5 strategies from 0-55,000 followers in 12 months

Founders can’t hide and shouldn’t want to. The more your personal brand appears, the more influence you have without paying for clicks. The more you grow your business with the right kind of customers. One of the most powerful marketing strategies your company can employ is the presence and personality of the founder or CEO. Do it right and never buy another ad because organic reach will get you through it. While this appears to be the case, many people still hide behind SEO and pay per click.

Lara Acosta grew her LinkedIn from zero to 55,000 followers in just under a year by studying LinkedIn every day and sharing what she learned. Not only is she a proponent of daily learning and application, but she also firmly believes that you don’t have to be an expert, just an enthusiast. her desk, LA Digital, partners with entrepreneurs and business leaders, helping them find their voice, hone their message, and build a community of fans, not just followers. Her work helps entrepreneurs break out of their outdated marketing methods by using innovative marketing, sales and copywriting techniques and sharing personal stories that connect.

I interviewed Acosta for her most proven LinkedIn strategies, which anyone can follow.

1. Master the art of high quality writing

“Writing is a universal skill that everyone should learn,” says Acosta, who calls her LinkedIn activity an exercise and was surprised to realize she had to relearn what she had been taught about writing in school and college. “Especially in my master’s program we are taught to use complex words, fancy business jargon and to write for a long time. But social media marketing requires the exact opposite.”

Acosta explained that keeping your words simple makes your content more accessible, recommending that you “focus on psychology and persuasion, less on grammar.” Then spend most of your time coming up with simple hooks that will make people feel compelled to read on. “You have 3 seconds to grab a reader, so your hook has to be brilliant.” The goal of all Acosta updates is minimal: “Solve a problem for my ideal audience, do what I promise, have excellent formatting, and be clear and concise.” Run this checklist for all your drafts and don’t publish until they’ve checked all the boxes.

2. Show up every day

“Consistency and obsession beat talent every time,” says Acosta, who believes her story, “isn’t special or unique.” Instead, she decided to devote her time to LinkedIn. She woke up feeling inspired, “networked, learned, written,” and it grew as a result of this consistency across the board.

Follow the same consistent pattern to turn your followers into a community and grow that community. Acosta recommends, “post at the same time every time you post, schedule time in your calendar to connect with your network, and never skip a day.” Not skipping a day is a big part of Acosta’s platform growth and that of its customers. “It has become a routine and an important contribution to my recognition as a maker. Every weekday people expect me to drop some value and that’s how your followers turn into a community.

3. Define your content pillars

Contrary to popular belief, “building a successful personal brand is not about oversharing.” You don’t have to tell your audience anything you don’t feel comfortable knowing about. This is not a reality TV show, it’s a documentary. “Building content pillars helps you avoid going too far,” says Acosta, who writes posts every day based on her content pillars, with no deviations and very clear boundaries.

“Build your messages around the six key components of content marketing: inspire, entertain, educate, promote, empower, and validate.” Think about the topics you already have knowledge of, then match them to three of the six content marketing themes based on how those topics might resonate with your audience. This is how Acosta has selected the pillars: educate, empower, inspire. She teaches by talking about personal branding, copywriting and marketing strategy. She empowers by talking about entrepreneurship and seems to inspire by sharing personal stories and her university experience.

4. Study creators with a large audience

“People before you have done all the work of figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” Acosta said, “so use their profiles like a thesis.” She regularly studies major creators across all platforms to see what hooks work, what writing style works, what topics generate hype, what type of post structure appeals, and so on. “I apply all of my learnings to my writing and the work I do for my clients, reaping the rewards for all of us.”

Acosta’s tip is to “create a swipe file, where you store posts you like.” She suggested it could be on Notion, in your notes app, or in a Word document. Even an album in your photos app. “The goal is easy access so you can find inspiration when creating your own content.” Don’t be intimidated by the blank page. Instead, imitate those a few steps ahead.

5. Communicate and network with other makers

“Community is an important part of winning social media,” Acosta explains. “It’s not always about bottom of funnel marketing and lead generation. You have to cherish your audience.” She believes having a personal brand is about having a community of both fans and people, and to do that you need to be seen and known on a regular basis. You have to build fame in the right circles. You are discovered by association.

“Reply to other people’s messages every day. Call people in your network. Share support for others in your own content.” Keep doing this and watch the stats rise. “Twelve months ago I had zero followers and no writing skills. All I did was write and network on LinkedIn for an hour a day.”

Where you used to have to leave your house to network, you can now do so in your pajamas. Not only that, but every conversation you have can be effectively eavesdropped on, allowing new people to discover your work. With anything worthwhile, results take consistency and effort, but mastering the art of writing, defining your content pillars, studying major accounts, and finding other creators with whom to share the journey is the way to make them happen.