Looking Local on LinkedIn
The goal is to meet strategic partners and investors. Four parts: set up, publish, reach out, keep the rhythm.
Figures such as image sizes and character limits are as published in October 2026. If anything looks different, check LinkedIn's own editor.
On LinkedIn, people get seen and company pages get checked. Your personal profile does the reaching out and most of the posting. The Looking Local page is what people click to see whether it's real. Build the page so it passes that check, then spend your time on your personal profile.
Open a section to read it. Your ticks, this week's rhythm and the outreach tracker are saved in this browser, on this device only. The text boxes are for drafting: edit, then copy.
This browser is blocking storage, so ticks and tracker rows won't be kept after you close the page. Export the tracker as CSV before you leave.
Contents
- Set up the company page
- Tune your personal profile
- What to post · idea builder
- Who to reach out to · tracker
- Personal and company
- Your weekly rhythm
- How you'll know it's working
Create it from your personal profile: For Business (top right) → Create a Company Page → Company.
Tick each field as you fill it in.
| Field | What to put | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Looking Local | Exactly as it appears in the app. | |
| linkedin.com/company/lookinglocal | Claim it now, even if you change other things later. | |
| https://lookinglocal.net | — | |
| Travel Arrangements, or Technology, Information and Internet | Pick the one your partners search; travel is the stronger signal. | |
| 2–10, Privately held | Honest and normal for a startup. | |
| The Looking Local mark on a plain background, square | Upload at 400×400 or larger, and check it at small size. | |
| One of your own NYC photographs, with no text in the left third (your logo sits there) | 1512×256 px, JPG or PNG, under 3 MB. Use your own photos, never stock; that's the brand. | |
| Up to 120 characters, e.g. "Travel like you live here. Neighborhoods, local behavior and what's on, from the people who know." Draft it below | Say what it does, not what it is. | |
| See the About template below | The first two lines show before "see more". | |
| New York, NY | — | |
| Visit website → lookinglocal.net | — | |
| #travel #NYC #localtravel #traveltech #citylife | Three to five. |
Looking Local helps visitors understand how to be in a city: how locals move, eat, behave and spend an evening, neighborhood by neighborhood.
Most travel apps tell you where to go. Looking Local tells you how it works once you're there: the local move, what to order, what gives you away as a tourist, and what's on tonight.
We're live in New York, with [number] places, [number] neighborhoods across [number] boroughs, a weekly events calendar, and a photography archive shot on the street.
Founded by Danielle Vega. We're talking with partners in tourism, hospitality and local business. Say hello: [email]
- Photo: a clear, friendly headshot. Natural light, face filling about 60% of the frame.
- Banner: a street photograph of yours, 1584×396 px, with optional short text: "Founder, Looking Local · Travel like you live here".
- Headline (up to 220 characters): what you do and for whom, not just a title. Example below.
- About: three short paragraphs.
- Why you started it: the moment you realized visitors were missing the real city.
- What Looking Local does differently.
- What you're looking for now: "I'd love to meet people in tourism, hospitality, local business and early-stage travel investing."
- Featured section: pin the app link, your best post, and one photo set.
- Experience: Founder, Looking Local (linked to the page), plus your relevant background.
- Custom profile URL: linkedin.com/in/daniellevega or similar.
- Open to → Providing services: skip. You're building a company, not taking clients.
Rotate five themes. Each one shows partners and investors something different.
Pick a theme to draft its opening line.
- The first line is everything. The feed cuts off after about 140 characters on mobile, so make that line earn the click.
- Use short paragraphs, one idea, and one of your own photos.
- Put links in the first comment, not the post. Posts with links tend to be shown less.
- End with a real question, so people comment.
- Reply to every comment in the first hour. Early comments widen the post's reach.
- Tag people and businesses only when they're genuinely part of the story.
Articles or a newsletter. Turn a theme into a 600–900 word piece, for example "The Local Field Guide: [neighborhood]". If LinkedIn offers you a newsletter, start one called Looking Local Field Notes; subscribers get notified each time. Then share the article in a normal post.
- Promising dates for the store apps.
- Numbers you can't back up.
- Stock photos.
- Arguing in the comments.
- Posting the same text on both accounts (see section 5).
Reach out from your personal profile, never the company page. Company pages can't send connection requests, and people answer people.
| Group | Who, specifically | What's in it for them |
|---|---|---|
| Tourism and city bodies | NYC Tourism + Conventions, borough tourism offices, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in your neighborhoods | Visitors who spread out, spend locally and behave well |
| Hospitality | Boutique hotel GMs and guest-experience leads, concierge teams, short-stay operators | A better guest experience without extra staff |
| Local businesses | Owners of venues already in the app | Free visibility, plus a reason to share you |
| Relocation and HR | Corporate relocation firms, HR leads at companies hiring into NYC, university international-student offices | Newcomers who need to understand the city fast |
| Travel tech | Product and partnership people at travel startups, including the Karpo / MachinePulse team | Content and local knowledge they lack |
| Creators | NYC photographers, food and neighborhood creators | Distribution and credit for their work |
| Investors | Angels and pre-seed funds who invest in travel, consumer or city tech; founders of travel startups who now angel-invest | An early, distinctive product with a clear thesis |
How to find them: search a title plus a place ("hotel general manager New York"), then filter by People and 2nd-degree connections. A mutual connection is the best possible opener. Ask them for an introduction.
LinkedIn allows only 200 characters, and a free account gets about 3 personalized notes a month. So:
- On a free account: send requests without a note to most people. Send your first real message after they accept.
- If you plan to reach out a lot, one month of LinkedIn Premium lets you add a note to every request. Cancel when you've done your outreach push.
Short, specific, with one easy ask:
Thanks for connecting, [name]. Looking Local helps visitors understand how a city actually works: neighborhoods, local habits, what's on. We're live in New York now. [One sentence on why them.] Would you be open to a 20-minute call in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule.
For investors, don't pitch in the first message. Ask for advice: "I'd value 20 minutes of your view on how you'd grow something like this." People who give advice often come back as investors. Have a one-page summary and a short deck ready before these calls.
If there's no reply, send one follow-up after a week. Then let it go.
Pace: 5–10 new people a day, most of them targeted. Keep a simple tracker: name, group, date contacted, reply, next step.
Saved in this browser only. Export a CSV now and then to keep a copy.
| Name | Group | Contacted | Replied | Next step | Remove |
|---|
- Don't post identical text from both accounts at the same time. It looks automated, and the two posts compete for the same people.
- Personal profile = the story. Your voice, your opinions, what you learned. This is where most of your reach comes from.
- Company page = the record. Launches, features, partner spotlights, the monthly article. Short and factual.
- When the page posts something important, repost it from your personal profile a day later with your own two lines on top.
- Tag the page (@Looking Local) in your personal posts when it's natural, so readers find it.
- Never quietly reshare the page's post with no comment.
Tick each task as you do it this week. New week clears the week's ticks; it doesn't touch the setup checklist.
| Task | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every weekdayComment thoughtfully on 3–5 posts by people you want to meet. This warms them up before you reach out.15 min | |||||
| Every weekdaySend 5–10 connection requests, and reply to messages.15 min | |||||
| Tue and Thu (or 3 days a week)One post from your personal profile, in the morning New York time.20 min each | |||||
| Once a weekOne company page post (spotlight, feature or milestone).15 min | |||||
| FridayUpdate the tracker: who replied, calls booked, follow-ups due.10 min | |||||
| Once a monthOne article or newsletter edition, then share it from both accounts. (New week leaves this tick alone; untick it when a new month starts.)1–2 hours |
Consistency beats volume. Two good posts a week for three months does more than daily posting for two weeks.
- Calls booked with partners and investors. This is the number that matters.
- Replies to your outreach. Aim for 20–30% from targeted people.
- Profile views and connection growth.
- Company page followers.
- Comments on posts. These count for more than likes.
After the first month: keep the themes that started conversations, and drop the ones that didn't.
After three months: if partner calls are happening but investor ones aren't, tighten the investor list and your one-page summary before sending more.