Everyone Said It Won't Work, But It Did!!

Today, you will learn 3 things I just figured out on LinkedIn:

1: Using LinkedIn to grow an email list

2: A cheap trick to getting more followers

3: A content style that has been over-performing

Let’s get into it!

Using LinkedIn to Grow an Email List

Everybody told me it won’t work. Even I believed it won’t work.

Maybe I already told others not to try because it won’t work. But that doesn’t say I shouldn’t try. Let me give you some background…

Social media platforms started becoming anti-influencer in 2022. They all jumped on the TikTok algorithm bandwagon without thinking much.

This dropped view count and visibility for a lot of people who have focused on building on social media in past years. Now, they have a huge following but their reach is weak.

Social media became interest-media and they were now all about following the trend of whatever is happening. It stopped being about people following people, it is now about people following their interests.

This is why when you engage on a social media post right now on, the algorithm just feeds you more of that post in quick succession until you find it despicable. It’s a horrible way to run social media, but that is the reality at the moment.

Influencers and creators saw this and decided social media is no longer the place to build. They all started trying to build communities outside social media. Instagram (who is always jumping on every bandwagon) launched broadcast channels. And I still don’t know how that ended up. All I know is that it wasn’t visionary or aesthetic at all.

Most creators went for community platforms like Substack, Beehiiv, Kit, etc. The social media platforms noticed that. Creators tried to bring their social media following into their community.

Of course, social media platforms won’t be happy with that. They want to eat their cake and have it. So, they made it very difficult for creators to promote their communities organically. Creators had to run paid ads to be effective at this.

This became the prevailing understanding that you cannot promote an offer on organic social media and it would work.

And indeed, I tried it several times on several platforms. It didn’t work (sustainably). “The way to grow your community is by paid ads”. I heard that several times.

I believed this to be true. I tried promoting this newsletter on LinkedIn, and it didn’t work. I barely got any traction. I saw a couple of other personal brands who came to the same conclusion. So, I know it’s not just me.

However, after going viral with my remote work niche (and you should have a niche, by the way), I decided to make a lead magnet based on that. A lead magnet based on the niche I am going viral on - would it work?

Short answer? Yes!

But let me tell you the story…

First, I shared the potential book covers I made and asked people on LinkedIn to help me pick one. Unexpectedly, most people picked one that I almost rejected.

Second, when the book got out, I made a LinkedIn post to do a shoutout for it. And, as expected, crickets. No leads. I mean, I saw zero downloads. Even though it was free.

But then, I changed my strategy. I made the kind of post that usually goes viral for me, and added the link to the book right in the body of the post. And boom!

I started getting downloads.

That day, the post got 7k impressions and I saw 30+ downloads on my dashboard.

The secret tip here is that your lead magnet should be in the body of your viral post. But they must all be aligned within your niche.

If you give people what they want fast, easy, and cheap - they will take you up on your offer. They will assume you have more to give.

But you have to go viral first.

Cheap Trick to Getting More Followers

This works when you start going viral.

If you are not viral yet or you have not found your niche, focus on that for now. But if you are already going viral, there is something you should be adding to every post you make.

Let me show you:

Can you see that last line?

The part where I asked people to follow me if they want more insights on remote work?

That is the secret.

Notice my full name in a clickable format. I tagged myself in the post. This is the secret. When I did that on all my viral posts, my number of followers started surging.

Now, you may be thinking, “People can just click on your profile picture to go to your profile”. Yes, that is true. But it turns out most people don’t.

The reason I started doing this is that I noticed I went viral but my follower traction just stayed mundane. Then, I remembered that I saw some creators do this but I don’t know why they did it. So, I tried it.

The first day I tried it, I had 2 viral posts going strong at that moment, and I literally doubled my follower count within 2 days. This was in February/March. Since then, I haven’t stopped.

Once you have a niche and you start going viral, you should have a subscript like this at the end of all your LinkedIn posts. Ask people to follow you and give them a reason they should.

Remember, social media is now interest media - many of the people who are seeing your viral posts would be seeing you for the first time. Never forget that.

The Content Style That has Been Over-performing

I am not sure why this works yet, but I am currently stunned by how strongly this content style performs.

And that is Listicles.

Every time I make a list that is relevant to my niche, it gets a lot of reach.

You could argue that it is because I tag other creators or companies. But I recently made a listicle where I made a list of my personal hot takes on a couple of issues. And it got over 5k impressions. That is way above average for me.

If you make a list that is helpful and relevant in your niche, you will get traction.

And this is not a kind of list that anyone can get from Google or AI. It has to be well-curated and personalized.

That’s all for today. Cheers!

P.S. If you are ready to take LinkedIn seriously but don’t know where to start, book a consultation with me here