You Don't Need to Grow on LinkedIn

When I first started freelance writing in 2014, I built a successful business without having a personal brand.

My writer website is called Innovative Ink, and for the first start of my business, this is all I had. I didn’t have my Elna Cain blog. In fact, my blog was on Innovative Ink.

So I built my freelance business with that in mind: build the business, not the brand.

When I started my LinkedIn profile, I was NOT concerned about gaining followers.

I just wanted to connect with potential people that would hire me to write for them.

That’s it.

As a new freelance writer you probably hop onto LinkedIn and you might see notable writers with a large presence.

They have thousands of followers and connections and every post generates dozens of comments.

That’s great for them, but you are on chapter 1 and they are on chapter 21.

There’s a difference when you’re new.

I only started growing my audience or followers after I created digital products.

I moved from freelancing to being a content creator.

But just because you’re a freelancer doesn’t mean you NEED to be a content creator with a TikTok account, YouTube channel and email list.

No…

Focus on your WORK. Focus on getting clients.

At times, this is hard for me since I’ve built up my creator business.

In my other newsletter, The Freelance Creator Files, I share what challenges I’m doing for each side of my business and if it’s profitable.

You get to see how I balance it all and what goes into a seven figure business.

For you though, at the end of the day, freelancing is all about one thing: Networking.

This can be in the form of:

• Commenting on LinkedIn posts

• Scouting businesses to write for

• Pitching to job ads

• Connecting with other freelancers

• Signing up to newsletters

You DON’T need thousands of followers to offer freelance services.

You just need to keep your head down and use LinkedIn as a lead generator.