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May 10
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How to publish an essay or post on LinkedIn

By Tips

How to publish a post on LinkedIn

If you have more to convey than a 300-character update will allow, you can publish a post on LinkedIn. This original content becomes part of your LinkedIn profile and is shared with your connections. It’s also searchable both on and off LinkedIn. This means even non-LinkedIn members who search for content related to your topic using Google or another search engine may find your post.

LinkedIn posts also can also result in followers. These are LinkedIn members outside of your network who choose to follow what you publish, even if you are not connected. Once they have clicked the Follow button next to one of your posts, LinkedIn will notify them whenever you publish a new post. Followers expand your reach significantly without the need to add direct connections.

If LinkedIn’s algorithm determines your post is high-quality, the site may distribute it beyond your connections and followers on Pulse, LinkedIn’s personalized news feed for members. LinkedIn has not revealed how the Pulse algorithm picks content, but there has been speculation that posts doing well within your network of connections and followers (that is, getting lots of likes, comments, and re-shares) are most likely to be featured on Pulse.

Best Practices for LinkedIn Posts

Because they become part of your LinkedIn profile, long-form posts should share your professional expertise. You can write about industry trends, solutions you have used to overcome various challenges, tips and tricks of interest to others in your profession, and advice based on your experience. Consider the following best practices for posts your network is certain to notice:

  • Write a short, concise yet catchy headline that will make professionals want to click through and read the entire post.
  • Stay focused. Don’t try to cover too many topics in one post.
  • Express your opinion but always remain professional.
  • Avoid topics that are overtly promotional.
  • LinkedIn posts do not have word count limits. According to LinkedIn data, the best best-performing posts have three or more paragraphs.
  • Including pictures, videos, and SlideShare presentations increases audience engagement.
  • Add tags (by clicking the tag icon at the bottom of the post) to make it easier for people searching for information on your topic to find it.
  • Carefully proofread your post before publishing. Check your spelling in Microsoft Word or another program before posting.
  • Start discussions with members who comment on your posts. This can help you gain new 1st-degree connections and grow your network.

This excerpt is from LinkedIn In 30 Minutes, 2nd Edition, by Angela Rose. Learn more about the book or purchase a copy here.

Oct 29
Love1

What are LinkedIn Updates, and how to create effective updates for your network

By Extra, Tips, Video

LinkedIn Updates are misunderstood. In my LinkedIn network of approximately 500 people, maybe 20% have ever posted updates to LinkedIn, and maybe half that number do so with any regularity. Still, LinkedIn Updates are a useful feature that can show your expertise and also learn from your extended career network. This post will describe what LinkedIn Updates are, as well as how to create your own.

LinkedIn Updates is somewhat akin to a Facebook feed. When you go to LinkedIn.com, updates from the people in your network are presented in a reverse-chronological order. They can include the following:

  1. Profile changes of people in your network
  2. Comments left by people in your network on other people’s updates
  3. Updates left by people in your network

What exactly do the updates say? As LinkedIn is a career-focused network, most of the updates relate to career news, promotions for products or services, information relating to some career-related issue, and news and opinion articles. For instance, I follow my accountants and often see them posting quick reminders relating to filing deadlines or other tax issues.

I use updates to share news about my company and its products as well as commentary relating to bigger issues in my industry (media and book publishing). Updates tend to be short — a sentence or two is typical. I try not to be spammy, and am sure to share tips and information as well as promotions. I also leave comments on other people’s updates.

Anytime someone posts a link to an article or blog post, LinkedIn will automatically append a photo or screenshot associated with that article (you can remove it if you want). For this reason, the homepage feed of  LinkedIn Updates is often very colorful, featuring lots of photos and images that link to news stories and opinion columns. Unfortunately, it detracts from simple text updates which may not be as pretty but could be far more helpful in many cases. The tax updates shared by my accountants could save me a bundle some day!

In terms of creating your own update, look for the button at the top of the page that says “Share an update”:

What is a LinkedIn Update - and how to create your own

You can also upload a photo or publish a longer blog post.

To learn more about LinkedIn updates, check out the video below. Updates are also covered in the latest edition of LinkedIn In 30 Minutes.

Video: What are LinkedIn Updates, and how to create your own (with examples)