I HAVE NOT ACHIEVED ANYTHING, HOW DO I POST ON LINKEDIN?

A few weeks ago, while advising a close friend on enhancing her career using LinkedIn, I mentioned the need to post updates regularly, her response shocked me. "I don't have anything to post". Probing further she explained, "the kind of people on that platform and the type of post they expect, I don't have all of that". Her responses were shocking but I have gotten similar responses from two other people in about a month, who don't post on LinkedIn because they are "underachievers". 

I believe this is the mindset for few people using this platform, however, reading people's success stories shouldn't push to anyone a narrative of underachievers vs achievers/overachievers. This post is written for people in this category who think they have nothing at all to share as an update on LinkedIn because they have not achieved anything.

WHAT SHOULD BE POSTED ON LINKEDIN?

1. INDUSTRY RELATED NEWS CONTENT AND ANALYSIS: Everyone on this platform has an industry in which they are interested, whether it is healthcare or sports or finance or audit or law and the likes. There are trending events and interesting news in those industries which you can share on LinkedIn. A very easy way to keep up with updates in your industry is by using Google Alerts. Get the updates and share, adding your comments.

2. YOUR THOUGHTS AND OPINION: Let LinkedIn be a space you express your thoughts and opinion about career-related content. You own your voice and it will always be your voice, irrespective of audience or number of engagements. Speak out! Like Kayode Hammed Alabi said recently, he kept on speaking even when it seemed no one was listening, now people are paying to hear him deliver the same content, but what if he gave up at the time he was just starting? His voice would have drowned. 

3. YOUR ACTIVITIES: Let LinkedIn serve as a timeline for your professional related pursuits. Write updates with picture evidence about what is going on at each stage of your career and post on LinkedIn. If you have not-for-profit activities, share them with your connections. It does not have to be so big or look so big to make it meaningful. This will not only open you up to new connections, but it will also serve as evidence of your activities at a later date.

4. YOUR MICRO AND MACRO WINS: Always post your wins, no matter how small, they are tangible wins. No matter the number of likes, the wins count. Don't be deceived to think any win is too small or negligible - if you complete a degree, a diploma, a project, passed a professional exam, etc, do not hesitate to share the news with your connections.

5. YOUR FAILURES: What makes us human is the fact that we don't always win, we fail to but when we do, we should be able to learn from them and move. Posting our failures and lessons from them on LinkedIn makes us forward-thinking persons, there are no perfect heroes. Virtually everyone has failed at a point in time, the people who left footprints in the sands of time are those who were never deterred by their failures.

In summary, most people who post on LinkedIn are not overachievers, they are mainly early-career/mid-career professionals who are trying to find a foothold or trying to consolidate their stand. If you are tempted to ever think otherwise, always realize no one has ever completely figured it out. If you are waiting for a time you will before you start posting, you will spend your life waiting. 

Stop waiting and get started today, you have a lot to post on LinkedIn.