Almost a year ago, I decided to challenge myself to publish more consistently on LinkedIn.
Until now, like most people, my relationship with the social network has been passive.
You know, just posting the occasional humble brag or spying on competitors (yeah, you do it too, don't lie).
For a long time, LinkedIn was about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Pre-pandemic, it was all corporate blah-blah and yawn-inducing trade show pics.
But then something changed.
Quality content started getting its due, and I thought, "Hell, why not give this a shot?"
And guess what?
It freaking worked.
In less than a year, I’ve racked up over half a million impressions.
And the year is not even over yet.
To celebrate, I'm gonna let you in on my little secret sauce.
Maybe you can stir up some magic of your own.
1. Commit or quit
First up, get your head in the game.
Set a goal that’s not about chasing vanity metrics like followers or impressions.
That's just setting yourself up for a big disappointment.
Focus on what you can control: your effort.
Be consistent.
That's your ace in the hole.
If you’re set on posting every day, just focus on this and nothing else.
Even when it feels like no one's watching, keep posting.
Just do something and keep at it - that's half the job already done.
2. Understand the life sciences landscape on LinkedIn
If you compare it to other industries, life sciences still offers a lot of space to grow an audience on LinkedIn.
To be honest, it feels to me like the biotech online media landscape of 2014: not many players using the modern playbook.
Back then, I created Labiotech.eu, and it rapidly became a hit because there was a need for something different.
I think LinkedIn today is the same.
I'd bet my hat that in the coming years, we'll see a bunch of biotech influencers crossing the 100,000 follower mark.
But those future winners are starting now, so don’t lag behind.
Another reason to bet on LinkedIn is that its professional vibe and real identity policy keep things less Wild West than other platforms (looking at you, Twitter, oh, sorry, X).
So it's a safer place to build a personal brand in the professional world, and I don't see any other platform that can compete with it right now.
3. Find your niche
Find your niche within the niche—that's where you'll shine.
You can argue that life sciences are already a niche, but if you publish about everything and anything in the field, people won’t recognize you as an expert.
And recognition builds respect, which ultimately translates into more followers.
Look, it’s easy to understand.
You don't follow MrBeast on YouTube for intellectual discourse.
You only do it for dumb and expansive stunts you didn't even think were possible.
It's the same for you; you need to be the MrBeast of your own life sciences niche (but please don't go filling your house with slime, one MrBeast is more than enough).
Your niche is where your passion meets the needs of a specific audience.
And passion is key because remember you have to produce content and without passion, your content will feel dull and boring.
I’ve written a whole post about this, so feel free to jump in for more details.
4. Pimp your profile
I'm not going to bore you with LinkedIn profile optimization 101.
You can Google that.
Just remember: keep it clean and professional.
A good photo and an updated profile set the stage for potential followers.
Clearly define your niche in your bio, so visitors instantly know your area of expertise and interest.
Flip on creator mode to unlock all features.
This option adds a 'Follow' button to your profile, which is great for increasing user engagement.
It also increases the potential reach of your posts and grants access to LinkedIn's newsletter and Live features.
Additionally, it offers some useful insights into follower growth and content performance, which is always useful to get a sense of what works.
Here's a look at my own profile with highlights of the most important tweaks to do:
5. Get posting, like now
Start by brainstorming topics relevant to your niche.
If you are lacking inspiration, pay close attention to the discussions and questions within your network and groups (the comments on popular posts are a great place for this).
This will not only spark ideas but also ensure your content is relevant and engaging.
Make sure to list all those ideas, to make the content creation process easier.
Now, it's time to get your hands dirty.
When it comes to actual writing, don’t just copy-paste what others are saying.
Mix your professional insights with your personal spin; that’s the secret to great posts.
My recommendation is to start with a 30-day challenge of daily posts.
It's like learning to ride a bike – you're gonna fall, but you'll get the hang of it.
Forcing yourself to post every day is also a great way to get over the impostor syndrome that so many of us can feel.
After a month, posting will feel less weird (I can't promise it will ever feel good, but at least you won't think about it too much).
Now, you can take a step back and assess what posting frequency works best for you.
Some people are very successful without posting every day.
But aim to post at least two to three times a week, or the algorithm will really penalize you.
6. Build real connections
To succeed on LinkedIn, you have to actively engage with others' content—comment, like and share posts.
Find top creators in your field and interact with their content.
But don't just drop lazy “nice post” comments.
Open up meaningful conversations and add your own expertise in your comments.
Engage with smaller profiles, too, and reply to all comments on your posts; that's really important.
Oh, and here's a trick to increase the reach of your own posts: comment on 5-10 others’ posts before and after you publish something.
This triggers LinkedIn's algorithm in your favor.
Additionally, connect personally via message with those who interact with your content, view your profile, or follow you.
This will benefit you greatly, as they may be interested in your future posts, and you may develop some nice relationships along the way.
7. Measure success and iterate
After a month or so, you may start to see some patterns in what works and what does not.
You'll also find out step-by-step how to make your posts more readable, or if adding images to your content is the best way to go.
From time to time, check your engagement metrics using LinkedIn analytics.
This data is gold—but don’t get stuck in checking the stats all the time.
It's important to experiment with your content and your own style.
The LinkedIn guru will tell you to format your post a certain way or post at a certain time.
I don't believe in that.
What worked for them will probably not work for you because, by the time you learn those tips, LinkedIn will have changed several times over.
Besides, people want originality, not another post that looks like a hundred others.
The LinkedIn algorithm is dynamic, so you need to constantly adjust your strategies to stay relevant.
Just do it already
LinkedIn now has more than 1 billion members!
A whopping 96% of B2B marketers used it in the last year.
If you're not in the game, you're missing out.
Big time.
I know, if you're not used to sharing your thoughts on social media, it can be hard to build such a routine.
But think of it as a professional task that you have to do for your career development or whatever.
Just like any other platform, the earlier you start, the bigger the head start you get.
Building an audience is like building an investment portfolio; the magic is in the compound interest.
It's slow in the beginning, but once the interest kicks in, it grows exponentially very fast.
So if you take one thing away from this post, it's this: Start now, go at your own pace, and be genuine.
Those 500,000 impressions?
They’re closer than you think.
