Hello Networkers! It was a holiday in the U.S. yesterday (Labor Day, the unofficial last day of summer) and I had a 3-day weekend. Now I’m packing and getting ready for my upcoming trip to Bangkok and Mumbai. Get in touch if you want to meet up in either of those places in September/October.

Today, because of the holiday weekend, I’m sending a roundup post of my top newsletters thus far.

New subscribers (lots of you!) and earlier subscribers: enjoy this catch up to some of the great ideas and advice my previous interviewees have given.

But first, the news.

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

• LinkedIn is no stranger to internet scams, protect yourself from these common ones. (Tripwire.com)

• To banner or not to banner? That’s the question about Open to Work. (Business Insider via Apple News)

• Thinking of starting a LinkedIn newsletter? You might change your mind after reading this. [Note that I don’t have a LinkedIn newsletter, only this email newsletter…!] (The Science Marketer)

• A new LinkedIn report says 77% of Black professionals want to become entrepreneurs this year. (Essence)

• For job seekers: job hopping might be a red flag to employers. Here’s how to account for it on your LinkedIn profile. (CNBC)

I’ve published 11 interviews of top LinkedIn creators thus far on The Networkist. Here are some of the best answers I’ve gotten for the most interesting questions.

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

Lara Acosta: "I've always created content for myself. I think ‘what did Lara two years ago or even yesterday wanted to learn?’ Especially at the beginning of me building my personal brand. I was still learning. I didn't have any credentials except my university degree and that's not even enough for anything."

Jacob Warwick: "I look at what everyone else is doing and I do the exact opposite. Basically, I ask ChatGPT or Anthropic what to say then challenge everything that's in it with a new perspective."

Alana Sparrow: "We're still very much in an education of the market in terms of how beneficial a personal brand can be. So my content is a mix of creating awareness as well as nurturing. To me, everything is bottom of the funnel."

How do you differentiate your content from others on LinkedIn?

Grace Lancer: “Since my goal is to make money and help my clients do the same, I emphasize discussing money openly. I show and tell people how my services can help them achieve financial success. This is a topic many shy away from, but it resonates with my ideal clients.”

Andy Foote: "It’s almost all audio. I don’t know anyone else on LinkedIn who’s as all-in as I am in audio at the moment."

Roman Pikalenko: "Being in a specific niche has been a significant advantage for me. While I've encountered a few ghostwriters or writers interested in climate tech, I haven't seen anyone actively targeting it like I do."

What has contributed most to your growth?

Charlotte Lloyd: "Networking can 100% change your life especially on LinkedIn because you're finding people that align with your goals, not with your lifestyle."​

Danny DelVecchio: "The #1 factor in my LinkedIn growth is that I’ve been relentlessly committed to it. I’ve posted every day since I started getting serious about LinkedIn in November of 2022."

Jacob Warwick: "Discipline, consistency, putting in the work. I've given away thousands of hours of my time for free to be able to now demand thousands of dollars an hour with the expertise that I picked up along the way."

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

Alana Sparrow: "I've built different AI prompts to be able to analyze [my] data. I pay attention to like how many likes, how many impressions I have in the first 10 minutes. I check it again in the first 30. And so I know within an hour exactly where a post is going to go."

Charlotte Lloyd: "I track what my posts are doing: what leads are coming from posts. I have a system where my virtual assistant puts my posts into Excel and we will count how many people have come through each post. I also track my outreach using Folk (a CRM app): who am I'm speaking to, how many conversations I start daily. That tells me exactly what do I need to do to have more conversations."

Jacob Warwick: "I write for a specific person. When I'm working with a client and there’s something I need to really help them with, I find that writing is my best form of thinking. If one person has that problem, I know many people likely have had that problem before. So I write for that one person and then text them and maybe 25-30 other people that post and ask for their feedback on it. Then I write a follow-up post based on their feedback. I actively solicit feedback all the time."

What’s made you almost quit LinkedIn, and what’s gotten you back on track?

Liam Darmody: "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."

Alana Sparrow: "I've wanted to quit many times because it feels there were points, especially in the first three to four months, it felt like I'm building something that's not sustainable…I hadn't been that exhausted since grad school."​

Lara Acosta: “I've never wanted to quit, but what’s made me want to take a break is hate. People can be very judgmental, which makes me really sad, because I'm a very positive person and I'm surrounded by very positive people.”

___

I hope this sparked your interest to read some back issues—please hit reply and let me know what you think, and if I should do more roundups like this from time to time.

That’s all for now—I look forward to seeing you again next week for a full issue with a new Networker interview.