Launched my first book in July and decided that I would start blogging on LinkedIn as (I hoped) it would get me the widest coverage and amplification. I'd had a blog for two years before that, but people have to find your blog, where as, by blogging on LinkedIn I can get content in front of all my contacts and the people who are generous enough to share its contacts.
When I started marketing my book, my first target for book sales was my network and people in my contacts, networks, so LinkedIn was ideal for me as a place to write, create and share content.
My publisher and I started promoting the book 3 months in "pre-order", my first blog was published therefore on 5th April 2016. (For those sharp eyed, I also published one on 28th February, which was a test to make sure I hit the ground running in April. :) )
Since then I have published some 50 (fifty) blog posts on LinkedIn and this is what I have learned. If you can think of any more reasons, if you agree, even if you disagree, please send me a comment!
Always ask a question in your blog to get engagement, people are very generous with leaving comments. This debate gives the blog a longer "shelf life" and will get your article to a wider audience. Always, Always, Always, reply to the comments people leave. Sometimes (the LinkedIn clunky user interface does not help) it can be difficult to keep up with comments. But if people have taken the time to leave comments, please take the time to reply. The headline is critical to get people's attention. Realise you are a great writer with an amazing story to tell, unless you have a great headline, people will just pass you by for the next article. It is. just a click away. "A picture is worth a thousand words" - Your headline image is a great attention grabber. It is worth spending time, finding a great (even humorous) image to go with your blog. Images and Photos in your article make the blogs easier to read. It's worth taking the time to research images that flow with your story. LinkedIn is best for the "short form" blog, about 500 words. If you are writing blogs that are longer, either try Medium or split the blog in two. The Hook. Like any article you need to have a "hook", a reason why somebody should read your article at the start. This is where you "sell" the reader the reason to give your article the time. Be educational. Many readers on LinkedIn are looking for knowledge, they want to be educated. But be genuine, a list of your product features doesn't cut it. A link to another boring white paper, isn't thought leadership. Thought leadership needs to offer, leadership in thought, be different, offer some insight or an opinion. People don't need to agree with you. There is nothing wrong about mentioning your product and services but you need to do it within the context of helping and educating. As my friend Brynne Tillman says " sell, but don't pitch ". There is nothing wrong with using a ghostwriter. If you do, make sure you use one that people read. 90% of content isn't read, so make sure your writer is part of the 10%. We ghost write articles at DLA, if you are looking to hire a company to do this. Did you see what I did there? "Sell, but don't pitch". Don't shoot all your bullets in one go - I know many people who sit down to write one blog and end up writing 5. Don't put them all on-line all at once. Publishing a blog once a week is plenty. There will be times when you don't have inspiration, so hold back. What are you going to be famous for? - To build a community, you should stand for something. Hopefully, most people when they think of Tim Hughes, they think "Social Selling'. Find your niche. (A friend who sells Human resources software, he decided he was going to be famous for work / life balance. Don't be famous for what you sell, but something at a tangent.) For me, LinkedIn's desktop user interface is a little clunky. But I always use the desktop to write my blogs and then use mobile to catch on the updates and comments.
Would love to hear about your experiences of using LinkedIn, or any other platform to blog!
