Good morning, fellow founder! 👋

Welcome to another edition of FounderForge. Your Europe-focused startup digest - just because we do things a little differently here! 🇺🇸 👀

If you missed our last issue, you can still read it at the link below! 👇

Today's topics are all about LinkedIn:

• The Massive Scale of LinkedIn ⛰️

• How to Take Your LinkedIn Brand to the Next Level 📸

📊 Data Dive: The Scale of LinkedIn

EVERYONE in the startup world is on LinkedIn.

It is the only social media platform where workaholics like us feel at home.

LinkedIn is to founders what Instagram is to models (not sure what that means).

With the entire business world on LinkedIn, it has become a critical place for sales, marketing and personal branding. 🎙️ 

Recently, LinkedIn announced over 1B members (the chart below is slightly outdated) with a growing share of European users.

It has been 21 years since LinkedIn launched, and today it is one of the largest social networks in the world.

With more than a billion members, it was the 5th largest social network in 2023.

And it is the only social media platform that you can at least somehow justify using during work hours... 👷‍♂️ 

That's why a staggering 16.2% of users log on every day.

LinkedIn is a sales machine

According to LinkedIn (let's just trust them for now), B2B marketers see up to 2x higher conversion rates with their advertising solutions compared to other platforms.

That's because LinkedIn is a professional social network where people WANT to do business. 📰 

No wonder 96% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for organic social marketing.

For every 1.000 profile views, you generate about 30 leads - crazy! 🤑

With a 59% share, LinkedIn is simply by far the most powerful social network for lead generation.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool.

Not only for generating B2B leads, but also for finding the best talent, attracting the best investors, and so much more.

So let's stop talking and let's take your LinkedIn game to the next level. 👇️ 

🛠 Founder's Toolkit: The Founder LinkedIn Setup

Distribution > Product

Now more than ever, the challenge is not to build the product - but to cut through the noise. 🎶 

A great way to get as many eyeballs on you as possible is the Founder Brand.

And the best place to build that right now is LinkedIn.

Today, we're going to take you step-by-step through how to set yourself up for success.

It's really not rocket science. 🪨 

It's more about making time for it (what else are weekends for?).

Set the right foundation

When was the last time you connected with someone by sharing your LinkedIn?

We bet not too long ago (one of the few useful QR codes, right?). 📱 

Having a polished LinkedIn profile is like having a beautiful personal landing page.

A great opportunity to make a solid first impression and leave others wanting to know more. 🤔 

Plus, a clear profile helps LinkedIn to categorize you in a certain niche #AI.

So let's take a look at how to get there! 👇

✅ Set your LinkedIn profile to “public mode”
A public profile makes it easier for people to find you - on LinkedIn and beyond. Set it up here.

✅ Choose profile topics
Highlight your areas of focus. They appear as hashtags at the top of your profile. Creating content that matches them will increase your overall reach. Set it up here.

✅ Set a strong profile slogan
The profile tagline is your one-sentence pitch. You better make it a good one.

1. Mission statement + Role + Company. (Other Companies + Roles (if applicable)).

2. Role + Company. (Other Companies + Roles (if applicable)).

Example: Making ramen cheap again 🍜 | CEO & Co-Founder @ FounderDeserveFood2

✅ Get a proper profile picture
LinkedIn is not Instagram. Keep it at least semi-professional and good quality. If you don't have a good headshot, just use one of the AI headshot tools out there (Disclaimer: They all cost something. We checked…).

Bonus: Using a colored background will help you stand out in people's feeds.

✅ Don’t underestimate the banner
The banner is what separates you from the LinkedIn pros and noobs. Better use its power wisely. 🦸 

• Company logo

• Catchy company statement (headline + subheadline)

• Logos of media/partners/clients to add credibility

• Call to action (optional)

Canva offers some nice (and free!) templates here.

✅ Add a link to your profile
In your profile settings, you can set a link to your website and add a call to action button (if you have Premium, this link will appear below all your posts).

Be smart and use a trackable link. You can set it up here.

✅ Polish your About section
You will see all versions of About sections - from short statements to people sharing their entire life story. You don't have to write a novel, but it's worth including some key details:

• Clear mission statement/focus area

• Short backstory about how you got there

• Your motivation 

• What you offer/want to provide for the audience

• CTA 

✅ Use the Featured section spotlight
The Featured section is the first section after your profile information. It allows you to highlight important posts (such as your LinkedIn Top Voice announcement), links to your website or other things. You can set it up here.

Need some inspiration?

• Alexander Valtingojer (shameless self-promotion)

• Patrick Brüch

• Dina Calakovic

• Lubomila Jordanova

• Eva Egg 

• Christoph Meise 

• Carmen Jenny 

All set? Let’s jump into the content creation toolkit.  ✍️ 

Get the content out

Creating consistent content is key to growing your personal brand.

You don't have to post daily - but let's say once a week would be a good start.

Content ideas come and go. 🚶 

👉 The best way to produce consistent content is to have a system in place to capture the idea whenever you get it (Guess what? We use Notion for this).

Great content is all about - the magic word - authenticity.

To achieve this effect and position yourself as an expert in your industry, it's important to take different perspectives. 🎥 

For example, if you're the founder of a health tech startup, don't just post about how great your product is (is it really?).

To appear credible, you must showcase your unique insights, your expertise, and most importantly - your story. 📖 

Try to categorize your content into four areas: 

1. News & Trends → Comment on recent updates or news in your industry 📰 

2. Business → Highlight company updates & announcements 📣 

3. Personal → Share your motivation for your business and the problem you are solving 🏃 

4. Visionary → Provide insight into your idea, vision of your industry or career (e.g., stories of role models who are active in your industry). ⛅️ 

For the actual writing part, the key is to make it easy to read. 

If you're not a writer by heart, here's what to consider:

• Start with a compelling opening sentence/statement (= hook)

• Follow a clear storyline: Introduction, Peak, Takeaway, CTA (optional)

• Include paragraphs when it makes sense or after 2-3 sentences to ensure better readability.

• Only tag people if you know they will respond to the post within 1-2 hours (otherwise LinkedIn will punish you)

• Use emojis, lists, or bullets to make your post more readable.

• Place hashtags at the end of the text (3-5 max)

A couple of more hacks to increase your overall reach:

• Engage on your posts and respond to comments

• Try to engage regularly on other profiles

• Contribute to collaborative articles (a new feature LinkedIn recently released, read more here)

Use the right tools: Scripe.io

Let’s face it, getting into the flow of writing consistent content and following the right strategy is a pain in the ass.

This is exactly what today's partner Scripe wants to solve.

Scripe simply asks goal-oriented questions, which users can answer via voice memo. These recordings are then transformed into ready-to-publish posts.

Think of it as sending a voice memo to your best friend, but actually getting a quality post.

They are currently in their Beta phase, and you can join their next batch of Beta users as a FounderForge Subscriber (for free 🥳). 

To join, send an email to [email protected] with a quick note on why you would like to join the Beta group (Codeword: “FounderForge rocks”).

If you want to wait for the big launch (end of Q1), you can sign up for the waitlist here: https://scripe.io

🔗 Founder's Library: Curated Resources

A collection of random reads that the FounderForge team enjoyed.

• How and Why You Should Target a Clear ICP by A Smart Bear (overall really good content - recommended!)

• Why a High-Potential Fintech Failed and What You Can Learn From It by Josh Pigford (the founder of Maybe)

• Seven Things You Can Do to Prevent Your Startup From Failing by Lenny Ranchez

• Buy Another Business to Become Profitable by Martin Mignot

• The Mathematical Formula Behind Your Business by Lenny Rachitsky and Dan Hockenmaier

• A Comprehensive List of Tech Layoffs in 2023 & 2024 by Alyssa Stringer and Cody Corrall

😂 Meme of the Fortnight

There are vanity metrics... and then there is this. 🚽

🤔 Your Thoughts on Today's Edition

• 🔥 It was great!

• 😒 Meh - it was okay.

• 👎 Not interesting to me.

That's all for now!

If you find this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend!

Cheers,
The Founders Blacksmith 👋

Issue #10 | 25. January 2024