How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn

Episode 936: How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn, with Shay Rowbottom

How to grow followers on LinkedIn? If you’re interested, listen to the podcast with Shay Rowbottom on how to grow followers on LinkedIn.

Shay Rowbottom is the co-founder and former COO of a Facebook agency that worked with companies like Petco, Yahoo, Verlo, and dozens more in creating content and devising content strategies for social media. Since joining the LinkedIn platform in May of 2018, Shay has grown to over 90,000 followers, garnered over four million views of her content, and generated seven figures in sales for partnering media companies. Now, she is ready to share her strategies on how to grow followers on LinkedIn and produce the same kind of results for your brand.

What you will learn from this episode on how to grow followers on LinkedIn:

• How Shay realized she needed a career shift and discovered the value of monetizing social media content and building a following
• How Shay brought her vast social media experience to LinkedIn and had generated more than six figures in revenue in just two months on the platform
• How to grow followers on LinkedIn using Shay’s tested and proven methods
• Why video is becoming an increasingly valuable resource on LinkedIn to help you stand out and gain attention
• Why showing authenticity and vulnerability in your content can help your audience better identify with you
• Why people often struggle to go “off-brand,” and why breaking the habit of sticking to your comfort zone can help you break through the noise
• Why offering free value is a valuable way to spread your message and raise your brand awareness, and why hoarding your knowledge isn’t the good idea it might appear to be
• Why sharing content for free can actually be more profitable in the long run that charging for the same content
• Why consistency in creating content is more important than having a high production quality, and why a cell phone is a great tool when you’re just starting out
• How to grow followers on LinkedIn by creating video content that captures the attention of people
• Why Shay frequently remixes and reposts high-performing content, and how she comes up with ideas for fresh, valuable content every day

Resources:

• Website: www.shayrowbottom.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shayrowbottom
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/shayrowbottom
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shayrowbottom
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/shayrowbottom
• Contact Shay at www.shayrowbottom.com to learn more about her six-week LinkedIn Video Bootcamp
• Learn how to grow followers on LinkedIn by subscribing to Shay’s program

Additional Resources:

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Learn how to grow followers on LinkedIn by using this marketing strategy by Mandy McEwen

 

 

How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Full Episode Transcript

 

Get ready to find your recipe for success on how to grow followers on LinkedIn from America’s top business owners here at Onward Nation with your host, Stephen Woessner.

 

Good morning. I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of predictive ROI and your host for Onward Nation, where I interview today’s top business owners so we can learn their recipe for success, how they built in, and how they scaled their business. In fact, my team at Predictive ROI, well, I’ve been talking about it for a while now. We have really invested heavily in our resources section.

 

Really. We’ve turned it into a resources library, all part of. Back at the beginning of 2019, we said that we’re going to be doubling down on content, on our audience, on being helpful and so forth for you Onward Nation. And we have really been working hard to do that. So if you have not visited our resources library recently, I would highly encourage you to do so at PredictiveROI.com/Resources, because there’s scads of new ebooks and checklists and downloadable guides and all kinds of very, very helpful resources that we have compiled from the very brilliant insights shared by our generous guest.

 

So just go to PredictiveROI.com/Resources. Whatever your request, we will send it right to your inbox. 

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Shay Rowbottom’s Introduction

 

Before we welcome today’s very special guest. Her name is Shay Rowbottom. Let me give you some additional context about when she and I were going back and forth about the opportunity for her to be our guest, why I was so very excited that she would say yes.

 

And then when she did, I thought, oh my gosh, this is going to be an incredible conversation for all of us Onward Nation. And the reason being is because Shay’s expertise is deep inside. LinkedIn is specifically developing a video content strategy, not just for LinkedIn. For the sake of having a video content strategy, but for the sake of generating leads for your business.

 

And that’s what we’re going to talk about. We’re going to talk about some of the things that she has uncovered over the last year. Plus in taking this deep dive. Now, what has she accomplished in a relatively short period of time? It is so impressive. And that’s again why I really want to get this conversation dialed in for us Onward Nation.

 

There are going to be some huge, huge learning like golden nuggets we’re going to take out of this conversation. So since May of 2018, she’s attracted over 90,000. Yeah, 90,000 followers. And she’s garnered over 4 million views for her content and driven over $1 million in revenue for the partnering media companies that she works with. That in itself is super impressive, but then we’re going to break that down into how we as business owners Onward Nation, how we as business owners can take some of these best practices and not only create great content and attract an audience that, of course, is awesome, but then be able to generate leads, a steady stream of leads, right?

 

We talk about that all the time. We need to have a predictable, repeatable sales pipeline running in our business, and this is going to be one of those ingredients. This conversation with Shay is going to be one of those ingredients. So without further ado, welcome to Onward Nation, Shay. 

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Shifting Focus to LinkedIn

 

Thank you. Thank you for having me Onward Nation.

 

Oh my gosh, I am so as I’m sure you can hear my voice, I’m super excited to have you here. Shay. This is just going to be an awesome conversation. Super, super helpful for Onward Nation business owners who are looking to crack the code of LinkedIn, if you will. So before I start, Bridget, you have all these questions that I want to ask you.

 

take us behind the curtain. Tell us more about you and your path, your journey, and then we’ll dive in. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. So I have a pretty interesting story. I actually dropped out of college when I was 20, to pursue my lifelong dream of being a famous musician. So, as you can see, I’m not on stage right now with a guitar in my hand.

 

So it didn’t totally pan out how I planned, but it led me down a path of self-discovery. I really did not identify with entrepreneurship at all during my time, trying to make it as an artist, but later learned there is a lot of overlap in the qualities of, you know, artists and creative types and entrepreneurs and business people.

 

So what ended up happening was I was struggling for a few years, not really going anywhere. You know, I didn’t have a lot of support in my music. and I realized I needed to change. I need to do something different, or I was going to arrive, you know, at age 30, not happy with this, with a situation.

 

So, I decided to refocus and actually, stumbled across an opportunity to edit Facebook videos for large blogs on Facebook. And around the same time, I learned that there were a lot of people out there similar to me, even like my age. Also dropped out of college, just killing it in revenue on social media by monetizing and growing a following.

 

So I was definitely, really drawn and definitely fascinated, like more than willing to put music on the back burner for a while just to figure out, like, you know what, maybe there’s something else for me out here. So that’s what happened. I drove all in. I pretty much quit my music completely, learned how to edit videos, learned a lot about social media.

 

You know, how to curate content for social media, how to edit it so that it performs best, how to distribute it. And then, of course, all the factors that come with just owning a startup and scaling a business. As I said, I did not have a lot of business experience before. so that was also a huge learning curve for me.

 

And then I did that for years. It was primarily on Facebook. Like I said, I worked with video content. I curated and distributed tens of thousands of pieces of video content, and accumulated tens of billions of views. I was just swarming in data and analytics. So I was really fortunate to get to learn firsthand about what gets attention on social media.

 

And then eventually, as we were talking, you know, before offline, I transferred all that knowledge to LinkedIn because I started using LinkedIn as a source for lead gen for my video agency on Facebook, quickly realizing, oh my gosh, LinkedIn is the next platform to blow. And within two months of releasing original video content for my personal LinkedIn page, I had generated over six figures and revenue for my Facebook video agency.

 

So it definitely caused the alarm bells to go off. I realized, you know what? I think I want to refocus. I think I want to just help other businesses. Do exactly what I’ve done on LinkedIn to ten times their company and their growth. So that’s what I focus on now. And it’s amazing. Yeah. Thanks.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Using LinkedIn for Organic Growth

 

It absolutely is amazing. okay. So when was that? When was that? About you know what like when did that whether that was a light bulb, whether that was an. Like I said where like okay I think I’m on to something. So the revenue is really cool. But then there was that pivot to I think I can help other business owners go deeper, better, you know, generate leads on LinkedIn.

 

Like when was that for you? Well, like I said, around the two month mark is when like, you know, I really started to realize, like, okay, there’s something here. But even before that, I had a video that I think was like my fourth video I posted on LinkedIn. So I’m just getting my feet wet.

 

And then it garnered over 40,000 views. And I remember that day especially being like, this is another point I want to touch on is that the platform firms, they shut down that general organic reach eventually like on Facebook. How it’s really hard to grow now that’s eventually going to happen on LinkedIn. So when I got that video that was so high performing and I had such a small page, you know, I didn’t have 40,000 followers, I probably had like a couple thousand.

 

But this video was so high performing. It was drawing all these people on my page. So that’s when I really realized like, oh my gosh, LinkedIn is the new Facebook in terms of organic growth and being able to grow quickly, and easily. And now is the time. So Onward. If you have not visited Shay Rowbottom’s LinkedIn profile, I would highly encourage you to do so.

 

Connect with her there and you will see the type of engaging content that she and her team create. It’s awesome. I mean, not only is it entertaining, but there’s great lessons behind it too. And it is just impressive the type of traction that you’re getting. So, so well done, my friend. Thank you so much.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Standing Out in LinkedIn

 

Yeah. Thanks. So in this, in this process, of going down this path and obviously discovering, hey, I think we’ve uncovered something here. And, hey, I think we could turn this into a business and be helpful to other business owners who might be, wanting to accomplish the same thing. To take us through that process is as far as the strategy behind video versus maybe a different type of form or different form of content on LinkedIn, because obviously it doesn’t have to be video to share on LinkedIn.

 

But, but so why do you think video, like, why do you feel so strongly? The video you need to have a solid video content strategy for LinkedIn. Yeah. So video is definitely a great way to connect on a more human level. You know, my face is constantly showing up in the feed. I’m constantly, you know, speaking directly to people, connecting with humans in a way that isn’t it’s you’re not really able to achieve the same effect through articles or text posts as you are actually being on camera and talking to people.

 

So I show up every day. And the other part of that is, you know, video has just become so popular. You know, it’s only growing the video presence. You know, it’s like a website. It’s, you know, employee training or everything’s a video now a video video. So, you know, I think that on LinkedIn there’s still a lot of room for video and video creators because there’s so little competition, there’s so few people actually taking advantage of the video function still.

 

So all of those things combined, it’s a great way to stand out in the field. Love it. okay, I totally get what you’re saying, especially as I go in through and review like your thread of posts. And I see that it is just an action shot. It’s used for standing up. It’s you doing something, you know, interesting or whatever it is just it’s visually compelling, you know, to be able to, like, grab the audience as they’re scrolling.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: The Biggest Discoveries

 

And so that makes perfect sense. Okay, I get it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s really, really well done. So again if you haven’t checked it out, I would highly encourage you to do that. So what are some of them because now you’ve been doing this obviously very well for yourself and for your business. And now supporting other business owners who want to accomplish similar goals.

 

So tell us about some of the you know, go back to the word some big uncovering big would have been some of the maybe the biggest discoveries. Maybe some of the things are like really? Wow, I wouldn’t have expected that kind of work like that. So what are some of the biggest things that you’ve uncovered?

 

Over the last, what, 18 months or so? yeah. Great question. You know, I do think there was a lot of knowledge about social media and, you know, video marketing that I was armed with coming into this just because of my experience on Facebook. So I can’t say I was too surprised with a lot of the things that, you know, unfolded in my own success, like, you know, posting consistently, for example, I knew that was the best way to grow a following.

 

But definitely just what I always say is like when you’re willing to do what most people aren’t, that’s where you win. So when I say that, I mean, that could really be a number of things, like just being consistent in your content strategy is something a lot of people aren’t willing to do, you know, so that that, for example, already gives you an advantage.

 

But another factor could be, you know, being vulnerable on the platform, actually opening up about the struggles of owning a business and the hardship. I think there’s a lot of people who are still afraid to go there because we’ve kind of been taught that vulnerability positions us as weak and we’re gonna, you know, turn business away. It’s totally the opposite.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Humor Your Audience

 

You know, I’ve been very vulnerable on the platform, and I think that has a lot to do with why people were so drawn to me right away, because it’s like people are craving that, people are craving content that makes them feel like they’re not alone. And so many people do have some hardship or something that they’re battling within that they feel like, makes them lesser, makes them weak, you know, makes them unworthy, and they don’t want to open up about it.

 

So if you’re willing to do what other people aren’t, you automatically, grab attention and then, you know, the third example there is just like, I think you touched on it just like my skip content, my more humorous content, I take a very like, light approach and try to incorporate humor in a lot of my work, because that’s just another way to stand out on the platform and something that a lot of people, haven’t invested in are taking the time to figure out.

 

So, you know, humor is definitely also a great way to connect with your audience. Well, and you do it really, really well. Let’s go back to when you talk about being a human being vulnerable, if I remember correctly, and correct me if I got my wires crossed here, but I think in the green room before we started recording. 

 

I think you had said, that when you’ve shared something like that, vulnerable, transparent, really like the human side of you, the business, whatever that, even though not necessarily intending to be like a lead gen piece of content or a piece of content designed for Legion that has resulted in lead gen and it’s been really efficient for you. Right? Right. Yes, yes. 

 

Yeah. It’s so funny. My partner, Luke Marlowe, you know, he typically handles the sales calls and he always asks, you know, what video was it that made you reach out or like what video? drew you to our page. And it’s so funny. It’s typically something like, oh, well, she had that post about depression that really resonated with me.

 

And then I click back to her page. I see she’s a video marketer. I’m like, oh wow. Well, I could use that. So it’s really neat. It’s really cool. You know, I think that it’s that age old saying, you know, people do business with people, not businesses. So when I’m able to show that human side of me in that vulnerable side, it actually creates a level of trust in my audience that is really beneficial in cultivating leads and getting more business.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Make Your Target Market Understand Your Value

 

So I’m just going to make an assumption here that, because obviously you guys have done this very, very well, but then when you’re in the trenches with a business owner trying to help him or her do the exact same thing, this is also where you get some pushback, where somebody is afraid to actually be vulnerable and be that transparent, be it because that’s that probably gets uncomfortable for some people, right?

 

Yeah, absolutely. And that’s not something that, you know, we push too hard because it’s not a make or break situation. You know, there’s so many ways to create content that’s going to connect with your audience, you know, get you seen as an expert and get people to pick up the phone and do business with you. But I will say, not necessarily like the vulnerability stuff that we push, but just encouraging people to go off brand.

 

That is something that some people struggle with because I think in traditional marketing, you know, in the past, it’s always been about your product, about your service, about, you know, directly advertising this and not really just providing general value outside of that. So that’s a big thing. You know, people say like, well, I only want to talk especially, you know, maybe they’re really niche and they’re like, I only want to talk about my product.

 

Like, why would I want to talk about workplace delegation? That’s too random. Like, I am not going to attract my audience. It’s like people aren’t always educated on social media where they don’t understand, like, look, I understand you have this expertise in this niche market and we’re going to get to that, and we’re still going to showcase that so that the people, so that your target market understands your value add and what you do.

 

But we also just want to cast the net. We also just want to break through the noise, get out there. And the best way to do that is to provide free value. That’s going to make people say, whoa, you know, I walked away with a tangible tip. I’m going to remember that guy. I’m too, you know what? I’m going to go click and follow him again.

 

He’s got good, good free value to add. And then, you know, it’s kind of like a jab jab hook on maybe the fifth or sixth. Yeah. Maybe the fifth or sixth video they see now they’re learning about their niche. Now they’re learning. Oh this is what this person actually does for business. And even if that follower specifically is not going to buy from you, chances are they’re now going to go out into the world and just be a brand ambassador for you because you’ve gained their trust and they’re a loyal follower.

 

So should someone that that follower meet, should somebody that they meet need your service, that loyal followers. Now I’m going to suggest you and direct more people to your page to follow you. So they came for the value outside of your niche, but they brought you people that could actually use what you sell. Yeah. Really smart Gary and I’ve talked about that with, you know, the whole strategy behind jab, jab, jab, right hook.

 

And I thought that that was just framed up so brilliantly. Well, and you know, giving first and then leading with some, you know, an ask further down the road, but not being, not pushing the audience with the ask like when they’re ready to ready but so let me give that back to you in context of your business, because I know that you run an agency and then you also have a rock, an awesome six week boot camp that’s more of a DIY for a business owner.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Share Your Knowledge for Free

 

So if I’m tracking with you, I think what I’m hearing you say is, yeah, I’m going to have fun. I’m going to use some engaging, I’m going to use some humor. I’m going to be transparent, I’m going to be vulnerable and so forth. And I’m also going to teach. There are going to be times where I might slice and dice some stuff out of my six week boot camp, and I’m going to teach a nugget or two, because maybe after all of that experience of them realizing that I might be the person for them, they might say, well, gosh, if she’s willing to be this transparent, this vulnerable, and she’s willing to be this generous and teach me to how much more am I going to get from her if I just. 

 

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And that’s something. It’s so funny you bring that up because I’ve had many people push back on me saying, you know, you’re turning away business, you’re giving away all your knowledge for free. I’m like, oh, I’m not. No, I’m not.

 

And here’s the thing. If you’re truly growing in your business, you’re truly on the growth track and personal. You’re on the growth track. You’re constantly cultivating new knowledge, learning new skills, improving your business. Then you should always be giving away knowledge for free because you’re not threatened by losing that. You’re always on to the next thing.

 

We’re going to learn more. We’re going to get better. We’re going to get stronger. So it’s not a threat, you know? It’s almost like a scarcity mindset thing to assume that sharing some value you actually do sell in your program for free is going to be detrimental. It’s actually the opposite. Yeah. If he was on our initiative, we got to hold on to that one single nugget because we don’t want somebody to know about it.

 

Then we need to really drill deeper and build our expertise even further. If there’s just that one thing that we don’t want to let it out then maybe we don’t have something so special right? Okay. So let’s go back to your point about, you know, showing up every day and then being consistent with creating content.

 

Let’s think about that from a habit perspective. So if you were to share with Onward Nation business owners like, what should their daily habit or routine or rinse repeat be as far as creating or posting content like how often should they be doing that. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I’m basically just going to kind of break down what I did in the beginning and how I got started.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Staying Consistent

 

Yeah. So, you know, the most important thing is to stay consistent. It is so important. So this is where the hang out comes in. There’s a lot of business owners or entrepreneurs, you know, they’re like, okay, I’m going to start creating, you know, selfie videos for my page. I’m going to start cultivating leads, but where they get where the hang up occurs is that they think they need high production.

 

When I say high production, like I’m talking about the actual things like lights, camera action, they think they need a videographer or a big set. It’s got to be like television quality. That’s not the case at all on social media. It’s not necessary. It’s nice you can do it, but actually has a very marginal effect. So I think the most important thing is to have an easy set up.

 

Starting off, I actually shot on my cell phone everything for the first six months was shot on my cell phone. So make it easy on yourself, you know, shoot on your cell phone. Keep it short and that’s gonna allow you to just sustain. So that should be your focus in the beginning is sustaining, not, you know, I’m going to have this high standard for myself where every video needs to be perfectly edited and lights, camera action.

 

No, that’s down the line. When you’re actually making money off these new leads you’re generating. Now go reinvest back into the production value because you’ve actually got some juice. But when you’re just starting, focus on consistency. a cell phone is fine. You know, if you if you are able to and there’s many resources out there for this, add subtitles, I will say, like, you know, you don’t have to sweat the editing so much in the beginning if you’re just if your goal is just to stay consistent.

 

But the one editing factor that is really important on social media is subtitling. You know, there’s free apps and resources online all over the place for that. So be sure to get that done and then keeping it short and sweet, you know, have a headline starting out. Don’t introduce yourself. Don’t say hi I’m John Smith from finance. No no no no no.

 

That the first three seconds is the most important. So summarize your video in your head and think if this was an article in the New York Times, you know, what would the headline be? That should be your first opening line in the video. And then, you know, keeping it short is really important in the beginning because you’re a stranger and you’re showing up in the feed.

 

You’re very unknown. So people are a lot less likely to invest like, say, five minutes into a stranger than they are one. So that’s why I started off. I really encourage people to summarize, summarize, summarize, you know, have an important message and and have value in what you say. But do what you can to condense it. Just cut out all the fluff.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Always Have a CTA

 

Just what is the main takeaway? What is the tangible tip that this viewer can take with them? Make sure you get that point across and then move on to the next piece of video content. And then that leads me to my last suggestion, which is to always have a CTA, a healthy call to action, not a call to action.

 

Like, and that’s why you should buy for me. Call me for a quote, rather a call to action that is specifically related to the topic you’re discussing, and that’s going to pull the audience into engagement and create a conversation around that subject, because that’s also what LinkedIn wants and encourages. Is that community discussion going on in the comment section?

 

So for example, if you do have an issue, if you do have a video, excuse me about like say workplace delegation, maybe it’s a video about how you struggle with delegating. You know, that’s a real thing. People can relate to that. So at the end of the video, a healthy CTA example for this subject would be does anyone else struggle with delegating?

 

You know, how do you get past it? Let me know in the comments below. That sort of thing. Got it. Okay, so would it be would it be inappropriate to say if you found that helpful, here’s a free guide and checklist. Or is that too far down the funnel? Yeah, I mean I think so, yeah. Okay. So then what would be your suggestion?

 

Based on the data points that you guys have collected as far as the frequency of posting, I’ve heard so many things about, oh, it needs to be 3 or 4 times a day. It needs to be just once a week. I’ve heard of good things. Right. So what is your recommendation? Yeah. So in my experience, it’s very clear that when you post, you know, like two times right in a row.

 

All it does is it splits your audience between those two buckets. So, like, you’re really reaching the same amount of people, whether you post once or twice, you get what I’m saying? Like, oh, that makes sense. Okay, cool. Yeah. So I typically will just post once a day and wait. And if it is definitely, you know, like, a lower, lower performing performance for me then I’ll, you know, consider posting again that day.

 

But so long as it’s, you know, up to par with my usual content, my usual metrics, I let it ride. Because LinkedIn is very it’s like I describe it, the algorithm is, like hard and fast. It’s just like those first 48 hours. They’re going to show it to everybody. But then unless it goes viral, of course, then it’s really going to be shut off.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Repurpose/Repose Some Content

 

So that’s the importance of consistency is the post doesn’t really live that long on LinkedIn. And there’s currently not a function on personal profiles where you can see a library of posts all in one place. So if someone right now is curious about what I posted on June 1st, it would be a pretty big investment for them to scroll through everything chronologically to find that post.

 

So that’s why it’s so important to just stay consistent and keep showing up in the feed. And, also consider reposting. You know, I actually repurpose a lot of content that has been higher performing in the past because I understand it doesn’t live very long on LinkedIn, but I already know it’s high performing. And, see, there’s probably a good chunk of my audience who actually never saw it.

 

Not to mention, at this point in time, I have new followers who haven’t seen it. So, definitely consider, you know, reposting. Make sure you’re tracking all your analytics. What’s higher performing than average for your brand? And, don’t be afraid. You know, like, remix it jazzed up, but repost it again in the future. Love it.

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Plan Your Own Content Calendar

 

Okay, so then I’m just kind of intuiting some things, but I might be wrong here. So correct me on this assumption. So because you’re posting a great piece of content every single day, my thought is, okay, if I’m Shay, I’m probably like shooting all of that stuff in like one day, maybe two days to really get ahead so that I’m not like every day I walk into the office, okay, what am I going to shoot today?

 

So help us kind of understand that, because I’m sure for some of our onboarding business owners thinking, wait a minute, what I got, I got to do one new piece of really cool content today. I know I do that. No, no, I think that’s a pretty complicated route. I do batch shoots. So, you know, I’m constantly curating ideas and I’m constantly writing new scripts.

 

So I have, you know, like a running log of video ideas, scripts. And I’m constantly developing that. But then, pretty much like, you know, once a week I’ll sit down and just shoot seven of them all at once. Those scripts that I’ve, that I’ve written throughout the week and just get it all done at one time. So, no, you know, if I shoot a video, it doesn’t necessarily go live that day.

 

I do that. Sometimes I will shoot on the fly and still post pretty much on the spot, but for the most part, it’s like I have an archive, I have a backlog, I have a content calendar where I’m planning. Exactly. You know which video is coming out? August 18th. Like, I already know it’s on the calendar, so, definitely get ahead that way.

 

Okay, so that’s really, really smart. Now, my guess is, it didn’t start that way for you, but these are the lessons that you’ve learned over time to make the process more systematized and easier for you to do. Plus authors also then add value to your audience in a more consistent way. Would that be a fair assumption?

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Just Provide Value

 

Yes. Okay. So Onward Nation, we talked about content calendars, editorial calendars often. And so, you know, hearing that from Shay, putting that into practice into her business. That is awesome. So great lesson there. So Shay what might be I want to say maybe your biggest tip or biggest. But maybe your best advice.

 

So for business owners who want to be able to generate leads through LinkedIn, is there an ingredient, a recipe, a something that you can share with them about, okay, if you do nothing else, you should at least think about this. What might that be? Value. You know, just providing value. That’s what you should focus on.

 

That should always, always be your framework. And in your mind, you know, it’s really easy for us to get caught up in our egos and our own product because we love our product, you know, and we know it’s so great. But you really, really have to step outside of your ego and put yourself in the shoes of a user on social media, you know, consider what makes you stop scrolling on social media.

 

You know, why did this piece of content get your attention? Well, chances are it had, you know, a compelling headline. It was relevant to you, and it had some element of human connection that drew you in. It’s so funny. Like, we know this deep down, we know it because we’re all we all are users. But then as soon as it’s flipped, it’s our turn to release content we often forget.

 

And we all are often ego driven. We think you know our ideas the best. don’t reinvent the wheel. You know, whatever’s working is working for a reason. If you are in an industry where there’s already other brands and businesses, your competitors doing a successful content strategy on social media platforms, study them, you know, see what they’re doing, what’s working for them, you know, reinvent that for yourself.

 

You don’t need to be 100% original. In fact, don’t, because that’s me, everything is a remix now. So it’s totally fair to take what’s already working and flip it, reverse engineer it, and do the same thing for your brand. 

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: Final Advice from Shay

 

Great conversation. Shay, thank you very much. Before we go, I know we’re getting compressed on time here. But before we go, before we close out and say goodbye. And any final advice you’d like to share on how to grow followers on LinkedIn? Anything you think we might have missed? And then please tell us the best way to connect with you. Yeah, absolutely. you know, I would just say, like, the time is now. The time is now. I saw it on Facebook.

 

So many page owners who now, you know, own blogs on Facebook with over 10 million followers. They started at the right time. They started in that window of time. I think it was like 2009 to 2012, when Facebook was showing your content to such a high percentage of your audience it was super easy to grow your you were just killing it with your organic reach.

 

But then eventually, you know, the competition hits, the platforms get saturated, and it becomes really, really hard to do. So if you want to grow a page on Facebook today, you’re either going to pay Facebook or funny enough, you’re going to pay those huge pages with 10 million followers that did get in at the right time. You’re going to now pay those mammoths to help grow your page.

 

So it’s the same thing on LinkedIn, you know, do you want to work on building your own brand so you can become the mammoth when that window closes? You’ve already established yourself? Or do you want to, you know, not invest in growing your own following and creating a content strategy and just end up in the future. Spending a marketing budget to advertise on the companiesand the blog owners who did decide to grow a following and take advantage of that window of opportunity.

 

So definitely, consider this, you know, it’s never going to be easier to get the attention and the reach that you’re getting on LinkedIn right now. And it’s the best audience on social media. Awesome. I firmly agree. 

 

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How to Grow Followers on LinkedIn: How to Connect with Shay

 

So what’s the best way to connect with you, Shay? Oh, yeah. So, definitely follow me on LinkedIn. So that’s LinkedIn.com slash in slash Shay Rowbottom I have a sun emoji in my name so you can’t miss it.

 

All my original content goes live on LinkedIn first, but you can still, certainly follow me on the other platforms. I’m Shay Rowbottom all across the board. And then if you’re interested in learning more about what I do for businesses on LinkedIn, you can visit my website ShayRowbottom.com. And there’s a form there to fill out to set up a call..

 

Okay Onward Nation, no matter how many notes you took or how often you go back and relisten to Shay’s words of wisdom, which I sure hope that you do. The key is to take what she so generously shared with you today: the action plans, the advice, the recommendations, the data points, all of it. Take it and apply it into your business right away and accelerate your results and say, we all have the same 86,400 seconds in a day.

 

And I am grateful again that you said yes, to come on to the show, to be our mentor and guide on how to grow followers on LinkedIn. To help us move our businesses onward to that next level. Thank you so much, my friend. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. This episode is complete, so head over to OnwardNation.com for show notes and more food to fuel your ambition. Continue to find your recipe for success here at Onward Nation.

 

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