What to post on LinkedIn?

It can get overwhelming what to post. It too can feel repetitive. It might even feel like you're looking into space - and waiting for the (shooting star) idea to fly by.

To help, here are 6 LinkedIn post ideas that you can use right away:

Thought leadership

Consider what you want to be known for - and what you want your LinkedIn voice to be centered around. Your content on LinkedIn is best shaped around your professional focuses and interests.

Pragya Mishra does this incredibly well - positioning herself to support others' personal brand growth on LinkedIn, and works professionally for SHIELD (a LinkedIn analytics solution far better than what LinkedIn itself provides). Take a look at Pragya's posts here.

Share educational reflections. Put you in the eye-sight on the topics you want to be known for. Share ideas through short tips; learns; commentary and video clips (so Gen-Z!). Posting around this theme once or twice a week at max. is a sufficient frequency.

THE engagement post

This is all about getting the conversation going - with you at the center (and often starting it!). Ask a question, request comments on a topic thought or idea you have. Be mindful though that not everyone may share your opinion - think Politicians!

Founder of Pretty Little Marketer, Sophie Miller, does this so fantastic - her posts often generate hundreds (if not thousands) of engagement likes/re-shares positioning her and PLM at the forefront of marketing.

Others' content

Repurpose content created by someone else. This keeps you front of mind on your discussion topic(s) and starts to build up a picture of what you resonate with. Make sure you credit the other person too! Visuals or re-sharing others' posts is a great way to bring this idea to life.

I cannot speak highly enough of James Eagle and Liz Fosselien and their content - follow the hyperlinks on their names to see why.

Posting this type of content once or twice a week is sufficient here too - and be mindful to position your personal brand. Your reflections on a topic, your learn(s) from a situation or personal thoughts to what you are sharing (even when the topic share is via someone else) positions you for you.

Promote your professional content

This is using your LinkedIn influence to promote something, not on LinkedIn. Great ways to do this is to share your professional website link, blog posts or newsletters that you have authored, and documents that position you, your profession, and/or your business. Doing this every other week can be a good drumbeat.

A great example of someone that I feel positions this really well is Will Rainey. He promotes a newsletter that centers around the topics they want to voice and position themselves incredibly well - take a look here.

Current news

Share your thoughts on topics in the media. Give perspective to position YOU. Seek not to share something online that you would not tell a room full of people - and consider whether you should "sleep" on the view you have before posting what you have to say.

Celebration post

Where appropriate, share your professional wins & learns. Humanise yourself, your business, your team, your journey, your learns, your personality... Share the positive things along the way - how you've locally supported the community, where your efforts outside of work are going, qualifications you attain.

BBC's new-dragon Steven Bartlett done this to great effect here - connecting the dots behind his busy schedule through the power of his assistant, Sophie Chapman.

It too can be a way to share when things might not go too great, and be open to what you've learned. Your content should relate to real-life you (not just you behind a screen).

In summary...

A blended approach to the above can give you a solid structure to what you post on LinkedIn and to position you professionally. Not all of the six ideas above could be relevant - and you might feel you're overdone on some. Flex the ideas to work for you.

This is part of?LinkedIn's new Newsletter Series. To get fortnightly tips, advice, and how-to's for positioning you - your personal brand - on LinkedIn hit the "subscribe" button.