I'm Officially a Linkedin Learning Instructor. Please pinch me.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In 2020, I made Linkedin my primary social network on the internet.
• My life changed for the better 6 distinct times since then.
• LinkedIn took notice and asked me to talk about it.
• This is the story of how six years of showing up on this platform became a 10-part LinkedIn Learning course, and what I learned making it.

Slowly. Slowly. Slowly... and Then All At Once

When my wife first heard me call LinkedIn a serendipity manifestation engine, she said it was the least sexy tagline she'd ever heard. But the shoe fit, so I wore it!

And now it's an official LinkedIn Learning course

I had no idea what Linkedin would actually manifest for me when I started showing up here more intentionally in 2020. I'd spent the first 15 years the way most people do<em dash>lurking, applying, updating my resume when I had to.

Then I posted a really heartfelt article in 2015 and something interesting happened: I started getting messages from people telling me how much they appreciated what I wrote and commending me on the courage it took to put it out on Linkedin.

It's at that point I first realized that people are on Linkedin and they're paying attention, even if they don't make it known. I still didn't really do much here until 2020, which is when I stopped caring what "people might think" or what opportunities it might "cost me." Instead, I just started talking about what I actually cared about, building real relationships with people who showed interest, and things started happening that I couldn't have planned if I tried.

In the 6 years since, I've:

• Pivoted careers
• Bought a house through a cold LinkedIn DM
• Built a coaching practice sustained entirely on inbound leads
• Landed my current role at Brandi.ai, a startup at the forefront of AI visibility, simply because I'd been posting about AI long enough that the founders thought I might be interested in what they're building (they were right)

And now, I can add to that list: created an official Linkedin Learning course

None of this was by design, yet all of it traces back to the same thing:

• I followed my fascination
• Posted about my passion
• Built relationships with people who took notice

That's it. That's my earth shattering personal branding strategy and I've been talking about for 6 years. I don't want to say it's that simple, but it kind of is just that simple. And once you see Linkedin through that lens, you cannot unsee it.

When LinkedIn Called

LinkedIn invited me and roughly a dozen other creators to participate in their inaugural Creator Course Pilot<em dash>a new format of short-form learning content, published natively on the platform, where creators teach what they know.

Mine was always going to be about personal branding and I had about three weeks from invitation to delivery. I built ten videos, each 60 to 90 seconds. Scripted, filmed in my home office, edited in CapCut with text hooks and on-screen callouts. The LinkedIn production team gave me feedback after the first video: less intro, faster to the teaching point, make it yours. I reworked all ten scripts and got back to filming.

Twelve takes total. Ten final videos. Every framework I've built over six years distilled into roughly 12 minutes of content. When it was done, LinkedIn told me they want to turn it into an official Linkedin Learning course. I'm still a little stunned writing that.

Hard to Describe What This Means to Me

I didn't start posting on LinkedIn to build a course. I didn't start posting to get hired, to get famous, or to become a influencer. I started posting because I genuinely believe this platform is unlike anything else on the internet.

Linkedin is a place where strangers become friends and/or colleagues and the right post at the right moment can change the trajectory of your career. Showing up on Linkedin authentically and consistently increases your luck surface area by several orders of magnitude.

Put simply: investing in your personal brand compounds opportunity over time.

Why?

Because on Linkedin people visualize what it might be like to work with you. They aren't just mindlessly doomscrolling your Linkedin posts. Everything you share deposits a little more trust into your credibility bank and it's the body of work that attracts opportunities, not any single post, moment, or connection request.

And perhaps the best part is, you never know who is watching.

A CMO once offered me a job I'd never done before because he'd been watching my content for months without ever saying a word. I had no idea who he was or that he was paying attention to me.

The Formula for Manifesting Serendipity on Linkedin

Content + Conversation = Compounding Interest.

Not the financial kind (at least, not directly), rather, an even better kind:

Human interest.

That's a lot harder to earn, but it can pay far greater dividends.

You build a brand the way you build anything worth having: brick by brick, without being able to see the shape of the building yet.

This course is what that looks like at year six. I hope you'll find it useful!

The Course: Manifest Serendipity

How to Build a Brand That Creates Opportunities You Can't Predict

Below are all ten videos from the series. Watch them in order if you can they're designed to build on each other. But every one stands alone if you've got 90 seconds and a specific question.

If you want the FULL benefit of the course, including a shiny certificate of completion...

Take the course on Linkedin Learning

The Course: Manifest Serendipity

How to Build a Brand That Creates Opportunities You Can't Predict

Below are all ten videos from the series. Watch them in order if you can they're designed to build on each other. ut every one stands alone if you've got 90 seconds and a specific question.

Video 1: LinkedIn Is a Serendipity Manifestation Engine

Most people treat LinkedIn like a resume or a content platform. Both are wrong. LinkedIn is a relationship platform, and when you use it with intention, it becomes a serendipity manifestation engine — one that creates opportunities you can't predict and wouldn't have found any other way. This is the mindset that changes everything.

The best thing I&#39;ve ever done for my career had nothing to do with my resume. For the first 15 years I was on Linkedin, I treated it like a job board the way most people do. But in 2020, I finally… | LIAM DARMODY | 56 comments

The best thing I’ve ever done for my career had nothing to do with my resume. For the first 15 years I was on Linkedin, I treated it like a job board the way most people do. But in 2020, I finally realized it was so much more than that and started treating it like a personal branding & relationship building platform. Fast forward six years, Linkedin invites me to create a course about personal branding as part of their Creator Course Pilot... (see what I mean about manifesting serendipity?) Over the next few weeks I’m releasing 10 short videos every Tuesday & Thursday sharing the most important lessons I’ve learned about building a brand on this platform over the last six years as I grew to 48,000 connections. This is lesson 1 of 10: It’s about the mindset shift that changed everything for me. Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 56 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInRobert Coe

Video 2: Your Profile Is a Landing Page, Not a Resume

A resume answers WHAT you did, WHEN, and WHERE. A personal brand answers WHO you are, WHY you do what you do, and HOW you help. The 5W1H framework gives you a simple way to rethink your profile as a landing page — one that makes someone want to connect within five seconds of landing on it.

Transform Your LinkedIn Profile into a Personal Brand Landing Page | LIAM DARMODY posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Lesson 2 of 10 in my LinkedIn Creator Course is about making your profile a landing page for your personal brand. Too many people treat their LinkedIn profile like an extension of their resume. And they’re shortchanging themselves by doing so. Resumes are one-dimensional. They highlight what you’ve done, where you’ve done it, and when. No stories. No personality. Nothing about WHO you are, WHY you do what you do, or HOW. I call it the 5W1H framework. When you treat your profile like a landing page, you’re giving people who stop by the chance to get to know you. And that makes it easier for them to decide if you’re their kind of people. Because that’s what everyone who lands on your profile is thinking about. Titles matter. But being someone other people want to have around is something else entirely. Stop letting your LinkedIn serve as a storage utility for your accomplishments. Start treating it like a marketing channel for your personal brand. Because that’s what it really is. Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 24 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInLIAM DARMODY

Video 3: How Personal Is Too Personal?

The most common thing that stops people from posting is fear of oversharing. Here's a framework that makes the decision simple: treat your LinkedIn like a journal you'd share with your family, your friends, your colleagues, and your boss. If it passes all four, share it. If it doesn't, you'll know why.

What&#39;s too personal for LinkedIn? | LIAM DARMODY posted on the topic | LinkedIn

How personal is too personal for Linkedin? It’s a great question and I get it a lot. There also isn’t really a “right” answer because it’s kind of subjective. People have told me this advice is helpful: Treat Linkedin like a journal you’d feel comfortable sharing with family, friends, and colleagues (including your boss, if you’ve got one). Some people share plenty with their colleagues. Others are more reserved. You’ve got to find your own personal sweet spot. Coming Thursday, video 4/10: Network before you post! Thanks for watching. Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 67 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInBill Skowronski

Video 4: Network Before You Post

The most contrarian thing I'll say in this series: most people skip relationship-building and go straight to posting. Content without a network is talking to an empty room. LinkedIn is the most efficient networking environment on earth — you can read someone's entire story before you say a word. Network first. Post second. Always.

Commenting on LinkedIn is like networking at a conference | LIAM DARMODY posted on the topic | LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional conference. Every post is a speaker on stage. Every comment section is the networking mixer after the talk. Yet I get asked this question: “Do you think that person would mind if I commented? We don’t even know each other.” Y’all... Every single friend or colleague you’ve ever had started as a stranger you didn’t know. Long before I was posting intentionally here, I was chopping it up in comment sections. Some of the best people in my network came from exactly that. A comment A reply A DM Once you start seeing LinkedIn through that lens, the whole platform shifts. You’re not scrolling content. You’re walking a conference floor full of people worth knowing. Your next boss, hire, colleague, or client could be there, ready to strike up a conversation. So... that comment you’ve been sitting on? That’s your intro. Make it. Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 26 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInKelly Beeland

Video 5: Signals Are Everywhere

LinkedIn gives you data all day long — profile views, new followers, reactions, comments on posts you've shared, the Catch Up tab. Every one of those is a signal: someone whose interest was piqued. The people who win on LinkedIn aren't the ones who post the most. They're the ones who pay attention to those signals and turn them into conversations.

How good are you at picking up on signals? It&#39;s a pretty useful skill that comes naturally to some and less so to others. Fortunately, you don&#39;t need to be a detective to pick up on all the signals… | LIAM DARMODY | 15 comments

How good are you at picking up on signals? It’s a pretty useful skill that comes naturally to some and less so to others. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a detective to pick up on all the signals Linkedin throws at you on a daily basis. They’re everywhere. Reactions to posts. Profile views. Connections. Comments. Followers. DMs. All signals that represent someone’s interest being piqued, which can lead to all sorts of opportunity if you just pick up on them and strike up conversations. But most people don’t. Don’t be most people. Once you see the signals, you can’t unsee them. Every day we’re served up several opportunities to meet someone new who might be interested in what we do. We just have to pay attention. Are you? Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 15 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInMegan Taylor

Video 6: Content + Conversation = Conversion

The 60-30-10 content framework: 60% scope of genius, 30% fascinations, 10% personal window. But the post is the ad. The conversation is the sale. Comments and DMs are where relationships actually form. There's no velvet rope on this platform — the only thing between you and the people you want to know is a comment.

Building Meaningful Relationships Through Conversation on LinkedIn | LIAM DARMODY posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Video 6/10: Content + Conversation = Connection. People ask me how I post almost every day and never run out of ideas. 60. 30. 10. 60% of my content is about my scope of genius. The thing I do for a living. 30% is my fascination. Trends, tools, ideas I’m genuinely curious about. 10% is the personal window. Family, hobbies, milestones. That framework takes the stress out of figuring out what to post. But the content is only half the equation. The post gets you seen. The conversation builds the relationship. I’ve built more meaningful professional relationships from comments than from any of my posts. Video 6 of my LinkedIn Creator Course covers the 60-30-10 framework and why comments and DMs matter more than the posts themselves. Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 92 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInAliya Banks

Video 7: Your Personality Is Your Moat in the AI Era

AI can write a LinkedIn post in four seconds. So what makes you worth following? Your passion and your personality are the two things that can't be commoditized. Every time you show up as yourself, you increase your luck surface area. Your brand is your legacy. Nobody else can build it for you.

Your Personality is Your Moat on LinkedIn | LIAM DARMODY posted on the topic | LinkedIn

“It’s not personal, it’s just business.” What? Of course it’s personal… Lesson 7 of 10 in my LinkedIn Creator Course - Your Personality is Your Moat. Every job you’ve ever held and every client you’ve ever kept has stuck around, at least in part, because of your personality. Skills are trainable. Personality is not. And yet most people still don’t feel comfortable showing their personality on LinkedIn. As if it’s a liability rather than an asset. As AI starts taking on more of the skills, humans need to start leaning into the one thing a machine will never replicate. You. Your personality is your moat. You’re a limited edition 1/1. Show people the WHO behind what you DO and opportunity will find you. Hi5, LD 🌶️ | 30 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInDr. John Page

Video 8: When in Doubt, Zoom Out

At some point you'll post something that gets 47 impressions and wonder what the point is. This video is for that moment. Every post is a brick in a building nobody can see the shape of yet. The body of work is what converts. Your 200th post matters more than your 2nd.

Building a brand on LinkedIn is a lot easier than most people think. The problem is not the platform. The problem is our egos. We&#39;ve been conditioned to think that if something we say on the… | LIAM DARMODY | 18 comments

Building a brand on LinkedIn is a lot easier than most people think. The problem is not the platform. The problem is our egos. We’ve been conditioned to think that if something we say on the internet doesn’t get a ton of reach or engagement, it’s somehow less valuable. But LinkedIn is a different beast than other social platforms and short-term virality is not really the point. The point is building long-term trust. That post with 47 impressions may be one of the reasons someone hires you 6 months from now... So if you get frustrated by the lack of reach or engagement on a post, which is inevitable and happens to all of us, remember two things: 1) No one is paying as close attention as you think 2) When in doubt, zoom out. Your personal brand lasts as long as you do and then some. It compounds over time and becomes an opportunity flywheel. Don’t let short-term obsession with vanity metrics steer you off course. Hi5, LD 🌶️ __ Dig this? Saves & shares appreciated! Follow LIAM for AI, brand, and business innovation content. | 18 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInSam Swirsky

Video 9: Manifest Your Own Serendipity

A career pivot from a single post. A coaching practice built entirely on inbound. A startup role that came from posting about AI. A house bought through LinkedIn DMs. None of it was planned. All of it traces back to the same thing: follow your fascination, feed your curiosity, post your passion, build relationships, watch what happens.

Video 9/10 in my Manifesting Serendipity Series shows you why I&#39;m so obsessed with this cheesy phrase: Linkedin is a serendipity manifestation engine. Give it a watch to learn how bulding my personal… | LIAM DARMODY

Video 9/10 in my Manifesting Serendipity Series shows you why I’m so obsessed with this cheesy phrase: Linkedin is a serendipity manifestation engine. Give it a watch to learn how bulding my personal brand on Linkedin meaningfully changed my life 5 times and how I use it to manifest seredipity for myself. It’s not as hard as you think, I promise! Hi5, LD 🌶️

LinkedInBob Sager

Video 10: PEACE = SUCCESS

The formula to take with you. Patience. Empathy. Authenticity. Consistency. Engagement. Five words that have guided everything I've done on this platform since 2020. The last thing I say in this course: now go build your brand.

Building a Winning LinkedIn Brand with PEACE &#61; SUCCESS | LIAM DARMODY posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Video 10 of 10 in my Manifesting Serendipity Series provides you with the winning formula for brand building on Linkedin: PEACE = SUCCESS It’s a framework I came up with when I started taking Linkedin seriously in 2020 and it remains my ethos today. Anytime I get frustrated or impatient, I remind myself... PEACE = SUCCESS I hope something in this series made you think differently about this platform and what it can do for you. Thank you for watching. Now go build your brand. Hi5, LD 🌶️

LinkedInSteve Pedro 🟢🙏

If something in here made you think differently about LinkedIn and what it can do for you, I'd love to hear from you.

And if you're ready to start building or you've been at it for a while and feel stuck, there are plenty of free resources on my new website: LiamDarmody.ai.

Check it out!

Hi5,

LD 🌶️

Dig this?

Saves & sends appreciated.