How He Got 13k LinkedIn Followers After His PhD (the Exact Formula)

You've been trying to grow your reach on LinkedIn—posting consistently, following the experts' advice, tweaking your hooks—and nothing's working. Each post gets 8 likes and disappears into the void. Christos Efthymiou, PhD, knows that feeling. After a random rant went viral on LinkedIn, he thought that maybe there was something to the platform that could help him grow his consulting business. But then he spent two months struggling to strike gold with another LinkedIn post before he finally figured out a formula that works. Now he has over 13,000 followers and gets hundreds of likes per post. And he's sharing his step-by-step framework with us here! In this episode, Christos breaks down exactly how he plans and writes his posts, as well as: -how long it really takes to find your LinkedIn voice,-the post structure that works for an academic audience, -why the "one line per paragraph" advice might be wrong for PhDs, -how to handle links without killing your reach, and -why authentic comments beat formulaic engagement every time. Have you been struggling to expand your reach on LinkedIn? What tactics have you tried? Share them in the comments! Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss new weekly episodes. Resources Mentioned: Follow Christos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christos-efthymiou/ BioVectoral (Christos's Substack): https://biovectoral.substack.com/ Connect on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@christos_efthymiou_phd Want to end burnout and become an academic editor or coach? Go to AcadiaEditing.com/map TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Meet Christos Efthymiou, PhD1:30 - Leaving computational biology for entrepreneurship3:45 - How one frustrated post went viral6:15 - Why personal brand matters for academics9:00 - The no-cost barrier to entry on LinkedIn11:30 - Two months of struggle before finding his formula14:00 - Where post ideas actually come from16:45 - Why specific moments beat general topics19:30 - The hook is 70% of your post's success22:00 - Finding your genuine writing style (stop copying)25:15 - Post structure: get to the point by the middle28:30 - Should you put links in LinkedIn posts?31:00 - Why CTAs in every post can backfire34:00 - Dealing with negative comments and haters37:00 - Workflow: writing and posting same day39:30 - Does posting time actually matter?42:00 - Authentic commenting vs. formulaic engagement Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.