The Content Care Factor: the formula that guarantees growth on LinkedIn

Over 4,400 professionals have subscribed to this LinkedIn newsletter to learn about personal branding and marketing. "String's Theory" explores how to communicate and be authentically human online. Let's explore how to build trust online.

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To be on top of mind... create engaging content.

To build a trustworthy brand... create credible content.

To build a personal brand... create continuous content that reinforces your message and brand. 

Have you been building your career for the last 4-10 years?

Is your knowledge bank non-existent?

This is a common trend I see, we are so focused on what in front of us that we forget to develop the necessary legacy. Imagine dying tomorrow, what happens to all your knowledge?

Still, here is the outline to consider to create content that builds your personal brand, does your content showcase:

• your credibility
• being a channel
• fried chicken aka your personality 
• community cultivation

Credibility: Say things that matter

We are all experts in our field, still what digital footprint do you have? How is your trust factor online? 

Credibility is part of building a personal brand. Your customers want to read content that is authoritative and confident. In other words, you know your sh*t.

If we break it down further, credibility is two things combine: trustworthiness + expertise.

You are the expert in the field. Show it.

You are the trusted source. Be it. 

Create content that reinforces your credibility. 

Chicken is for "fried chicken" 

Personality is key to being memorable and stand out from the crowd. One of the reasons why I use fried chicken is to give my engaged community permission to talk to me. 

Creating great content that is on point means my inbox gets filled. I always tend to be more open to a community member who talks about their fried chicken with me. It shows that they are engaged and read my content.

Plus, there is also a calculated move to use fried chicken. There's so much content out there, that you need to have an engaging personality to stand out. 

Channel: Be a trusted source

Trust is a powerful word. A good brand has trust built into a brand. To build continuous trust is what a good brand does.

I often see people attempting to build a brand and they stop too early. Creating one good content does not cultivate brand or trustworthiness.

Don't stop.

Especially in the early phase, it takes time to build: 

• trust
• your brand flow, 
• to see what content resonates,
• and to understand who your customers and audience are. 

Niche down when you're starting out.

If we have 100% of attention and you have 20 topics to expand on, that means that you dividing 5% to each topic. It will dilute your brand.

Don't be that brand that doesn't know what they represent. 

Continous content is required to be a trusted channel.  A good channel focuses on delivering two or three topics, and they do it well.

Community: Helps with engagement 

The key to the community is based on engagement. 

An audience is passive, are they follow your content, but don't actively engage or like your post.

A community is the one you wish to cultivate. They actively engage in conversation and understand your in-jokes. They contribute to your commenting and thumbs up. 

A customer buys your product or services. They tend to come from your community as you cultivate a relationship. 

One of my favourite ways of being a part of a community is to comment relevantly on LinkedIn. 

Think like a human, talk like a human. Don't be like a bot and say "good post". 

Creativity: Have the headspace to create

While the 4 C's is an indicator of great content: cred, channel, chicken and community.

What's important to creating content is creativity. 

Creativity is required. Which means having the headspace to create. 

I believe it's a skill worth cultivating.

The future of work is moving towards soft skills like creativity and communications.

Being a brand creator is a worthwhile skill to develop.

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