Becoming a thought leader on LinkedIn means constantly posting cringey, self-promotional content at a rate that borders on spamming your feed, right? Or spending untold hours crafting long posts in a sacrifice to the algorithmic gods? 

Most have this belief. But it’s not actually true! Optimizing LinkedIn for client acquisition as a fractional executive does not require any of those things. There are four areas to concentrate on for the best results, and we’ll break them all down. 

Don’t let the fear of not knowing what to do hinder your success on LinkedIn. 

Be intentional with your time and storytelling 

Posting every day on LinkedIn might seem daunting, but not every post needs to “go viral” for you to see success. Spending 20-30 minutes a day to create content that you post a few times a week means more connections seeing your posts– and that translates into more opportunities for potential clients. If they see you in their feed regularly, you stay top-of-mind for them in your area of expertise. 

Let’s say you start posting several times a week and you get 200 views to your profile in a month, from people clicking through your posts to see more about you. If that breaks down into 50 views a week, those are all opportunities for potential clients. Not every single one of those people is going to reach out for a discovery call, or even fit your ideal customer profile (ICP). But they’re still an opportunity to work together, now or in the future. 

The key is consistency; choose a cadence that’s going to be sustainable for you and block off time on your calendar to create content. Posting three times a week for months is a better strategy than posting every single day for a month and then abruptly stopping because you ran out of ideas or energy. 

You can also create 2-3 pieces of content at one time in a longer post, chop it up, and schedule them for throughout the week. 

Create thought leadership content 

The posts you write don’t have to be full of cringey self-promotion. Think about it as an opportunity to share experiences rather than brag about accomplishments. What are the wins you had during a particular experience that stuck with you? What are the insights or learnings you wish you could go back in time and share with your past self? You can share these findings as a story. 

They also don’t have to be stories from consulting. Share experiences and wins from past full-time, in-house roles. If you’ve worked for big, recognizable brands that will also help lend weight and legitimacy to your work. Use “I” statements to engage the audience and encourage them to interact with you; writing this way makes followers want to share their own related experiences.  

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you post either. One fantastic strategy (that we use here at Mylance!) is to sit down and write a long-form blog post that then gets repurposed into smaller pieces of content perfect for LinkedIn. Additionally, don’t be afraid to recycle content. Older posts can be refreshed and reposted, or just reposted. You’ll have new followers that haven’t seen that content and if it performed well last time, the same followers will most likely be interested in seeing it again. 

Build your connections 

Speaking of new followers, a crucial key to success on LinkedIn is building out your network. You need to add new connections weekly to expand your audience for the thought leadership content that you’re producing. 

There are two ways to do this:

• Manually: using LinkedIn search with a targeted list, find connections who match your ICP and send a personalized note saying you want to connect with them (you can also have a VA or SDR do this for you)
• With automated tools: these can add a certain number of new connections a week (there’s a limit of around 20-25 new connections a day), based on your ICP 

These methods work best in conjunction with one another. Even if only 30-40% of the people you request confirm your connection, that’s still dozens of new connections who will be seeing your content and recognizing that you're a thought leader in a particular space. 

Seeing your thought leadership content consistently keeps you top-of-mind and makes them much more likely to reach out.

Optimize your profile for conversions 

Finally, don’t skip on the basics! You wouldn’t want to have a post do incredible numbers only for those who click through to be confused about what it is that you do or put off by a bad photo. You should have a clear headshot that lets people know you’re a real person and a professional. 

The second most important element is a compelling headline that clearly communicates: 

1. What it is that you do
2. Who you do it for 
3. What your credentials are 

Don’t be afraid to max out the length of your headline to convey the services you offer, who your target audience is, and what legitimizes you. For example, Mylance Founder and CEO Bradley Jacobs might write his headline as “I’m a fractional COO that helps early-stage food delivery startups launch new markets, given my experience launching Uber Eats in both Miami and Milan”. 

It clearly communicates who he is: a Fractional COO. It tells you who he helps: early-stage food delivery startups. And it says what he does for them: launches new markets. The legitimizing factor is the brand he most notably did it for: Uber. 

Final thoughts 

Multiple sources of lead generation are key for fractional executives and LinkedIn is one of the best places to tap into– your ICP is already spending time there. Showing up regularly to share thought leadership content while intentionally building your network keeps you top-of-mind in your area of expertise and gives you more opportunities to connect with your next big project. 

Just keep showing up and sharing your experiences, and it will pay off. 

Mylance

This value-added article was written by Mylance. Mylance specializes in identifying the highest quality, most curated leads for your fractional business. We use 5 different criteria to identify companies and decision-makers who are likely to need your expertise:

1. Matches your niche / unique expertise.
2. Likely to have the budget.
3. Gaps on their team in your function.
4. Are fractional-friendly.
5. Have warm connections from your network.

To apply for access, submit an application and we'll evaluate your fit for the service. If you’re not ready for lead generation, we also have a free, vetted community for top fractional talent that includes workshops, a rates database, networking, and a lot of free resources to support your fractional business.