LinkedIn Top Voice and Best Practices to Grow on Social Media

Today, I want to share a bit of how we need to look at social media for professional development. Earlier this week, LinkedIn gave an amazing surprise by adding me to their Top Voices program. A few friends have asked on my best practices, so here it is for you.

Sharing

We all perform amazing roles in our careers. However, most of us are stuck at labels such as engineering, accounting, marketing, and so on. The way we function, and our thought processes differentiate us. Share those because there are many who benefit from your insights.

Format

Social platforms support text, video, and pictures. Use the format that doesn’t feel like effort for you. I enjoy writing and have been experimenting with video lately. Just get started. It’s kind of like running. We’ve all done it as kids, give it a few attempts and you’ll be further along than yesterday.

Good enough is better than perfect

If you wait for the perfect text or video, you’ll never reach it. Get to the point where you are conveying your point across. If I write a text post, I compose and leave it aside. I’ll review it to check if it reads well and if I have put my point across. After a light edit, it is shipped.

Repetition

The more you share, better you’ll get. It’s important to get into a rhythm. Stick to a frequency where it doesn’t distract you. Start with a weekly schedule and increase if you like.

Define your content

Get to a clarity of what you will share. This can change from one platform to another. I am most active on LinkedIn since I truly feel connected with my network there. I don’t understand YouTube and Twitter algorithms, and don’t focus on them. On LinkedIn, I share professional posts related to my domain of practice. It is not my family WhatsApp group ??

Learn

A huge benefit of social media is we can absorb so much. I’ve tailored my feed to highlight topics of interest where I get further along than yesterday. This takes a bit of work but once you do, good content reaches you.

Just do it

I’ll admit that getting started on video took a lot of effort. Most videos you watch on YouTube and other channels are…so professional. Their camera setup, audio quality, studio setting, and whatnot is overwhelming. I thought along the same lines and realized that the cosmetic stuff doesn’t matter to you. You and I care about learning. Our work is done when we share valuable insights. The cosmetic appearance needs to be at an acceptable level. So, focus and make sure that the main thing (insight) is the main thing.

There are many aspects which are not relevant in the long run such as gaming the algorithm, best times to post, hashtags to use etc. It doesn’t make sense to spend time on them. That is my experience.

Let’s share and learn from each other.

I wish you all the best and if I can be of any help, let me know.

Happy Ideating!

Hemang.