Welcome, Networkers, to my deep dives with top LinkedIn voices—how they grew, what’s working now, and what it looks like to achieve meaningful goals as a personal brand.

This week, meet Ariel Lee. Ariel uses LinkedIn as the primary source of leads for her financial advisor business and has used it to generate more than 100 clients thus far.

Welcome, Ariel!

Please tell us about yourself.

I'm a financial advisor—you can learn more about that on my LinkedIn profile (I can’t disclose who I work for here for regulatory reasons). 

I started in January of 2020, but I wasn't really able to start serving clients until May of 2020, due to needing licenses and tests, which leads me into why I'm such a nerd about LinkedIn. When I started serving clients in the middle of 2020, there weren't really a whole lot of opportunities for meeting new people face to face.

My background was in the car business, which did not really have a lot of networking required. It was very much that people come to you and you have a product, as a commodity.

So the whole world of networking was very new to me, but I definitely enjoy it now that I'm here.

What’s your industry?

Financial services

What does LinkedIn do for you?

It sustains my entire business. It's my only prospecting strategy, the only way I have to meet new potential clients, other than just friends and family and people locally. 

LinkedIn has transformed my life by allowing me to show up outside that box and be appreciated for it. In a small town, if you're different or weird or loud or too colorful…being on LinkedIn allows me to really show up as who I am. I just approach LinkedIn with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, and now I have a global network available to me.

It’s really cool to be appreciated and loved for who I actually am instead of who I feel like I'm supposed to be. That was really transformative.

(laughs) That was a deeper answer than you probably were asking for, but it has absolutely changed my life in all ways.

Why do you use it?

To be completely honest, the reason I still use it is more business related than the reason I started using it.

In the beginning it was so easy to get entrenched with the new communities and the new friends that you were making and just get really sucked in and excited about that.

And as time goes on, and I don't know if the platform has changed or I have less time to spend on the platform, but I am not feeling quite as connected to the larger LinkedIn universe as I was in the beginning.

And now it's kind of like, well, I need to maintain this because it's what helps me pay my mortgage.

So it has shifted and changed over time. And I still enjoy my time there, don't get me wrong, but it has definitely changed.

What are your goals for using the platform?

My goal is to impact as many people as possible in a positive way, whether it's making a new friend, making someone laugh, or helping someone financially. I try to make financial advice approachable and attainable for everyone.

Ultimately, I feel like the work that I do [in financial services] is important. I feel like there's not enough people out there doing it in a way that feels approachable and attainable for the average person. 

Ariel’s content strategy

Who’s your target audience on LinkedIn?

It’s not definitively a demographic; it's more of a vibe...if you can have a serious conversation one moment, and laugh about dumb stuff the next, those are my people.

How do you create content for LinkedIn?

It’s all very random. That's one of the things that I've struggled with more over the past year or so.

The content side of it used to come really easily. I tell colleagues that I coach on LinkedIn that if you are struggling to formulate content ideas from everyday life situations, it's probably because you're not spending enough time on the platform.

The more time that you spend consuming other people's content and participating with them, the easier it is for you to take your own ideas or life situations and turn them into content.

What are the processes you use to create content? 

• Schedule in advance ✅

• Batch create content ❌

• Optimize for SEO/keywords ❌

• Follow an editorial calendar ❌

• Have specific content pillars/themes ✅

• Repurpose content to/from LinkedIn or reuse on LinkedIn ✅

• Use AI in any part of the content writing process ❌

• Have team/human support for any part of your LI process ❌

• Keep a list of potential topics somewhere (Notes, Notion, etc.) ✅

• Design or source visuals including infographics, carousels & video ❌

What types of content do you post to LinkedIn?

• Text only ✅

• Photos of yourself (selfies) ✅

• Photos of other people or things ✅

• AI generated images ❌

• Other graphics (not yours) ❌

• Twitter screenshots ❌

• Infographics (single image) ❌

• Carousels ❌

• Video ❌

• Polls ❌

• Links to your company content ✅

• Links to other content ❌

• Reposts of others’ content (repost only) ❌

• Reposts of others’ content (with your thoughts) ❌

Ariel’s biggest growth levers

What has contributed most to your growth?

My high activity levels in the earlier days...being part of a Clubhouse room with influential LinkedIn personalities helped grow my following significantly. I got in with some really big, influential people like Liam Darmody, Andy Foote, and Lea Turner, and they really helped pull me up the mountain.

How do you track what’s working and know what to change?

I don't track anything. I used to track metrics like impressions and connection requests but it sucked all the fun out for me.

On average, how much time do you spend each weekday on LinkedIn on comments or Direct Messages (DMs), outside of content creation?

It's hard to say, but at least an hour or two in total. I spend a chunk of time when my post goes live and otherwise I’m in and out throughout the day.

Are you active on LinkedIn on the weekends, either posting or commenting or both?

Oh, yeah. And at nights, I mean, I spend probably as much time on my mobile LinkedIn as I do on my desktop LinkedIn.

How do you use direct messages (DMs) in the service of your goals?

I don't. I should, but I don't. 

I tried; I had a conversation with somebody that's a really well-respected sales presence on LinkedIn and they were like, you're missing a huge opportunity if you're not sending a message to people who view your profile. But I don’t, I don’t like rejection and when someone doesn’t reply, I feel like it’s a rejection, even though it could mean they’re just not checking their DMs.

How Ariel makes money

How do you generate revenue in your business?

I’m a fee-based financial advisor. 

How do you quantify your success on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is currently my main source of business, it’s bigger than referrals or the local networking that I do. I’ve gotten over a hundred clients from LinkedIn in the last three or four years.

Ariel’s top tips

What challenges have you faced on LinkedIn? What’s made you almost—or actually—quit? What got you back on track?

If you're struggling, get introspective about your activity levels and how much you support others. LinkedIn is a very karmic platform; you have to give eyeballs to receive eyeballs. Support isn't just commenting; it involves introductions and direct messages, asking how you can best support the person. The more you offer, the more support you'll receive. 

Many focus primarily on content—what to post, when, and how. I think once people care about who you are, they'll care more about what you say. Forming relationships through commenting and DMs is key. 

The challenge is to look at your actions and assess if you deserve the support you seek. Showing up and posting without engaging isn't effective networking.

What advice would you give other Networkers who want to build and leverage their LinkedIn presence?

• Always like, comment, and support others first—the cornerstone of my strategy.

• Don't overthink content creation; many people agonize unnecessarily.

• Early content won't be perfect, and that's okay—few will see it.

• The more you practice, the more visibility your content will get.

• If a post isn't good, you get another chance tomorrow—keep it light.

• If you struggle to write a post quickly, shelf it; struggling content repels readers.

• Overly curated content sounds robotic; keep it conversational and human.

Ariel’s best post

Stephanie’s note: I’ve asked each Networker to give me one “best post,” based on their own criteria.

Read this post on LinkedIn

Why Ariel considers this her best post

My favorite post and probably one of the most successful posts was a moment where I talked about why I left the car business. It definitely struck a nerve with people and wound up being pretty motivational to some folks.

It felt good to get off my chest as well, to say, hey, listen, there's more to what you see showing up on LinkedIn.

How to network with Ariel

• Ariel Lee on LinkedIn

What’s new on LinkedIn? Here’s what caught my eye this week.

Have you noticed AI questions alongside content in your feed? LinkedIn tests AI assistant for premium members. (Axios)

Other new AI is aimed at jobseekers, including chats with AI-based career coaches. (Wired)

LinkedIn seems to be trying to compete with Beehiiv and Substack, improving its newsletter functionality. (LinkedIn Pulse)

Not only on LinkedIn…but interesting. The New York Times has given a name to bad AI content: Slop. (New York Times, gift article link)

I saw this happening on the platform a few weeks ago but missed the actual news: Organic posts with links get smaller previews than paid links. (Social Media Today)

I’m always on the lookout for something that changes the way I use LinkedIn. It could be an idea, a tool, a process, or something strategic. 

Have a tip I should consider? Hit reply to this email and let me know!

This week Luke Shalom gives us an excellent explanation of the all-too-mysterious LinkedIn algorithm. I’m not sure of his source for the points system he describes, but I think he’s spot-on with his pro tips on what to avoid and what to include in your posts.

Read this post on LinkedIn

That’s all for now—I look forward to seeing you again next week for another Networker interview.