Produced By - Build Before You Quit: The Safer Way To Leave Your Nine to Five | 150: Snigdha Trivedi

Starting point is 00:00:00 Step one to not necessarily going viral, but step one to getting consistent engagement is to build almost a cult around you of people who believe in what you're saying, who trust your voice. And the only way that you can do that is by showing up with the same energy on their profile and advocating for them as well. So backing them. To go viral, I would say that the only thing that you should not do is blindly follow templates of what other people are saying lead to virality. For example, there's a lot of creators nowadays who, in the recent like change of algorithms, like everyone, I think, lost their mind trying to figure out what's working right now on LinkedIn and what isn't. And a lot of creators were talking about how, like, infographics are what are working right now.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Like, you should post infographics because they have a lot of 12 time. And I feel like a lot of people would fall prey to switching their strategies in order to go viral and appease to the algorithm. When in reality, your audience has followed you for a specific thing that you do. For example, someone's followed you for storytelling content. And tomorrow, you start posting infographics because that's what goes viral. Nobody's going to engage with that. Before we dive into today's episode, please hit that subscribe button. Your support helps us grow and inspire more people on their journeys.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Thank you. Hello, Snigda. Thank you for Jinn yesterday and welcome to the show. Hi, Thomas. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here. Me too. And Snigda, for those who don't know you, can you please introduce yourself?

Starting point is 00:01:24 Absolutely. So, hi guys, I'm Snigda. I'm a personal brand strategy. a ghostwriter and a one-to-one coach on LinkedIn. I'm also a creator across Instagram, and I built my brand across these platforms while working a 9-to-5 job. So I have a lot of clients that I work with

Starting point is 00:01:39 now that I've stepped into self-employment, and the work that I do stems from a lot of strategy and a lot of lived experience. So that's me. And what, before we discuss your content creation experience on LinkedIn, what's your story or your background if you can tell us more about yourself? Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:01:56 So I've been working in marketing for just about six years now. I started working while I was in uni because I understood very early on that having some work experience as you graduate is the only leverage that you can have to find a job quicker than other people and to potentially even find a job at all. So I started working. I can confirm. Yeah, it's a top world out there. So I started working very early on and in doing that I was able to graduate uni alongside a full-time marketing job that I was offered as soon as I graduated and then I moved to the UK. So I actually grew up in London and then moved back to India for a while with my family and then moved back here on my own two years ago. So I landed here, got a job in like two weeks and then started working that full-time job. Did it for a year and then

Starting point is 00:02:42 realized I had started to outgrow the role. But at the same time, I wasn't looking to make another move within the 9-to-5 ladder at the time because I thought that this is the time that I have to take a bet on myself and experiment with some of the skills I've developed in these last six years. So I've been working as a ghost writer before it even had a formal name as like a ghost. Like I feel like it sounds really cool now like saying, oh, I'm a ghost writer. But there was a time when it wasn't really termed as that. And it was just something that you did for founders and people that you worked with. So I've been a content writer, a ghost writer and just a marketing strategist for years. And I was like, I think I have a lot of disposable skills here that I can utilize within building

Starting point is 00:03:20 a personal brand for myself. And then eventually once I figure out how. these platforms work and what frameworks there are that I can apply to me. I can apply those same ones to help other people grow. And in that, I can create a self-employed system for myself, wherein I'm working with a handful of clients. And I just figured that that was something that I felt more inclined to do than move into another 9-to-5 role straight away. But then I also didn't want to take a huge leap, like I'm going to quit my job and then figure it out. So I thought, why not let me start building on LinkedIn while I still have this 9-to-5? So I spent six months of 2025, which was from July to December, building my own personal brand. Within that time, I got to

Starting point is 00:04:00 ranking top 2% globally. My brand started attracting inbound clients and opportunities. And then I took a really confident and calculated move in Jan by quitting my job because of the opportunities, quitting my job in Jan because of the opportunities that my personal brand had brought to me in those six months. So that's a bit about me. And aside from that, I also do some content creation on Instagram, which is not, I'm not doing it as avidly right now because my client work takes up most of my time, but I am kind of present across platforms. So yes, that's me. I think like your strategy or what you said that you did your full-time job and started building your brand alongside and then had like some kind of security to go fully to focus on LinkedIn. It's such a smart

Starting point is 00:04:46 approach and like because you know sometimes i feel like it's i don't want to say flexing but like a bolt move to suddenly quit everything i quit your 9 to 5 and go fully on lincoln but the reality is that it's not going to be like okay i quit i go to lincoln and suddenly i'm going to get millions of clients yes it can maybe happen to someone but let's be honest it's not really the reality so i feel like your example it's just such a smart approach and something that i would definitely recommend to people as well because you need to be realistic, right? Thank you so much. I completely agree with that.

Starting point is 00:05:19 And I think that I had the same thought process at the time. It was, A, the fact that I didn't think it was rational to not have some kind of experience on the platform and just quit something impulsively and then build from scratch. And B, it was the fact that I live alone in London and I don't have my family here. So I also needed to look out for myself financially and just have that backing in which I could confidently take the next move

Starting point is 00:05:39 because platforms change all the time and requirements change. But once you're moving from a place of course, confidence that your own personal brand is kind of brought to you and you have a complete understanding of things, then you can move forward, like, knowing that like, okay, I can actually see this through rather than kind of take a leap which you're not sure how it's going to land. So, yeah. I agree. And another great point that I wanted to mention is when we discussed university, that you

Starting point is 00:06:04 said that you already had a work while studying full time, which is impressive because it's not easy to study and it's quite demanding, especially by the endofier studies. but also what you said, it's important to start looking for work or having experience before you graduate because I remember from my experience as well, that sometimes there's like an overly optimistic mindset that once you graduate, suddenly again,

Starting point is 00:06:28 you're going to get millions of opportunities, but oh my God, it's definitely not like that. It's very challenging. It's really hard. And what you said, like for people, like for any listeners who are students or at university or something, really don't underestimate it. Do it like sneak it does that because it's really tough once you graduate

Starting point is 00:06:47 and it's great if you have some kind of plan before you graduate because the world is not waiting for you when it happens. Precisely, precisely. And I would also go as far as to say that like what you try to work at in university doesn't necessarily need to relate to your field. Like for example, I was a major in finance but I started working in marketing because I just had an interest and a passion for marketing. So I wasn't studying, like, I wasn't studying marketing, but I wanted to work in it because I thought that that would also give me a perspective into two different fields. And the way that that benefited me was one of the part-time jobs that I landed was, like, as a finance writer. So it combined two of my skill sets. So never underestimate the importance of, like,

Starting point is 00:07:29 just working across fields when you're younger because you don't even know what you're passionate about yet and you're not going to know unless you explore. So don't even limit yourself to one field, because that can really help in your job search as well. I agree. And I think what's also important is just to pursue what you enjoy because you may, I heard it like even with stories of other people that they studied something, but for some reason you discover that you don't enjoy it. So it's completely okay to switch because it was the worse than spending years

Starting point is 00:07:59 than doing something that you actually don't like, right? Completely agree. That's the recipe for burnout. And actually, when did you get the idea? to start building your personal brand in the first place? So I think as a concept, personal branding has been like a huge buzzword in this last year, year and a half across like LinkedIn. But what people have been doing for a long time through content creation on other

Starting point is 00:08:24 platforms such as Instagram, like I've had a brand on Instagram that's been at 30,000 followers for a while now. And that may not have necessarily been termed as a personal brand a couple of years ago, but it was still me developing a niche presence for myself. that attracted opportunities on that platform. But as a concept, I was just like, okay, I'm going to explore personal branding. It would potentially have been last year around that time in July when I was starting to feel burnt out at my 9 to 5, but didn't want to move into another 9 to 5. And everyone was talking so much about, oh, like, personal branding this and personal branding that.

Starting point is 00:08:55 And I was like, okay, let's see what this hype is about. And that's when I started to kind of go deeper into LinkedIn as a platform, because that was not something I had ever built on before. Because I think that this is so commonly spoken of, but everyone has this. a fearful perception of LinkedIn as being this job hunting professional rigid platform. And God, was it a culture shock to me as well when I started building on here. And I saw so many people openly and confidently just speaking as themselves and sharing learnings from their day to day. And I was like, oh, this is not at all the way that I thought that it was. And in doing that, I realized that I have a lot to learn on this platform. So me building my personal brand in a way

Starting point is 00:09:31 was me proving to myself that I can, A, learn how this platform works. B, build my own brand, and then C, kind of use that as testament to show other people that this is what I did for myself in six months. I can apply the same principles and help you grow as well, which is exactly what my clients saw and exactly what I helped them do now. So, yeah. I had exactly the same impression or experience when I joined the platform. It's corporate CV like where you go to update your profile once in a while when you get promoted or something. And I was very positively surprised and especially to see the development in recent years, like how it's progress. person. And then, so then when you joined, like, did you have some kind of strategy, maybe how to

Starting point is 00:10:14 start posting, I don't know, frequency of posts? Did you follow someone or what were like the first steps? So when I initially joined, because I wasn't even familiar with the platform, I didn't have a set strategy in mind, but I'm the kind of person that I need to have some amount of posts ready before I start to commit to posting on a platform. So what I did at the time was I utilized my creativity and my just passion that I had for marketing and I started to break down certain marketing campaigns and I made a series off the back of that. So in creating that series, it was like, I wouldn't have to think every single day about like a new topic or something necessarily because I was basically doing like marketing that actually works and then it was like seven days worth

Starting point is 00:10:53 of campaigns that I really liked and I broke down why I thought they worked and how they had an impact. And that kind of took the, and I built that series out before I started posting. So my first post was like announcement of like, hey, I'm going to be yapping all over your feeds now. And then for seven days consecutively after that, I posted these series. So I did series for two weeks. And that was just because I thought that that would be a safe entry point for me to start posting on the platform, seeing is I'm not sure of what to talk about yet, but this is something I know I can talk about because it stems from something I actually feel passionate about. So that was my only strategy at the time. And within those two weeks, obviously, naturally, I'm quite observant. So I was just like looking at other

Starting point is 00:11:31 creators and what they're posting. And I didn't necessarily try to copy anyone's strategy, but I just understood how I could find my voice through my own posts, just as according to how the platform's working. Like, what are people talking about? What are these topics? What is my take on and then I started doing that. And something that I think I did very early on that I didn't realize I was building at the time was I used to comment really, really passionately on people's posts. Like if I like something and if I appreciate someone's thought process, it wouldn't just be like, nice post. It would be like, I completely agree with this. I think X, Y, Z point make complete sense. Here's what I would add on. And then like just kind of a really well-structured comment. And in doing that,

Starting point is 00:12:12 what I didn't know I was doing at the time was I ended up building a community of people who very strongly reciprocated that energy onto my posts as well. So I think when you show up with a certain level of energy and passion and you don't look at content creation like a draining task and you actually look at something, look at it as something you're excited to do, then you naturally find your own voice and then you build your strategy off the back of that. I think nobody comes into it with strategy, but you just have to discover, find out and then build a strategy from there. I really like it and what you said. And the last point about commenting, I think it's some people still overlook it how important it is and what impact they can actually make. Because for example,

Starting point is 00:12:53 like other creators, whether it's you, me or someone else, we comment on other posts as well and people comment on our post. And actually, when there is someone who comments, as you said, in a way that, I don't know, it's personal to you, it gives some kind of value or it doesn't need to give value, but it's still you. It's authentic and it's different than those other posts. It really makes it stand out and makes you remember it. So I think like commenting, I feel like you can say that all the time, but many people still will be using AI comments, which to me. It's really a shame. It's like quantity over quality, but now people hear it. I can confirm it that commenting, I think, it's just such a big competitive advantage if you're not lazy and

Starting point is 00:13:34 keep it quality over quantity. Completely agreed. And AI comments, I'm really hoping that LinkedIn comes out, rolls out some sort of feature where people are just not able to comment something that's clearly just copy-pasted from chat GPT. But commenting really is such a leverage in itself because I've had comments of mine hit over 60,000, 70,000 impressions, which is a lot more than like a lot of posts get as well. So it's not just the fact that it builds you community, it's the fact that it also gets the right eyes on your profile as well. So it drives visibility back to what you do and in that you get discovered too. So there's a dual benefit to being a good commenter and engaging on these platforms. I agree. And I think it's also the space where actually you build those relationships

Starting point is 00:14:17 because if you comment and engage with someone regularly, you get to know them, you kind of have fun with them, and it feels like that you actually know each other, which is such a big benefit as well. And to add on to that point, I would also say that take it a step further than comments, once you've been engaging with someone for a while, message them and ask them to hop on a coffee chat,

Starting point is 00:14:35 because when you're doing something like, when you're self-employed or when you're working as a strategist, often you don't have people working around you in the way you would have in a 95 setting. So the only way you make friends and build a network of people who you can bounce ideas off of or get their opinion on, is kind of by inviting them to talk to you and then you understand them better as a person,

Starting point is 00:14:54 you're there for them, they're there for you, and then you build that mutual benefit to one another. I think so too. And it's also like can be someone, for example, from same industry, same area of expertise, so just focused on LinkedIn and building your network, exchanging, I don't know, know how, ideas and everything.

Starting point is 00:15:12 So it's the power of the platform, I think. Definitely, completely agreed. And also when you started, considering your experience before from ghostwriting, marketing and everything, did you feel like that it gave you like advantage to start or that it was a bit easier for you? Definitely. I would be lying if I said that it didn't make it easier because I've been working in content and organic social media and just ghostwriting for years now. So all of that experience, I think I wouldn't say that it necessarily gave me a strategy, but what it did give me was confidence because I came into it knowing that like, okay, I may not know what to do right now, but I know that I can figure it out because I've done this before on different client accounts and I've done this before

Starting point is 00:15:54 on different platforms. So it was more of a mindset of how hard can it be? And when you come into it with that sort of just adamant, like I'm going to figure this out, then you eventually do. And I think another thing that it was more of a mindset switch, but I gave myself like an ultimatum of I am not going to look at any metrics for 90 days and I'm going to relentlessly show up every single day. And I think setting that time frame for yourself, it's like if you show up every single day for 90 days, you cannot not figure things out. Like you eventually just will figure what's working, what's not working, what you like to do, what gets virality, what gets the right eyes, what formats work, because most people don't stick it out for long enough to even see what's working.

Starting point is 00:16:35 But in doing that, you really have to have a rigid mindset of like some days, like in the first two months of me posting my post got six likes, five likes, eight likes. And that can really defer you from wanting to show up again the next day. But if you just create like more of just like you drive a hard bargain with yourself that I am going to show up no matter what, you end up breaking through because algorithms change and platforms change. As long as you're just stubborn about wanting to show up and you're confident that it will work, eventually you do figure things out. And those are the things that you can then confidently apply to someone else as well. And that's how you build evergreen strategies that work for your accounts and client accounts. So yeah. It is very true. And I can confirm from my own

Starting point is 00:17:13 experience that when I started, it was like a long journey of trial and error. And of course, in the beginning, you have no likes and nothing because it takes time to actually, I don't know, find your voice, build your network, establish yourself a bit. So it's completely natural. So it can be reminded people all the time. It's a long journey, but I feel like that still people will be looking for shortcuts and overnight success. But as you can hear, that's not how it works. Absolutely not. It took me three months to start seeing the kind of numbers I actually wanted to. was by the end of that 90 days that like I was like, okay, this experiment of sorts has worked. I can see that there's benefit in carrying on. But if the timeframe was any shorter, I might have

Starting point is 00:17:54 just not wanted to keep showing up or like I might have given, I don't think I would have given up, but it just wouldn't have been as motivating. Because once you just blindly commit to a number that's long enough for you to see results, but not long enough that you feel exhausted by the idea of it, like, don't tell yourself that like, okay, I'm going to do this for six months because that feels crazy, but like 90 days, I feel like is a sweet spot between like, you can realistically feel like, okay, I can do this and it doesn't feel draining just at the thought of wanting to do it. So, yeah. I agree. It's like find a spot that it's challenging enough, but at the same time, it's possible. So it's like, okay, it pushes me to keep going, but I'm still motivated that I can do

Starting point is 00:18:31 it. So like, perfectly. How did you then start looking for your first clients, or how did you actually find her first clients? So that's a bit of a story. I actually, so when I was in my 9 to 5, I was not able to openly promote these services that I wanted to offer, because at the time, that would have been a conflict of interest. So when I started building my personal brand, I didn't actually promote the fact that I'm a personal branding strategist. I'm a ghostwriter. I'm going to be working on one-to-one coaching with specific people. I, at the time, just genuinely spoke about things that interested me, campaigns that were going crazy. Like, there was a lot of, there were a lot of campaigns that were like rage-baiting the audience.

Starting point is 00:19:10 and I talked about how like the psychology behind this and what's working, what isn't. So at the time, I wasn't actually actively promoting my services. What I was trying to do was just build credibility on this platform as someone who has a deeper thought process and does understand the world of like audience psychology and marketing so that I knew that if not right now in three months when I do start to promote these services, it won't be like random and out of the blue. It'll come from a place of like these people have already seen me speaking about somewhat relevant topics for a while now and then it will come from a place of trust so I didn't actually start

Starting point is 00:19:44 to openly talk about personal branding up until like November December but then I started to kind of indirectly include elements of it within my profile and then I built up my positioning a bit in that way as well and then in Jan after six months of kind of showing up I landed my first client and then landed my second client in the same week and then I quit my nine to five so I never actually like tried to message anybody or actively promote anything. I just structured myself in a way wherein for the first few months I spoke about things that I genuinely felt passionate about. And then after that, I slowly started to incorporate that these are also skill sets that I possess. And then I had already, I think, built some level of credibility that when someone landed on my profile, they knew that I would

Starting point is 00:20:26 be able to offer this service. Also coming from the fact that I had built this ranking for myself, too, that like I've done this in six months and this percentage worldwide and all of that, I think, kind of adds into that perception of you. So yeah. Some kind of credibility and proof behind it. Definitely, definitely. Yeah. I think there's the right approach without annoying pitches that you keep receiving all the time.

Starting point is 00:20:50 But let the profile work, content work and some kind of strategy behind it. Precisely, yeah, because I think I was in a bit of a pickle at the time where I wanted to openly talk about I can do this, this and this. But I was also working my job at the time. So I really had to find a balance between building credit. ability while not damaging another situation that I was in. So it's just about finding that balance. And out of curiosity, back in you back then when you worked in 9 to 5, I understand that obviously you couldn't talk about it because of conflict on interest, etc. But did you have like any colleagues

Starting point is 00:21:25 that were building personal brands as well or not? Because for my experience, it's like that before it wasn't as popular. So if I thought someone okay, I'm building a personal brand, they'd be like, what is it? Why are you doing that? But what was it like for you if there was like anyone else or it wasn't a big thing? Actually, I didn't have any colleagues who were also doing it, but I think the one thing that I got really lucky was with the fact that my manager was really supportive. So she saw me doing a lot of stuff on LinkedIn and she kind of encouraged it in a way where she was like, if this is something you feel passionately about, then you should kind of help build that presence of yours. That's really nice. Yeah, being in a company that encouraged it and didn't really, because I've read a lot of stories of how people, working a 9 to 5 building their brand got told that, oh, you can't post about this and you can't

Starting point is 00:22:10 talk about that. And it was almost discouraged a certain degree. But my manager was really supportive. And even while I was leaving, she kind of like, she was like, I saw this coming four months ago with like things that you were doing. But yeah, she was just very supportive. And the company in general did not have an issue with it. There weren't that many people that were utilizing like employee brands or building personal brands. But I think even if there were, it wouldn't have been a problem within that particular company. I'm very grateful to have been in that environment that allowed me to balance these things out because my days would look like I would wake up at 6am to publish and write content and edit videos for my Instagram, then log on at 9, then use lunch breaks to like manage engagement and

Starting point is 00:22:50 then log off at 5 and then go back to it again and it's a rate and build. So it used to be very packed days, but I think as long as my brand was not impacting my work, then it wasn't a problem. And I made sure that it wasn't. So I think it balanced out well. I'm of course happy to hear about the manager and now what you said is also great to hear that it's not easy but even on top of 9 to 5 or of course other responsibilities because there is so much ongoing in life but if you commit as you said wake up early do the stuff before work and

Starting point is 00:23:20 then after work it's doable even if it's a bit every day but if you do it consistently imagine how it builds up over time and example that it can be done so for people who have excuses that they don't have time. Definitely, definitely. I think that saying that you don't have time is almost the most selfish thing you can do for yourself. Because if you're not building a brand, well, the thing is a lot of people look at personal branding is something that they'll come to when they need it.

Starting point is 00:23:48 So it's like, oh, I'll build a personal brand when I want to become a freelancer or I'll build a personal brand when I'm job hunting. But that's not the time. Because when you come into it with a sense of urgency, then your content reflects that sense of like, I don't want to say the word desperation because it doesn't sound nice, but it almost like energy reflects that you're not coming from a place of relaxation and you don't have the bandwidth to experiment as much. You're just trying to implement every piece of viral advice and like, oh, let me do this, let me do that. And you're blindly following things because you're not

Starting point is 00:24:16 building from a place of strength. You're kind of building out of urgency. So when you keep building simultaneously to having stability, that's when you need it, it's already there. You're not starting from scratch. So that's the one misconception. I think a lot of people generally have about LinkedIn as well, because in the last six months of building my brand, I posted about this, but I had over like 30 recruiters reach out to me, which if I was wanting to step into another 9 to 5 role, that would have been incredibly helpful because I wasn't even, like, I wasn't job hunting at the time. I wasn't looking to apply and these were roles that I did not even know existed, but because of that personal brand, it attracted these people. So if I were to

Starting point is 00:24:53 step out of my old job and if I wanted to start job hunting, then my profile would have already been a good magnets who attract these recruiters. But if I had started building that after quitting my 9 to 5, I wouldn't have had that positioning or that credibility. So it always needs to be something that you do parallelly. I think really well explained. And also, I think if you decide that, okay, I'm going to build my brand because I need it. If I decide to do it like today and I need it for tomorrow, it doesn't happen overnight. It's what we discussed before. It actually takes time. So take some consistency and long term as well, but you said some great points as well. Thank you. Yeah. And I think before, when we discussed how you landed your first clients, I think it was like a perfect or great example or response to my next question, which I was about to ask you, if you've got any advice for people to find their first clients, which I assume we kind of answered, like to polish your profile, do proper content, so it reflects that.

Starting point is 00:25:47 But besides that, anything else, any other advice or recommendations? I would say that for people who are initially trying to land someone, three points that I would go with is A, make sure your positioning is bulletproof in the case of like as soon as someone who is potentially your ICP lands on your profile, they can tell almost immediately that, okay, this is what this person does, this is exactly what they can help me with. And then B, make sure you're reiterating that in your content almost every single day because as annoying as we could think it is to say the same thing again and again, that repeated identity is what builds association. So I was having a conversation with a friend about this the other day and she was like, I feel like now when someone thinks of you,

Starting point is 00:26:27 they think of personal branding. And I was like, that's a really nice compliment because that's exactly the narrative I've been trying to build. But another thing I would say is to, this comes back to the point of engagement, but engage very meaningfully with people who are related to your niche or could potentially even be your ICP. So if you're someone who's trying to work with, I don't know, a particular kind of coach, then try to engage with people who are similar to their niche and then engage with other strategists because often your competitors are, I don't want to say the word, basically your ICP could even be lurking in the comment sections of other people who are doing the same thing as you. So when you're building with the right visibility, you have a

Starting point is 00:27:04 bulletproof profile in the case that someone can immediately tell what you do. Your content reiterates that. I think it's almost impossible for you to not land clients because you have all three angles figured out. So that's the advice that I would have. Yep, I think it makes sense and I can only agree. Quick one, before we get back to it. If you like to like, if you like, Like this kind of conversation, I've started sharing short videos on YouTube, where I break down what I've learned from more than 150 episodes. Content, podcasting, personal brand. No fluff?

Starting point is 00:27:41 Just what actually works. Just search Produced Buy on YouTube or don't. And keep figuring out the hard way. I'm sure that you get a lot of DMs or people ask you. Snigda, any advice how to grow, how to go viral and this and that? I don't like the question how to go viral, but I'm sure that you received this type of question. So when someone asks you, what's your advice or response to this, like how to grow people and to go viral? But I don't say that, but how to grow.

Starting point is 00:28:12 Oh, gosh. I cannot tell you how many times I've answered this question in the last eight months on LinkedIn. I wouldn't ask him, but I can say that all the time, I don't know, ask everyone, share it on LinkedIn, but still, people ask you all the time, so I have to ask it even if I don't know what. No, I get it. I get it. So many people have, I think I used to get a lot of questions initially about how I kept my engagement so high because I used to consistently like get a lot of likes on my post and consistent number of comments. And people were really intrigued as to how that was happening.

Starting point is 00:28:45 And I think it came down to the point of that energy that I used to shop up with on other people's profiles. And I didn't realize it, but I was building a community. So it's like a lot of people don't understand that in order for your post to get engagement and for you to go viral, I don't like the word anymore because I'm not, at this point now, my positioning is so niche and there are so specific topics that I focus on, that my aim is not to go viral anymore. Like, I've had posts hit over a thousand likes. I've had posts hit like 600, 800, 800 likes, but that generic content at the time did not land me clients. But the content that I'm doing now is landing me clients, and that's not necessarily optimized to go viral. So I think it really depends on what your aim

Starting point is 00:29:24 on the platform is that whether you're building for visibility and whether you don't really have specific topics, because there are certain things that tend to attract more eyeballs. But if you have a community and people that back you and really trust your content, then you will get some consistent amount of engagement. And then that social proof tends to lead to more people than engaging with your content. For example, like if someone has a really valid point and then their community backs them and then their post has like 150 likes, it's more likely that someone's going to come and engage with that even more and push it out further, rather than someone who has a really strong point, but they don't necessarily have community and that backing,

Starting point is 00:30:00 and their post does not have that engagement. So when someone else lands on it, they're like, no one else has really seen too much value in this. Like, why should I, because human behavior is such that no one wants to be the first person to clap. So when you already have 100 people clapping for you, it becomes easier to get another 250 people onto that list because that social proof builds so fast. So I would say that step one to not necessarily going viral, but step one to getting consistent engagement is to build almost a cult around you of people who believe in what you're saying, who trust your voice. And the only way that you can do that is by showing up with the same energy on their profile and advocating, advocating for them as well, so backing them. To go viral, I would say

Starting point is 00:30:40 that the only thing that you should not do is blindly follow templates of what other people are saying, lead to virality. For example, like, there's a lot of creators nowadays who, in the recent, like, change of the algorithm, like, everyone, I think, lost their mind trying to figure out what's working right now when LinkedIn and what isn't. And a lot of creators were talking about how, like, infographics of what are working right now. Like, you should post infographics because they have a lot of 12 time. And I feel like a lot of people would fall prey to switching their strategies in order to go viral and appease to the algorithm. When in reality, your audience has followed you for a specific thing that you do. And like, say, for example, someone's followed you

Starting point is 00:31:20 for storytelling content. And today, tomorrow, you start posting infographics because that's what goes viral. Nobody's going to engage with that. And it's not going to go viral because that's not what your account was positioned or known for. So the only trick to, if you're trying to go viral, is to, A, stick around long enough to figure out what works for your account, build a narrative within your own community of what you're known for. And test with, like, so many different forms. And to be a formats on LinkedIn that you know which format is likely to help your message travel the furthest. For example, something that I don't see a lot of creators talk about, but I've noticed on my own platform is that I have tested with like single image posts, with like multi-image posts,

Starting point is 00:32:00 with carousels, with text posts. I even experimented with video last year on LinkedIn. And I've noticed that it's not just the fact that some formats get better reach than others. It's also the fact that some formats travel to different demographics than others. For example, like I've noticed that my carousels get pushed out to much more of like a UK and US audience while my text posts get pushed out to different regions. So it's almost like in my head now I know that, okay, I can utilize a different format even to reach a different demographic, which is something that I wouldn't have known unless I had relentlessly experimented for like six months. So there's not really a trick to going viral.

Starting point is 00:32:36 It's literally just experimenting, refining and showing up so adamantly that you cannot help but discover what works for you and then you can double down on that. So yeah. Mist their result. And I people have answers. Now, those were great points. I was just about to add that building a community, what you said in the beginning is so important and something that I would recommend people to do as soon as possible as well.

Starting point is 00:33:01 Just don't expect that suddenly you appear and community somehow happens. You need to invest some time as well, like to comment on other people's posts and actually build that community. And the next one, I think you said perfectly again, the best way is to test your content, experiment and see by yourself what works or not. There may be one person for whom it works, the other person, something different works,

Starting point is 00:33:24 but it doesn't mean that it's going to work or not work for you. You have to try, test, analyze it, and that's the best way that are no secrets. So I hope people find it helpful and we'll listen to us. Precisely, I think the only secret is to try to outlast everyone around you, because in doing that, like, I feel like recently with this huge argument, rhythm shift and impressions dropping platform-wide, I saw a lot of familiar names that used to post a lot, just drop off and stop posting. And I think that's what happens that when you see a change and then you see some numbers modify, you almost sometimes people feel demotivated to,

Starting point is 00:33:59 and then they stop showing up. But then it's in times like those that you really need to push through and still try to figure what's working. And then like, because if you're still in the game, you can still go viral tomorrow, day after, like three weeks later. But if you just stop entirely, then you've lost your leverage. Like, you've just kind of given up. So it's really about just outlasting everyone and just literally, I cannot emphasize on this enough, but just relentlessly showing up,

Starting point is 00:34:24 because that's what keeps you in the game. I agree. And of course, when we are honest, it's not easy to always keep showing up. But I try to remind myself and something that I try to live by as well, is to find something that you enjoy, such as make it for some reason fun. Of course, not going to be fun every day.

Starting point is 00:34:41 But, for example, can be posting content, that you enjoy, talking to people that you like or just engagement, but find something that makes you enjoy it more, a bit excited, and trust me that it makes it easier to keep showing up even in these tough times. Completely agreed. And I'd say a point that I would add on to that is that find the parts of it that you enjoy and also don't at all rely on motivation. Instead, build systems for yourself that help you show up even when you don't necessarily feel like showing up. So what I do is that like I have ideas almost like I have like five to six ideas a day about okay I could post about this I could post about that but I don't necessarily have the time to turn them into full blown posts like as soon as I have the idea because I could potentially be working on something else. So I'll send myself like a voice note or I'll type out like a half baked idea like somewhere in my notes or like in my Google keep. And then what I do is on the weekend I'll spend like two hours elaborating on all of my ideas. And in doing that, say if I've had like 15 ideas over the week,

Starting point is 00:35:40 10 of them could end up being absolutely garbage, but five of them are really good posts. So it's about just kind of figuring out what system works for you of like, okay, I have ideas all the time. Let me figure out how I could rely on that like content bank that I'm building for myself mentally and then block off like a specific time so that like for me, I like to batch create all my content on the weekends. So that on the weekdays, I'm not really thinking about it. Sometimes I have new ideas on the weekdays and and I change what I'm posting according to that. But once you build that system, you kind of owe yourself the accountability of like, okay, I've already done this on the weekend.

Starting point is 00:36:15 Now, literally all I have to do is hit post. And then it becomes easier. So it's really about just building those systems that force you to show up because you're not depending on like, oh, I feel like posting today. Because when you show up, when you don't feel like it and just show up relentlessly, that's what moves the needle. Yeah, I agree. Systems and processes that make all the difference.

Starting point is 00:36:35 And another thing that I was going to mention is that I think one of the, the important things or like competitive advantage when showing up on LinkedIn or building your brand is something that's like recognizable to you that makes you stand out especially now because there is a lot of competition and more and more appearing and i think because we've been engaged for some time that when i see your content like for example how you write i feel like that i can recognize that it's your writing or your type of content because of course everyone is different everyone does that differently but what i like is that yours is like unique to you Maybe, I don't know, maybe I wouldn't recognize it at some point, but I feel like that I would.

Starting point is 00:37:12 So that's something I want to highlight is that people, again, look for some kind of secrets, how to stand out this and that. But my point is that really find something unique to you, like your USP that makes you different, because there can be people who are more experience, show up more frequently, and I don't know what else. But if it's specifically unique and competitive advantage, I think that's like one of the best pieces of advice. I would tell people and it comes to my mind because I can see it in your content that you do it really well. I really appreciate you for saying that. Thank you so much. And I completely agree because again, me and my LinkedIn friend were talking about this the other day and she talked about how some people just have a presence that's like memorable. So like a lot of people just look up to the way that they write and look up to the way that they show up. And once you have that energy about you, then that reflects in your post and you have that unique identity that like as soon as your post lands on someone's feed, even if it's like a text post and there's no picture of you, someone can still tell that it's you. So I think that building that identity is really important because, in a sea of AI generated content everywhere, you need to have certain nuances in your writing that make it very unique to who you are. And that only comes with like actually writing your

Starting point is 00:38:27 posts and actually spending time iterating. I'm not opposed to someone using AI to help like IDA or something, but I'm just really tired of scrolling on my LinkedIn and consistently seeing the same format of it's not this, it's this. And like just tells that something is just copy pasted entirely from chat GPT. So yeah, I think you really, having that unique tell only comes from actually spending time on your content and not just

Starting point is 00:38:52 pasting stuff from a specific AI chat pot. And it's the same like as with the comments what we discussed before when you see people engaging in on your content, which of course it's appreciated that someone engages, but it's like a comment that just summarizes what you just said.

Starting point is 00:39:11 Like, okay, but I don't know what to tell to this? Should I say agree? Should I say thumbs up or what do you want me to say? So even if, I don't know, people don't have to overthink it, just say your point of view, something funny, whatever, but sometimes, especially if it's like a long post, it's like such a long paragraph that just says, I don't know, long summary of the post, I'm like, I don't know what to say to this. Or what do you think? Literally, no. And I just sit there looking so confused when I'm looking at those comments because I was like, why would you spend the time to put my post into chat, GPT, and then copy paste a comment onto here when you could have just spent that time saying something,

Starting point is 00:39:51 any one line that stood out to you or any one line that was unique. Like, I feel like that's less effort, but... Yeah, yeah. And sometimes it's also funny when it's written in such a language that I cannot imagine anyone talking like that in the real life, you know, like sometimes even like corporate, formal, and specialized. Oh, wow, it sounds like some kind of professor or something like. that so sometimes it's even funny. Agreed. Agreed. Gosh. And Snickena, just to be aware of time,

Starting point is 00:40:20 I like to ask kind of lighter questions by the end of the recording. So what are some of your hobbies or what do you like to do in your free time? Oh, so in my free time, like I mentioned, so I do some content creation across platforms. So I have an Instagram presence wherein I do a number of brand deals and I work on some like dance and modeling content. as well. So in my free time, I would say I like to go on PR visits and create content. Like, I really, I'm experimenting with different kinds of short form content on Instagram because I'm trying to build an extension of my LinkedIn presence on Instagram, like, and kind of build that personal branding business on there too, because my current account has a different niche,

Starting point is 00:41:02 but I'm trying to build a newer one. So I'd say I like to experiment and build out more short form content and dance content and kind of brand visits and stuff. So, that's what I like to do for fun. Aside from that, I live in central London, so there's always something to be doing around it. So it's more of just exploring. I've recently realized I actually really like to cook as well, which is crazy because a year ago, you would have never heard me say that. But that's a recent found passion as well. So yeah, those are the things I like. And out of curiosity, as you are on these two platforms, are you even thinking about exploring other platforms for the future, or is it enough two platforms or what are your plots?

Starting point is 00:41:42 I think that I don't want to stretch myself out too thin, but I've taken a recent interest in X as well, and Twitter, X, whatever, everyone's calling it nowadays, but kind of seeing if I can build some sort of presence on there too, but it's not an immediate goal of mine, probably later this year. But I think that there's no harm in, there's definitely no harm in having, like, a multifold presence across platforms.

Starting point is 00:42:03 The only thing is when you have way too much to do and not enough time to do it, that's when you overwhelm yourself and burnout. So I am trying to experiment across, different platforms, but I'm just trying to time it in a way wherein I'm not having too much on my plate at once. Yeah, of course. Makes sense. Better to do a few properly than to overstretch and not be active on many. Precisely.

Starting point is 00:42:24 Then do you read books? And if so, have you got any recommendations? Ooh, I used to be an avid reader as a child. I think that my writing today, I credit all of it to the fact that I used to read a lot as a kid. I'm recently getting back into reading, so I wouldn't be the book. best person to ask for recommendations as of right now, but I'm currently reading two books. One is the power of positive thinking. I'm not sure who the author is. And another one is literally the book, which is on Ikegaia because I love the concept. I'm trying to frame my life around

Starting point is 00:42:58 it. So just it, and I understand exactly what it is, but it just felt good to read the book as like a deeper explanation of it as well. So those are two books I'm reading right now. But in an attempt to restore my attention span, I went back to reading. And I'm so glad that I did. because I have always been very passionate about it. But maybe if I'm to hop on this podcast again sometime, I would have really good recommendations for everyone. Of course. And I, because I used to read more before as well,

Starting point is 00:43:24 but then I somehow, I don't know, if I got lazy or something, but I started more like listening to podcasts because I used to listen to audiobooks. But after a new year, I get like a kind of resolution or a goal, although I like to keep in mind that you don't need a new year to have resolution, but try to stick more to listen in books as well. So I'm glad to hear it and I'm trying to focus on it as well. Because I think there is so much value in the books and it's a shame not to do it, I think. Completely agreed. And it's almost like a mental escape as well, like when you actually sit down to read and get into the rhythm of it.

Starting point is 00:43:56 Because initially I think everyone's brains are so, everyone's brains are so wired to chase that dopamine hit that comes from scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. But as you go back to longer forms of content, you realize that there's actually peace in like sitting and reading a book for, like 20, 25 minutes rather than doom scrolling because we don't think that it does drain us, but it actually is such an energy drain even to constantly scroll. So it just comes down to the concept of, again, like creating and consuming. And even though books are still consuming, you tend to create off the back of that when you write and then you have certain nuances that comes from what you read. So it's a really healthy cycle once you get back into reading.

Starting point is 00:44:32 And I'm so glad that I have this year. I'm so glad that you are too. Yeah, yeah. And we discussed it, but can you please summarize where people, can find you, follow you and promote any of your services? Absolutely. So they can find me on my LinkedIn, which I'm sure we could link in the comments, and they can message me. I'm actually launching a one-to-one strategy call, wherein people can book in time with me specifically to understand how they can grow their account as well.

Starting point is 00:44:56 Or they can email me. It's S-N-I-G-D-H-A-T-R-I-V-E-D-I-E-D-I-G-M-E-E-R-G-MR. I'll put that. I put the links to the show notes, of course. Yeah, yeah. So those are the places that they can find me. And do you have like any goals, ambitions or targets, whether it's in upcoming weeks, months or longer term, that you'll be willing to share with us? I think as of right now it's just about, because I've so recently stepped into self-employment,

Starting point is 00:45:27 my only goal is to like keep myself kind of accountable to what I'm doing right now because the shift from a nine to five to self-employment is huge in terms of like you just kind of, is not as much structure. So it's about me retaining that discipline and momentum and accountability to myself, even in a space wherein I'm now controlling most of my time and everything. So I'd say a recent goal that I've understood is just to maintain my sense of discipline that I have always had.

Starting point is 00:45:55 But recently, like, I just need to double down on it. So that's the only, another goal, this is outside of work, but I'm looking to become a dance instructor in London because I want to start taking workshops. So that's something that. Yeah, that's something that I will be doing in the next. near future, but only those two things as of right now. I mean, it sounds great. And as you said, it actually related to switching your job and going from 9 to 5 to your current

Starting point is 00:46:19 work, like honestly, are you enjoyed that? I assume that you do, but is it like meeting your expectations that you had before? Definitely. I think that initially the shift feels very, like, overwhelming because like, so I personally didn't really have a break in terms of I quit my job and I gave in my notice and I finished my notice on a Friday and I started working with my clients on the Monday after that. So I had a weekend. Just the weekends to recover. Yeah. So just had the weekends to kind of mentally prep. So initially it felt slightly overwhelming just getting used to the newer structures and the rhythms that

Starting point is 00:46:52 I needed to build to work with clients. But luckily, I think I had mentally prepared for a lot of this to happen. So I was, I had figured it out to a certain degree, but I can't deny that it still was a very different change. But I'm definitely enjoying it. I'm just learning to build more systems for myself that will keep myself making the best use of my time and delivering the best possible work that I can on both my end personally and for my clients. So yeah. I'm of course happy to hear that and hope it goes well. And then the very last question, is there anything you would like to share before we finish anything I should have asked you or anything to leave the audience with? I think that your questions were perfect in terms of summarizing my experience on platforms and just what I do on LinkedIn.

Starting point is 00:47:34 something that I would want to share to the audience would just be that I think a lot of people nowadays think that it's too late to start building or like it's already too saturated. And the only thing I would want to say is that it is never too, like, it almost sounds deranged to say that it's too late for you to advocate for your own services online and for you to build a presence because if you don't do it at this point in your career, then when are you going to do it? Because if it's too late right now, it's only going to get more and more late in six months, eight months, a year late. So if you've been actively thinking about doing something like this, then the best time literally was yesterday, but the second best time is today. So just start. Like, don't be intimidated by the idea that there's already so many people doing it and there's already top creators because it literally took me six months to get to a point of being a top creator from initially not having any idea of what I was doing. So it's never really too late. So just trust your gut and start doing it.

Starting point is 00:48:29 It's a great message. And not only for like building your brand or showing up. upon LinkedIn, but pretty much to anything that you want to do, that it's easy to compare yourself to others, but try to keep in mind that you never see the whole picture, people's story or background. And as you perfectly said, the best time was yesterday, the second best time is today, whatever it is. I need to remind it myself as well, so I'm happy that you share this one. I think that, yeah, in all the advice that I give, I'm also speaking to some version of myself who sometimes doesn't believe it. So we're all just giving advice and trying to apply it. I think that's

Starting point is 00:49:05 just human nature. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I agree. So Snickda, I think that's the perfect note to finish with. I want to say, of course, a huge thank you. Been enjoying your content. It was really nice to meet you over LinkedIn and thank you so much for our time. Really enjoyed it. It was a pleasure and I'll be following and supporting and wishing you all the best. So thank you very much again. Thank you so, so so much, Thomas. I really, really enjoyed this as well and I've always I've already appreciated your carousels and the information that you give and I think it's great what you're doing connecting your audience with other creators who are doing a lot of great things so I'm always going to be supportive as well and thank

Starting point is 00:49:44 you so so much I really appreciate this thanks for listening to prejudice by with the channel for all the links and don't forget to subscribe like and share your feedback speak soon

Produced By - Build Before You Quit: The Safer Way To Leave Your Nine to Five | 150: Snigdha Trivedi

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