Why LinkedIn feels lonely

This month, my LinkedIn workshop on the Harvard Business School campus was officially announced, with my name listed alongside Harvard professors.

Around the same time, I was named by Favikon as #1 female on Singapore LinkedIn, and #4 globally for personal branding. 

In between all of that: pineapple tarts for Chinese New Year, a funeral wake, in-person meetups and online workshops for the second year of my flagship 12-month Brand Builder Mastermind.

It has been a whirlwind. And in the middle of the whirl, I felt inspired enough to stop eating pineapple tarts to bust a myth that I have heard from prospective clients: if they just tried hard enough on their own, they could make LinkedIn work for them.

As a professional LinkedIn personal branding strategist, I respectfully disagree.

No (wo)man is an island

I speak every week with C-suite executives, senior leaders, and business owners who want more visibility. They want more and better clients, speaking invitations, board positions, media features. 

Strangely, many of them harbor a quiet belief that if they can just find the right posting strategy: the schedule, the hook, the framework, they can achieve all of this on their own terms, on their own timeline, entirely by themselves. They ask me for hacks, thinking that would be enough to succeed.

I understand that belief. I held it myself, for longer than I should have.

Let me draw a distinction that I think matters enormously. There are two very different content strategies on LinkedIn.

• One is the influencer strategy: optimize for virality, chase engagement, measure success in likes and followers.
• The other (the one I stake my entire coaching business on) is the industry expert strategy: lead with professionalism and undeniable substance, and measure success in career advancement, client acquisition, speaking invitations, and media features.

These are not the same game. They have utterly different strategies. And if you are a senior executive or business owner with genuine expertise, please do not end up playing the wrong game.

Likes do not pay your mortgage. Clients and careers do.

Community is the cheat code

My long-time clients post consistently, week after week, year after year, through busy quarters, difficult personal seasons, and everything in between.

People may assume they have more discipline than everyone else. Or more time.

They do not.

They have community.

In 2024, I ran four cohorts of my six-week LinkedIn bootcamp, 40 participants per cohort, 160 professionals in total. Those cohorts finished years ago.

And yet, those 160 alumni are still meeting in packs of 5-10 people a meetup. I kid you not. They are still showing up for each other. Still posting, still growing, still holding each other accountable, long after any structured program could compel them to.

I did not manufacture that. Community did.

Inside my flagship VIP 12-month Brand Builder Mastermind, I watch the same thing happen. Introverts find equally introverted professionals who understand them. High-energy, gregarious personalities find their match. Connections form that have nothing to do with LinkedIn algorithms and everything to do with genuine human connection.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives." — George R.R. Martin

As a loyal Game of Thrones fan, this phrase has stayed with me for a reason. Beyond the poetry, it is a precise description of what I watch play out on LinkedIn, and in every professional arena, every single day.

I have never once met someone who found genuine community on LinkedIn and then decided to stop showing up.

Not a single one.

Why LinkedIn may feel like a chore

Many top LinkedIn coaches whom I respect will tell you to comment on 20-30 posts a day to grow your presence. Sure, that is logical advice. But what I they rarely mention is that without community, these efforts rarely last.

Don’t tell me you’ve never thought of this before: "I dread opening LinkedIn. I am supposed to engage, but I do not genuinely care about what anyone is posting."

In response, I want to tell them: "That is because you do not have any friends there yet. You would find it incredibly natural to do so if they were your friends."

Imagine showing up to work every day with no colleagues you genuinely like.

Imagine attending a networking event cold, knowing no one, and being expected to make effortless conversation with a room full of strangers.

Exhausting right? Vexing right? Draining right?

Of course you would avoid it. I would run from it too!

LinkedIn is not different from any other networking environment. You need to belong somewhere before you can show up with ease.

I believe that you need community. You need strategy. You need a coach.

If you are still convinced you can do this entirely alone, I respect that. Let us test both our hypotheses. Give it three to five years. I am willing to wait. I already know the outcome anyway.

Human beings crave human connection, even on LinkedIn. Especially on LinkedIn.

Let’s see who is consistently posting on LinkedIn in three years. You, or the one with a supportive community backing them up.

So where do you begin?

I understand that a 12-month commitment to my Brand Builder Mastermind is a significant one.

So before you decide, here is what I want to offer you instead: a taste of my coaching at a fraction of the investment.

My 2h LinkedIn Makeover Mini-Bootcamp on March 7 (Saturday) next week is two hours with me, at US$99. That is roughly 6% of what a full Mastermind membership costs. It will be a genuine sample of what working with me looks like in practice.

Try it. If you love it (and I think you will), you can apply the full US$99 toward the Mastermind subscription.

And if it is not for you, you have still walked away with a transformed LinkedIn profile and two hours of strategy that could change how the right people see you online.

Either way, you win.

🚀 Join Me: 2h LinkedIn Makeover Mini-Bootcamp

Saturday, 7 March 2026
9:00 – 11:00 AM SGT (GMT+8)
Zoom link to be provided

Get your LinkedIn glow-up in just two hours. Here is what you walk away with:

✅ Professional visual branding revamp
✅ Headline transformation (beyond boring job titles)
✅ About section optimization that actually converts
✅ Comprehensive optimization checklist
✅ 3-month replay access
✅ FREE 3-month ChanGPT.ai Pro access (worth US$120)
✅ FREE Bootcamp Upgrade: full US$99 credit when you join Brand Builder Mastermind

PS: One new client DM or career opportunity from your optimized LinkedIn profile pays for this mini-bootcamp ten times over.

March 7 spots are limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Register and pay to secure your place.

Sending love... and a little tough love too,
Juliana 💗
Your soon-to-be LinkedIn coach