Take another look at LinkedIn: How to grow your small business on the platform
Welcome to The Growth Edit — your honest, practical dose of marketing clarity, sent fresh to your inbox every Monday.
This is your space to step out of the day-to-day ‘busy-ness’ and take a smarter, more strategic look at how your marketing is working (or not). Each week, I’ll share one actionable idea, framework or focus area to help you make better marketing decisions, cut the Googling, and grow a business that works for you - not the other way around.
Whether you're launching something new, fixing what’s not working, or just trying to show up consistently, this is here to give you one step forward, every single week.
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How to Use LinkedIn for your Personal Brand + Small Business
Good morning, and here’s your weekly episode of The Growth Edit. This time, we're looking at LinkedIn: how to use it with intention, how to audit it in under 30 minutes, and how to grow without spending all your time on the platform.
Whether you own a business, or you're still working in an employment role and looking to make the switch, LinkedIn is fast becoming the place to build your personal brand. And, it has serious potential to bring in aligned, high-value clients.
People like Amelia Sordell and Christine Gritmon are two of my personal branding faves, and both offer great free resources on how to get started, and to build your personal brand, your way.
👀 Quick Insight
According to HubSpot (2024), only 1% of users regularly post on LinkedIn — but they get 9x more profile views and 13x more inbound leads.
Translation?
Showing up once a week already puts you ahead of most.
Here are your actions for this week:
✅ Improve What You’ve Got
Here’s how to check if your LinkedIn is still fit for purpose, and whether it aligns with your strategy.
🧭 Mission
Does your headline clearly state what you do and who you help?
→ Try this formula in your profile headline:
Helping [who] achieve [result] through [your expertise]
or
Your standout skills [your expertise] plus what you actually do [what and for who]
If you're still working in a company, include that too but remember your profile is about YOU
Then check your About section too — is it full of jargon or does it sound like you? Does it clearly spell out how you meet your customer needs? who you are? what it's like to work with you?
👥 Market
This is a big one. Now look at your feed - are you actually connected to the right people?
→ Look at your recent connections and engagement.
Are they:
Potential clients?
Collaborators?
Random recruiters from 2018?
Think carefully about how to reach your ideal client here - these are the people you're trying to attract.
💬 Message
Are your posts saying what you really want to be known for?
→ Look at your last 3–5 posts.
Do they reflect your actual expertise — or are they surface-level, inconsistent, or just echoing others? What do they say about you, and is it aligned with your key messages (i.e does it tell a consistent story, and help you to be known for the ‘thing’ you want to be known for?'
Bonus: Check if your featured section still shows your best work (a lead magnet, client case study, or call link).
📣 Mix
Are you using LinkedIn intentionally — or reactively?
→ Be honest: are you lurking, liking, and ghosting — or contributing?
You don’t need to post daily.
But an intentional weekly post, a couple of relevant shares plus 5–10 meaningful comments, can do more than hours of cold outreach.
🔍 What Most People Miss
Most people show up on LinkedIn with no real plan.
But LinkedIn works best when it reflects your actual voice, your values, and your offer.
A 30-minute audit gives you:
A sharper profile
A better content plan
A sense of whether this platform fits your business goals
AND unlike a lot of other social media platforms, LinkedIn shows your popular content to your audience over time. So, if you've ever had people like an old post, that's why. They are still seeing your content, sometimes weeks after you created it. So it works harder for you than most platforms, and will contribute to your reach and growth over the longer-term.
🎯 Your Micro-Challenge This Week:
Set a 30-minute timer. Audit your LinkedIn using the 4Ms:
→ Mission: Is your headline clear and your About section human?
→ Market: Are you connected with the right people?
→ Message: Are your posts aligned with what you actually want to be known for?
Are you being intentional or just present?
That’s it for this week.
Another small step towards a more connected, more confident business presence.
And if you’re reading this with 37 open tabs and half a lukewarm coffee...
take a deep breath, close a few tabs. Make a new coffee.
See you next Monday. ✨