By Flora Morris Brown
You’ve been building buzz for your book with your e-mail list and social media engagement.
Now that LinkedIn has opened its publishing platform to all members, you have a more powerful way to expand your reach to the largest professional network.
As with any content you share online, you want to be thoughtful about what you contribute on this platform. You know “buy my book” posts are a no-no, right? You can get banned by LinkedIn and shunned by members.
Besides, nobody cares about your book except you.
Readers want to know how to solve their problems. Focus your posts on this to create the buzz you crave.
It helps to study how the pros do it.
Engaging on your post is just the beginning.
Buzz is the impact that motivates readers to follow, connect, or share.
My first LinkedIn post got 126 views. Not impressive compared to Influencers. 11 posts later, I rank in the top 11 percent for profile views among professionals like me. I‘ve been invited to write guest posts and make new connections.
Here are a few things I’ve learned that might help you:
1. Post frequently
Posting frequently attracts LinkedIn’s attention, and may give you wider distribution. When Linda Luke wrote Successful Startups: Get Grounded in Your Vision, she received 4,000 views and tips from LinkedIn on boosting her stats.
2. Speak your mind
When Wendy McClelland, social media coach and author of the upcoming book, 27 Steps to Freedom – What Learning to Walk Again Taught Me About Success in Business & Life, posted Why I Say No to Coffee Meetings on her blog, it received six comments. A week later, McClelland republished the same post on LinkedIn, receiving61,378 views, 58 shares on other blogs, and two radio interview requests.
3. Be patient
LinkedIn strategist Jean L. Serio discovered “. . .my articles are read. . .long after they’ve been published. . .partly because members can ‘search’ specific topics on [ LI] ..; and partly because your name rises to LinkedIn’s top influencers in your specialized area as you become more visible.”
Tabitha Jean Naylor, founder of SuccessfulStartup101.com, agrees.
“I’ve published articles that have performed phenomenally well… and others that have been complete duds. . . I also [try] publishing on different days and . . times. . .My best performing articles have all been published on Saturdays.”
4. Look beyond LinkedIn for benefits
Marcie Hill’s first post Top 4 Reasons You Should Have a Professional Bio received more views than from her blog. She also sold more copies of her book, How to Write a Powerful Professional Bio.
5. Repost articles from your blog
“You can get in front of a different—even more targeted—[audience]” says Nina Amir, author of The Author Training Manual “. . .Some . . . are getting more views per day on LI than on their blogs. So, if you are promoting a book, it’s a no brainer to repost on LI.”
(Note that the previous profile feature that allowed you to link your blog posts to your profile automatically through RSS feeds is now defunct.)
Here are a few tips for making this work for you and your book.
LinkedIn publishing is a game changer for serious authors. Just remember:
LinkedIn publishing is in my book marketing toolbox. How about you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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