LinkedIn is weird. It’s a place where people do a lot of self congratulating, promotion, self pity and worshipping of others (companies and people). Some do better than others. Anyways… What makes...
LinkedIn is weird. It’s a place where people do a lot of self congratulating, promotion, self pity and worshipping of others (companies and people). Some do better than others. Anyways…
What makes people successful on LinkedIn is very different. For example, if you are Bill Gates, people are interested in your opinion because of your resume and status. I guess this is not you.
Another case, more related to yours, is that of the topic expert. That person that talks about only one thing. The person that pops into your mind when you even think about the topic. These people become a brand themselves.
This works, because they create their own audience. Most people in your network might not care. You need to find the right groups and connections to get your message to the people that are interested. In essence, you are doing networking!
This strategy works elsewhere too. Look at YouTube. How many niche topics have channels with consistently 100K-1M views? Be that niche topic expert.
Tiny comment: in marketing, engagement is not the same thing as conversion. All those clicks and likes don't necessarily turn into $. Unless you're already an internationally famous brand, viral...
Tiny comment: in marketing, engagement is not the same thing as conversion.
All those clicks and likes don't necessarily turn into $. Unless you're already an internationally famous brand, viral memes probably won't help a small, local, new entrant business.
And also, marketing, like real life, is less about "the Right Way" and more about relationships. People prefer brands/people that they trust and make them feel good rather than objectively the "best" by cold hard numbers. It's possible to be right and not well liked.
I have a couple of thoughts. I've been an industry expert on certain subjects, including research computing and cloud. I've been interviewed on major industry podcasts including AWS, spoken on...
I have a couple of thoughts.
I've been an industry expert on certain subjects, including research computing and cloud. I've been interviewed on major industry podcasts including AWS, spoken on regulatory panels at the capital, testified as an expert in trials, and participated in monthly speaking engagements and panels.
During each one of those things I met people, connected with them on LinkedIn, had discussions of varying lengths, and effectively built my network. If I was to post on LinkedIn, it would be to those people of similar interests and talents, who have expressed a mutual interest in each other's thoughts. That is one way to build a network.
Another, and I'm my opinion, harder way of building a relevant network is marketing your ideas through these general posts you describe in the hopes of engaging people and building an interested following. Putting my marketing hat on, you need to build a message that is engaging to your intended audience. You need to find a way to target people who will be receptive to your message, and then give them a way to learn more about what you have to offer.
Use cases, success stories, and eye grabbing outcomes can help, but fundamentally you need to figure out your mission statement, value proposition, and messaging. And you can target online while also attending trade shows and conferences.
Fundamentally though, I think you need to practice taking outside perspectives to really get good at understanding how to communicate to your potential customers. Social networks aren't really my thing. Outside of Tildes and LinkedIn, I don't use any, I don't post on LinkedIn hardly ever, and generally do my own thing in my day to day. Buuuuut... I understand the value of social networks to other people. My wife uses Facebook to keep in touch with family. People use LinkedIn to find jobs, have free hosted and searchable resumes, find talent or customers. People use tiktok to find funny or engaging entertainment, share their story, or chase their 15 minutes.
You won't be successful on a platform you don't understand, or hate, or look down on. Successful marketers can have success on platforms they don't personally use because they can take the perspective of the people who do like it, understand their context and what they value, and craft their message accordingly.
Personally, books are a great perspective taking technology, but anything you can do to exercise the muscle of thinking through someone else's eyes will help you.
LinkedIn is weird. It’s a place where people do a lot of self congratulating, promotion, self pity and worshipping of others (companies and people). Some do better than others. Anyways…
What makes people successful on LinkedIn is very different. For example, if you are Bill Gates, people are interested in your opinion because of your resume and status. I guess this is not you.
Another case, more related to yours, is that of the topic expert. That person that talks about only one thing. The person that pops into your mind when you even think about the topic. These people become a brand themselves.
This works, because they create their own audience. Most people in your network might not care. You need to find the right groups and connections to get your message to the people that are interested. In essence, you are doing networking!
This strategy works elsewhere too. Look at YouTube. How many niche topics have channels with consistently 100K-1M views? Be that niche topic expert.
Tiny comment: in marketing, engagement is not the same thing as conversion.
All those clicks and likes don't necessarily turn into $. Unless you're already an internationally famous brand, viral memes probably won't help a small, local, new entrant business.
And also, marketing, like real life, is less about "the Right Way" and more about relationships. People prefer brands/people that they trust and make them feel good rather than objectively the "best" by cold hard numbers. It's possible to be right and not well liked.
I have a couple of thoughts.
I've been an industry expert on certain subjects, including research computing and cloud. I've been interviewed on major industry podcasts including AWS, spoken on regulatory panels at the capital, testified as an expert in trials, and participated in monthly speaking engagements and panels.
During each one of those things I met people, connected with them on LinkedIn, had discussions of varying lengths, and effectively built my network. If I was to post on LinkedIn, it would be to those people of similar interests and talents, who have expressed a mutual interest in each other's thoughts. That is one way to build a network.
Another, and I'm my opinion, harder way of building a relevant network is marketing your ideas through these general posts you describe in the hopes of engaging people and building an interested following. Putting my marketing hat on, you need to build a message that is engaging to your intended audience. You need to find a way to target people who will be receptive to your message, and then give them a way to learn more about what you have to offer.
Use cases, success stories, and eye grabbing outcomes can help, but fundamentally you need to figure out your mission statement, value proposition, and messaging. And you can target online while also attending trade shows and conferences.
Fundamentally though, I think you need to practice taking outside perspectives to really get good at understanding how to communicate to your potential customers. Social networks aren't really my thing. Outside of Tildes and LinkedIn, I don't use any, I don't post on LinkedIn hardly ever, and generally do my own thing in my day to day. Buuuuut... I understand the value of social networks to other people. My wife uses Facebook to keep in touch with family. People use LinkedIn to find jobs, have free hosted and searchable resumes, find talent or customers. People use tiktok to find funny or engaging entertainment, share their story, or chase their 15 minutes.
You won't be successful on a platform you don't understand, or hate, or look down on. Successful marketers can have success on platforms they don't personally use because they can take the perspective of the people who do like it, understand their context and what they value, and craft their message accordingly.
Personally, books are a great perspective taking technology, but anything you can do to exercise the muscle of thinking through someone else's eyes will help you.
Best of luck!
I think maybe your focus should be on your relationship and not on LinkedIn at the moment. LinkedIn is fake, your SO is not.