1% Startup Marketing Challenge

Week 4

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Hey folks! 👋

We're back with another week of the 1% Startup Marketing Challenge for you.

Reminder: This challenge gives you one thing to do in ~15 mins each week to improve your marketing. It's your ticket out of "Marketing Drift" (where founders and operators kick the marketing can down the road) and into a world where little improvements each week add up to a lot. Let's go 🚀

Challenge #4: Warm up your LinkedIn like an old-school car 🚙

Brrrm brrrm! Who remembers having to warm up your car's engine in winter before hitting the road?

The younger cohort among us won't have experienced this but if you know, you know. And if you don't, here's how it worked:

• Turn your car on, perhaps even using the old-fashioned choke typically located beneath the steering wheel
• Let it run in the driveway or outside your house for up to five minutes, listening for that smooth engine sound
• When you hear it, you know it's safe to hit the road without the engine bunny hopping you along and eventually conking out, leaving you red-faced on the side of the road while cars zoom past

How does this relate to LinkedIn?

Well, it's easy to fall into the mindless LinkedIn scroll, right? We scroll, skim, get distracted by what other people are doing... and then hop off feeling a bit 'meh'. Right?

Meanwhile, there's a lot of tips about how the algorithm has changed (again) and indeed, it does seem harder for your posts to gain reach and engagement.

Of course there are heaps of tips about how to beat the algorithm, such as:

📈 Weeks 1–2: Send 10–15 connection requests, interact 3–5 times

📈 Weeks 3–4: Ramp it up to 20–25 requests, 5–7 interactions

📈 Weeks 5–6: You get the idea...

It's not that this is wrong.

But here's something that's way lower-lift because it's about reusing the time you're already spending on LinkedIn.

👉🏼 This week's 1% task is simply: Before you post on LinkedIn, spend 15 minutes "warming up" your account.

👍 Like a few posts.

💬 Comment on others.

🤔 Make your comments thoughtful.

🔗 Connect with a few people you’d happily talk to IRL.

And THEN do your post.

Even better: mix up the days and times. Be human, not robotic. No growth hacks, no spreadsheets, just more mindful LinkedIn use.

Because posting without warming up your network is like driving an old school car after a cold winter night. It might start up, but it'll conk out pretty quickly.

Any feedback? 💌

We'd love to hear it. Did you try this challenge? How did it go? Hit reply on this email to let us know.

This newsletter is from the team at Stella Startups 👋

ICYMI, we’re Stella Startups – a marketing partner for AU and NZ startups from early stage to scale up.

We bring you marketing strategy, brand expertise and hands-on execution, all with a commitment to innovation so you can make an impact bigger than your budget. Head to our website to find out more and if you’d like help, book some time to chat (we don’t bite).

See you next time,
Gemma & Bridget