What I've Learned from the 'Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn' Initiative

Today is Christmas Day. So let me start by wishing you happiness and more success. May you spend this day and the holidays with your family and loved ones.?

I’m writing this article in our province in Tarlac. And yes, the whole family is here! This is the only time of the year when I get some real break from work. So you might be asking, why am I still writing this article if I’m on a real break?

I guess, this day is also a day to reflect on what we do and be grateful for all the blessings that came our way this year, so far (the year isn’t over and I know beautiful things are coming in the next few days!)

And so today, as I reflect on the great things in my life this year, I would like to share with you how grateful I am whenever I see where the project Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn has come at this point.

My Journey Begins in 2018

This idea started when I saw Azleen Abdul-Rahim shared on LinkedIn an article he published, 43 Most Inspirational Linkedin Icons In Malaysia You Should Follow Right Now.

When I read that article, I knew I wanted to come up with something similar. I wanted to highlight Filipinos who are active on LinkedIn.?

And so I partnered with Malissa Ancajas and started working on the article. I asked my LinkedIn network through this post to nominate Filipinos that they followed for inspiration and learning.?

Then we reached out to those who were nominated. I remember reaching out to 100 of them, but only 47 replied to the questionnaires we sent out.?

Although we were not able to complete the target 100, we went ahead and published the article, Top 47 Filipinos to Follow on LinkedIn for Inspiration and Learning.?

The following year, we had enough traction, I guess, so we were able to come up with the Top 100 list.?

Top 100 Filipinos to Follow on LinkedIn for Inspiration and Learning 2019

Top 100 Filipinos to Follow on LinkedIn for Inspiration and Learning 2020

This year’s Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn initiative has become bigger and bolder – and I didn’t even expect it.?

I love how Ronnie Reyes described it in his post: ?

What We’ve Done Differently This Year

This year, I wanted to do it a little differently. But at the beginning, I had no idea how to make it different. But along the way, the people who helped make this year astounding for this project showed up and supported us…

1: We launched our new Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn logo

Since I have just reconnected with Leonard Grape, my former student who’s now the founder and CEO of The Vineyard Brand Consultancy, I asked him if he would consider partnering with us as our Branding Partner. He agreed, and I am truly thankful! We launched the Top 100 logo in October 9 through a post on LinkedIn:?

2: The Top 100 received exclusive Top 100 jackets that come with branded boxes

This has become one of the highlights of the event -- thanks to our Branded Merchandise Partner, Modern Ads & Promo, Inc. who made this possible! What made this extra special was when the Top 100 shared a post where they were wearing their jackets.?Here are some of the photos from them:

Here are some actual posts from some of them:

Harvey Ong:

Ian Santos:

Charlene Lucas:

3: The Top 100 were recognized in a virtual awarding ceremony

Through the awesome team at VPF Creative Marketing Communications, known for their beyond-the-usual productions, we were able to bring together the Top 100 in one special event.

The Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn - Virtual Awarding Ceremony was totally a game-changer for this year's initiative!

4: The Top 100 received a program kit

This kit includes shareable images, a copy of the awarding ceremony’s program, shareable videos and their Top 100 Zoom virtual background and their Top 100 badge.?

5: We launched the Top 100 Hall of Fame award

This year, the Filipino LinkedIn member with the highest number of followers is still Francis Kong. He has been the No. 1 in our list for three consecutive years - since we started in 2018.

We wanted to continue recognizing Francis Kong for consistently adding value to the LinkedIn community, and at the same time, we wanted more Filipinos to get an opportunity to also be recognized. So we decided to launch the Hall of Fame award, which goes to the person who has been No. 1 for three consecutive years.

What I've Learned from This Year's 'Top 100' Initiative

Coordinating with 100 Filipinos is already complicated enough. Tallying the results, putting them all in one spreadsheet and qualifying hundreds of nominees based on the criteria we've set by going through each of their LinkedIn profiles -- it's quite complicated enough.

But this year, that step has become just a small part of the entire initiative. So let me share what I've learned along the way:

1 - Relationships matter

This year's Top 100 event is indeed very successful. Although we've introduced several new steps to the initiative, everything seems to fall perfectly into place.

But I honestly can't take credits for that. I just started it, but its success this year is because of my team and our partners who believe in the initiative.

To accomplish great things, you have to partner with great people who believe in your initiative.

When I reflect on it, I realized that all of these partnerships were due to the relationships I have with people I have met through LinkedIn.

• Annaliza Laxamana generously offered to give away 100 jackets to the Top 100. She was one of my first clients in 2017! I am grateful to her for believing in this project.
• Leonard Grape is a former student. We reconnected a few weeks before we started working on the Top 100 initiative. I asked him if he'd be interested in partnering with us to help us with the branding, and Leo didn't have second thoughts. I am truly grateful for his trust.
• Erwin Ursua was one of my mentees in my mentoring program that I just launched this year. He introduced me to Paolo Fernandez, the Executive Creative Producer at VPF Creative Marketing Communications. I am truly grateful to Erwin and Paolo for the trust!
• Our hosts, Eunice Juanzo and Mae Cuison, are both in my mentoring program. I've met Eunice in a remote conference that she and her team at Remote Staff has organized in 2019. And I've worked with Mae before for a client from Israel.
• Through Eunice, Rica Jankulovski found out about the initiative and has approved the partnership with Remote Staff, also one of my former clients.

Looking back, I see the value of building relationships with people. I already knew this, but this Top 100 initiative is a tangible result of building good relationships with people. Great things happen, but only if you partner with great people who believe in what you do.

Definitely, you could use LinkedIn to build relationships and trust that are important in accomplishing great things!

2 - You don't have to see the entire stairs going up

To accomplish great things, you don't have to see the entire stairs before you start taking action. Although I had an idea of what I wanted to happen, I was clueless how to accomplish them.

But along the way, I've seen how our initial efforts led to more opportunities that have led us to eventually partnering with the great people I met only through LinkedIn. So I thought, if I just waited until I have all the answers, I wouldn't have come across our partners who made this event a great one!

3 - Teamwork makes the dream work

People see only myself, the hosts and those in the Top 100 throughout the campaign. But behind us were people who were busy making the designs, the plans, production, creatives, coordination and the whole project a success.

Imagine how many teams worked on the entire campaign - each of our partners used their own teams and resources to make this a reality.

At VB Consulting, our main marketing specialist for this initiative is Bless Baluyot, the person behind the coordination of all the teams. And she's the one who coordinated with the Top 100 to have their hoodies delivered!

Indeed, teamwork makes the dream work!

4 - Some things won't turn out the way you want them to. Just keep going.

This year, everything actually turns out way beyond my expectations! All thanks to my team and our partners. But the previous years, while we were still building some traction, some have also doubted this initiative.

In the past four years of doing this, I remember that there were some of those that we reached out to -- because they were nominated -- but they didn't reply to us, especially on our first year. A few even questioned what we would do with their answers.

And one of them seemed skeptic and was concerned that we would just put their emails in our email list to send them marketing emails. What? Obviously, that person had no idea about the mission of this initiative.

Up to this date, we have never sent any of those in the Top 100 since 2018 any email not related to the article or event.

The good news is, the overwhelming majority of those we reached out to appreciated the initiative. Many are thankful to have been included in the final list.

What I've learned:

Not everything will turn out the way you want them to.

The start of your journey could be rough and tough.

Not everyone will believe in your initiative.

But that's totally fine.

Just keep going.

Wrapping Up

This year, I've received several messages from fellow Filipinos who would like to know how they could be part of next year's TOP 100.

Their inquiries made me feel more grateful. They want to be part of this, for sure, because they see its value and perhaps its impact.

In my next posts, I'll share with you some tips to get you started here on LinkedIn and be in "the most prestigious" (I got this term through a feedback from the community!) list and recognition of Filipinos on LinkedIn!

Follow #Top100FilipinosOnLinkedIn to check out some of the posts in the past years.