The 500+ Club

LinkedIn is one of the scariest - yet most addictive - platforms there is. When you are a young professional diving into the world of doing business and earning “real” money, you quickly learn that networking is a non-negotiable catalyst to success.

Deciphering the intricacies of LinkedIn is a challenging process. Yes, there is a Followers count, but there is also an all too important Connections count. What does this mean? Do people need to work twice as hard to build a strong network? Is one really less important than the other? What do recruiters look at first? Most wouldn’t know.

I recently turned 20 years old, and all of a sudden, the game seems to happen on LinkedIn. Maybe I am alone here - but my regular daytime passive scrolling has somehow shifted from Instagram Reels to LinkedIn Posts. Of course, they make for good reads, but the extent to which I feel drawn to them has come as a pleasant surprise.

There are times when it feels like a numbers’ race. Arguably, it is easier to build a connection on there rather than on any other content-driven platform. On LinkedIn people seem to be, by default, more outgoing, yet amusingly, much more fierce in terms of who they let into their closely guarded network.

Everyone has some level of value to offer. Ali Abdaal rightly says that any monetary endeavour has to come with a bucketful of meaningful and innovative value. Without value, there is no product, and by extension, no money.

That would be the simplest way to put it.

LinkedIn is the melting pot of meticulously curated professional value. Its algorithm is much simply than the other ones we’re most accustomed to.

These are my rules when I log in:

Rule #1

People are way too busy stalking the overinflated, conspicuously-worded career updates of their colleagues, friends, relatives and exes. A $100 loyalty pay bump so easily becomes a “display of trust by the corporate establishment” that anything and everything is worth a LinkedIn post these days. A dog at work, sure! A new bagel stand outside the office, why not? A new manager, definitely reposting this every day of the week! So people won’t second guess your use of a paraphrase on Paragraph 2 Line 4 of your post.

Rule # 2

The almighty 500+ connections tag is the new Blue Bubble in 2024. The focus that people - even more so young professionals - place on it is absolutely astounding. I am not judging your regular Big 4 junior subscribing to Linkedin’s $60/month premium while boasting a jittery 47 connections, but a meaningful network is much more important than a visible network out there. Think wisely.

Rule # 3

Again, we are far from the world of marriage proposals stemming from a like on a story, or from a friendship falling apart from a lack of responsiveness to bogus 2am reels of cats turned into Mariachis. Being active is the name of the game, and the absolute game changer. Seasoned LinkedIn members prelude their Keynotes with the fact that reposting on LinkedIn and making repostable posts can generate up to 400% more traffic onto your page during the first few weeks. That’s immense!

My advice to 19-year-olds who are about to leave high school and create a LinkedIn account out of boredom during the holidays: nurture your skills now, and get ahead of the pack soon.

There is so much more out there for you to grab. I am learning this now, and I want you to know it.

Steven Bartlett once posted (on LinkedIn):

The quickest way to the top, is to start now.

Happy Posting!