how I built 487k followers (8 principles)
After 3+ years of writing LinkedIn content that actually moves needles, I've boiled my philosophy down to 8 principles:
* You must have something worth talking about.
The best content comes from people who've done something specific that most people haven't. If you haven't lived it, researched it deeply, or failed at it spectacularly, you probably shouldn't be teaching it.
* There's only two ways to create damn good content:
a) Personal experience: You tried something, it worked/failed, now you share the lesson.
b) Information arbitrage: You found insights in one industry/medium and translated them to another.
Everything else is just commentary on commentary.
* Your audience size doesn't matter.
I know creators with 100K followers who can't sell a $50 product. And creators with 2K followers who do $500K years. The difference? Audience intent. 1000 people who found you because they have the exact problem you solve beats 100K people who followed you for entertainment.
* Your best content comes from your biggest mistakes.
Everyone wants to learn from your disasters. The campaign that lost $50K. The hire that almost killed your company. The strategy that backfired spectacularly. Success stories sound like humble bragging. Failure stories sound like teaching.
* Most content dies because it doesn't transport people.
Great content makes people feel like they're in the room when the thing happened. Use sensory details. Share the exact words people said. Describe how you felt in your stomach. Abstract lessons are forgettable. Vivid scenes are unforgettable.
* You need an enemy more than you need an audience.
The best brands aren't just for something - they're against something.
Apple vs. boring computers. Tesla vs. gas guzzlers. Your content should have a clear villain: outdated thinking, bad advice, lazy competitors.
People don't rally around neutral positions. They rally around battles.
* Your personality is your distribution strategy.
Algorithms are designed to suppress branded content. But they can't suppress personality. Develop opinions. Share quirks. Be memorable as a human, not just as a source of information.
* Stop apologizing for having opinions.
If you believe something works, say it works.
If you think something is stupid, call it stupid.
Conviction creates conviction in your audience.
TAKEAWAY:
The real problem isn't that you can't write.
It's that you don't have anything unique to say yet.
But what if you do have something worth saying and just don't know how to position it properly? What if your experiences are valuable but you're packaging them wrong? What if you have strong opinions but don't know how to turn them into magnetic content?
That's exactly what The LinkedIn Vault workshop solves. The frameworks I'm sharing help you identify what makes you unique, then position it in a way that attracts the right opportunities.
Transform your experience into authority
Monday, July 28th, 11:30 AM EST.
Learn how to extract and position the valuable experiences you already have instead of thinking you need more credentials to start.
Most people have something worth talking about.
They just don't know how to talk about it strategically.
Josue