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Out-Followed by Fresh-Faced Influencers? 3 Counter-Moves Seasoned Pros Use to Steal the Spotlight—Fast

Ok, this article title was a bit rage-baity, and I have nothing against 20-somethings or “fresh-faced influencers.” For a very long time, I was the 20-something-year-old building a large online following. (Now's the point where you go, "What! You're in your mid-thirties!? You don't look a day over 27!")

But maybe, for you, it's not even a 20-something. Perhaps it's the pang of envy you feel when you see someone who JUST started their business in your industry and they have a beautiful website, and a huge following, and everyone's gushing about them, and oh my God you've been doing this for 15 years, and can't everyone tell that this person is a novice and just good at content? URGH!!!!!

I hear you. For years, I would watch the LinkedIn influencer du jour materialize out of thin algorithmic air and say things so darn catchy, if not centimeter-deep, and get a gazillion reactions. (Even though they just graduated and were fun-employed for the last two years, they are now hawking motivational advice like a Gen Z Tony Robbins with ChatGPT.)

Let's call it what it was: I was jealous with a capital J. My skin was greener than Cynthia Erivo's in Wicked, and I was writing little barbs in my mental burn book as I secretly saved their post and thought, “Damn, that’s pretty good. Why didn’t I think of that?”

So, if you see the hot new viral thing in your industry dominating your target market's newsfeed and you’re “envy-following” (it's like hate following but way more self-destructive), allow this to be the field guide to slowly back away from the computer and set down the viral voodoo doll and carve your own influence.

Here's the playbook:

1. Realize that “new” is a strength.

Stay in the game long enough and you'll start to see that every few years there's a viral star on the block in your industry. It's like the LinkedIn equivalent of a one-hit wonder. They come on the scene, explode, run the game for like a year or 2, then fade into obscurity.

Why does this seem to happen?

Because they're new. Remember when you were new? You were BURSTING with creativity, zeal, and the kind of entrepreneurial mania that led to 2 am whiteboard sessions, unable to sleep because you were bursting with things to say and ideas to execute.

I loved those days. I ran on a steady diet of naïveté, coffee, and motivational mindset books. You couldn't tell me nothin’. (Or you could tell me anything! I was down for it all!)

"Pollyanna" was practically my middle name. What a time to be alive, the "start-up phase."

Do you remember that time? Think back to it. Do you remember when your business was a channel of endless possibilities?

And that, my friend, is why content at this stage is so damn good. Because a key foundation of great content is great enthusiasm for it. You know in your bones when you create something good, and you’re so excited about it, and it goes super well.

You also know when you gritted your teeth through writing or creating and kind of hated it, treating it like a box-check activity. Unsurprisingly, this content usually doesn’t get any engagement.

The first person in the audience who needs to love your content enthusiastically is YOU. Why would anyone else consume it with pleasure if you don’t even create it with pleasure?

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2. The science behind “lightning in a bottle” (from a brand and storytelling standpoint)

So now you realize you’re a little jaded. No problem – happens to the best of us when this is your seventeenth zillionth rodeo. In fact, I’d assert one of the biggest reasons personal brands flame out is because they lose passion for constantly talking about their area of expertise.

Here’s how we return to that honeymoon phase of business and content, where everything is electricity, fireworks, and heart eyes.

We go back to being a student. We go back to the beginning of our journey.

That’s why the younger or less-experienced influencer you follow is crushing it. They are literally and metaphorically closer to their audience.

Because they are at the start of the journey, they are only a step or two ahead of your audience. The specificity of their stories and examples closely mirrors where your audience is. Whereas you, my wisened reader, are about ten steps ahead of your audience. And that’s the counterintuitive truth of expertise when it comes to building a personal brand:

The more “expert” you become in a subject, the harder it will be to ensure that your messaging is simple enough to understand for the people who need that expertise most.

I call this the “Expert Trap.”

3. How to get back to that place

Recently, I returned from maternity leave a changed entrepreneur. The birth of my daughter served as an unintended business filter. With time and space away from the business, I returned with an unwillingness to tolerate anything that felt non-essential, whether it be service lines, content for the sake of content, or interviews I would have previously given a half-hearted yes to. My child is pure sunlight, burning away everything that doesn’t feel core to me, and I love it.

Her birth also put me back in the place of a beginner — because, of course, as a new mom, I am a parental beginner, but I’m also a beginner in the game of being an entrepreneur with a child. This newfound perspective made me re-fall in love with my business. Like with my daughter, everything in my business is new again. It’s exciting and grand.

While I don’t advise having a child to jazz up your content strategy (it’s a terrible, terrible idea), I want you to reflect on a time in your business or your life when you were beginning again.

What did you struggle with?

What was new and exciting?

What feels “elementary” now that felt like senior calculus to you then?

This is where your audience is!

One of the best exercises I recently did with my new life-shifting lens is free-form writing about all the challenges I had when I started building my personal brand on LinkedIn. Then I categorized them into buckets. Now I create content around those buckets over and over again using the stories I’ve accumulated over the course of owning my business.

And, because I have the benefit of hindsight from being in the game for over 15 years (I know, I know, how is that possible when I’m 28, you yet again ask), I can talk about how those experiments actually paid off, which is what readers love — learning lessons.

Because the truth is this…while the creators/influencers you envy are creating content gold from the fun beginnings, you, my seasoned compadre, have been through the messy middle, survived to tell the tale, and have insights to share.

Look at all your scars and realize that they were once the gaping wounds your audience feels now, then give your prospects the path to healing.

4. (Bonus Step that I Highly Recommend): Study and Cheer

Now, when I open LinkedIn and see an influencer killing it in my space, I smile. I cheer them on, and in many cases, I message them and let them know that. I study what they do well and look for patterns. I read what they say, knowing they’re so close to my audience, and there is so much value to be gleaned as they learn out loud.

And perhaps this is my new maternal gene at play, but I send out a mindful, silent wish that they continue to thrive, that they survive the messy middle and don’t burn out as they move through their journey. And I wish that if they do, they go back to the mind of a beginner, where everything is new, and they can begin again.

Because you can always begin again.

Happy creating.

Giving yourself the gift of focus is one of the kindest and clearest moves you can make for your brand. When you’re ready for deeper frameworks, templates, and live hot seats, join the 30-Day LinkedIn Brand Builder waitlist—doors open soon.

I’m always looking for ways to make this newsletter more helpful for my readers. I'd love to hear what challenges you're facing or topics you'd like me to cover in future editions. What’s one thing you’re struggling with right now related to LinkedIn or personal branding? Are there any specific topics or tips you'd like to see in upcoming issues? Reply here and let me know!

Kait LeDonne is a New York-based personal branding strategist and LinkedIn coach who helps CEOs and teams turn expertise into visible authority and qualified deal flow. She is a featured instructor for CNBC Make It's "How to Build a Standout Personal Brand," bringing practical executive-grade playbooks to a broad audience.

Her LinkedIn audience and "Build a Brand" newsletter community exceeds 55,000 professionals. She has delivered training for organizations, including the United States Air Force and Kia. Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice and listed by Favikon among the Top Personal Branding Influencers in the U.S., Kait is frequently cited in the media for clear, results-driven systems executives can sustain.​