The LinkedIn "Career Fame" Strategy

Welcome to the first edition of LinkedIn Famous.

The goal of this newsletter is to make you famous on LinkedIn to attract job or work opportunities that can change your life, especially financially.

Several months back, my interest was piqued in the global job market. And I launched a newsletter to share jobs openings and the reality behind them. But it didn’t take me long to realize how messy the situation is.

I was seeing the same jobs over and over again. And competition was so fierce that I didn’t think I was delivering anything of value. There is no point in seeing job opportunities if you can’t get them.

So, I discontinued the newsletter and kept doing my online thing privately. I took a deep-dive in social media platforms (of which, they are no longer “social”). And I discovered a breakthrough on LinkedIn.

In a few weeks, I went from this:

To this:

And I want to teach how anyone can achieve the same.

There are a lot of resources and services for founders to grow their LinkedIn. I felt employees, professionals, and executives were often neglected. And that is what pushed me further into this.

I am going to be teaching key principles on building a LinkedIn brand every week. New posts every Tuesday. And it will be long reads like this one, so it is not something you glance through.

I highly encourage you to get a pro membership to gain full access every week. If you only stay at the free tier, you will get full analysis just once per month.

Also, pro members get a complimentary 1:1 consultation with me (for the first 25 people).

In today’s analysis, I want to talk about the singular change that started it all. If you don’t have this, all your tactics on LinkedIn will produce mediocre results. This is the foundation. And it is summed up in ONE word – Niche.

Stuck at 300 Impressions

My best posts got about 300 impressions on LinkedIn. The regular ones got about 150 impressions. It was all bland and mundane like anybody else.

I am saying this to make you see that it doesn’t matter what stage you are right now. Virality can happen to you and it can happen fast.

The purpose of this is not to become LinkedIn famous for the sake of being famous. Instead, it is to become famous so that work opportunities can chase you. The thing you are chasing will start chasing you.

Instead of applying for jobs and getting ghosted, you will be getting pitched by recruiters and people who want to pay for your expertise. Is it possible? Yes!

I have just been a few weeks into my newfound fame on LinkedIn and I already have DMs from senior management people in well-known companies. That is the purpose of LinkedIn fame.

However, not all famous people on LinkedIn have that. And that is because they neglect the principle I am sharing with you right now – NICHE.

The moment I got the niche right, everything changed as you can see from the picture above. And also because I already knew the other principles (which I will continually be sharing with you in newsletter).

What is Your LinkedIn Niche?

Your success on LinkedIn as a brand is 70% dependent on picking the right niche. And this is not like YouTube where you are trying to pick the right niche to make money on content. This is different.

Your niche doesn’t have to be something very popular or grand. But it has to be:

1. Something you know so well that you can teach

2. Something your professional experience backs up strongly

3. Something people discuss on LinkedIn very often

4. Something you have passion for

5. Something you have a few controversial takes on

You might need to play around with this for a while. It takes a while to nail this accurately.

I used to write on finance and my articles were very popular on Medium, but it didn’t really work on LinkedIn. Why? My professional experience does not back it up.

I tried content creation as a topic. But you know the problem with that? It is not something people discuss on LinkedIn very often.

Writing and editing as a topic feels great, but I had no passion for it.

Then, I stumbled on remote work. This met all 5 criteria accurately. I know it so well that I can teach it. My professional experience backs it up strongly as I have worked remotely my entire adult career (even before it became cool). People discuss it on LinkedIn a lot. It is something I have passion for. And I have several controversial takes on it. That is my sweet spot.

What is your sweet spot?

This is the first step to becoming LinkedIn famous. And we are talking about functional fame – fame that brings you high-paying opportunities. All 5 criteria must be met.

How to Find Your LinkedIn Niche

For some people, it is obvious. But for most people, it is not. Understand that this is not about posting your own quotes and generic thoughts on leadership. You are not Gary Vee.

People with a big brand already can do that and gain a ton of impressions. But it is because people already know them. If people don’t know you, that will not work for you.

We would talk about content next week. But just to set the tone, your LinkedIn content will have to be useful content. Not inspirational or anything like that. Content that people can use.

Back to niche.

You never know what your LinkedIn niche is until you try it on a piece of content and it works. That is what makes you know for sure.

So, to be sure, think about these 5 criteria and try to come up with what could possibly be your niche. And then create content based on that. Then, see how it performs.

All you are looking for is a lift off. The moment you see strangers reacting and commenting, you know you have something.

Due to the fact that you now know the information I am sharing with you this very moment, you will know when a post makes your LinkedIn niche clear to you.

You will just feel it. Now you are looking for it. When the right post confirms it, you will feel it.

Another way is to go back to your old posts and see what worked well. If you have made a variety of posts on several different things around your professional expertise.

Go take a look at which ones had exceptional performance. Which ones had that magic feel to it that meets all 5 criteria?

Comments do not count in this case. You can never judge by comments. You can only judge by your own posts. Also, reposts do not count.

If you are going to start posting around your expertise to see what clicks for you, do not make more than one post a day. Also, save your best attempts for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. (More about that in subsequent editions of this newsletter).

Some people are probably thinking – what if I have no professional experience? What if I had experience at something that is unrelated to what I want to start doing professionally now?

For example, you used to work in a factory, but now you are seeking a role as a data scientist? What do you do in that case?

This is not uncommon. First, you don’t have to default back to a professional experience that you are walking away from. However, the things you’ve learned from there may be useful (maybe to engage some people).

Second, never position yourself as someone that has no experience. If you have no experience, don’t lean in the experience direction. Instead, lean in the research direction. My advice to you is to find the leading-edge topic in that field. Something that is really new. Something that nobody really understands yet.

Anyone with 15 years of experience has an edge over you for something that has been existing for over 15 years. However, for something that just became a thing 2 years ago, you and the experienced person are pretty much on the same level.

So, in that case, find leading-edge subjects that put you on the same level with any experienced person. And then, stand out with your research and quick learning. But never forget that your niche topic must be something people talk about often on LinkedIn.

Okay, what about people who just graduated from school? The same principle applies. But there are more angles to it.

For example, if you are Gen Z, there are companies struggling with Gen Z consumers to understand their taste, preferences, and so on. Data never tells the whole story. And while lots of Gen Z consume information from TikTok, people on other platforms want to understand them.

So, you can default to identity. The identity group that society would put you in can be your LinkedIn niche. But remember that it has to pass all 5 criteria.

A few examples in this case would be things like; sales trends among Gen Z, consumer culture of Chinese Americans, fundraising issues as a black immigrant founder, and so on.

Even if you are still in college, you can bring college consumer culture insights to LinkedIn. Or talk about how students are embracing a new technology. The latter is very interesting because if a new technology is going to be successful or flop, the first place you know for sure is on college campuses.

What about music? The changing tastes of music consumption on college campuses in the US? Anyone who builds a brand about this on LinkedIn and goes really deep would probably get pitched by a record label to join the company. I am quite sure of that.

These examples are to show you that the possibilities are endless. Now that you know this, you really have no excuses.

What To Do When You Find Your LinkedIn Niche

When you find your LinkedIn niche, double down on it. Triple down on it. Do NOT talk about anything else, no matter how tempting. Don’t jump on trends. Just stick to your niche.

Occasionally, you may talk about other things in comments. But don’t do that often. However, for your posts, it is non-negotiable. You have to stick to your niche.

Remember, social media is no longer social. Social media is now interest media. It is about staying on one hill. Stick to your niche.

Your bio must make your niche very clear. Your “about” section too. The LinkedIn algorithm sees those things and distributes your posts based on them.

Before finding your niche, you can post about various things. But the moment you find your niche, just stick to it. If your niche is a trend that will die off over time, then that is not good. In fact, that is not a niche.

Summary

If you want to be LinkedIn Famous and consistently have opportunities come to you from LinkedIn, then you ought to have a niche.

Your niche on LinkedIn may not directly correlate with your profession but it must align with your professional experience. For example, I work in marketing. But my LinkedIn niche is remote work.

There are 5 criteria your topic has to pass to be qualified as your LinkedIn niche. It must be:

1. Something you know so well that you can teach

2. Something your professional experience backs up strongly

3. Something people discuss on LinkedIn very often

4. Something you have passion for

5. Something you have a few controversial takes on

You find your niche by guessing what it is and making posts based on that. The performance of the post will tell you whether the niche is right.

You can’t have more than one niche. You find your one niche and focus on it. Stay away from everything else, no matter how tempting. And make your entire LinkedIn profile revolve around your niche.

Next week I am going to teach you how to write viral-worthy content. I have been writing articles online professionally since 2018 and have had tons of viral articles and posts. Yeah, I know a thing or two.

Be sure to get the Pro Membership to access the full analysis next week. It’s a tiny investment in your professional career that your future self will thank you for. This is greater than any skill course you can take online.

Plus, you have a chance to win a 1:1 consultation with me if you are among the first 25 people.

The week after (next week) I will show you the principles of networking on LinkedIn. How to get important people who will bring you opportunities to message you first. You don’t want to miss that.

Cheers,

David O.