"Sunaina, are you looking to take your creation to the next level?" — said an email from LinkedIn, which recently announced its Creator Accelerator Program for Indian content creators.

Following this announcement was an interactive online conversation with Ankur Warikoo that drew thousands of creators. Earlier last year, it introduced Creator Mode to empower LinkedIn creators; this feature included adding topics of interest to one's bio. A report by Tubefilter states that about 2M users turned on the creator mode when it was introduced, but now there are 5.5M users. 😱

Studies say that for every content creator, there are 150 users who consume content — which means, creating a personal brand on LinkedIn today is fairly simple. A nudge in the right direction is perhaps all that creators need.

But, First: What's the LinkedIn Accelerator Program?

It's a 10-week accelerator program accepting applications from diverse LinkedIn creators. The common goal for all the creators is to ignite insightful conversations and foster a community with a solid voice. This means if you've got some sound advice or want to share your professional conversations — you can apply for this program. When this program launched in the US, LinkedIn extended about $15,000 to each creator to support them.

An official announcement by Andrei Santalo, Global Head of Communities & Creators at LinkedIn said, "So why India? Because at 85 million members, India is the fastest-growing market on LinkedIn with a robust and engaged creator community. This is one of many steps we’re taking to support creators in India, who we know are eager to connect with each other and to opportunity."

What's awesome is that the Indian program has accepted 200 applicants, and LinkedIn has roped in Ankur Warikoo, Pooja Dhingra, Nuseir Yassin, and Radhika Gupta to coach the creators. A creator-led program for creators? That sounds just about right!

Posts from even popular influencers like Anupama Chopra saw hashtags like #CreateOnLinkedIn

Why LinkedIn Accelerator Program Matters

If you think about it, the content creation game isn’t lucrative, especially in our country, and creators require support, guidance, and funding to take their creations a notch up and above. Accelerator programs of this size and impact will indeed encourage more creators to have meaningful conversations around stuff that matters — from workplace diversity and creative burnouts to career gaps and productivity.

Another thing worth considering is the grants will also help the creators up-skill and develop a broader level of learning. Let’s take LinkedIn Learning for instance — courses like Advanced Content Marketing, Personal Branding, Understanding Metrics, Data Visualization are valuable enough. These particularly come handy for tier-2 and 3 creators who may not always have an access to such courses, which also applies to the mentorship they receive from the chosen mentors.

While that’s one way of looking at things, creators have myriad avenues to now monetise through LinkedIn. We’re talking about publishing, grabbing book deals, online cohorts, and the most obvious — brand sponsorships.

Indian creators and professionals like Harish, Sharin Bhatti, Shephali Bhatt, Shewali Tiwari, and Sai Ganesh actively engage with their followers. While LinkedIn is working towards changing its content game, what’s left to see is how it’ll spurt the growth of new creators every single year.

Having fresh and real voices also means more people will be comfortable having conversations around our workplaces, discuss what’s right or not, therefore driving the future of how we work. Who knew LinkedIn would enable that?