How to start posting on LinkedIn

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You want to start posting on LinkedIn…

But:

• You don’t have anything worthwhile to say

• Everyone you used to work with will think you’re cringe

• You’d die if no one liked or commented on your posts

Spoiler alert:

That’s your imposter syndrome talking. 

Find a way to overcome it and you’ll:

• Grow your network

• Hone your craft as a writer

• Maybe even land some inbound leads  

Thing is, putting yourself out there for the first time is scary. 

What are you even supposed to say?

To help you out, I’ve pulled together five kinds of LinkedIn posts anyone can write – no expertise needed.

And I’ve illustrated each of them with real-life examples you can use for inspo 👀

So, don't know what to post on LinkedIn?

Start here…

❓ Ask questions (you actually want to know the answer to)

It’s a lot easier to post on LinkedIn when you realise:

You’re not stepping on the main stage at a conference.

You’re chatting at the afterparty.

Steph Trovato gets this.

Here’s her take on it:

Sometimes Steph asks questions about work😀 

Sometimes she asks questions about life:

But she always gets a conversation going.

And that’s what builds a network – and btw, a strong network is what brings you gigs 👀

No idea what questions to ask your network?

Here are six questions I’ve asked you all in TOFU over the last few months for inspo:

• How often do you cry during movies?

• Which kinds of work have you been paid to do so far this year?

• Are you most interested in how things work or why people do what they do?

• How many clients have you worked with so far this year?

• If you had to enter a talent show, what would your talent be?

• How many hours do you spend trying to land new clients each week?

Like Steph says: don’t overthink it. Ask questions people WANT to answer and they’ll get the convo started.

💐 Give someone their flowers

Still got that lil’ voice whispering “I don’t have anything worthwhile to say” in the back of your head?

Here’s an easy way to shush it:

Highlight someone else’s awesome content.

That way you’re not saying anything – you’re summarising something someone much smarter than you said.

Plus, every time you give a stranger some love for their awesome work, the internet becomes a little bit of a better place 🫶

Some great examples:

Oluwaseun Akinlembola singing the praises of Float’s content:

Kate Reeves taking notes on an email she got from Tescos:

Ray Slater Berry swooning some banger opening lines from his team:

Looking for content to gush over?

You’ll find great stuff at:

• Backlinko

• Ahrefs’s blog

• Orbit Media’s blog

• Relato’s blog

• Beam Content’s blog

• Moz’s blog

• Ann Handley’s newsletter

• Eddie Shleyner’s VeryGoodCopy

• Erica Schneider’s newsletter 

• Tommy Walker’s YouTube channel

• Adriana Tica’s newsletter

👀 Share things you spot in the wild

As content marketers, we spend our days poking around the internet.

And let’s face it – a lot of the internet is weird. 

Whenever you come across something that makes you do a double take, pop it on LinkedIn.

Whether it’s weird af, like this wild take Tyler spotted in a Fast Company article:

Or these Gollum-ass subheads I stumbled across in a McKinsey report😀 

Or it’s interesting, like this new SERP feature Leonard Raleigh spotted…

Which got picked up by Brodie Clark, who shared it with a hat tip to Leonard:

Anything that makes you say “wait, whut?” makes for a good LinkedIn post.

And you deffo don’t need to be a ✨ thought leader ✨ to post that kind of thing.

💬 Talk about what you’ve been up to

Everyone who’s been freelancing a while will tell you the same thing:

Most freelance clients come through referrals.

And the best way to get more referrals?

Make friends with other freelancers.

Which is where posting about yourself on LinkedIn comes in. 

Not in a “look at me everyone aren’t I amazing!” kind of way.

But in a “here’s what’s going on with me” way.

Like Nicholas Mlakar posting about his experience following Ray Bradbury’s writing advice:

Jolissa Skow’s super thoughtful Diary of a Laid-off Content Pro updates:

Belinda Roozemond’s recap of what she got up to in June:

And Joel Klettke’s weekly accountability updates:

These are the kind of posts that help you build a community.

And the bigger your community, the more jobs and gigs are going to come your way.

🏆 Show off your work (without the cringe)

Create a piece of content you’re proud of?

Take a leaf out of Rosanna Campbell’s book and summarise the key points in a LinkedIn post:

Your clients will love that you’re boosting their brand.

And potential clients will see it and might want to work with you 👀

And hey, if you’ve got access to the results your work has driven and a client that’s cool with you sharing them, follow Precious Oboidhe’s lead:

You don’t always have to talk about the content itself, though.

Check out this post from Victoria on her experience working with a great editor:

That’s a great way of talking about your work – and giving potential clients an idea of what you’re like to work with 👀

Still feeling nervous about posting on LinkedIn?

That’s totally normal!

But if you can overcome the ol’ imposter syndrome, putting yourself out there can lead to some awesome things.

So if you want to start posting on there:

• Ask a question

• Give someone their flowers

• Share something you’ve stumbled across in the wild

• Talk about what you’ve been up to

• Show off your work (without the cringe)

Worried your post is going to completely bomb?

Send it to me it once it’s live and I’ll give it a like and a comment.

That way you don’t need to worry about it getting complete crickets 🍻

Happy posting!