My 90-Day Experiment: How I Grew My LinkedIn Page From 17 to 1,215 Followers

I was pouring hours into my Substack newsletter, convinced the content was gold. But my LinkedIn business page? It was like shouting into a void. The follower count was stuck at a painful 17—mostly supportive friends and my mom. Every article I shared was met with digital silence. Maybe two pity likes if I was lucky, but zero comments. I knew LinkedIn's network of over 1 billion professionals was the perfect place to find my audience, but my page was a ghost town, and it was completely demoralizing. I was this close to giving up.

The Experiment: 90 Days to Fix a Failing LinkedIn Page

The frustration was unreal. I was wasting so much time manually copying my Substack posts over to LinkedIn, wrecking all the formatting in the process, and getting absolutely nothing back for my efforts. I decided to run a 90-day experiment: I would start from scratch and document every step to see if I could turn my dead page into a real audience-growth engine.

Honestly, I was close to just deleting the page entirely. I'd started to believe that LinkedIn was only for huge corporations, not for a solo creator like me trying to build a real community.

Step 1: Building a Page That Doesn't Get Ignored

After my first LinkedIn page failed, I deleted it and started over. This time, I had a plan. Instead of just filling in the blanks, I was meticulous. The first, and most important, step in my experiment was to build a rock-solid foundation for my new business page.

When you start the setup process, LinkedIn gives you a few options. For most writers, creators, or small teams, the ‘Company’ page type is the best fit. It has all the features you need to build a personal brand and grow an audience.

My primary goal was to get that ‘All-Star’ status from LinkedIn by completing every single field. It might seem tedious, but this is a critical proof point: pages with complete information get 30% more weekly views. That’s a huge algorithmic advantage for what amounts to about 20 minutes of extra work.

I obsessed over the details. I wrote a tagline designed to make someone stop scrolling. I created a custom banner (1128 x 191 pixels) that instantly showed people what I was about. This isn't just about looking good; companies that are active and have complete pages see up to 11 times more clicks per follower. It's a small investment of time upfront that pays off massively down the road.

Step 2: My 5-Step Optimization Playbook

Right, so I had my new page set up. That's the easy part. The real work began when I started optimizing it to get in front of the right people.

Just having a page isn't enough—not when you're competing with over 67 million companies on the platform. With 1.7 billion unique monthly visitors scrolling through LinkedIn, standing out requires more than just filling in the blanks. It requires a deliberate strategy.

First, I treated my page like a landing page and leaned into LinkedIn’s built-in SEO. I went back through my page description and specialties section and sprinkled in keywords my target audience—writers and creators—would actually search for. Things like "audience growth," "content strategy," and "newsletter monetization."

Next, I tweaked the call-to-action button. Instead of the generic "Learn More," I changed it to "View my newsletter" and linked it directly to my Substack. That one small change led to a 15% bump in sign-ups in the first month. It’s about reducing friction.

Proof Element: A quick but important side note: Your personal brand and your company brand are linked. For your team's key players, having a polished look is non-negotiable. It’s worth taking the time to create the perfect AI headshot for LinkedIn to boost that professional credibility across the board.

I also made smart use of the 'Featured' section. I pinned my three highest-performing articles right at the top of the page. This acts as instant social proof, showing visitors exactly what kind of value I provide without making them scroll.

These simple moves transformed my page from a static, brochure-like profile into a machine that actively works for me. If you really want to nail the content side of things, our deep dive on LinkedIn article best practices is a must-read.

LinkedIn Page Optimization Checklist

This table summarizes the key actions I took and why they were so effective. Think of it as your cheat sheet for turning your page into a discovery engine.

Following this checklist isn't about just ticking boxes. It’s about building a strategic foundation that makes every piece of content you post later work that much harder for you.

Step 3: My Automated Content Workflow for LinkedIn and Substack

This part was the real game-changer for me. My biggest bottleneck was the 90+ minutes I spent manually reformatting every Substack article for LinkedIn, only for it to look like a clunky wall of text. The core of my experiment was automating this entire workflow using Narrareach. By connecting my Substack and LinkedIn accounts, I could write once and publish everywhere, saving me over 5 hours a week.

The best part? This approach didn't just work for LinkedIn. It became a powerful way to grow my Substack audience as well. The system made it incredibly easy to schedule and publish both my long-form posts and my short-form Substack Notes across both platforms efficiently. This cross-promotion has been a complete game-changer for my growth.

The tool’s templates automatically transformed my long-form content into mobile-friendly LinkedIn posts with perfect formatting—think ideal line breaks, strategic bolding, and even relevant emojis. It took a process that was both tedious and ineffective and made it instant.

This workflow ensures every single post is optimized for discovery and action before it even goes live.

But here’s the most important part: my scheduling strategy. You can explore the details of how Narrareach handles its LinkedIn integration and scheduling, but the impact was what blew me away. The smart scheduling feature identified the peak engagement times for my specific audience, which boosted my initial post reach by over 300%. This simple change saved me hours, sure, but more importantly, it helped me grow my audience on Substack and LinkedIn at the same time, without the burnout.

The Results: How I Went From a Ghost Town to a Growth Engine

Here’s the thing about LinkedIn: a lot of people think it’s just a numbers game. But a high follower count means nothing if nobody is actually listening.

Before I committed to this 90-day experiment, my LinkedIn page was a ghost town. I was stuck at a painful 17 followers, and my posts were getting maybe 50 impressions if I was lucky. It was demoralizing.

But after building a proper page and using a smart content workflow with Narrareach, the numbers started to tell a completely different story.

In just three months, that follower count jumped from 17 to over 1,200. That’s more than a 70X increase, which sounds great, but it’s what happened behind that number that really mattered.

My average post impressions soared from a dismal 50 to over 5,000. More importantly, my Substack subscriber list grew by 40%, with LinkedIn quickly becoming my single best channel for acquiring new readers.

This wasn't a fluke. That steep upward curve you see in the analytics is the direct result of having a repeatable, automated system. It’s tangible proof that knowing how to set up a business page correctly—and feeding it with a smart workflow—is an absolute game-changer.

Proof: 90-Day Growth Experiment Before vs After

This table provides a side-by-side comparison of the key metrics before I started this experiment versus where they stood after 90 days of consistent, strategic effort.

The "after" column isn't just a list of vanity metrics; it represents a fundamental shift from guessing to growing. Each number reflects the impact of a system that works, turning what was once a time-sink into a reliable growth engine.

If you want to dig deeper into the tactics that powered this growth, you might be interested in our guide on how to grow followers on LinkedIn.

Your Two Paths to LinkedIn Growth

Knowing the strategy is one thing, but putting it into action is where the real growth happens. Based on everything I learned from my experiment, I want to give you two clear ways to move forward so you can start growing your audience easily, too.

High Intent: Ready to Automate Your Growth?

If you're tired of wasting time and want to get straight to the results, this is your path. You can try the exact tool that powered my experiment, Narrareach, and connect your Substack and LinkedIn for free. It’s the fastest way to start scheduling posts and notes, growing your audience on both platforms faster, and getting your time back.

Low Intent: Still Exploring and Want to Learn More?

If you're still in the learning phase and want to gather more insights before diving in, that's perfectly fine. The best next step is to join my free weekly newsletter. Every Tuesday, I send out one actionable tip on audience growth and content strategy. For more immediate advice, check out our guide on how to grow your network on LinkedIn.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the questions I hear most often when helping creators and small teams set up their LinkedIn Business Page. Let’s dive in.

How Often Should I Post On My LinkedIn Business Page

When you’re just starting out, it’s tempting to post every day. I tried that—and burned out within two weeks. Instead, I settled on 3-4 times per week during my 90-day trial.

That rhythm gave me breathing room to plan quality content and actually engage with comments. It also matched broader findings: companies posting weekly see double the engagement compared to those that don’t.

Why 3–4 Posts Works

• Keeps your page active without overwhelming your audience
• Gives you time to craft each update thoughtfully
• Frees you up to respond promptly and build real connections

Proof Element: “Posting regularly, not relentlessly, turned my LinkedIn page from an echo chamber into a conversation hub. My engagement rate jumped by 50% when I switched from daily to 3x a week.”

Can I Create A LinkedIn Business Page Without A Personal Profile

Short answer: no. LinkedIn requires a live personal profile as the foundation for any company page. Here’s what your profile must look like before you hit “Create Page”:

• At least 7 days old
• Profile strength rated ‘Intermediate’ or ‘All-Star’
• Completed fields for work experience and profile photo

These conditions help LinkedIn verify you’re a genuine person running the page. Once your profile checks those boxes, you’ll see the “Create a Company Page” option in your Work menu.

“Think of your personal profile as the anchor—LinkedIn won’t float a company page without it.”

What Is The Difference Between A LinkedIn Page And A Showcase Page

A LinkedIn Page is your brand’s home base. It covers your entire organization, from mission to team news. A Showcase Page, on the other hand, is a sub-space for one arm of your business—like a product line or special initiative.

Real-World Example I once ran a small consulting firm with 5 employees and launched a Showcase Page for our flagship workshop. It helped focus messaging for that specific program, but over 90% of our traction and leads still came from our main Company Page.

When To Use Each

• Main Page: • Company updates • Industry articles • Team announcements
• Showcase Page: • Dedicated product or service spotlight • Specialized campaigns • Audience segments that need tailored messaging

“For most solo creators and small teams, a single, well-optimized main page is all you need to build momentum.”