Happy Sunday, my Substack friends! ☀️
I’ve been working on this week’s article for aaaages. I have 5x different drafts, all packed with lots of great tips on how to uplevel your LinkedIn game. But none felt quite right for this week (don’t worry though, they will be published in the future).
Because this week was one of THE MOST IMPACTFUL weeks I’ve had since launching my own business almost 1 year ago.
1️⃣ I hit the 50,000 LinkedIn follower milestone!!!
2️⃣ I had the highest impressions ever (!!) since I started posting on LinkedIn.
3️⃣ I ran a live webinar with the highest number of live attendees I've ever had (1,000+ people tuned in. Replay here).
4️⃣ I crossed $10,000 in Substack annual revenue after switching on paid subscriptions less than a month ago.
5️⃣ I hosted the first exclusive meet-up for my paid subscribers and had someone with 700,000+ LinkedIn followers join (they are a normal paying member, just like some of you).
But why am I telling you all of this?
3x different reasons. All of which I hope you can equally learn from.
I am bloody proud of what I have achieved this week. Things didn’t magically fall into my lab. I’ve been posting on LinkedIn for almost 1.5 years, and I feel I can finally truly reap the rewards.
Whatever it is that you do, make sure you take a moment and be proud. No matter how (seemingly) small or big your wins are. Even in our sh*ttiest weeks, there will be little wins worth celebrating.
That’s what keeps us going!!
Especially us millenials are being taught to keep our heads down, work hard and we will be rewarded. We feel awkward shouting accomplishments from the rooftops as we don’t want to come across as braggy.
And that leads me to reason number two.
“Work hard, keep your head down, and you’ll be rewarded.”
Nope. That doesn’t work anymore. And I doubt it ever did.
You need to tell people that you accomplish great things. How else would they know? That’s what builds trust and faith in your capabilities.
The majority of people will be happy for you. You might even inspire them.
It’s only a tiny number of people who might roll their eyes. But in reality, they’re just projecting their own insecurities. They wish they had achieved what you did or dared to celebrate their wins publicly.
Without exception, I get the most requests, sign-ups, and DMs whenever I celebrate a win. Not when I share an in-depth algorithm breakdown.
By all means, sharing thought leadership in your content is important. Otherwise, people might end up questioning your expertise.
But don’t neglect the human aspect. Sharing the emotions you’re going through is what builds a loyal audience that is truly invested in your journey. That’s what builds the trust that will eventually result in them pulling out their wallets to work with you.
Here are some examples of those behind-the-scenes-emotional-journey-posts I’m talking about:
Guuuuuuuuuys… I just landed my FIRST brand partnership deal 🥳
Over the last 10 days, I had to navigate the biggest public reputational crisis I ever faced.
Sometimes LinkedIn leads to unexpected places. Like the same cover as Gary Neville. 👀
From invisible to invited by Google... 👀 And it all happened because I got over the CRINGE.
If you had the time (or boredom) to look through some of these posts, you’ll notice that I was sharing my raw emotions. I shared my accomplishments (and failures) as if I were voice-messaging my besties' group chat.
That’s the secret to it not feeling overly braggy or arrogant.
It’s human. Show your giggly awkward side to make people truly connect with you.
Now, over to reason number three.
As I mentioned earlier, none of this week’s accomplishments fell into my lap. So let me summarise the steps I took to drive each of these milestones, so you can replicate them.
I am so, so, soooo happy to have achieved this milestone! But breaking down my whole LinkedIn strategy will massively exceed this article. I’ve run two live Masterclasses that should give you a great starting point:
March 2026 Webinar: How to craft the perfect LinkedIn content strategy
This week’s Webinar: The LinkedIn profile that lands you opportunities while you sleep
Plus, I am currently gearing up to launch my first-ever cohort!!! I’m so bloody excited (and nervous). Starting date is planned for the 3rd August! (eeekkk)
It will include:
In-depth Masterclasses on how to get started & succeed on LinkedIn
30-Day posting challenge (and posting guidance with templates)
Exclusive community to complete the challenge with others
Weekly live Q&A calls with me to answer any questions
Until I have ironed out all the details, you can submit your email address to be kept in the loop for when I start my launch. I’ll (of course!) offer anyone who submits their email address a hefty discount. Your loyalty and eagerness will be rewarded! 🤓
Ever since the LinkedIn algorithm changed (yet again), everyone’s impressions seem to be rock bottom. Mine are the opposite.
I found an algorithm loophole that helped me get ahead massively. I wrote about it in my article from last week. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet:
The LinkedIn Algorithm Loophole Article
I’m not gonna lie. It is hard work to properly announce a webinar. I usually block a full week in my calendar where I 100% focus on the promotion only. By the end of the week (aka me right now), I am utterly shattered. But also immensely proud, because it works. Every time.
I wrote a LinkedIn newsletter about how I consistently yield thousands of registrations (using LinkedIn only).
Read it here to understand my promo strategy, including your 7-day launch checklist:
I’m not in a position (yet) to give you proper Substack advice. I’m still stumbling my way through everything. Here’s a super quick overview of what I have been doing with my Substack ever since I started embracing the platform in January this year:
I post 2-3 Notes per day
I publish 4 Articles per month (2x free and 2x paid-only)
I recommend other Substack publications, which then (hopefully) recommend mine in return
I co-author articles with bigger accounts (example here)
I promote my Substack via LinkedIn (on my profile and in a call-to-action in some of my posts)
Recently, I did two Substack Lives with Jari Roomer and Sinem Günel. Their Write • Build • Scale publication has over 50k+ subscribers and dives into everything us Substack-Newbies need to know.
Here are the replays of those Substack Live sessions:
This is a mad one. Justin Wright commented under one of my LinkedIn posts back in February 2025 (last year!). I was massively starstruck and way too shy to ping him privately. I haven’t seen his name pop up under my posts since (tbh, my comments have also exploded. I might have overlooked if he had ever commented again).
When I saw his name appear in my paid subscribers’ list, I couldn’t believe it! I had NO IDEA he had continued to follow my journey AND had been willing to invest money to learn from me.
I’m saying to you (and me), if you’ve been waiting for permission to finally believe in yourself: THIS IS IT!!!You never know who’s watching. You never know who’s learning from you. You never know who could be your next customer.
But what you DO know:
If you keep going, no matter what, your hard work will pay off! There is no way around it.
Let this be your sign to trust in yourself!!!
I hope this article gave you some inspiration and actionable advice to start the new week full of motivation.
If you’re in the UK, I suffer the heatwave with you 🥵🔥. But at least it’s giving us the most stunning sunsets.
Stay cool. Stay hydrated. I see you next week.
Over and out,
Alicia
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