Lessons Learned About Writing on LinkedIn
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
The suggestion for this topic came from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. I appreciate the interest and am delighted to respond. Anyone else who has a topic they would like me to address is welcome to send me a message.
First, just a general statement of fact: Prior to creating this newsletter, I had posted hundreds of articles on LinkedIn, for a total, as of last week, of 497 articles. That number is accurate. The total number of "views," meaning how many times all the articles have been read, is 787,719 or an average of 1,585 reads per article. That number is not accurate because I would have to go to the stats on each one to get an update. I'm not that interested! So the minimum number of times my articles have been read is approximately 1,600. Which begs the question, how do I promote my articles?
It's really very simple: First, the nice people at LinkedIn automatically inform my 5,306 subscribers via a "Notification" and an e-mail when I have published an article. As a general rule, it really does not matter when I publish, but I have found the best times are on Friday mornings, or Thursday mornings during the summer (accounting for vacations). But there have been times when circumstances required me to publish on a different day or time with no real impact on the average readership. (Don't forget, there are 24 time zones, so "today" is always "yesterday" or "tomorrow" somewhere else.)
Additionally, the not so nice people at LinkedIn changed the rules last year and while I am in scores of groups, they now only allow me to post my articles to 20 groups once a week. I post to the ones with my target audience and the largest number of members.
When I see a post on LinkedIn, or another social media site, concerning a topic on which I have already written, I share a link to the article.
And, finally, all articles are "Featured" on my Profile and added to my Corporate Page. They are also shared on my other social media sites.
And that is all I do regarding promotion.
Second, having a photo at the top of an article seems to attract readers.
Third, the title needs to indicate value or mystery. Articles with a number are also helpful. "The 5 Secrets to Getting a 7-Figure Salary," would probably raise my average readership significantly. Sadly, I do not know what to write!
Fourth, after I have written an article, I copy and paste the text into Word. Despite the fact that there is spellcheck on LinkedIn, things that get missed are usually caught on Word. Despite proofreading articles multiple times, I sometime miss something. That, of course, is on me. But the point is, people don't want to read poorly written articles, so I do everything I can to make certain mine have know speling or gramatical errers, and, yes, those were all intentional! And that reminds me of something else I try to do, add a little humor to the content. One should not take oneself too seriously.
Fifth, every time someone "likes" or comments on an article, it expands the article's reach. That is why, despite the fact that I only have 5,300 subscribers, I have well over that number of actual readers. Of course, there is also the fact that I have over 33,000 followers. I can't control which ones (other than subscribers) learn of the publication of a new article, but some are notified.
Regarding comments, a word of warning: Humans have three layers of skin. Whales and sharks have skin that can be measured in inches. This may come as a shock to you (Remember what I wrote about adding humor?), but there are people on the internet (read: social media) who are not nice and they post comments that prove that point. I am not referring to people who professionally and politely disagree with something I write. I'm fine with that. Here I am referring to those who resort to what are called ad hominem, or personal, attacks. In those cases, LinkedIn provides a quick solution. The author of an article can delete any comment they so choose. But when you go public, having thick skin is a necessity. Remember, when someone attacks you, they make themselves look foolish, not you! So, despite the fact that it is totally natural to want to respond, don't engage, delete. Or use the laugh emoji. On second thought, don't. It just makes you look childish and gives them more visibility and the satisfaction of knowing they got under at least one of your three layers of skin.
And then there are those who don't insult but simply want to "ride your coattails," meaning they want to benefit from your visibility. The best, or worst, example, is the person whose "comment" is an ad for their services, totally unrelated to the topic on which you wrote the article. Sometimes it is a competitor (who adds nothing to the discussion but only plugs their services), and sometimes it is something totally divorced from the subject. The "delete" function solves the problem.
Finally, I was also asked the source for the topics on which I write. Usually, they come from what I see online, an idea from a program I was watching, the news, something that happens to me, or an issue raised by a client. And then there are, as in this case, reader requests.
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