing Authority.

 Just for context, on Facebook, the videos I have done have around 10,000 daily views.  And as a daily practice, and commitment to serve, I do a video on Facebook in the morning, an article in the afternoon (which is sometimes shared on LinkedIn), and then in the evening something personal.

 On LinkedIn specifically the daily practice takes anywhere between 10 minutes and 30 minutes and centers around connections. 

How can I be more connected to people , and in particular the people I want to talk to?

 So here is what I do everyday.

Step 1: Build Trust

In this part we want to present ourselves as credible and as someone people can trust and listen to.  Have a great friendly photo of yourself, complete your headline, have a great succinct profile summary, including all your qualifications and places worked.

Step 2: Have a Voice.

Using the powerful Pulse platform, write regular articles about an area of expertise that you know something about.  And it doesn’t have to be on your area of expertise either.  I mean, I am an Online Marketing Specialist and I help Entrepreneurs & Businesses be seen & found online, so that they can build an online presence they truly love.  And then they can attract people and paying clients to earn the money they deserve and make the impact on the world they want to make.  I very very rarely write about this topic.  There is so many components to this including Sales Pages, Funnels, Email Marketing, Website Integration….I mean, those are just not interesting topics.  I write about success, overcoming obstacles, sales conversations, being a beautiful person inside & out, becoming benevolent – that sort of thing.  Anyway, my point is, it doesn’t have to be anything super technical or dry – it just needs to add value to people’s lives and forward the conversation.

Step 3: Connect the Dots.

I am mainly on Facebook & LinkedIn.  I mean I know how to build audiences on these platforms.  There are other platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope, Twitter, etc etc but I have found it easier and more rewarding to focus on the two heavyweights.  But really, horses for courses here.  You can do as much or as little as you like as long as you are on a couple of the big ones and mastering them.  Like building 10,000+ audiences.  Every time I put up a post, a lot of eyes see my work and this builds up my profile and is invaluable to my business.

Step 4: Engage with others.

Every day I go onto Facebook & LinkedIn for around 30 minutes tops, usually 10 minutes spread 3 times throughout the day.  And I like other people’s work.  And I don’t just pass over them like a ship in the night.  I read the article, think about it and add a thought provoking comment that forwards the conversation.  This then has the people that I am supporting & engaging with see me as a supporter & fan of their’s.  So they usually stop by and check out my work and appreciate it as well.

Step 5: Reach out.

I go through phases of this depending on how much time I have, if I can be bothered, if I have any support staff helping me from time to time.  In a nutshell, when I get a new connection, I send them a real quick message saying something like

“Thank-you so much for the connection and for making it real. I really value LinkedIn as a platform for making new connections and discovering what work people are up to. I would love to know, what business ideas are you working on right now? I am working on building my confidence and reaching out to meet more people. 

Have a great day!  Sharnee”

You can see from what I wrote there.  There is a zero sales pitch.  Nothing to sell or offer.  Just interested in what they are up to.  Many people get this wrong as they are pitching in the first touchpoint.  It is a total turnoff and brings down the brand considerably.

Step 6: Fruit from your efforts

As I said at the start of this article, I started this process with no expectation of getting anything out of it.  I wanted to find my voice in the world and start sharing it.  My first articles & videos were no masterpieces but what I found after continued time & practice was my work got better, I became more confident, and I found a way of expressing that, that resonated with other people, as well as myself.  But now I find myself in the privileged position where I attract around 5-10 high quality new leads organically (meaning I don’t pay for these leads) from both LinkedIn & Facebook per week.  I get asked out for coffee all the time, and sometimes I go and do this with clients that I would like to meet or connections I would like to make.  This is invaluable to my business.

How would having 5-10 new free leads into your business each week do for your business right now?

Step 7: Continue on even when you want to give up.

I have a few clients of mine that I start off on this road as well, to build up their audiences on Facebook & LinkedIn.  A common trap is if they don’t see results in a few days or weeks, they give up.  Some even email me asking “what’s the point? Where are the people?  I don't even know these people”.   Or they ask, how they can build up their audiences without doing any actual work.

(laughing out loud softly to myself)

 Here is the thing guys.  What are you committed to?  Building your business to $100k to $1m per year?  Or are you committed to waiting for your clients to find you, believe in you and buy from you from over there where you are right now?

 Nothing in this lifetime happens without work, and it has taken 10 months to build up 10,000 connections and in no more than 30 minutes per day.   And I get to be me in my marketing.  I get to be real.  I get to share what's really on my mind.

 Do you have 30 minutes per day to focus on building new connections, building your profile, and attracting new business?

Working on my connections everyday & expressing my voice has transformed my entire life & business.  I cannot emphasis this enough and I am so grateful I got started on this journey.

 I truly hope this is of some value to you and well worth your time to read it.  I am thrilled and over the moon to have reached this milestone and I am working with a couple of people right now who have 25K & 50k of connections on LinkedIn and I cannot wait to reach the next level.

 You can see my work on Facebook here. And LinkedIn here.

 Any questions guys, please make a comment on this post or message me directly and I will also send you a link to an upcoming webinar we are having on "Building your LinkedIn community"

Kind Regards,

Sharnee Bennett
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Sharnee Bennett is the creator of Turning Followers Into Clients and in 2015 has built an online following of 17,897 from Facebook & LinkedIn without paid advertising.  Using her methods, coaches, experts, thought-leaders, and service professionals attract the perfect clients, at the perfect price, anytime they want. To learn more, visit her free webinar.