I always want to know what you’re thinking. I also want to know what’s holding you back from creating the brand and business you want.

Thinking about this recently, I went on LinkedIn and started a poll asking this question:

What stops you from posting your own content on LinkedIn?

As you can see, the main struggles were coming up with ideas, a lack of time, and fearing how people will react to the content you share. 

I also received a lot of comments with great responses. Turns out, the struggle to post is real. You know what else is real? The truth that LinkedIn works. That’s why I want you to rock it. 

Let me say it another way: 1,082,353 and counting.

That’s how many LinkedIn views my content got between last year and this year according to my SHIELD Analytics stats. And I’ve seen results for my brand because of it.

That is what I want for you—or even better. 

It’s possible. Which is why we’re diving into a few of the questions I received so that, if you’re struggling to post regularly on LinkedIn or any other social media platforms, I can help you. 

Coming Up With Ideas

Maybe you are not a copywriter, and you have other things to do in your business. Who has time to come up with ideas about what to post all the time? If you have the resources to do, I highly recommend outsourcing this task. But, if you are not at that point yet, here are some tips to make coming up with good ideas easier.

Clarity

Knowing who you are and why you want to post, plus what your goals are, will make creating content not feel overwhelming and not worth it. The best way to get clear is to have your own personal and business vision. If you’re struggling with this, I go into a lot of detail about it in my book, A Million Little Clicks.

Pillars

Another topic I address in A Million Little Clicks is having content pillars, because they make coming up with content ideas so much easier. Content pillars are overreaching topics that are in line with your brand and goals. Determine what your core topics are and work all your content around those categories. You need to be consistent to get your audience to start recognizing you and engaging with you. Content pillars can help with that.

Attention Experts did some research and identified that it takes an average company, no matter the industry 15 to 20 brand touchpoints with their target audience before that brand, product, or service moves forward to becoming front of mind to customers and followers.

Fifteen to twenty! Get and stay consistent. 

Systems

What makes coming up with new content ideas even harder is that we don’t have systems in place to track and review ideas and inspiration when they come. Personally, I use Evernote as my place to “park ideas.” That way, wherever I’m at and whatever device I’m on, I can drop a fast note on a topic that I am inspired about.

Harvesting

Gather ideas constantly and put them in your tracking system. You can be inspired by reading popular headlines, seeing what questions people are asking around your pillar topics, looking at what’s trending, observing people, and more. Ideas are all around us. Align ideas to your themes and save them for when inspiration seems to be running dry. 

All these tips can help a lot when you’re struggling to come up with new ideas. But what about when time is a factor?

Finding The Time

Welcome to the world of Social Media Management. There is not a one size fits all for this space. In fact, there are thousands of products in MarTech land that will sell you on subscribing to their platform to do everything better, faster, and stronger. 

In reality, a lot of it doesn’t work. It just adds noise and doesn’t give you your time back. To prevent feeling drowned under all the noise, go back to your goals.

Know why you want and need to post and what content goals you want to achieve. Once you have that clarity it’s easier to focus your time on what really matters.

Here is how I think about it…

As a corporate person, in business for a long time, I’ve made so many slide decks and keynote speeches that I’ve lost count. For this reason, I think about a month’s worth of content like it’s a slide deck. Think of social media posts like they’re slides. All of the slides need to fit together for the month and make a strong point. 

The frequency of posts will depend on your goals. Come up with that many slides for the month that all fit with the monthly theme you have going and your content pillars. 

My Strategy

I typically post on social media at least five days a week, Monday through Friday, across my various social platforms. On average, I have roughly 20 posts per month. I harvest the ideas from my content parking lot and lay those out across a monthly calendar—all with an overarching theme that can help my audience learn and grow. 

Then to save time, I use a scheduling service to get those posts scheduled. Hootsuite is my tool of choice. There are other options out there, so do your research and find the one that best fits your content. 

You can also keep a running list of popular hashtags. On LinkedIn three to five hashtags is a good policy, but on Instagram you can get away with more. Hashtags are a great way to increase engagement because it helps searchers find your posts through topics. Use a mix of popular hashtags, niche-specific ones, and one related to your brand. This will gain you more visibility for your efforts which brings us to the last listed challenge…

Overcoming The Fear Of Others’ Opinions

Not everyone is going to like you. If they do, then you’re probably not really sharing your message.

Be respectful, yes, but don’t water down everything you post so much that it doesn’t resonate with your target audience. 

If some don’t like you, they’re not your people. Period. And it’s ok. You’ll survive. 

The beauty of personal branding is that you can show up as your full self, confidently knowing who you are, and the value you provide. If you’re strategic in your brand creation, the way I teach you to be in A Million Little Clicks, you’ll know your unique value prop and positioning.

Getting clear and strategic while putting the right systems in place will help you find your people. The ones who share your passions and values. People who want to learn from you and support your growth. Focus on that. The haters aren’t in the game at the same level you are.

The harshest critics are usually those who are too afraid to step out themselves. Don’t let them stop you. 

I love the way Brené Brown puts it:

There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never be brave with their own lives but will spend every ounce of energy they have hurling advice and judgment at those of us trying to dare greatly. Their only contributions are criticism, cynicism, and fearmongering. If you’re criticizing from a place where you’re not also putting yourself on the line, I’m not interested in your feedback.

Posting on LinkedIn and other platforms is worth it if done strategically. I hope these tips help you get clear and consistent. If you need more help, reach out to me.