LinkedIn Announces a New Expansion of its Creator Accelerator Program

LinkedIn has announced an expansion of its Creator Accelerator Program, which will see chosen LinkedIn creators invited to take part in a new initiative designed to help them improve their LinkedIn skills, and maximize their in-app presence.

The 6-week program will provide participants with ‘access to tools and products that will enable them to start conversations, build engaged communities, and connect to meaningful opportunities’ on LinkedIn.

Participants will also be given $12,000 each for taking part, while LinkedIn’s also adding a range of new mentors and advisers into its platform training process, including Sherrell Dorsey, founder of ‘The Plug’, podcasters Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry, and more.

LinkedIn launched the initial stage of its Creator Accelerator Program last September, which saw participants take part in a 10-week course, along with a $15k cash stipend.

Both have been reduced for this new expansion, with the focus now shifting more specifically to ‘Technology and Innovation’, which LinkedIn says is the top industry for creators on the platform.

Like all platforms, LinkedIn’s looking to keep its most engaging creators posting more often – and with the platform continuing to see ‘record levels’ of engagement, LinkedIn wants to feed into that activity where possible, with the addition of more thought leadership content into people’s feeds.

In some ways, it may seem less important for LinkedIn to build more incentives for its creators – because where else are you going to publish your business thought content? But then again, these creators can, of course, make money through guest-blogging and posting on other sites, so it does make sense for the platform to provide more direct incentive, even if it’s not in the same type of fight for creative talent as the popular video apps.

If you’re interested in further solidifying your LinkedIn presence, you can apply to be part of the program here – though in order to qualify, you need to have a track record of ‘driving professional conversations about the world of work’, be living in the US, and be over 18 years of age.