Like so many of us, I’ve been on LinkedIn for years. I’ve been on some form of social media since 2005 when I started social media ghosting for clients. (Remember MySpace?)
For years, especially when Facebook was in its heyday, LinkedIn was considered more of a social media outlier, mainly for people looking for jobs and recruiters looking for people looking for jobs. Therefore, I’ll admit that for some time, I was on LinkedIn more in profile only, occasionally checking in and finding the requisite smattering of birthday and new job notifications – nothing else though. There just didn’t seem to be much happening here so I didn’t invest a ton of time trying to make something happen.
But times change quickly in social media, and in recent years the tide has turned and Facebook has lost quite a bit of steam as well as regular users. Many of my fellow business users, especially those fed up with Facebook’s constantly changing, largely pay-for-play algorithm have fled to LinkedIn where all your connections see your posts.
Let me say that again. On LinkedIn, all your connections see you and what you do. In that way, it’s the exact opposite of Facebook where sometimes you wonder if you still have friends and family members at all. This is why I decided to offer up some LinkedIn tips for authors.
Why I Love LinkedIn
This is a social media medium dedicated to the written word. It’s practically custom designed for authors!
Yes, this social media network originated in the job search space, but just like every other social media network, it has evolved to include all areas of business. In doing so, it has ended up focusing heavily on writing. That’s likely a pretty challenging reality for the non-writers in business who use LinkedIn, and perhaps a bit of a comfort zone challenge.
Therefore, as authors, we have a HUGE advantage on LinkedIn, quite candidly – to show the non-writers how it’s done! We get to do this with articles like this one and the wordier (than other networks), long form style posts popular here.
The best part about articles is that whenever you post one, your entire network is notified. You can, of course re-purpose your existing content as LinkedIn articles – your blog posts for instance. But as my savvy website developer has advised me, be sure and switch up the image, headline, and as few other details, for SEO purposes on your website.
I’ve also observed that people seem to prefer staying on LinkedIn to read and engage, rather than clicking away to outside sites. This is another argument in favor of posting articles here.
Author Article Ideas:
- Book excerpts.
- FAQs about you as an author and/or your book.
- “Behind the Scenes” of your book writing journey.
- “Cutting Room Floor” content that didn’t make it into your book.
- Thought provoking questions related to your book.
Additional LinkedIn Tips for Authors:
More Conversations, Fewer Cats: If your LinkedIn feed is a giant cute pet and motivational meme-fest, you might be following the wrong people. The BEST people I follow (see tags in comment below for some favs) lead with ideas, thought provoking questions and, therefore – their words, and typically in complete sentences. This is largely why companies, brands, and serious social media users take LinkedIn seriously, and why as an author you should too.
Engage Daily: For every one of your own posts, make it a habit to engage on three posts by other people. Yes, I completely pulled that ratio out of thin air. But it seems like a solid foundation to remind you to talk to the other humans rather than only “at them.” Relationships continue to be everything, even in this world of social media and technology we live in!
Humans Being: This also means remembering to be a complete person on LinkedIn, just like you are on your other social media networks. Perhaps not AS much and AS personal as on the other networks, but don’t get so wrapped up in the smarty-pants content-fest that is LinkedIn, that you forget you’re a real person. Nobody’s buying a book based on the cover alone. They need to know there’s a human author behind it.
Above all, I hope you enjoy your LinkedIn experience and feel free to send me a connection request!
PS: I share even MORE LinkedIn tips for authors on LinkedIn in Episode #170 of my daily show Your Daily Writing Habit! (Click on the clock icon and you’ll see a drop down menu with episode numbers.)
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