This is a guest post by Shaun Sethna, the Deputy General Counsel at Altisource in Houston, who I met on LinkedIn (of course!) on how he started posting content on LinkedIn to build his brand. You should follow him on LinkedIn if you’re not doing so already.
Even though I’m very much a newbie when it comes to posting on LinkedIn, one of the most common messages I’ve received has been along the lines of “I’ve been thinking about posting regularly but haven’t started yet. How did you get started?”
I wanted I’d share my thoughts on how I got started posting regularly on LinkedIn and why I do it – both to help out others who may be wondering the same thing and, more importantly, for others with different/better ideas to weigh in and benefit everyone.
1 – Figure out the key topics you want to write about. The topics should be those in which you feel you could add value to your target audience – whoever that is and however big or small they are – and enjoy doing so.
Remember that “adding value” doesn’t equate to “be an expert.”
It could mean proposing an idea you have and seeing what others have to say.
It could mean posing an interesting question that only someone with little experience in the field would think of.
2 – Start following other people on LinkedIn who talk about those topics, and start commenting on those posts to get your feet wet. You’ll start to develop and hone your writing style and understand which points of yours resonate, without feeling like everyone’s watching you.
3 – Start connecting (not just following) with people who are active on those posts. It will help grow your network for when you do start posting.
4 – Make a list of post topics so that when you’re starting off, you won’t have to struggle to think of new ideas.
5 – Write a piece you feel good about and click submit! And be sure to interact with people who are taking the time to engage on your post.
It’s been exciting to see my ideas resonate with others.
It’s been rewarding to learn from people who take the time to comment and share their experiences – especially when they disagree with me.
It’s been fulfilling to see lawyers, law students or others reach out to me and ask for my advice or help.
And most importantly, it’s been phenomenal (but completely unsurprising) to have a daily reminder that I have the most supportive wife in the world, who always makes sure to log in to LinkedIn just to “like” my posts even though she rarely uses it for anything else.