Greetings Networkers! I had a cool LinkedIn-related experience yesterday: I got to meet one of my networking colleagues in person, Frank Velasquez. He’s from Ecuador, I live in Barcelona, and we met for breakfast in Chicago. I love getting to meet LinkedIn-ers IRL, I try to do it at least once a month. (And Frank also has this week’s Tip, read to the bottom for that!)

This week our Networker interview is with LinkedIn coach Liam Darmody. He’s truly one of the most positive, upbeat people I’m engaged with on LinkedIn. I love reading his posts and I know you’ll really appreciate his wisdom about the platform.

Welcome, Liam. Please tell us about yourself.

I'm the founder of Liam's Brandstand, a personal brand strategy firm. We help founders, entrepreneurs, and executives build personal brands that attract clients, talent, and opportunities.

I started the firm in August 2023 after spending about four years on LinkedIn, where I’d built relationships and a community. I loved it so much that I decided to help others discover what makes it so special. I'm having a blast.

What’s your industry?

Personal brand strategy and social selling.

What does LinkedIn do for you?

Oh man, how much time have you got? 

My journey on LinkedIn has been fantastic. I started posting articles in 2015, sharing lessons from a rough year. People responded, saying they wished they could write as openly. By 2019, I spent more time on LinkedIn, creating content during my paternity leave despite initial anxieties.

During the pandemic, LinkedIn became my virtual networking space. In 2021, a company reached out for a role in revenue operations, because they saw my LinkedIn presence. This led to a career pivot. When the company was acquired and I was let go, I decided to go all in and start my company. LinkedIn has truly done a lot for me.

What are your main goals for using LinkedIn:

My goals for using LinkedIn are to connect with people globally, whether potential clients or those who fascinate me. Over the past 20 years, we’ve shifted our mindset so much. For example, 25 years ago, I never would have considered online dating, but I found my wife on eHarmony and we got married.

Now, you can establish connections online with people worldwide, breaking the geographic limitations of traditional networking. LinkedIn removes those barriers. 

My favorite quote is by Yeats: "There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't yet met." That's my approach to life, LinkedIn, and business. It's a great platform because people are typically open-minded.

Liam’s content strategy

Who’s your target audience on LinkedIn?

I work with coaches, founders, entrepreneurs running small businesses, and executives looking to establish thought leadership.

How do you decide what content to create and share on LinkedIn?

I focus on understanding the challenges my clients face. Many coaches aren't natural marketers; they're skilled at facilitating conversations and solving problems but struggle with social selling. I help them see that anyone can market themselves with consistency and targeted content.

For founders, personal brands drive business. There’s a sea of competitors, but personality and shared information attract clients. I’m passionate about teaching founders to leverage this.

Executives and employees can benefit greatly from LinkedIn. I see it not as a social media platform but as a serendipity manifestation platform. You get a lot out of it if you put a lot into it.

How do you differentiate your content from others on LinkedIn?

It sounds cheesy, but I'm just authentically me, I try not to put on any airs. I speak my mind. I have a pretty positive outlook on things and I try to uplift people and support people. 

Another differentiator is that I’m pretty analytical so I can take LinkedIn data and turn it into insights. Most personal brand folks are on the creative side vs. the analytical side.

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 and carousels and video ✅

What types of content do you post to LinkedIn?

• Polls ✅

• Audio ❌

• Video ✅

• Carousels ✅

• Text only ✅

• Photos of yourself (selfies) ✅

• Photos of other people or things ✅

• AI generated images ✅

• Infographics (single image) ✅

• Other people’s graphics ❌

• Links to your company content ❌

• Links to other content ❌

• Reposts of others’ content (repost only) ❌

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

How much time does it take?

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

At least an hour a day, probably 2-3 on a less busy day, not including time spend in Sales Navigator doing business development.

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

Yes.

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

Not very much; I don’t want to come across as someone who’s being disingenuous. When I connect with people, I use voice messages to introduce myself, I think voice is more powerful than text. If I were trying to build a multi-million dollar business I’d have to be more aggressive, but that’s not really my style.

Liam’s biggest growth levers

What has contributed most to your growth?

When I started focusing on building my network, I added 100 people per week, totaling about 4,000 per year. Beyond that, it's about showing up consistently and supporting others. I leave 50 to 100 comments a day, both in my feed and using Sales Navigator to reach new people. This engagement creates familiarity and expands my network.

Every action on LinkedIn is like a micro-ad for your personal brand, even down to comments. If you show up in a lot of places and you start conversations on this platform, you gain followers.

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

I pay attention to trends, following various content creators and analyzing my data. Over the last year, LinkedIn's impression counts dropped, but my engagement increased, and I’ve gotten more meaningful engagement. 

How Liam makes money

How do you generate revenue in your business?

I work primarily on a coaching model. I have a few different packages that I offer: 

• An hourly rate

• A two hour demo of all the things I know about LinkedIn 

• A month long coaching package

• A quarterly plan, which includes ghost editing

The month package is the most popular. A lot of people renew that package because they enjoy having somebody in their corner that understands the platform and can provide them with confidence and self-esteem boosts.

I very much want to teach people how to fish vs. giving them the fish.

How do you quantify your success on LinkedIn?

A couple of months ago was the first month that I generated more revenue than I would have earned with a month's worth of my last job. So that was a big for me because I was making pretty good money back then. 

Other metrics I follow include going from a 1% engagement rate to an average of about 4.5%.

And in the last six months I’ve worked with more than 34 clients. Those are all good key indicators.

Liam’s top tips

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

I'm not super organized, which is ironic given my background in operations. Organizing and focusing can be challenging for me, especially with ADHD. I have to be conscious of where I focus. I also tend to procrastinate without deadlines, which is tough when you're your own boss and must manage everything.

Despite these challenges, I keep pushing forward, trusting that good things will happen.

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

1. People tend to overthink LinkedIn. People overestimate how much attention their posts get. Your network won’t dwell on your posts; they’ll either engage or move on.

2. People also undersell themselves, they don’t think that they have the right to talk about things because they’re not an expert. I don’t think it’s about being an expert, it’s about having an opinion, a skillset, and a personality. All three of these things come to work with you every day, why wouldn’t you share it more broadly?

3. Don’t stress over each post’s performance. Zoom out, look at your analytics over 30, 60, or 90 days to see real trends. Just like going to the gym, put in the effort to see results. Be patient and stay consistent.

Is there anything else you want to tell other Networkers?

There's a big world out there, with a lot of people in the world, and a lot of opportunity out there. It will find you if you just show up with an open mind and you share your personality and your perspective.

Everybody is deserving of having a voice, so I encourage people to really invest in building their personal brand and showing people the personality that you bring to the office and the knowledge that you have. It will be valuable for somebody and if you can influence just one or two people every day, that's a win.

It doesn't have to be this massive following or level of engagement, you can just be you and build yourself a little community and help people out. I think that's pretty awesome.

Liam’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 Liam considers this his best post.

In the five years I've been building my personal brand intentionally, strategically, and methodically on LinkedIn, I've noticed a drastic increase in content promising overnight success on LinkedIn. There's no such thing. At least, not organically.

Our personal brands last as long as we do and need to be nurtured over time with deep thought and plenty of effort. It's not a popularity contest or a race, it's your personal reputation! If you're not willing to invest the time and energy into managing it, you're not my ideal customer, which this post conveys.

The best brands attract the right audience and detract the wrong ones. This post did that really effectively for me.

How to network with Liam

• Liam Darmody on LinkedIn

• Liam’s business: Liam’s Brand Stand

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

LinkedIn apparently wants to compete with Substack and Beehiiv, offering newsletter sponsorships for brands. (Social Media Today)

Account hacking does happen. Here’s how to (maybe) prevent your LinkedIn from being hacked, and how to fix it if it does. (ZDNET)

Is LinkedIn becoming cringe? Oversharing may be the problem. (The Independent)

Or maybe LInkedIn is a bunch of liars? (The Sydney Morning Herald)

If you’re advertising on LinkedIn, you can now use AI to accelerate campaign setup. (Social Media Today)

Frank Velasquez’s daily content is full of actionable tips, especially for those who are gaining confidence on the platform. Today’s tip has three essential actions that increase engagement.

Read this post on LinkedIn

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!

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