Consistent sharing of content increases one’s visibility; contents that add value and is consistently seen, increase its creator’s brand image as a credible resource
I started being really active in LinkedIn almost two months ago. For some reason, I just found myself doing what I was passionate about and my cup of tea, writing. So I created a post entitled, “How I Fell in Love with Traffic”, featuring a best practice in multitasking that I personally do – driving while listening to learning material. After publishing my first article about my career journey, a Filipino LinkedIn expert, Virginia Bautista, sent me a message I would never forget. She expressed appreciation for my work and invited to feature me in her “Top 100 Filipinos to Follow on LinkedIn.” I shall say, the rest is history.
From then on, LinkedIn has become part of my daily routine. For almost two months, my connections and followers increased significantly by around 200%. My LinkedIn presence got a boost, as I have been receiving a lot of content mentions, connection requests and following notifications.
Wondering how I did it? Here are some practical tips that might also work for you.
Post Value-adding Content Regularly
There are two important elements of a content that I suggest here, value-adding and regularity. A content is value-adding if another person gets something out of it – inspiration, motivation, information, education, lead generation and potential occupation, among others. A content that adds value to one person, may not necessarily add value to another. How value is defined, is relative to the reader. There will always be someone who can find value in a content. In my opinion, the minimum requirement for every content, aside from being appropriate, is respectfulness. If it is respectful of other people and their belief system, there will always be value in it.
The second element is regularity. Regularity speaks about an author’s consistency in sharing valuable content. Consistent sharing of content increases one’s visibility. Contents that add value and is consistently seen, increase its creator’s brand image as a credible resource.
The content that I posted in early October with the heading, “Do you want to make it BIG in LinkedIn,” received overwhelming reactions and engagement. It was, in fact, noticed by a renowned Influencer, Cory Warfield-Shedwool, who brought all his esteemed connections to my post. That gave my profile a powerful boost. Followers and connection requests kept coming in.
So, what are the different ways that you can share valuable content?
- Write articles about a particular topic or subject;
- Post original content – all words, words with image, words with video (could be your own video);
- Share other authors’ post with personal insights added.
People love topics on inspiration, motivation, happiness, leadership, job hunting, start ups, running a business, personal branding or anything about LinkedIn, just to name a few. On average, I post 1 to 2 contents per day.
In every content that you publish, you can prompt people to follow you by hitting the follow button in your profile, or through your self-made hashtag. A self-made hashtag should be one that represents your brand, what you do and how you want people to remember you and your work. Mine is #loveleadlive.
The Power of Tagging
Tagging enables you to notify other people about your post. It’s usually treated as a form of invitation to engage. Most people who are tagged feel honoured and esteemed, making them want to drop by your content, react and leave a comment. Tagging is deemed necessary, especially if you would like “busy connections” to visit your post. Most LinkedIn influencers do not have much time to go to their feeds. Instead, they seem to prioritize content where they are tagged in, which is still enormous in volume. Then again, if you don’t engage with people, especially those who tagged you, they won’t find it compelling to also engage with your content. Of course, there might be instances where you honestly missed it, but you should be able to engage back even at a later time, in most cases.
Engage to the Max!
Engagement is another very important ingredient to establish presence and credibility. You might be posting value-adding content consistently, but if you don’t engage back with people who comment on your post, people will notice. Failure to engage with others’ posts, especially when you are tagged, undermines your credibility. People want to engage with those who show interest in others, not just their own.
What are the ways that you can engage?
- Reacting to posts. Like, love, celebrate, insightful, curious. Whatever your reaction is, hitting these buttons convey appreciation for a post or recognition, at the very least.
- Commenting on posts. Commenting on a post is a higher form of engagement. Comments may offer personal insights, a different perspective, or expression of appreciation, support and encouragement to the post and its author. Giving a generous comment signifies that the person spent time reading and understanding a content, before sharing his insight. Comments such as this are well appreciated by content authors.
- Engaging in known influencers’ content. There are certain influencers that we follow because of the value of their content, depending on what’s relevant to you and your preference. Reacting and commenting to influencers’ content, provide you some visibility to the influencer and his followers. If your comment is remarkable, there’s a high likelihood that you’d be noticed. Case in point, I commented on one of Brigette Hyacinth’s posts, which received 65+ reactions and some affirmations. Guess what – Brigette even sent me a personal message, inviting me to connect with her. Isn’t that awesome?
If you come across a post that somehow added value to you even in just a small way, but you don’t have time to comment, hit like at the very least.
Adding Prospective Connections
In the past, LinkedIn was perceived to be a platform where people who do not know each other, add other people, and then forget about it. It is seen as a platform collecting a database of people who don’t interact with each other. Apparently, it is no longer the case today. It may be true that people add others they don’t know, but ultimately the intention to add value to each other may be realized at some point in time, if not now. People in LinkedIn have made the platform a repository of limitless learning and opportunities. Certainly, there will always be one that’s right for you.
People who reacted or engaged with your post are good potential connections. It means that they found value in your content and might continue to do so, if you connect with them or if they follow you.
Another option is going to well-known influencers’ posts. Invite like-minded people, who commented in the post that added value to you. I suggest that you send a personalized invitation to these people, telling them why you wish to connect with them, describing the mutual benefit both of you can receive from the LinkedIn relationship. If you don’t have enough time, just hit the connect button to send them instant invitations.
Something to consider though is your current number of connections. LinkedIn can only accommodate a certain number of connections per account. Hence, if you’re nearing the limit, be more selective in making new connections.
Implement a Maintenance Routine
Unlike Facebook where liking your own post seems awkward, LinkedIn is a much forgiving platform. It’s alright to like your own post as it notifies your followers further about a content that you posted. Comment on your own post as well, especially if you feel that there are some more things that you wish to add to your already posted content.
Once in a while, visit your previous posts and see if there are people who made recent comments. Read, react and/or respond to them. Doing this somehow brings your older posts to life.
LinkedIn has turned from a professional platform into an amazing community that shares value, by offering opportunities and learning like never before.
So, have you just started being active?
Now is the best time to boost your LinkedIn presence – meet valuable connections, gain substantial number of followers and benefit from mutually rewarding relationships.
