A year ago, Lara Acosta had zero LinkedIn followers, no personal brand, and no clue how to grow LinkedIn followers in an audience online. Fast forward 12 months, and she had gained 100,000 engaged followers, built a strong personal brand, and unlocked new opportunities—all thanks to a structured strategy that she implemented with consistency and focus.
In this blog post, I’ll break down the exact steps she used to achieve this incredible milestone so that you can replicate her success and grow your LinkedIn presence.
Step 1: A Digital Detox for Growing LinkedIn Followers
The first step in Lara’s journey was a digital detox. This doesn’t mean disconnecting completely, but rather decluttering your LinkedIn connections.
Many of us are connected to old colleagues, classmates, and acquaintances who aren’t aligned with our professional goals. Seeing irrelevant posts or worrying about what old connections think can prevent us from posting freely. To counter this, you can either remove connections and unfollow irrelevant people or start fresh with a new LinkedIn account. Lara chose the second option—a clean slate with no excuses to hold back.
Step 2: Build Your Dream 100 List
Lara introduced the Dream 100 List, a concept coined by Russell Brunson. This involves listing 100 people you want to connect with—those who inspire you, those in your niche, and those whose networks include your ideal audience.
Instead of blindly adding people, she researched professionals who fit this criteria. This gave her a focused approach, making her LinkedIn experience more valuable.
Step 3: Optimize Your Profile for First Impressions
Your LinkedIn profile is your digital storefront. Lara focused on optimizing three essential elements:
- Headshot – A high-quality, professional, and approachable picture. No outdated selfies or group photos.
- Headline – She used two headline templates:
- If you have an offer: “I help [target audience] achieve [goal] through [method].”
- If you don’t have an offer: “On a mission to [goal], sharing insights about [topic].”
- Banner – Lara’s controversial take? A solid color banner works best at the start. Instead of spending hours designing a fancy banner, she recommends keeping it simple and focusing on growth.
Within days of optimizing her profile, she noticed more people checking out her profile and accepting connection requests, helping her grow LinkedIn followers on her profile.
Step 4: Invest Time in First Impressions
Lara pointed out that LinkedIn thought leadership is like a never-ending business conference—first impressions matter. One key metric? 500+ connections. Having this visible number establishes credibility and social proof.
To quickly build up relevant connections, she used a commenting strategy:
- Find 20-30 active accounts in your niche.
- Engage with their content by leaving valuable comments, rather than generic replies.
- Prioritize engagement with smaller creators (0-5K followers) who are more likely to reciprocate.
- Comment early on larger accounts (20K+ followers) to get maximum visibility.
This simple habit led to rapid network growth and meaningful conversations with industry professionals.
Step 5: The Rule of One – Micro-Niching for Growth
Initially, Lara struggled with LinkedIn content, posting about marketing, personal development, and entrepreneurship—but nothing really stuck.
She then introduced the Rule of One:
- One problem
- One solution
- One niche
Instead of trying to cover everything, she micro-niched down to a specific expertise. She started with personal branding, which broke down into writing, content creation, PR, and social media strategy.
By narrowing her focus, she saw increased engagement, credibility, and an audience that viewed her as an authority.
Step 6: Content Strategy – Educate, Inspire, Entertain
Great content falls into three categories:
- Educational – Provide step-by-step insights, actionable tips, and strategies.
- Inspirational – Share personal stories and experiences that resonate with your audience.
- Entertaining – Inject personality through humor, storytelling, or memes.
Lara suggested an 80/20 split: 80% educational, 20% inspirational. She adopted this method, posting 3-5 times a week, focusing on tactical LinkedIn growth tips while occasionally sharing personal wins and lessons.
A bonus tip? Use visual rhythm and formatting. Short sentences, bullet points, and mobile-optimized content make posts more digestible and engaging.
Step 7: Build Meaningful Connections
Beyond content, LinkedIn is about relationships. Lara emphasized the importance of networking beyond likes and comments. She scheduled coffee chats and Zoom calls with people at different stages of their journey—some ahead, some at the same level, and some just starting.
By consistently building relationships, she established strong industry connections, unlocked unexpected collaborations, and even secured mentorship opportunities.
Final Thoughts: The Power of Consistency
Lara’s strategy worked, but only because she stayed consistent. By following these steps and showing up daily, she built a thriving LinkedIn presence.
If you’re looking to grow on LinkedIn, I highly recommend watching Lara Acosta’s original video and implementing her proven methods.
Credit to Lara Acosta for this amazing strategy! If you’re serious about personal branding and LinkedIn growth, check out her content for more insights.
Let me know in the comments: Which step are you implementing first?
