Our 2018 LinkedIn playbook promised results without Premium; in 2026 the profile advice still works, but half the tactics are gone or behind a paywall.
In March 2018 we ran How To Use LinkedIn as a Digital Nomad, contributed by Sarah Aboulhosn. Its pitch was confident: LinkedIn is where the decision makers are, and "you don't even need to upgrade to LinkedIn's Premium paid version to get results".
We went back through every tactic in 2026. The parts about your profile and your posts still work. The parts that relied on free features mostly don't. Here's the honest breakdown.
Still works: a searchable headline
The best advice in the original is still the first. Your headline is often the first thing people see, and it's one of the most searchable parts of your profile. Don't just write "Copywriter". Write something specific enough to stand out, like the post's example: "B2B copywriter for Financial Institutions".
You don't need a single niche. Combine a few specific keywords that describe what you actually do, and add a touch of personality. The original author's own headline mixed skills with "Design Lover" and "Digital Nomad", and that still reads well.
If you're new, describe what you're learning or interested in, rather than pretending to be an expert.
Changed: the personal note on every request
What we said: send every connection request with a short, personalised note, and never the same template to everyone. We even gave a formula: introduction, a compliment that shows you did your research, a shared interest, and a friendly close.
What happened: LinkedIn now rations personalised notes on free accounts. Sources disagree on the exact cap, quoting 3 or 5 notes a month, and put the weekly invitation limit at roughly 100 to 200 (lemlist, Taplio). Both are sales-tool vendors; LinkedIn doesn't publish the figures. So "personalise every request" and "you don't need Premium" can no longer both be true.
What to do now: the formula is still good. Just spend your few notes on the people who matter most, the ones on your "would love to meet in real life" list. For everyone else, a plain request will have to do.
Gone: LinkedIn groups as an icebreaker
We admitted in 2018 that LinkedIn groups were "not as engaged as Facebook groups", but we still said there were hundreds of them for nomads and remote workers, and that a shared group was a good excuse to connect.
Groups have declined further since. Commentators now describe most of them as "ghost towns" full of spam (Propel Growth). If you find an active one, enjoy it. Just don't build your plan around them.
Paywalled: "Who's Viewed Your Profile"
What we said: check who viewed your profile and follow up with them, since they're warm leads. And if you're shy, view other people's profiles so they get a notification and come looking at yours.
What happened: free accounts now see only the three most recent viewers from the last 90 days. Premium shows up to 365 days of viewers (LinkedIn Help). The tactic still exists, but on a free account it's a peephole.
Our take: if one of those three viewers looks relevant, a friendly message is still fine. Visiting dozens of profiles to trigger notifications was never a great plan, and it's a worse one now.
Solved: finding remote jobs
What we said: "LinkedIn doesn't have an easy way to identify remote jobs", so search Google for remote companies and then look them up on LinkedIn.
What happened: LinkedIn fixed this. It added a "remote" location option for jobs in 2018, and in October 2021 it rolled out remote, hybrid and on-site filters (Social Media Today, 9to5Mac). Use the filter.
The rest of that section still makes sense. Once you find a remote company you like, follow its page, look at who works there, check for first- or second-degree connections, and send a short note about why the company interests you. If you want clients or a job, reach the decision makers. If you want friends, find people with your title and skills.
Still works, with a caveat: posting regularly
We told you to show up in your network's feed, ideally every day, with original posts, useful articles or updates that add value. The aim was to become the person people think of when they have a question in your field. That advice still holds.
The caveat: the feed works differently now. Commentators say the feed now leans more on topics than on who you are connected to. If the feed now leans on topics, it makes sense to be clearly about one, which is one more reason to keep that specific headline.
Outdated: "the movement is still small"
We wrote that "the digital nomad movement is still relatively small". Not any more. Somewhere between about 59 and 70+ countries now run digital nomad visas, depending on how you count (Citizen Remote). Our old tip of searching "digital nomad" plus your industry to find your peers still applies.
The short version
- Keep: a specific, keyword-rich headline; selective connections; regular, useful posts.
- Ration: personalised connection notes, now capped on free accounts.
- Drop: groups as a strategy, profile-view tricks, and the Google workaround for remote jobs.
One idea from the original deserves the last word. Think of LinkedIn as a virtual networking event, not a social network. At an event you go to meet new people, not to stand with the friends you came with. That still makes it easier to say hello.
Written 3 November 2026 from the research behind the archive's 2026 updates (checked 30 September, re-verified 3 November 2026). Sources are linked in the text.