I heard a familiar chorus during a few consults this week.

Some variety of:

“I want to get my name out there, but I don’t want to go the LinkedIn route.”

It’s something I’ve grown accustomed to hearing on the first call…

…almost like walking in on your first day with a personal trainer and saying:

“I want to get fit, but I don’t want to get on the treadmill.”

Luckily, you don’t have to get on the LinkedIn treadmill.

But you’ll quickly find you need to get your thought leadership cardio somewhere if you want to develop a name for yourself outside your warm network.

In April 2024, I wrote a mini-series on getting over ‘the big ick’ of thought leadership.

Below you’ll find your ‘Get out of LinkedInfluencing free’ card.

In short, if your prospect spends time on LinkedIn, then you should have some sort of presence. But don’t overthink it.

LinkedIn is a tool, not a lifestyle.

💡

-Wes

P.S. - Last call for ​NicheFinder​ intro pricing. April slots open next week.

From April 23, 2024:

💡 Myth #1: Thought Leadership = Linked InFluencer

If you’re on this list:

• You likely have a LinkedIn profile
• You likely have a cringe-meter that goes off the charts when you read LinkedIn
• You still read LinkedIn anyway

No way around it - LinkedIn is the digital town square for knowledge professionals. Its reach and network effects are unmatched, and if you’re looking for broad awareness, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another free(ish) channel that compares.

That said, LinkedIn is far from a one-stop shop for thought leadership. In fact, if you’re relying solely on LinkedIn as your thought leadership strategy, you’re missing out on other channels that can provide a similar or better ROTI (return on time invested).

Think of LinkedIn as the following, and nothing more:

• A way to ping the world that you still exist and share what you’re up to in a helpful way
• A resource to better understand leads in your audience (yes, profile ‘research’)
• A direct messaging tool to facilitate off-platform conversations

If you’re using LinkedIn as a daily uninvited megaphone of self-promotion and unhelpful content, you are at risk of:

• Being penalized by LI’s algorithm
• Being actively unfollowed by put-off users
• Coming off as ‘that guy’, which is probably the most harmful of all to your personal brand

Here are some simple starter tips rooted in consistency and helpfulness:

Post on LinkedIn 2x/week on weekdays to build and maintain awareness

• You can write posts in one sitting, and schedule them for later delivery
• Make it short and helpful — no peacocking, only something useful to others
• Don’t get caught up on likes or impressions, but do respond to any comments
• Request connections with anyone who comments on your post that isn’t a 1st-degree connection

Let the algorithm carry you

• I’m not a specialist here, but the LI algo is intricate and will funnel your posts through your network and beyond, but over time and not every time (i.e. not every post will be seen by every person in your network, and certainly not immediately)
• If you’re consistently writing good, helpful posts, you’ll see it in your reach and engagement over time

Then move on!

Focus your attention on all of these other thought leadership channels, most of which should seem less cringe. These are ranked from low-to-high effort:

• Guest on a podcast
• Essays / editorials
• Talks / lectures / webinars
• Keynotes
• Courses
• Host a podcast
• Start a newsletter
• Write a book

Fun fact: When you invest time in these channels, it will often provide content you can repurpose for your LI posts which means…even less of your time focused on LinkedIn.