I Studied The Early Posts of 12 Successful Profiles On LinkedIn & Chances Are They Started Out A Lot Like You...

I tend to take an unconventional approach to media.

I like listening to podcasts from the earliest episodes to the latest. That approach applies to blogs, YouTube channels and more. I want to see why a creator thinks the way they do, to try learning with them, rather than just seeing the end result.

Recently I thought to try this technique with 12 successful LinkedIn profiles that I follow (All 10,000+ followers). I scrolled ALL THE WAY to the bottom of their post list and what I found was fairly shocking.

So what did I find?

Struggle.

Loneliness.

Invisibility.

Almost every person consistently posted with very little recognition (with a couple notable exceptions.)

At first it was just a fun activity. I would scroll for 10-15 minutes until I found the first post and leave a little comment (and often get a very confused response from the author.) But after awhile I began to see something more.

Hope.

Hope for me & hope for every person on LinkedIn who just wants to be noticed for all their hard work.

None of these people started out famous on LinkedIn. Even those who had a strong following before joining the platform like Roberto Blake (he has a successful YouTube channel.) In his first 20 posts he only had 11 comments.

Discouraging? Yes.

Crushing? Apparently not. He now has an average of about 16 comments per post.

The person with the highest follower count was Shanee Moret.

Would you like to guess how many posts it took for her to get her very first comment? Not 1, not 10, but 55 posts!

As I continued exploring I ended up asking 6 main questions of those profiles.

1. How many posts until their first “breakout” post of 25 interactions or more?

2. How many interactions did they have in their first 20 posts?

3. How many comments in their first 20 posts?

4. How many years ago did they start?

5. How many interactions currently across 20 posts?

6. How many comments currently across 20 posts?

I chose subsequent posts that had been on LI for at least two weeks for questions 5 & 6.

This is what I found. Feel free to analyze and post at will.

Of the 12 people that I studied only 2 had relative early success, Ashley Watkins & Jonaed Iqbal. Austin Belcak was unique because although he had some success with his 8th post he didn’t post it until he had been on the platform for a few years. Way to get back on the horse Austin!

Bob Mcintosh posted a whopping 171 times before he finally reached 25 interactions on a post.

He is now my standard.

Can I quit posting on LinkedIn if I don’t have success? Sure! But only after posting 171 times.

I have only posted 57 times so far, so I can’t even think about quitting yet.

Here are a few LinkedIn Lessons that I have learned from these profiles.

1. Stick with just a few interests. Consistency on a few central ideas is key to building a base.

2. Post at least a few times a week.

3. Respond to comments. If someone is nice enough to say something on your posts respond in kind.

4. Know that you are in this for the long haul. Have you made 171 posts yet?!?

5. Post original content in addition to sharing content. If you want followers you should PRODUCE content not just share it.

6. Some of the best people to follow are relatively unknown. I’m looking at you Shelley Piedmont!

7. Find like minded people and team-up. Madaline Mann and Austin Belcak work well together.

8. You don’t have to have the most followers to get the most engagement. Justin Welsh has the 5th most followers but the 2nd most comments.

Want to learn how to grow your LinkedIn following? I would start by following those 12 people. They worked hard to be where they are now and we could learn a thing or two from them.