Jayde Powell began her social media career by working for wellness brands and big companies like Delta Airlines over a decade ago. She never expected to make money by creating content as herself, especially on LinkedIn. Powell started posting observations from her experiences in corporate America on the platform after noticing other creators were shifting away from Twitter. Her posts started gaining traction and catching the attention of past clients. When the social media management platform Sprout Social offered her $1,000 to write a sponsored post promoting their event on her personal LinkedIn page, Powell had a light-bulb moment. She realized she could leverage her writing skills to earn money through her own accounts.
Despite owning her social media strategy agency, The Em Dash Co., Powell has made $27,000 this year posting content on LinkedIn. This extra income helps her pay her mortgage, utility bills, and offset monthly business expenses. In addition to her earnings from LinkedIn, she has made $32,700 through The Em Dash Co. and another $2,750 from other social media content. While her combined income has not surpassed her previous full-time job salary of $95,000, it exceeds the $52,100 she earned solely from The Em Dash Co. last year and is slightly higher than the median annual salary for social media managers in the U.S.
Powell’s key to going viral on LinkedIn was in marrying corporate content with a conversational tone. Her posts attracted a large following on the platform by reflecting her personal experiences at work and prompting conversations among users. She stresses the importance of injecting personality into content to make it feel authentic to consumers. This approach is what makes influencer marketing so effective, as people tend to trust recommendations from individuals over brands. Powell has worked to translate her personal voice from X.com to LinkedIn, adapting the tone to fit trends and issues that young professionals experience.
After her initial success promoting brands on LinkedIn, Powell started seeking out clients for her personal page. By making a list of the tools she used as an influencer and reaching out to businesses, she was able to attract partnerships due to the authenticity of her content. She believes the income from her LinkedIn side hustle could surpass that of her solo agency, as businesses recognize the value of hearing from real people. While managing her agency and side hustle comes with its challenges, such as uncertainty about when the next paycheck will come, Powell is considering shifting her focus to her personal content, aiming to reach 100,000 followers on LinkedIn by the end of 2025 and potentially becoming a full-time LinkedIn influencer.
Powell’s success on LinkedIn demonstrates the power of leveraging personal experiences and authenticity for influencer marketing. As more consumers gravitate towards trusting recommendations from individuals as opposed to brands directly, influencers like Powell are able to carve out a lucrative niche for themselves. By adapting her content to resonate with her audience and seeking out partnerships that align with her personal brand, Powell has been able to turn her social media presence into a profitable side hustle.
