LinkedIn's "Rock Hammer" Moment

LinkedIn's growth isn't because of Creators.

It's because you hate your job.

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Yesterday's stodgy platform for storing resumes is now serving a VERY different function in the business world.

There are 6 reasons why this is no longer your father's LinkedIn from yesterday.

And this is what's REALLY driving LinkedIn's growth.

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1 - CREATORS ARE WELCOMED ON LINKEDIN

While everyone hates the boring corporate announcements and executive humble-bragging, there are two big reasons why Creators are suddenly all over the platform.

As a company, LinkedIn cannot grow an ads business without better content. So they are facilitating Creators with relevant features, like Newsletters and Audio programs.

These Creators solve a problem that LinkedIn's executive leadership can't say publicly. So I will.

Any platform stocked with old white men in suits who stammer though a forced video will not draw a crowd. And no eyeballs means no advertisers.

The ability to dynamically connect with other people is a skill. You can't fake the funk on a nasty dunk. So the parent company needs something better than octogenarians and research papers to spark ad revenue.

Reason number two has nothing to do with LinkedIn's business model. It has to do with the worker bees themselves.

From the employee perspective, LinkedIn is the only social platform they can browse at their office workstation without getting fired. And when you're stuck in a high-paying, dead-end job that you hate...this is your only enjoyment while pushing the grinding-wheel in the hot sun all day.

?2 - CONTENT IS THE NEW RESUME

The traditional business world has been slow to recognize that content IS networking. It's just the digitized form of building connection. The corporate firms themselves don't actually WANT to make content. But the individual corporate employee is realizing that content is the new resume. And remember...they hate their job.

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3 - FINANCIAL REPRESSION IS REAL

Those big money, white-collar jobs like Legal and Finance do not permit their employees to post content. They claim it is due to compliance concerns. But really the growth of a personal brand represents a business threat to them.

But those employees not making content are costing themselves career opportunity. And they are starting to understand that they're being held down by "The Man."

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4 - THERE'S GONNA BE A JAILLLL........BREAK!

Content is the bridge out of corporate.

Period. New sentence.

Like it or not, the digital landscape is the ACTUAL “Future of Work”...and LinkedIn is fostering the transition.

That's why you’re hearing so much about the Solopreneur movement. It’s nothing more than folks tying their bed sheets together so they can slip through those bars and climb down the corporate wall. The Solopreneur used to be called a "side-hustler." The difference is that once you make your side-hustle into your MAIN hustle...you're a Solopreneur. In the decade ahead, many of these solopreneurs will band together to become entrepreneurs.

We're seeing the progression in real-time. This is actually the birth of a new way of earning income. Traditional jobs are going away. I'll skip the AI paragraph here...

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5 - DIGITAL TRAINING IS NEEDED

Most corporate folks lack the digital skills needed today. They don't understand things like digital writing, content strategy, sales funnel structure, lead gen creation and nurture sequences. So they are tuning in to these "Creators" on LinkedIn, who are teaching them daily.

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6 - AGGREGATED DEMAND IN ONE PLACE

LinkedIn has become a creator hotbed because of this pent-up demand for what the creators have to share. Sensing this, the Creators are pouring in because the demand for them is still outstripping supply.

With the OTHER social platforms…all the folks ON there are already free to create. Most LinkedIn employees are not. But they are desperately trying to figure it out. Thus, LinkedIn is the last collection of "unskilled" digital laborers all together in one place.

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TIME HAS COME TODAY...

After 30 years on Wall Street, I left and launched a content marketing firm. So I see the full picture. Part of my organization now teaches corporate folks the skills they were never taught...but should have been. Frankly, I'm happy to help topple tradition and empower those who seek the knowledge.

But either way, the number of folks using LinkedIn to get out is growing daily. Personal brand-building. Digital writing. Content experiments. It's all going on. For LinkedIn, this is only the beginning.

There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come. Covid sucked. But it taught us all one thing. Time has come.

If you are an unhappy employee...start sharpening your rock hammer.