Social Publishing: Writing original content and publishing insights, opinions and valuable information to attract customers and evidence credibility and value.
Whether you’re looking for your next role or seeking an appointment with the CXO of a target prospect; you need to show your value online to earn a conversation. This is because the majority of buyers research before a meeting; so what will they see when they look at your LinkedIn profile or blog? You need to impress with both your business value (what you do for your clients) and the values by which you operate.
I recommend that you publish where your audience is and LinkedIn Publisher is therefore the ideal platform; not just because it’s connected to your professional profile but because the reach is staggering:
- LinkedIn Publisher is the number one blogging platform on the planet
- LinkedIn has 350,000,000 members and 2 people join per second
- LinkedIn has 200,000,000 unique views of pages per day
- 40% of LinkedIn members use it daily
- 60% of B2B buyers research before engaging
Don’t just blog – that’s Web 2.0. Take the plunge on LinkedIn Publisher into Web 3.0 – the web of context and social proximity. Understand the inter-relationships of your networks and network’s networks. Share your subject matter expertise and thought leadership on here daily. The network effects and engagement are without parallel. I controversially advocate moving your blog to LinkedIn where you’ll get exponential views, reads, likes, shares and comments.
Here is real case study example. In December 2012 I wrote a paper and published it on my website… over nearly two years I had less than 100 downloads. During that time I also re-purposed it into a website blog and over 14 months I had less than 300 reads. Here is a screenshot of the white paper.
In November 2014 I re-purposed it into two blog posts in LinkedIn publisher (the two posts on the bottom left) and the results have been staggering — well over 200,000 reads and incredible engagement. The screenshot shows the stats I was achieving within 30 days of switching my content publishing to LinkedIn. I’ve adopted a strategy of quality content publishing to show both my value and my values… and I’ve been astounded by the results. Since adopting a content publishing strategy, business is coming to me and the conversations are completely different. Instead of me being asked to justify why I am the best person to deliver keynotes, consulting and training workshops; I’m instead being asked if I’m available and what I charge. Don’t let anyone tell you that social selling does not monetize!
If you’re a salesperson, I recommend that you write your own original content as it adds credibility to your LinkedIn profile and it’s the best way to learn about what you want to talk about with customers. At the very least, use LinkedIn Updates and Twitter to be a content aggregator and curator, making yourself a valued hub of other people’s relevant content enhanced with your insights. Importantly, never plagiarize other people’s content and always attribute source where ever possible. If you’re the leader within a business, be intentional about your writing strategy to build following around a personal employee brand you trust.
The fastest way to build compelling topical posts is to newsjack current events (President Obama) and here is an example from when Harrison Ford crashed is WWII aircraft on a golf course. I’ve written other detailed posts that provide many tips and advice for social publishing and all of these are essential reading:
- How to create viral content
- How to crack the LinkedIn Publisher Code
- The daily habit of creating content and being active in social
- Top 10 Reasons Why Your Sales Reps SHOULD Be Creating Content
- 10 Steps To Build Wildly Remarkable LinkedIn Publisher Content Daily
- Frequency – What Sex And LinkedIn Have In Common
Now it’s over to you… I believe that in today’s world, if you can’t write, you can’t sell and that salespeople should be content creators and content curators.
This post was originally published on LinkedIn.
