I'll Be There For You (i.e. the one where I hit 100K LinkedIn followers)

Getting to 100K followers on LinkedIn wasn't my goal when I first started posting. My goal was to grow my business coming out of COVID.

I was curious about how many people have reached 100K on LinkedIn. I couldn't find any official data from LinkedIn, but another creator did some research and estimated that 5,600 LinkedIn profiles had 100K followers. I'd guess not many of them are women over 50.

When I visited AARP headquarters last year, we talked a lot about the power of reinventing yourself over time. The world around us is constantly changing and we're going to have to roll with it.

That's pretty much why I started posting on LinkedIn. I was ready to take my business to the next level and I knew that being visible was a piece of that.

This isn't an overnight success story, though. I started posting here periodically in 2021 when I had about 700 connections. My first posts weren't great and I really had no strategy. That's ok, though - because the community here is so welcoming and helped me to gain my footing.

When I was just getting started, Albert Bellamy ran a 30-day posting challenge to encourage others to start posting. I don't think I ever made it to the end of the 30 days back then, but I appreciated the support. I ran a poll around Dorie Clark's The Long Game asking people about their long-term career planning strategy - Dorie liked it and I ended up getting almost 850 votes and 40K impressions. Darren McKee was always out there sharing what he was learning and how to best grow. I bought Justin Welsh's course and implemented his strategies.

Early on, Jessica Hernandez liked one of my posts over Christmas break and that helped it to get to 100K+. Virginia Franco reached out to connect after another post. David Hannan always had the best comments. I connected with industry leaders like Adrienne Tom, Shelley Piedmont, Erin Kennedy, Loren Greiff, Matt Tooker, Pamela Skillings, and Paula Christensen. As I shifted into the ageism space, I connected with Janine Vanderburg and others.

I've never met any of these folks in person, but I feel like I know them all from being here.

Here's the thing: no one gets to 100K without community support. I mean it when I say that I'm honored to be part of your community.

I think my kids are more excited about this than I am, honestly. I promised them a cake if I hit 100K on LinkedIn - everyone is home from college so we were able to celebrate together, which means everything to me.

Final thoughts: If you are thinking about posting, my strategy for you is to tell the stories that no one else is telling.

I started posting what I knew and sharing the stories that my clients were telling me: stories of people that were often overlooked. People who worked hard their entire lives but didn't feel valued anymore. People who felt like they followed the rules and then those rules stopped working. People who just want to earn a decent living.

I'm honored to be the voice for those who can't share those stories on record (and most of you can't share those stories on record for a variety of reasons).

Again, I can't thank you enough for being part of my community here.

Take care of yourself and have a wonderful weekend!

Colleen

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246

​
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​