LinkedIn used to be the platform we hopped onto occasionally to tart up our resume or look for a job. But darling, that’s so last decade. 

Now on LinkedIn you can get anything from the lowdown on your telecoms provider to the best leg-waxer in town. I kid you not. 

Right now, LinkedIn is the platform where we all get to shine – businesses, solopreneurs, educators, recruiters, coaches. It’s literally the best ever place to source everything from clients, collaborations and coaching, and it’s bursting with inspiration, networking opportunities and ready-made audience-building tools.

And this should all come as no surprise, because LinkedIn is a B2B publishing platform like no other – YOU get to control the content. 

Having an active and thriving LinkedIn presence offers individuals and businesses mahoosive benefits. 

Here’s why I think LinkedIn really matters: 

1. You Get To Think Like a Publisher 

In my opinion, the best benefit of LinkedIn is that because you get to control the content, it gives you opportunity to #thinklikeapublisher. 

And what do publishers do? Well, I’ve worked for them for large chunks of my working life – and they hone in on their target demographic like a lion chases a wildebeest on the savannah. 

If you pick up a magazine, or subscribe to a platform online, it’s because that platform knows what you think about in your sleep, what makeup you buy, the shoes you wear to walk your dog, the car you drive and the car you wish you were driving.  

A laser focus on making your content relevant to your audience(s) stands you in good stead. Because they’ll come back. They watch you… They read what you put out there. If it vibes with them, then they start to think warm thoughts about you and what you do. And before you know it, they’re there, liking your posts, answering your poll, feeling engaged with you. 

(Actually, I got a bit carried away then…this explosion of engagement does happen sometimes – and it happens more as you engage more. But because I’m writing this in the UK, sometimes your audience is quietly there, eyes slightly narrowed, just quietly stealthily observing…) But eventually either their stiff upper lip will wobble or an innate envy of your LinkedIn prowess will crumble and they will give you a cautious ‘like’ and before you know it they’re inviting you to Zoom.  

I say all of this to urge you to THINK about your content. Don’t just slap it up there like you’re flipping a burger. Make it relevant, interesting and useful to your audience. Posting regularly is important, because relationships need consistency. So you don’t have to over-think, but try to serve up some interesting nuggets for your ‘tribe’, and while a little self-congratulation is de rigeur for the platform, aim to lead with value… which leads me to my second point…

2. Connect with current and potential clients in a value-led way

When you post LinkedIn content, you’re building #CONNECTIONS – and connections are at the heart of every transaction including our business relationships. And as well as creating new connections, you’re also consolidating existing connections and engagements. 

Which is why it’s super important to make sure that your content is actually relevant, engaging and useful – and unless social media is merely something you do for kicks, then it’s got to be driving a specific outcome. 

So, before you do anything, hire anybody, write anything, you need to work out what success looks like for you on LinkedIn. Ask yourself: Why am I on here? What am I trying to do here? 

Alas, alack, engaging and relevant content creation is not the immediate God-given forte of every soul. But FRET YE NOT. 

You don’t need to grab every shiny new toy, trick, webinar that comes your way, from any of the hordes of social media janitors who rattle their mops at you and promise you the world. 

Because the success of your LinkedIn content is NOT about whether you’ve trained as a journalist or copywriter. It’s not about how slick you are with words. It’s about clarity and authenticity. Some of the most successful copywriters in the world make me want to weep with their bad grammar. But while I’m curled into a fetal ball at their painful grammar, their copy is converting its targeted audience, and people are flocking to buy the product or service. Because content is about #value #intent and #emotion. In fact, I’d say that the emotion and energy with which you create your content is possibly the most important thing of all. 

There are some basic techniques, post styles, engagement tricks that can help elevate your content and make it work harder. I can teach you these by the way! (#shamelessselfpromotion). And if I’m feeling generous, I might even do a free webinar on these basic post styles shortly – please let me know if you’d be interested in that. 

3. Positioning

LinkedIn is a perfect platform to position yourself online. This is worthy of a whole blog in itself, because positing a business is separate from positioning an individual. So, I shall brew up a blog all about positioning and personal branding very shortly. 

In the meantime, I offer you this golden nugget of truth. Make sure your profile pic is decent. By decent, I mean there is eye contact, it shows your beautiful face and you’re fully clothed. Heaving bosoms and hairy chests are for period dramas, not LinkedIn. 

4. Have fun!

Hey, it’s like Facebook but for work! LinkedIn counts as legitimate business activity. And while it’s important not to fall down a LinkedIn rabbit hole, if you’re using it as a networking and potential collaboration platform, it’s important to invest a bit of energy onto the platform so that you can actually engage and meet the other people in this rather wonderful global network.

People want to work with people who know what they’re doing – and who are also fun!

Want a steer in the right direction?

I hope I’ve whetted your appetite to whoosh off and create some cracking LinkedIn content. You’ve got this! And if you or your team feel you need a bit of a steer, let’s chat

Together we can reverse engineer from desired outcomes to create a content strategy that works for you and your business. And I can also show you some surprisingly easy ways to create relevant content that tickles your audiences and makes them take the actions you need them to take.

Like any tool, LinkedIn will work harder for you when you know how to use it.

#lovelinkedin #makelinkedinworkforyou #havefunwithhashtags