Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn: Elevating the Filipino LinkedIn Community Through Inspiration and Learning

This newsletter is not about me, and not even about the Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn.?

It’s about every Filipino LinkedIn member who aspires to become more successful. In business. In their careers. In their lives.?

As I write this first edition, I am full of gratitude to every Filipino LinkedIn member who has been supporting this initiative, Top 100 Filipinos to Follow on LinkedIn for Inspiration and Learning, since 2018 when I first published on Marketing In Asia my first attempt to put together in one list the amazing Filipinos who are worth following here on LinkedIn.

How It All Started

It all started with this post where I asked my LinkedIn network to nominate the Filipinos they followed here on LinkedIn.?

My first attempt in 2018, I would say, wasn’t what I expected it to be. I really wanted to have a Top 100 list, but among the 100 Filipinos I reached out to, only 47 sent their responses.

Of course, there could be lots of reasons behind the unexpectedly low turnout of responses, but it made me think — is this curated list worth pursuing?

I didn't have the answer at that time, but I knew deep in my heart that:

Every Filipino LinkedIn content creator who consistently shows up to help elevate the community through inspiration and learning deserves to be recognized.

And I believe that every Filipino LinkedIn member who’s new to the platform needs some kind of inspiration to enable them to see the value of LinkedIn as a one-stop platform that enables them to grow their careers or businesses.

But without any active connection or some kind of “role model,” it’s really hard to see how LinkedIn could help - for a newbie member.

So although I didn't reach my target of having 100 in the list, I published the article, Top 47 Filipinos to Follow on LinkedIn for Inspiration and Learning in 2018.?

This article was originally inspired by Azleen Abdul-Rahim’s list of? 43 Most Inspirational Linkedin Icons In Malaysia You Should Follow Right Now.

While the turnout of responses at the beginning was a bit below my expectations, the impact of the Top 47 article was way beyond my expectations!?

I’ve seen how a simple curation of some of the most active Filipino LinkedIn members has driven conversations, promoted positivity and encouraged Filipinos to connect with each other and get to know each other beyond engaging with their posts.?

And so the rest was history, as they say.?

We continued to curate the Top 100 in 2019 and 2020. And this year, we have more surprises for you!?

Three Years Later: Fast-forward to This Year’s Top 100

This year continues to be a challenging year for the Filipinos, but many of us still choose to show up to inspire and educate, as well as to support fellow Filipinos.

This year, we have 343 nominees from the Filipino LinkedIn community and 217 qualified based on our criteria:

• With at least 1,000 followers
• Actively posting content on LinkedIn in the last 3 months
• Should have been nominated by at least one Filipino LinkedIn member

We ranked those who qualified based on the number of followers and only the top 100 made it to the final list.

Some of the most engaging posts we’ve seen this year include:?

• Coach Chot Reyes’s post about Hidilyn Diaz, the 1st Filipino Olympic gold medalist.?
• ?John Garfin’s post about companies, including JFC, providing free vaccines to their employees.
• ?Louie Banta’s post that encourages us to remember that our story is unique…
• ?Steve Sy’s post about how faith and the people around him have helped him fight against COVID-19. We also saw support pouring from the Filipino LinkedIn community on Melany Tagalogon’s fight against COVID-19.??
• ?Remember your starting salary? Patt Soyao posted an image-based poll to find out. The comments revealed how much we still remember our first jobs and starting salaries!?
• ?Ian Santos’s post about Maria Ressa, the Philippines’ 1st Nobel Peace Prize winner.
• ?Raymond Victorino shows some vulnerability in an inspirational post highlighting a quote from Robin Williams who said, “A hungry stomach, an empty wallet, and a broken heart can teach you the best lessons in life.”?
• ?Laraine Zyreen Marcelo reminds us in her post to “keep going” and we’ll soon see results.?

These are just a few of the many inspiring posts from the Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn. Reading all of their top posts validates the truth — by simply showing up and sharing content that inspires and educates, we’re all able to lift each other up. So thank you so much!?

And my hope is that every Filipino will show up, not only for themselves, but also for others. Together, we can use LinkedIn to lift each other up and get through all the challenges that the pandemic has brought us.

?We’re now on our 4th year, and this year, we would like to recognize the following:?

??? TOP 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn 2021

??? Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn 2021 - Hall of Fame (We have only ONE in our list!)

??? TOP 3 Most Inspiring Filipinos on LinkedIn in 2021 (Based on public votes and votes from our partners)

??? TOP 3 Filipino Content Creators on LinkedIn 2021 (Based on public votes and votes from our partners)

??? Top 10 Most Engaging Posts by Filipinos on LinkedIn 2021 (Based on the posts you sent us)

??? Finalists: Most Inspiring Filipinos on LinkedIn 2021

??? Finalists: Top Filipino Content Creators on LinkedIn 2021

I'm grateful to everyone who believes in this initiative

This initiative has truly grown much bigger than when it started in 2018. And I am truly grateful. It's all possible because of the support from the Filipino LinkedIn community and from my team at VB Consulting. Special mention to our Marketing Specialist who coordinates all of the moving parts of this initiative, Bless Baluyot.

This year, the Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn have a total of 1,480,191 followers.

That number does not include yet the followers of those who are in the Top Content Creators list and the Hall of Fame list. And many of them are also active in other social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Clubhouse.

Overall, we have 1.6-1.8 million organic reach! And you know, when it's organic, it spreads naturally and gets heard by many every single minute.

This year, we are fortunate to have more partners who believe in this initiative, and I am truly grateful to each of them:

1. Marketing In Asia, our Media Partner - Marketing In Asia has been our media partner since 2018, and I am truly grateful to Azleen Abdul Rahim for this partnership!
2. The Vineyard Brand Consultancy, our Branding Partner - Through Leonard Grape, we partnered with The Vineyard Brand Consultancy. They have created our new logo for the Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn!
3. VPF Creative Marketing Communications, our Event and Production Partner - We're also fortunate to have partnered with VPF Creative Marketing Communications through Erwin Ursua who introduced us to VPF's Executive Creative Producer, Paolo Fernandez. It's beyond my imagination that we would have a virtual Awarding Ceremony this year. Thankful to Paolo and his team for making this possible!
4. Modern Ads & Promo, Inc, our Branded Merchandise Partner - Through the generosity of Annaliza Laxamana, Modern Ads & Promo will be giving away branded merchandise to our Top 100 Filipinos. (Stay tuned for details!).

Join us in recognizing the Filipinos that you have been following for inspiration and learning?

We’re organizing a virtual Awarding Ceremony in partnership with VPF Creative Marketing Communications to recognize the top Filipinos on LinkedIn via Zoom. I personally would like to thank them all for consistently showing up to inspire, educate, motivate and support us in our own journey!

Here are the details not to be missed:

?? What: Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn virtual Awarding Ceremony 2021

?? Date: Dec. 11, 2021

?? Time: 7 - 8: 30 p.m.

Every Filipino LinkedIn member is invited to register and join us for free. We will also do a live streaming of the awarding ceremony via LinkedIn Live.?

Stay tuned for more details!??