How to SLAY at personal branding on LinkedIn 💥 | Lara Acosta
Plus, 10 tips from the UK’s #1 female creator in personal branding — and the sacrifices behind her success
✨ This is a bonus post from my trip to the Business Show at ExCeL London on November 13, 2024.
Lara Acosta came on my radar a couple of months ago when I was researching ways to develop and grow the audience for Millennial Masters ahead of launch.
Turns out Lara is the #1 female creator in the UK for personal branding on LinkedIn, with over 200k followers on the platform, and over 300k including other social media.
So when I saw that she’d be speaking at the Business Show in London on November 13, I knew it would be a great opportunity to get some insights from someone who’s clearly mastered the LinkedIn game starting from scratch. And she did not disappoint!
I also had the chance to ask Lara one of my key Millennial Masters questions: “What’s the biggest sacrifice you had to make to be where you are today?”
The SLAY framework for engaging LinkedIn content
Lara simplifies content creation with her SLAY framework, which stands for:
S - Story: Begin with a personal story to make your content unique and relatable. Your story is your biggest asset in standing out.
L - Lesson: Share a lesson or insight derived from your story that adds value to your audience.
A - Actionable advice: Provide clear, practical steps or tips that your readers can implement.
Y - You: End with a question or call-to-action to engage your audience and foster community interaction.
Millennial Masters is brought to you by Jolt ⚡️ The UK’s top web hosting service
10 key tips for personal branding on LinkedIn
Lara also shared some more interesting tips to keep in mind if you want to improve your personal branding on LinkedIn (and elsewhere):
1️⃣ Consistency is key: Commit to posting 3-5 times a week. LinkedIn is in its golden era with high organic reach — take advantage of it.
2️⃣ Focus on engagement over tools: Instead of obsessing over analytics and automation tools, concentrate on creating content that people enjoy.
3️⃣ Build genuine connections: Expand your network by sending personalised connection requests and engaging with others’ posts. Real connections amplify your reach.
4️⃣ Leverage social proof: Display your achievements, features, and experiences prominently on your profile to build trust and credibility.
5️⃣ Give before you receive: Provide value to your audience without immediately seeking something in return. Focus on what they can gain from your content.
6️⃣ Adapt and iterate: Pay attention to what content performs well and be willing to adjust your strategy accordingly.
7️⃣ Optimise engagement early: The first hour after you post on LinkedIn is crucial. Lara pointed out that engaging with your connections during this window can significantly boost your content’s visibility due to LinkedIn’s algorithm.
8️⃣ Engage authentically: Beyond just posting content, engage with others by commenting on their posts and participating in discussions. This reciprocity encourages others to engage with your content as well.
9️⃣ Video content is rising: With LinkedIn favouring video content, consider incorporating videos to enhance engagement and reach.
🔟 Learn from competitors: Lara mentioned commenting on competitors’ posts to connect with their audience, turning potential competition into an opportunity for growth.
The sacrifices behind Lara’s success
If you’ve tuned in to the Millennial Masters podcast, you’ll notice that I have a question that often gives my interviewees pause… “What’s the biggest sacrifice you had to make to be where you are today?”
So after her short and engaging talk, she took some audience questions, as is customary — and I managed to get mine as the last one… perfect opportunity.
Lara candidly shared that her journey required significant personal sacrifices. While in university, she devoted herself entirely to building her personal brand, often isolating herself and missing out on typical social experiences. That’s because the path to success isn’t easy and involves hard work, dedication, and sometimes tough choices.
Here’s Lara Acosta’s full answer to my question:
“I made many sacrifices. I was at university when I was building my personal brand and I did this thing called monk mode. I locked myself in Exeter.
I don’t think any of my classmates ever knew who I was. I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t have any social life.
I didn’t even see my family much. I was in and out of lectures. I was in my room most of the time, so I neglected a very big part of my university experience to get to where I am today.
Do I regret it? Absolutely not. It was so well worth it, because now I have the time to spend with the people I care about.
But people think that content creation, building a personal brand and running a business is easy — it’s not.
I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I don’t really travel that much; the main reason I travel is for work.
I love thinking about work, I’m a workaholic, and I love being on LinkedIn and other platforms for eight hours a day.
So, it’s a sacrifice, but it’s so worth it because I get to meet people like you (😎). So thanks so much for following me; it means a lot.”
Lara has a busy diary this year, but I’m hoping to book her as a guest on Millennial Masters for a longer chat in 2025. In the meantime, you can follow her on LinkedIn and YouTube for insightful posts and tips.
👉🏻 Get the Millennial Masters Podcast on Spotify, Apple & YouTube
What I missed: James Watt of Brewdog’s keynote speech in the morning, as my train was over an hour late into London due to a car crashing into a bridge on the route. But I do have another bonus post next week.
