LinkedIn Templates: Linkedin insights

Many of you don't know this, but I hit 100,000 followers before I ever wrote my first LinkedIn post.

Here's how my online writing career has gone:

1. Started on Twitter in 2018

2. Account blew up in 2020

3. It accounted for 90% of my income

4. Only started on LinkedIn about 20 months ago

5. Now LinkedIn accounts for 90% of my income

Getting on this platform was arguably the best decision of my career.

That's because:

1. Twitter went way downhill, fast. I know people who made a full-time living as a creator on there who went back to applying for jobs because their engagement and income dropped by 90%.

2. LinkedIn has been awesome. Even with recent drops in reach, it's much better than any other platform I've experimented with.

I say this for two reasons:

1. To tell you that if you're here, you're in the right place.

2. To sell you my stuff, of course 😁 Those services start at just $300 a month. Fill out the form in my profile's featured section to see if we're a good fit.

This is the place to be.

Keep building.

I wrote this because it's funny but it's also true.

You feel ready 6 months after you start. Not before.

That's how it was for me when I:

1. Started freelance writing in 2017. It was tough for a while, but after a year, I had more clients than I could handle.

2. Started building a personal brand and writing on social media in 2018. That went nowhere for a while, then my following grew from 1,000 to 30,000 in 5 months.

3. Pivoted to LinkedIn growth services (link in featured section to apply) about a year ago. Since then, I've helped my clients gain 100,000+ followers and add a ton of revenue.

4. Became a partner in Tim Stoddart's community, Copyblogger Academy (link in his bio), 8 months ago. Since then, we've gone from $5k MRR to $30k MRR.

Don't try to feel ready.

Just get in the game.

You'll feel better immediately, and a lot better later.

I spent:

1. Half a year thinking about becoming self-employed. It didn't help me at all. My first attempt was still a big failure.

2. An entire year only working on freelance sites instead of doing cold outreach and starting a personal brand. Again, the delay didn't help at all.

3. Multiple years selling my old offers instead of pivoting to personal brand growth. When I finally made the switch, my income tripled in a year.

Delaying almost never helps.

In most cases, you start just as badly as you would've, but you wasted months or years procrastinating.

Start imperfectly. Start nervous. Start now.

P.S. My LinkedIn growth services now start at just $300 a month. One of my clients added 2k followers and $4k MRR in 18 days.

Go to my profile's featured section to see if we're a good fit.

Some fake fears I overcame the last few years:

1. Posting on social media. This was so nerve-wracking that I didn't even show my face the first two years I did it. Now I couldn't care less.

2. Doing cold outreach to prospects. I felt bad bothering people. I was afraid of rejection. Now I couldn't care less.

3. Selling memberships my content marketing community (link in Tim Stoddart's bio) and spots for my LinkedIn growth services (application form in profile featured section). I thought selling too much was bad. Now I sell in almost every piece of content I create.

Fear is valuable because it keeps you safe from literal danger, like Tigers, but it's overactive.

There's no value in being afraid of embarrassment or failure.

Realize that and act accordingly.

Being new hurts.

You'll feel:

- Doubt

- Discomfort

- Embarrassment

- Many other negative emotions

But:

1. There's nothing wrong with feeling that way. It's actually a good thing. It means you're trying and growing.

2. Dealing with those feelings is the only way to make progress.

Don't catastrophize regular negative emotions.

Feel them. Accept them. Keep moving.

P.S. My LinkedIn growth services now start at just $300 a month. One of my clients added 2k followers and $4k MRR in 18 days.

Go to my profile's featured section to see if we're a good fit.

I lost over $100,000 on these failures:

1. Ecommerce store

2. Another ecommerce store

3. A third ecommerce store

4. Trading stocks

5. Thousands of smaller day-to-day failures

But that hasn't stopped me from building a:

1. Successful LinkedIn growth agency. Link in my featured section to apply for services. They start at just $300 per month.

2. Growing content marketing community. We've gone from $5k MRR to $30k MRR in 7 months. Link in Tim Stoddart's bio.

3. Total following of more than 300,000 people between LinkedIn, X, and other platforms.

The point is, everyone loses. A lot. Even people who are winning right now.

Don't let the social media highlight reel convince you otherwise.

If you're failing, that's 100% normal, and it means you're trying instead of stagnating.

Be proud of it.

How to get "lucky" in your career:

1. Experiment with different paths you might take. See which you are naturally at least okay at and find interesting. For me, that was writing.

2. Identify profit-creating actions and do them every day. Early on, that was cold outreach for me. Lately, it's been more about content creation. Both of those help me sell my LinkedIn growth services (link to apply in featured section) and memberships to Copyblogger Academy.

3. Network constantly. Find people in your niche who you might want to be acquainted with and/or create some kind of mutually beneficial relationship. I was bad at this for a while, but I've gotten much better. Note: this is much easier when you have some tangible value to offer people.

4. Stay consistent. Keep doing those profit-creating actions. Keep networking. Keep experimenting with other paths if the one you're on isn't working.

Consistency is the key that unlocks everything.

Some terrible tries I've had:

1. Failed ecommerce store

2. Another failed ecommerce store

3. A third failed ecommerce store

4. Stock trading

But I also eventually managed to:

1. Build a big following

2. Make it as a full-time creator

3. Become a partner in Copyblogger

4. Have another company coming soon

"Bad" often just means new.

Stick around until you get enough reps.

P.S. My LinkedIn growth services now start at just $300 a month. One of my clients added 2k followers and $4k MRR in 18 days.

Go to my profile's featured section to see if we're a good fit.

I didn't "feel ready" as a:

1. Freelancer until I was about 6 months into it.

2. Content creator until I was about 6 months into it.

3. Business owner until I was about 6 months into it.

Don't try to feel ready, then start.

Start uncertain, then feel ready later.

P.S. Copyblogger Academy gives you 9 content marketing courses, ongoing education, and expert Q&A for just $99.

Hit the link in Tim Stoddart's bio to learn more.