Navigating the New LinkedIn Landscape: Personal Brands and Professional Influence
A personal reflection on the ethics of content creation and building a personal brand on professional social media platforms
Introduction
When I first logged into LinkedIn five years ago, it was a digital resume. Today, it's transformed into a vibrant community where professionals share personal stories, and insights. This makes me wonder what is the status quo on social media these days. What about the ethics and the etiquette?
In this blog, I reflect on some personal experiences on creating content and building a personal brand.
LinkedIn’s Transformation
For artists, platforms like Instagram and TikTok make perfect sense because that’s where they operate and make their living. But, for working professionals like myself, there hasn’t been any social media platform that was buzzing with content creators and influencers, up until recently.
In this evolving digital landscape, building an authentic personal brand on platforms like LinkedIn is becoming vital for professionals. According to this article,
Over 3 million users post on LinkedIn every week.
There are ~2 million posts, articles and videos published on LinkedIn every day.
Users who have turned on Creator Mode have seen a 50% increase in the number of followers, indicating a growing focus on content creation.
Creator accounts generate 30% more engagement with their content.
These are pretty astounding numbers that indicate the direction professional social media platforms like LinkedIn are likely heading in the upcoming months/years.
I share some of my own thoughts on LinkedIn and I really appreciate the conversations that happen as a result of it.
Case in point—I recently started offering free mentorship on Topmate, a platform enabling professionals to start their side hustle. I announced this via a post on LinkedIn accompanied by a blog. Shortly after I posted it, I started getting bookings within a few hours. I have already spoken to some folks since then. These were folks either looking to get entry-level jobs or wanting to switch careers to explore the cybersecurity industry. They needed guidance with their resumes and strategies on how to approach job hunting in this competitive market.
To be honest, I didn’t have much expectations when I posted this but the testimonials (from the folks I spoke to) after the calls surprised me, making me believe I helped them in a meaningful way. Through these interactions, I was reminded of my own struggles with imposter syndrome, networking, and finding my niche. One lesson I’ve learned is that sharing your vulnerabilities—like imposter syndrome—can help others relate to you. The more authentic your content, the stronger the connections you build. And, if I am able to share my learnings while building my own portfolio, why wouldn’t I?
These experiences have led me to reflect on the impact of personal branding and how it intertwines with the broader digital ethics we face today.
The Influence of Personal Brands
I can’t think of a better person than Elon Musk as a personal brand. Even though he owns a bunch of companies, Elon Musk as a personal brand has influenced industries, demonstrating the power of individual influence over corporate brands. While I admire Musk’s ability to influence entire industries, I’ve noticed how his polarizing opinions in recent years have shifted the public’s perception of him, proving that personal brands are both powerful and precarious.
Speaking about building these personal brands, I see folks trying different things (small snippets about their domain in which they have subject matter expertise, long form posts reviewing products, personal stories, etc.) on LinkedIn to see what sticks and what doesn’t. Folks are being more vulnerable and not restricting themselves to just sharing posts about them joining new companies. There is also a course by Justin Welsh (a LinkedIn expert with over 100,000 followers) on how one can grow and monetize their LinkedIn account. I haven’t taken this course but I’ve been following Justin on Twitter/X and I like and appreciate the content he puts out there. I can only imagine that this course provides value to those who might be interested in growing their LinkedIn presence. If you have taken this course or planning to, let me know!
The fact that content creators, in pursuit of building their personal brand,
Have the freedom to choose their target audience
Can explore their creative side by creating different kinds of content tailored to that audience
Have the ability to build and grow a community with like minded people providing them value in a meaningful way
And, do all this with a sense of purpose in their lives that brings them joy and happiness seems like a sweet deal to me. If this world is possible, why would anyone want to stay stuck working for big corporations? Climbing the career ladder, doing things they might not even enjoy on a daily basis—it sounds suffocating.
A few weeks ago, I engaged in a discussion with a fellow professional about the impact of building a personal brand. The conversation went something like below:
I will get to the WHY a little later in this post but I believe personal brands are here to stay and are the future. It is because these brands have relatable stories that resonate with the average population. I believe that in the near future, folks aren’t going to buy products from big name vendors, but rather prefer to buy products from smaller and more personal brands. Whether the product is worth buying is a topic for another day, but you get the idea.
Let’s take a slight detour while we are on the topic of building a personal brand.
Take Lunchly for example. When Logan Paul , KSI and Mr. Beast joined forces to create something like this, you’d bet that it would sell like hot cakes, especially to the younger generation.
Mr. Beast had the following to say to defend why they thought this is a great idea. Original thread is here.
Lunchables sells hundreds of millions of units and countless people eat it. Our goal is to give people a better for you alternative to it. Our turkey meal for example is 80 less calories, 60% less sugar, more electrolytes, we use real cheese they use “cheese product” (they can’t call it cheese), higher quality meat, etc.
Obviously eating fresh chicken and broccoli is healthier but if someone is going to eat a premade meal like this (which millions of people do thru lunchables) then I think giving them a higher quality version at roughly the same price is a net good imo and why we launched Lunchly. Also as we get economies of scale and can get things cheaper we will be only improving the product more and more
I have my reservations, but others argue these products are convenient for busy people looking for healthier options. I can’t argue with that reasoning. They know what they are doing targeting the right audience.
To sum it up, I believe personal brands have the leverage to really make it big by creating more relatable products and compete against the big vendors, but it also raises questions about ethical responsibility to a certain extent.
Ethical Reflections on Sponsored Content
The influence of personal brands on markets is evident in how tech companies have started to approach marketing on LinkedIn.
A few weeks ago, a talent management company on LinkedIn approached me to write a post about a cybersecurity vendor's platform. They intended it to be a sponsored post, meaning I'd get paid to write it. I could have spent a few hours playing with the platform (which I did) and made some quick bucks highlighting some key features of the platform. But, I decided against it.
I was more concerned about the ethics of advertising a product I wasn’t completely sold on. While I was playing with the platform, there were definitely a lot of positives but I realized there are also a lot of things about the platform that I didn’t like. I didn’t want to write a post without calling these out and if I did, it wouldn’t be fair on me to charge the vendor for this sponsored post. Why would any vendor pay someone to call their baby ugly?
So, I was in this ethical dilemma and I decided it is not worth compromising my authenticity for the sake of getting some influencer clout.
I could have gone ahead with an un-biased review citing both the good and the bad and still could have gotten paid for it (the Co-founder was pretty open to that and that was very much appreciated). I could have also posted my review on my own personal website without getting paid. But, then I’d be entering a world where I’d be attracting more such opportunities where I’d be asked to review other platforms and provide my opinion on them. I thought about it for a few days and decided that I don’t want to invest my time in such opportunities right now. Accepting sponsored content can blur the lines between genuine recommendations and paid promotions. I had to question myself and evaluate whether such partnerships align with my personal values and the trust that I believe I've built with my audience.
If you’re considering sponsored content, ask yourself these questions:
Do I genuinely believe in this product?
Would I use it myself?
Is my review providing value, or am I just doing it for money?
All that being said, I do appreciate the fact that even tech companies (cybersecurity to be more specific) are thinking out of the box and venturing into the space of social media for marketing. The traditional way of cold calling or attending conferences such as RSA and BlackHat are still very much a thing but if you can get a practitioner to play with your product and write about it, it beats pretty much every other marketing strategy. I definitely see this as a net positive for the industry. There is a lot of snake oil that gets sold in the cyber world and I just hope it doesn’t get worse with this new way of getting the products out there. It definitely feels like different worlds (social media and cybersecurity) are colliding and we are at a pretty interesting juncture. The next few months/years will be interesting to see how this space evolves.
Understanding the “WHY”
The “WHY” question is a million dollar question that I have found myself contemplating over and over again in the past few months. I don’t know if it’s me, the AI revolution, the rise of social media, or something else, but I’m trying to be thoughtful about everything I do in my life - whether that is posting on social media or living life in general.
When it comes to content creation, I have asked myself why I want to create and share content in the first place? How exactly does this align with my core values? What am I doing exactly? And, in pursuit of what? These are some difficult questions and I don’t think I have answers to them all. Having said that, I am on a journey and if I keep following my mind, heart and gut - I believe I will find myself in a place that I’ve been dreaming / manifesting.
My first foray into this world started when I wrote about my professional experience on my website. I had an itch to write. I like to organize how I think in my mind and the way I do that is by writing. So, this seemed pretty natural to me. After I wrote a few posts, I had people on LinkedIn reach out to me and tell me that my blogs helped them while they were trying to build similar programs within their organizations. That was a big validation for me that my writing can help somebody in their journey and if this is something I love doing, then there is no reason why I shouldn’t be spending more time writing.
In the past few months, I’ve also started writing about other areas of my life, including self-reflections on quotes or passages I’ve read. Reading is something I have only recently picked up. For the longest time, I always wanted to read but could never get myself to do that consistently. I was able to finally break through that mental block (by inculcating it in my daily routine that I follow) and I am absolutely hooked to reading now. As I read more, I am learning about new things and that makes me want to write more. It has become a constant feedback loop and I am very grateful for this personal development journey that I have embarked on.
One creative thing led to another and a few months back, I found myself co-hosting a podcast with an ex-colleague. The podcast was a spontaneous (but well thought through) decision and it was quite an interesting experience. We loved doing it so much so that we are actually in process of recording Season 2.
One final observation I’ve had in general with regards to content creation is that whenever I see others writing, talking, sharing their ideas, I get inspired but when it comes to actioning or actually doing all of this by myself, it is never easy. Putting myself out there, being vulnerable in front of the entire world takes a lot of gut and courage. I sometimes feel like I don’t really know what I am doing. But, then I have this epiphany at the same time that nobody really knows what they are doing. If my intention is right, if my WHY is clear, I don’t need to worry about anything else.
If you’re also struggling to define your ‘why,’ try writing down three core values that drive you. Then, assess whether your content aligns with those values.
This process helped me clarify my own purpose in content creation.
Conclusion
In navigating the evolving landscape of social media and personal branding, it's crucial to stay true to one's values and purpose. By understanding our 'why,' we can contribute authentically and meaningfully to our communities.
While some argue that the rise of influencers / content creators dilutes professional platforms, others believe it democratizes knowledge sharing.
I hope this post resonates with at least a few content creators who are also navigating this space with careful considerations. If you are one of them, I’d love to connect with you!
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