The trap
It’s so tempting to get onto Linkedin and talk about your industry again, and again… and again.
You love your industry.
You’re passionate about it.
You want your content to attract prospects.
And here’s the big one: talking endlessly about your industry is safe. No vulnerability, no sharing – you’re the professional and the expert.
So you post new projects, case studies, testimonials, tips, and industry news.
Problem is, if you post industry content every day, it won’t be relevant to most of the people who see it. If it’s not relevant to them, they scroll right past. If they scroll right past, your post dies. If your post dies, your target market is unlikely to see it.
The way forward
You know how business happens: know, like, and trust, right?
Work LinkedIn in that order.
Stage 1: At first, your goal is to grow your network and an engaged audience, so that your content is seen by many people.
Start with content that is relevant to a broad audience and gets a lot of discussion going.
General business content: hiring, scaling, software, time management, client relationships, employee management, sales, books/podcasts/courses, your business journey, marketing – these are topics business owners in any industry can relate to. That translates into lots of engagement on your posts. More people are getting to know about you.
Personal content: challenges, goals, memories, hobbies, community, people/places/experiences that have had an impact on you – these topics build rapport with your audience. They are starting to like you.
You’ll notice that these topics can be harder to talk about. Being successful on LinkedIn does require putting yourself out there and being vulnerable.
Stage 2: 3-6 months into your Linkedin journey (if you’ve been posting consistently), your goal is now to help your audience trust you. You have a large, engaged audience to spread your content and help it be seen by the right people.
You know how business happens: know, like, and trust, right?
Work LinkedIn in that order.
Stage 1: At first, your goal is to grow your network and an engaged audience, so that your content is seen by many people.
Start with content that is relevant to a broad audience and gets a lot of discussion going.
General business content: hiring, scaling, software, time management, client relationships, employee management, sales, books/podcasts/courses, your business journey, marketing – these are topics business owners in any industry can relate to. That translates into lots of engagement on your posts. More people are getting to know about you.
Personal content: challenges, goals, memories, hobbies, community, people/places/experiences that have had an impact on you – these topics build rapport with your audience. They are starting to like you.
You’ll notice that these topics can be harder to talk about. Being successful on LinkedIn does require putting yourself out there and being vulnerable.
Stage 2: 3-6 months into your Linkedin journey (if you’ve been posting consistently), your goal is now to help your audience trust you. You have a large, engaged audience to spread your content and help it be seen by the right people.
You can now increase the proportion of industry content in your mix!
What a content mix looks like IRL
