Creating conversations that even excite LinkedIn!

What beats a great post every day and twice on Sunday?

A good conversation!

"To post is LinkedIn. To converse is human." LinkedIn Maxim

1) What Makes a Conversation Exciting:

The key to creating good conversations that excite LinkedIn (and the humans!):

- Commenting: LinkedIn is more interested in what you C?O?M?M?E?N?T? on rather than what you merely like: and humans are more interested in that too!

- Timing: participate N?O?W? to show how excited you are about this conversation!

- Relevance: what counts more than number of words you use in your comment is the value you A?D?D? to the conversation ...

- Tagging: tell O?T?H?E?R? ?P?E?O?P?L?E? you know, who might be interested in this conversation (why wouldn't you share / tag if you think this conversation is really valuable?)

- Questions: they easiest way to start an interesting conversation is ask a question ... and the easiest way to continue an interesting conversation is ask another (Better? more refined?) question.

Don't do the Content if you cant do the Conversations (LinkedIn Maxim)

2) More About Commenting in Your Conversations:

LinkedIn is more interested in what you comment on rather than what you merely like:

• and so is your audience: they want a reason why they should pay any attention at all to a post & the related conversation .... and that is best expressed in specific words
• and what is not so obvious is this: other people's audience are also primarily interested by the words in the conversation (comments) around your post (especially when they see I have paid some interest in it): one of the key objectives for you on LinkedIn is to reach beyond your audience (network) into mine (the network of people you are connected with) as they probably dont really know you, the words in your comments needs to be even more engaging / compelling ...

3) More About Timing in your Conversations:

The simple view of time that LinkedIn has is the closer the comment is to the time the original post was made, the more exciting the comment

When you are posting on LinkedIn, worry less about when your audience is awake and more about who will be "awake enough" to get involved (to comment) in the conversation so that more of your audience is more likely to "see" your content (have it shared by the algorithm in their feed) ...

4) More About Relevance in your Conversations:

The more your comments reflects the actual words of the post the better (quoting or referring to specific words or concepts in the post is optimum) - this works especially well for strangers who, when viewing the comments, are not easily fooled by generic comments that give the impression the person who has commented had no interest in the actual post and probably hadn't even read the post (in other words: it may as well have been a bot that commented: and the person who is most convinced that people could be even slightly excited about a conversation with a bot is probably LinkedIn?) ...

5) More About Tagging in your Conversations:

Tagging is almost the rudest (most impolite) action you can take on Social Media: so use with caution.

Its the equivalent of you having conversation in your huddle at a business networking event, seeing a contact of yours and shouting across the room "Hey John! Come and join we were just talking about that business growth issue from this morning ..."

• it assumes John is interested
• it assumes John is available
• is assumes John wants to be interrupted by you and this conversation

You are making lots of assumptions about John: so make sure you are right and that once you have interrupted him that it is worth his while ... otherwise it may be the last time he listens to you:

is tagging a member of your audience once worth the risk of losing their attention forever?

Always a good idea to check with someone beforehand in a message if you want to tag them (i.e. get permission): "Are you okay if I tag you in a post and or on this specific post)?".

The other benefit of this is LinkedIn probably track if the people you tag respond .... and if they dont, that probably reflect less well on how exciting your conversation is in the eyes of others and therefore how widely or not the algorithm may be tempted to spread your content ... (I dont know this for certain: but this is how I would design the algorithm if I was doing it)

6) Questions Questions Questions

Questions are one of the most important spices in a conversation:

• Starting: questions are the easiest way to start an interesting conversation
• Continuing: the easiest way to continue an interesting conversation is ask another (Better? more refined?) question.
• Author: the author can also ask questions which can help stimulate debate and the sharing of ideas

A relevant questions can be very effective in demonstrating that you have heard what the other person has said (or written) and to explore other aspects of the conversation.

7) Bonus Insight: Sharing

What gets LinkedIn even more excited than comments and conversation is sharing: so if you think the conversation around a post is really high value, then share the post on your own feed!

When you share the post on your feed, dont forget to say why:

• Why are you sharing this content you feed to your audience?
• Why should they care?

8) Disclaimers: Because Disclaimers are always needed When Discussing the Algorithm

Disclaimers #1; The Algorithm:

Anyone who claims they KNOW how the algorithm works is at best probably not being completely honest with themselves .. or you.

At worst they are engineering to charge you more and or promise something they are unlikely to deliver.

So disclaimer for this blog: while I am a hybrid : a cross between a software engineer / serial entrepreneur / accountant : all that really qualifies me for is some understanding of the LinkedIn environment plus some years of experience in working with LinkedIn, being thrown off more than once and continually testing new ideas / the boundaries of LinkedIn

Disclaimer #2: Don't Follow Me To Closely

Do I say not as I do: In so far as my habits on LinkedIn are concerned: this is what I tell my clients:

Follow the exact steps of my adventure on LinkedIn and you could find yourself in one of LinkedIn quagmires I occasion …

So these ideas that I have shared in this article I have found seem to work reasonably well in so far as content on LinkedIn is concerned: enjoy your adventure!

How do you share Your Content more effectively on LinkedIn

Connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to create more exciting conversations around your content.

LM#060 LD#023