Number 150 Of...

Nearly three and a half years ago I began writing articles for LinkedIn. This is my 150th and I want to reflect back on this experience. 

I started writing because I wanted to raise my profile on LinkedIn especially with recruiters and potential employers. Over the last year, I have focused on writing two articles a week. And for the past few months, I have devoted my Tuesday articles to marketing and Thursday articles to job seeking advice for both sides of the interview table. 

In the coming year, I may navigate away from the job seeking advice and navigate to other topics like ethics, et al. I may start a new series if a topic speaks to me the same way that writing about the job search did. 

Despite having an average lifetime readership of any given article in the high double digits, I will continue writing about marketing and brand management. 

Writing the articles has not directly benefited my career. No one read something I wrote and contacted me about a consulting gig or a job interview. In fact, no one who has interviewed me for a job has ever read my articles to the best of my knowledge. They have not even viewed my profile, even those who are interviewing me for roles I found on LinkedIn. 

One of the benefits that I have gotten from writing articles is getting offers for interviews with magazines and news sites. The offers do not pour in, nor are they from outlets that are wildly popular... at least not on my side of the pond. I have been interviewed or cited by a few magazines and online business sites in Europe. However, more interview requests have come about because of something that I have posted as a reply on LinkedIn than actual articles. 

So why continue if it is not currently benefiting my career? It keeps my mind sharp and serves as a way to demonstrate my knowledge as I often reference articles I have written during job interviews. I believe that it will pay off in the long run.  

It also allows me to discuss topics at length that would be too wordy as a reply to a posting. 500 words is a good limit for an article, but a bit too much for a reply box. 

The other benefit is that I tend to lean into social media facing roles and while posting to consumer facing social media platforms could be hazardous, posting to LinkedIn shows that proficiency. And it demonstrates that I can juggle all my other responsibilities with posting content on a regular basis. 

I imagine I will reach 250 in a year based on the fact that I currently post twice a week, so look forward to that in addition to any other content I may potentially post for future employers. 

It will be interesting to see where I will be after the next 50, 100, or 150 articles. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.