How I became a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2024

On Tuesday 9th January 2024 I received a notification in LinkedIn saying I’d been chosen as a LinkedIn Top Voice. To say I was surprised was an understatement. I’d seen people posting about becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice in previous years and always thought it went to people with tens of, or even hundreds of, thousands of followers. So given I had 5,515 followers at the time becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice was not on the goals, the vision board or even my radar. However, since it happened I’ve had a few people asking about how you become a LinkedIn Top Voice. So I decided I’d share all in this blog post. Keep on reading to find out how I became a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2024.

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What is a LinkedIn ‘Top Voice’?

 

Before delivering into how I became a LinkedIn Top Voice I want to make sure everyone understands what being a LinkedIn Top Voice means. Since being named Linkedin Top Voice a few people have asked me what it means, so I did some research for the official answer. And this is what I found in the LinkedIn help section.

“Top Voices is an invitation-only program featuring a global group of experts on LinkedIn covering a range of topics across the professional world, helping members uncover valuable knowledge relevant to them. Top Voices was previously known as the Influencer program prior to October 2022. 

Top Voices are vetted to ensure that they meet high trust standards, are consistently active on the platform, and share valuable expertise through content that demonstrates their unique, original contributions to a topic.” 

You can tell if someone has been chosen as a LinkedIn Top Voice because once they’ve been chosen they have a blue LinkedIn badge added to their profile and another badge that says Top Voice. One thing to note is that a LinkedIn Top Voice badge can be removed at any time.

 

 

Creating valuable, original, content is key if you want to become a LinkedIn Top Voice. I swear by planning my content in advance, but I know not everyone is naturally a planner. So if you aren’t planning your content yet and you want to get organised download a copy of my content marketing workbook. It will help you to plan out your LinkedIn content, as well as your email, other social media and long-form content in an integrated way. To get your free copy fill your details in the form below.

 

 

What is the difference between a LinkedIn Top Voice and a LinkedIn Community Top Voice?

 

After turning the Influencer program into Top Voices in October 2022, Linkedin decided in 2023 to create a LinkedIn Community Top Voice badge and this has resulted in confusion between being a Linkedin Top Voice and a LinkedIn Community Top Voice.

 

A LinkedIn Community Top Voice is awarded to people “who show expertise in a specific skill or skills as determined by their contribution to collaborative articles”. Collaborative articles were released on LinkedIn in March 2023 and it is through contributing on these articles that you can gain a Community Top Voice.

 

Once awarded, these people receive a gold badge under their name whereas a LinkedIn Top Voice will have a blue badge. And their badge will say Top [insert specialism] Voice.

 

Once someone has received a Community Top Voice badge it is active for 60 days, but as with the Top Voice badge LinkedIn can remove the badge at any time.

 

 

How I became a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2024: My journey on LinkedIn

 

There is a lot of mystery around becoming a Top Voice and no one at LinkedIn tells you why you become a LinkedIn Top Voice. But I’m going to share the condensed version of my history on LinkedIn to give some context. Newsflash: it didn’t happen overnight.

 

Opening a LinkedIn account

Weirdly the day after being notified by LinkedIn about becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice I got an another email from LinkedIn. This one was congratulating me for being on the platform for 14 years! So there is no pretending that I’m an overnight success. I’ve been on LinkedIn for a long time.

 

I opened my LinkedIn account back in 2010. I was studying for my Masters at the time and either a lecturer or student mentioned opening LinkedIn and setting up a profile would be a good idea so I did it.

 

Begin to use LinkedIn for my business

I started my business in 2018, but I had a day job in marketing at the time so my social media marketing focused on Instagram. It wasn’t until late 2019 you’d even know from my LinkedIn content that I had a business and throughout and throughout 2020 I would occasionally post something business-related. Super infrequent and usually about nominations and awards, rather than anything that might actually that could be vaguely classed as salesy.

NO IDEA WHO I AM OR WHAT I DO?  If you landed on this blog and have no idea who I am let me quickly introduce myself. I’m Charelle Griffith. I’m a marketing strategist and business mentor that specialises in helping online, service-based, businesses that are small in size, but big in ambition. I help business owners to improve their marketing, accelerate their business growth,  and ultimately build them a business they love and that pays them well. I work with business owners one-to-one via Strategy Days and through ongoing mentoring. As well speaking and running workshops and trainings. You can find out more about me here. You can find out more about how I can help you here.

 

Going live weekly on LinkedIn

A major turning point in my LinkedIn journey was towards the end of 2021. By this point I was posting fairly consistently (I can’t remember my precise posting frequency) but I was terrified to go live.

 

At the time I was going live weekly on Instagram, but because of the network I’d built on LinkedIn from my days as an employee the thought of going live on LinkedIn truly scared me. But after working with a business coach I finally faced my fear. Between August 2021 and January 2022 I forced myself to go live 5 times. I realised it wasn’t the end of the world and then the rest is history. After that I have gone live virtually every Monday for 2 whole years.

You can check out all of my previous lives here. 

 

Being part of the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Programme

In October 2022 I gained a place on the UK’s inaugural LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Programme. You can find out more about that programme and everyone who made that first class here.

 

For full transparency, this was a programme that I applied to be on. There was an application process and you had to pitch the type of content you’d create whilst on the programme. I pitched that I wanted to create content to inspire and encourage more solopreneurs to increase their revenue and exceed the VAT threshold (which was £85,000 at the time). I created a #SmashVAT video series where I interviewed accountants, financial coaches and other other solopreneurs who had become VAT-registered. You can watch all of the videos on YouTube.

 

How I’m using LinkedIn right now

At the time of being named a LinkedIn Top Voice I’m posting every day and did so for at least the whole of 2023. The majority of my posts are text with an image. However, occasionally I’ll create a carousel or share a short-form video that I’ve created and loved. And, of course, I go live (virtually) every Monday.

 

There is no doubt I am active user of the platform. I post daily, spend time commenting on other people’s content and spend time having conversations in the DMs.

 

What I think is and isn’t important if you want to become a LinkedIn Top Voice. 

 

As I already said LinkedIn doesn’t tell you why you become a Top Voice. So no one will ever know, but through my own experience, and from speaking at Top Voices here is what I think is and isn’t important.

 

Follower size

One of the reasons I was so shocked about becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice was because I had always thought it only went to people with ‘large’ followings. At the time of becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice I had 5,515 followers. And whilst connecting with other LinkedIn Top Voices I noticed that some had even smaller follower counts than me.

 

In short – don’t obsess over your follower size.

 

Frequency of posting 

Whilst there are others who are like me and post daily, there are others that aren’t. So posting daily isn’t a requirement to get the badge, but you’ll want to make sure you are an active user and frequently posting.

 

In short – you don’t have to post daily, but ideally multiple posts per week and be an active user.

 

Content format 

Another thing you might be considering is whether the formats of content you create matters. There are examples of creators using all the different formats: carousels, text only, image and text, recorded video, live video… and more

 

In short – don’t stress about creating a specific type of content. Create in a way that enables you to share your expertise and knowledge in the best way.

 

Get on LinkedIn’s radar

Since this is an invitation-only programme then getting on LinkedIn’s radar is important. For example, me getting on the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Programme meant I was on LinkedIn’s radar. Another way to get on LinkedIn’s radar would be by contributing to colllaborative articles and gaining a Community Top Voice.

 

In short – getting on LinkedIn’s radar is going to help. If you aren’t already on their radar right now then I would say contribute to collaborative articles.

 

That’s it. You now know how I became a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2024!

 

Becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2024 was a massive surprise to me and right now, other than making new connections with other amazing creators, I don’t actually know what it will bring.

 

But if you have dreamt of becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice I hope this blog has shown that it isn’t just for those with a massive following. If it is possible for me it is possible for you. Who knows it might be you celebrating in January 2025!

 

If you’ve read this blog post and liked it come and let me know on LinkedIn. You can find me here. 

 

WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR LINKEDIN CONTENT CREATION? I have no doubt that creating consistent, original content on LinkedIn played a part in me becoming a Top Voice. If you are struggling with being consistent on the platform let me help you. You can book a LinkedIn Power Hour here.