My LinkedIn blew up the other week.

And with it, everything I thought I knew about how to build a personal brand on the platform. Some of it was fluke, a lot of it was strategic. The biggest lesson?

Here are the stats:

1. 2m+ impressions in 7 days
   I had 578,370 in the whole of 2023 (and it was my best year yet)

2. 6k+ new followers
   Took me from 14-20k - I previously predicted I’d hit the 20k milestone in mid-2025.

3. 600 new Founder to Thought Leader subscribers

   When you’re at 1.6k, an extra 600 is a lot. If you’re one of them, thank you :-).

So here’s what happened…

Day 1: The Flukey bit

I had no intention of going viral that morning. Truth is, I was running late.

So I recycled a post that had performed fairly well before…

It was the third time I’ve used this post this year. The only difference was the image.

1. Version 1: No image 📝
   57 likes, 23 comments, 1 repost → 4,260 impressions

2. Version 2: Pic of me (eww) 📸
   192 likes, 67 comments, 14 reposts → 20,812 impressions

3. Version 3: Pic of hand written image of tips 🎨
   I paid someone $30 to draw them out like that.

Day 2+: The Strategic Bit 🧠

I’ve had viral posts twice before so I knew I’d experienced an afterglow for the next few days and I was determined to make the most of it.

—

Day 2: I recycled my ‘ultimate public speaking toolkit’ post (which went viral a few months back) to see if I could turn LinkedIn followers into Founder to Thought leader subscribers.

Given the post had done so well the first time, I was skeptical as to how well it would do again.

The result? 833 likes, 1495 comments, 6 reposts → 54,633 impressions + 600+ subscribers (200 more than when I released the toolkit the first time).

—

Day 3: I found a video of Steve Jobs getting heckled that had already gone viral on YouTube and analysed it from my perspective as a public speaking coach.

The result? 1,035 likes, 235 comments, 66 reposts → 263,998 impressions

—

Day 4: I wanted to test a more advanced public speaking principle - the kind of stuff I work on in my Thought Leadership Accelerator. Relatively speaking, with the algorithms all working in my favour, it flopped.

The result? 143 likes, 81 comments, 4 reposts → 14,193 impressions

—

Day 5: I recycled a viral video of a fiery panel at Davos. 

The result? 2,444 likes, 215 comments, 207 reposts → 226,110 impressions.

10 LinkedIn lessons I wish I’d learned earlier…

Lesson 1: Media is the difference between an ok post and a viral post 🖼️
Something I’ve been neglecting for the last 3 years. Up until now, if I’ve ever been stuck for a picture, I’ve used a selfie. It’s time to get good on Canva.

Lesson 2: You can (and should) recycle your content ♻️
The time between V2 and 3 of those posts was just 8 weeks.

Bonus tip: Change the picture (e.g. selfie, list, carousel, hand drawn/Canva) the content feels new.

Lesson 3: Quick tips/cheatsheets create follower growth… 📋
Especially on popular subjects like leadership, culture and hiring.

Lesson 4: In depth thought leadership builds trust 💚
Especially when it serves others (instead of showcases you).

Lesson 5: Different posts serve different purposes 🧩
Top of Funnel: Your own take on proven viral content = follower growth
Middle of funnel: Your thought leadership = follow trust
Bottom of funnel: Sales posts = business growth

Your content strategy should have a mix of each.

Lesson 6: They’re not your followers, they’re LinkedIns 😱.
So take advantage of the viral afterglow by turning followers into subscribers (having a world class resource will help).

Lesson 7: If a post has gone viral before, it will do so again 💡
Going viral with original content is low odds. Going viral with previously viral content that’s got your own take on it? That’s a way to fast track follower growth.

[Side note: I learned this tip from Chris Donnelly - well worth following]

Lesson 8: Reposts create growth 🚀
So add a call to action at the end of all your posts. Like this → ♻️ Repost if you agree and follow [Name] for more content like this.’ It blows my mind that this actually works (but it does).

Lesson 9: It’s not about the number of followers (except it is… a bit) 📈
More followers mean…

1. More impact ⚡️
   That viral list of tips resulted in multiple thank you messages from complete strangers. It’s not helped 1.7m people, but maybe it’s helped a few I wouldn’t have been able to reach previously.

2. More speaking opportunities 🤩
   From conferences, companies and podcasts. Attention is a commodity. If bringing you to speak or inviting you onto a podcast is going to give them more exposure, they’re likely to do it.

3. Higher speaking fees 💰

   It might be a completely flawed, but reputation pays. It’s easier to charge £10k, £15k, £30k+ with an outsized following than if you don’t. Not only will those who enquire with you expect your prices to be higher, you’ll be able to negotiate from a greater position of strength.

Lesson 10: Some of your most valuable followers won’t engage with anything 🤫
Last month, I started working with the Founder/CEO of one of the world’s most exciting scale-ups. You’ll have heard of them. When they told me that they’d been following my content for the last 12 months, it blew my mind, especially when it was me who added them in the first place.

But isn’t it about quality over quantity…?

That’s what I’d be asking if I was reading this article two months ago...

Admittedly, of those 6k followers…

1. ~2.5k are so far away from being my target market, I wonder whether a good proportion of them are bots.

2. ~3k are not my target market (yet), but will benefit from my content and/or could recommend me to know someone who is.

3. ~500 are actively using their voice to communicate big ideas (likely most of you reading this).

I’ve been deliberately harsh with these estimates.

Perhaps a more interesting question to ask is how many engaged followers is enough?

At 10k things got a little easier.
At 20k, they’ve got a little easier still.

Beyond that? Who knows!

All of this said…

The fortnight I spent actively chasing vanity metrics (follows and reposts) felt pretty soulless. It will form part of my growth strategy, but the reason I’ve been able to sustain the habit consistently for nearly 4 years is because it’s not (just) about the business outcomes.

It’s about becoming better at what I do.
Everything I’m writing about, I’m learning about.

My only regret? That I hadn’t started earlier.

I hope you found this useful!

Alex