How to go from Newbie to Student-Ninja as a LinkedIn Creator... spoiler alert, you cannot and should not cheat! A few months ago, I started my journey as The No-Nonsense CTO. I already knew that I wanted LinkedIn to be my primary platform, but, it was all very new to me.  Keen to build a solid personal brand that would become synonymous with me, I set about learning how to maximise my use of LinkedIn, not for vanity but for impact, authority and growth. How did I do this? Simply put, I searched for those Creators who are masters of their craft. ↳ I studied ↳ I asked stupid questions ↳ I jumped on their posts and added value to the comments ⬇️ These guys, to name just a few ⬇️ Richard van der Blom - The Godfather of the LinkedIn Algorithm - Want to know how it works, what impacts your reach, and what helps you to grow? Richard is the man to read up on. Jasmin Alić - The Duke of Copy - This fantastic gentleman has taught me so much about writing great content that gets read.  I genuinely feel like a better writer as a result of his work. Lara Acosta - The Queen, Her Maj - Lara is a LinkedIn powerhouse, the leading authority on creating a strong personal brand; best still, she is so down to earth and engaging. Robin Hanna & Audrey Chia 🚀 - The AI Royal Family - want to know how to use AI to get ahead (and I don't mean use AI to write your content for you)? These are the people to follow for daily tips Matthew Bowe and Des Vadgama - The product Dignitaries - These two are masters at converting services into products - if you want to break the relationship between time and money - read their content. Adriana Tica - the marketing VIP - This lady cuts through the 𝘤𝘳@𝘱 and gives away such valuable advice Now, there are thousands of great creators out there, and I am sure I will mention a few more in the comments, but there is only so much you can fit into a post. Today, a few months in, I still have a long way to go - but - I am eternally grateful to these legends and GOATS for helping me get this far. 👏🏻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 👏🏻 So, if you are starting out, 🟢 Look these guys up 🟢 Read their content 🟢 Build your brand 🟢 Commit to being better than you were. 𝙋𝙎. 𝙄𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, 𝟯 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 Thank you for reading I'm Dan Gwalter - The No-Nonsense CTO and this is what I do ⬇️ 🚀 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 🏅 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗼-𝗧𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 & 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 📝 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽

pst! You're killing your brand and credibility - please stop! Look, I love Gen AI as much as the next person. We all have days when we feel uninspired And that is fine.  Creative Juices matter If they aren't flowing, we get it It's tough showing up every day But look, here's the thing Posting AI comments Is not the answer We see them We frown And then Scroll Don't believe me, put it to the test here.  Every comment left, I will respond to I will tell you if I think it's an AI comment or a human comment (and why) I may not spot every AI comment, but that's the real problem, isn't it? If the platform gets flooded with AI comments, trust and credibility will disappear So look, here's the thing.  AI is great at many things (creating ideas for example) But if you take that content and post it word for word It's fake, it's not you and it's undermining your credibility. PS. The real you, the real comments, there great!

Getting from 0 to 4,000 followers was not easy In September last year, my LinkedIn was a quiet place. Low engagement, few impressions, and even fewer followers. It felt like shouting into the void. Why? The answer boiled down to two crucial elements: 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. Without these, creating on LinkedIn was a frustrating uphill battle. So, what turned the tide? →  Show Up - Success starts with being present. →  Post Consistently - Your voice becomes familiar; your presence is expected. →  Don't Give Up - The path to recognition is paved with persistence. →  Listen - Your audience is your compass; they guide your content direction. →  Reflect - Every post is a lesson. Learn what resonates. I learned to cut myself some slack. Not every swing hits a home run: →  Not every post will capture the crowd. →  Not every reader will click 'Like'. →  Not every message will resonate universally. →  Patience Pays Off Fast forward six months →  My followers aren't just numbers; they're a growing community. →  Engagement isn't rare; it's routine. →  I've found my rhythm and my voice. And the real measure of success? →  Inbound leads range from 1 to 3 per week. →  New clients aren't just prospects; they're partnerships in progress. Why This Matters to You? LinkedIn isn't just about broadcasting who you are; it's about demonstrating what you can do for others: ⤵️ This is what I do for my clients →  Empower People (build great teams) →  Perfect Processes (create consistency) →  Deliver Technology (that makes a difference) And in return, what do my clients get? →  Revenue Growth (more money in) →  Budget Control (less money out) →  Risk Reduction (less unpleasant surprises) Remember: Authority and Trust are earned one post at a time. Keep pushing forward, and the results will follow. Who has inspired you the most on LinkedIn so far?

As a CTO, I do not advocate experimenting in the live environment! - but here I am doing it on LinkedIn. You see, over the last week I have tried a number of different experiments, but why? Simple, you see, last week I had a post blow up.  Within an hour of posting it had passed 10k impressions, engagement ratio was high and over the course of the next day or so, it achieved over 40k impressions. So I wondered, how come some posts do this and others languish in the high hundreds of impressions. 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘆. • Tagging big accounts into your posts ? • Mixing up the formats? • Talking about topics outside of my domain authority? • Engaging with my content quickly? • Keeping my content on peoples radar? • Being active before and after posting? All of the above have been mentioned by many of the LI thought leaders (I am deliberately not mentioning them here) as impactful. 𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 • Mon - a comedy post relating to onions • Tue - a self promo post regarding CTO services • Wed - a contentious post relating to an article in the guardian • Thur - a give away post with something that had real value! • Fri - a leadership post with the CTA at the beginning of the post (please comment) • Sat - A great carousel, but the post itself was long also (making the reader choose between a+b) • Sun - This post! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻? ↳ Format doesn't seem to make a huge difference as long as its one thing or the other! (dont create a carousel and then add a huge post to it!) ↳ putting the CTA at the front made a huge difference if you actually want real engagement.  That post had the highest view to comment ratio. ↳ Obviously self promoting posts underperform compared to their "give it away for free" posts. ↳ Give something away for free only works if it is clear what you are giving away.  Keep it short, to the point. 🔥 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱.🔥 ↳  Be active 15 minutes before the post and an hour after the post has a huge impact on reach. ↳  Engaging with comments on your own and others posts has the biggest impact, create conversations ↳  Creating mini posts in comments in your own posts also has a huge positive impact on reach As for tagging big accounts in to your posts? ➡️ This only has any value if the person you are tagging is relevant to your post.  PS. if they ghost your post, it is very detrimental! Happy Sunday folks, Back to work tomorrow! PPS. This post will do better than yesterdays! (maybe) PPPS. Don't be afraid to experiment in the spirit of learning 𝗣𝗣𝗣𝗣𝗦. 𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 Thank you for reading I'm Dan Gwalter - The No-Nonsense CTO, if you want to know what I do, check the comments!

The solopreneur blueprint: 6 non-negotiable steps I wish I knew before diving in (this changes everything) Dreaming of going solo? I’ve been there It’s a mix of excitement and challenge From finding clients to becoming your own boss. Here’s what I learnt in 6 months and what I would do if I started out from scratch. • who are you helping • what is it that you offer • how does that help their pain • who are your tribe • are they your peer group • are they your industry titans • are they huge creator accounts • are they your ideal customer profile • what about content • are you creating trust • are you showing the real you • are you marketing your offer regularly Dive into the carousel and find out the actual steps I would take today. Inside I have also listed a few "inspirational" accounts that I whole heartedly recommend • Richard van der Blom - the algo godfather • Jasmin Alić - the king of content and comments • Adriana Tica - the best marketeer you need to know • Alana Sparrow - new account, growing fast, you will see why • Ryan Musselman - selling you say, well here's the guy that knows how • Craig Dean - if you have a face, you need a profile, here's the guy that does that ⬆️ Lesson - tagging huge creator account's is dangerous! - if they don't comment, your post = 🐌 • Anyway • The point is • The list is limited • It could have been huge • But space and clarity wins • So I will list some more • In the comments • Of this post • For you Now over to you, When will you take action, and what will you do.  Lets discuss this in the comments, I (and many others) are right here to help ♻️ Like what you have read? Reshare to spread the word 🔔 Follow Dan Gwalter for more insightful content on #linkedin 🎤 Go to my profile if you want to work with me (featured link) PS. don't forget, the only wrong move is not to make a move!