How Do You Become Comfortable Posting to LinkedIn Every Day?

How Do You Become Comfortable Posting Every Day?

Many people ask me about my LinkedIn, and the most common question is: "How do you do it?"

My simple answer is: "I type in the box every morning." But I don't think that's what they mean to ask. What they mean to ask is, "How do you follow-through on posting every day?" The answer is more complex than you might think:

* You must plan your day around it, don't just start working when you start in the morning.

* You must be comfortable talking about topics where you are not the expert. Pull a thread, add the insight you are comfortable with, and let others contribute.

* Take a sharp point of view. Equivocating leads to "meh". The audience understands the broader point, and won't necessarily hold you to every last detail.

* Stop trying to write the perfect post.

* Pick a primary audience. This one is also important. Describe the person you are trying to reach. How old are they? How early in career? What types of companies?

* What you think is interesting, is usually not. What you might think is boring might take off. Write it. Let the audience decide.

* Don't say anything about anyone that you wouldn't say to someone's face. You can disagree with a company's actions, but don't be mean-spirited. You've made mistakes too. Recognize the difficulty of the situation.

* eCommerce is a small industry. Everyone knows everyone else. Your reputation both precedes you and follows you. I've gotten referrals from contacts I made 15 years ago and hadn't spoken with in 5 years.

* People take from your posts what they want. Sometimes they want to see a divergent point of view from their own, to increase their perspective and exposure. Don't worry if people disagree with you. Disagreements lead to clarity.

* If you ever think you're not an expert, remember there are so many people who just joined the eCommerce industry last week.

* Stop selling. Start helping. This one is important.

* Stop trying to be the expert on anything. Contribute what you know.

* If you have no answers, ask insightful questions instead. Help others think about the issue differently.

* Just like the stock market, stop refreshing your stock prices. On LinkedIn, stop refreshing your posts to check your views. If you're starting your journey.

* Make a pact with yourself, don't judge your progress until you have posted consistently for 6 months (whatever that means for you). At the end of 6 months, go back and read your first post. If you have not 10x those views, I would be surprised.

* My first posts on LinkedIn very often didn't reach 100 views. Who cares?

And finally:

Write even when you hate what you have to write. But just write something small.