If I had to breakdown the whys and hows of my brand-building journey on LinkedIn to this day, I'd sum it up with this framework.
I created it a few months back while presenting this to my friends over at CS en Español, and since then, I've been circling back to it to continue adding bits and pieces.
The 4 Bs of LinkedIn framework includes four phases, they are:
Brand
Basics
Bond
Build
Brand
One of the first articles I wrote on The Customer Success Project was about Branding. In it, I detail the questions you should ask yourself before you start your journey. These questions may seem easy, but some lean towards existentialism😅
Basics
I've said this before if you're here for the likes, this isn't the place for you. But still, there are some things you should know about LinkedIn: what it likes and doesn't, some basics about its mysterious algorithm, and how to work with the tool, not against it.
Some of these basics you may have already noticed:
Adding links within your post is not recommended
Whitespace
You know,
When
People
Write like
This...
Posting at about the same time
These are just some commons ones; In a future post, I'll dig into some deeper.
Bond
You know what great brands get right? They engage with their community! That's what Bond is all about.
Yes, it's fantastic that you're posting, but you also have to reply to comments (I know how hard this is when you're busy, it's easy to forget.) Another part of bonding is connecting with people you want to connect with and those who have engaged with your content.
There are several ways to do this, and it's reasonably easy. Sending a connection request with a note that says "thanks for liking my post" has better chances of getting accepted than a request with no personalized and relatable note.
Build
The Build phase is all about locking in the work you've done to create your brand and becoming efficient.
One of the biggest reasons people shy away from building their brand is that they don't have enough time. And trust me, just like raising a child, while it gets easier in some areas, it gets challenging in others.
For example, at the beginning of your journey, you may struggle with consistency because you don't know what to say. Once you find your rhythm and have sources to inspire you, that will get easier. BUT, you'll soon have to figure out how to engage with every comment, and your DMs will be bursting.
Now I know what you're thinking "Diana, good job finding four words that start with B. What do I *actually* do now?"
Welp, you have the first phase, which is Brand. I've written about that before so next I'll share everything I know about the Basics of LinkedIn and I'll keep digging into each phase in my future posts.