Table of Contents:
- Is It Good to Post on LinkedIn?
- Important Social Posting Best Practices
- Most Popular Types of LinkedIn Posts
- 20 LinkedIn Posts Ideas
- How to Post on LinkedIn
- Getting in the Posting Mindset
- Key Takeaways
“I just don’t know where to begin on Linkedin.”
Sound familiar?
If so, you’re not alone. A freelancer said this to me last week, and I felt the same way a year ago.
When you’re new to the platform or not used to engaging, you can develop this “stuck” mentality. Questions swirl through your head like, “What do I possibly have to say? Will anyone read this post? How do I even create a post?!”
If you’ve had these similar questions, I’m here to help. Discover different types of LinkedIn posts, 20 posting ideas, and how to get comfortable with the right posting mindset.
Ready? Let’s get to it.
Is It Good to Post on LinkedIn?
Without hesitation…YES!
In my first year of freelancing, 92% of my income came from posting and engaging on LinkedIn.
Even if you’re new to LinkedIn and have no idea WHAT to post, I still say it’s good to post. Everyone needs to start somewhere. And if that still feels intimidating, take a baby step and leave a thoughtful comment on a few posts.
Engagement with other LinkedIn users is just as important as creating engaging posts yourself. Because the truth is, LinkedIn is about much more than posting – it’s being intentional and taking action to participate.
When I look back on my original posts, I cringe a little. There was too much copy, the formatting was off, and there were several instances where I could have got to my point faster and didn’t. But I stayed consistent.
I’m still testing, learning, adjusting, and engaging a year later. The goal is to keep showing up.
Important Social Posting Best Practices
But before thinking of post ideas or what type of post you want to do on LinkedIn, there are general best practices to remember no matter what social platform you’re on.
Here are the main ones.
Be kind and considerate.
It should go without saying that you want to remain professional and respectful with your posts and comments. You can have a difference of opinion, but that doesn’t mean you have to be mean or act like a troll with your words. Kindness will always go a long way.
Stay audience-focused with your content.
You can share experiences and keep your audience at the forefront, giving them helpful insights or lessons on approaching or overcoming similar challenges. You always want to remember that there’s something about your post that needs to be of value to them…because if it isn’t…chances are it won’t get read (or read by many).
Aim to be relevant and timely.
You want to create timely content that others can relate to. It’s important to key into the types of content others are engaging with and find ways to provide your unique point of view.
When you feel like you’re on repeat, you’re finding your voice and honing in on your message. (That’s a good thing!)
Most Popular Types of LinkedIn Posts
There are several different post types you can create and publish on LinkedIn.
Text Only Posts
Text-only posts are just what you think – posts with only text (no images, videos, etc.)
Of my top-performing posts, the one that got over 10K impressions was a text-only post about people reading 1500-word blog posts.
This shows that you don’t have to have images, create a video, or take a long time creating colorful carousels to get noticed with your social posts. You’ve just got to have content that resonates and hits on a challenge or common question others have experienced.
Posts with Images
Another very common post on LinkedIn is writing a post with an attached image.
It’s a pretty common belief across creators that if you can write a post with an attached image, it tends to perform better. (The algorithm likes images.) So you’ll see plenty of selfies out there (me included).
But again, having an image doesn’t mean your post will do well. What’s important is that if you decide to add an image, it helps with building your personal brand and is relevant to what you’re talking about in your post.
Carousel Posts
Carousel posts have several slides the user clicks through to read content.
Creators sometimes attach their series of slides for the carousel and add text to their posts. This way, users who don’t want to click through the carousel can read the text. Or, it’s a summary that teases out what’s in the carousel, prompting the audience to click through to learn more.
Video Posts
Video posts are another medium you can explore. I have yet to create a video myself. (Although, I want to experiment with this option.)
Video posts are tough because you can get hung up on what to use to record your videos and edit the recording. Then there’s the issue of overanalyzing what you look like and how you sound and just trying to be natural!
I’ve seen other creators like Kris Hughes and Xhoni Mimillari use video occasionally. I still want to pursue it and learn from it eventually, but it just feels more time-intensive to me right now vs. text-only posts.
Polls
LinkedIn polls are another fun and engaging way to ask your audience questions. I recently did a poll around personality types and who you identified with (as it often predicted the type of content you were attracted to reading). With 30 respondents, it was a fun way to mix up engagement.
Articles
Articles are a way to post long-form content on LinkedIn.
When you go to post, you’ll see a red icon to the right that says, “Articles.” You want to click on this to start writing your article post. It’s a way to expand your expertise further and build credibility with your audience, especially if you don’t already have a blog. For now, I like to keep blog articles on my website and link back.
Newsletters
Newsletters on LinkedIn are also a nice opportunity to get into a regular writing habit to share your insights with your LinkedIn followers.
When you take advantage of this feature, those who follow your page and decide to subscribe to your LinkedIn newsletter are notified every time you send. This can help with further engagement and building more connections with others interested in your content.
I have a newsletter called, The Organic Freelancer, I send out every Thursday with Convertkit. So, for now, I haven’t really seen the need to use this feature through LinkedIn.
There’s a variety of different post formats you can choose from to get started. This posting guide is helpful for anyone looking to understand all the different LinkedIn posting options and best practices.
20 LinkedIn Posts Ideas
Now that you know the different types of posts you can do and general best practices, your next important question most likely is…”So how do I come up with ideas on what to post?”
If so, you’re in luck!
The following are LinkedIn post ideas that can eventually be rolled into a LinkedIn content calendar you can create.
Personal Story Posts to Promote Your Personal Brand
- Talk about what motivates and excites you to get out of bed (ex. your family, a new idea you’re working on, new year goals, etc.) Ask your audience to share their goals as well.
- Give a behind-the-scenes look at your business and how you overcome specific challenges you know are shared by others as well.
- Share your personal story about how you were inspired to create your business.
- Expand on the culture you’re a part of (or creating) and why it’s a motivational factor.
- Provide a “Top 5” or “Top 10” lessons learned from building your business. Follow up with a question for your audience asking them to share a lesson they learned.
- Celebrate your wins (ex. maybe it’s posting for 5 days in a row, finishing your website, or getting your first client.) Reflect on a win and reference steps you took to succeed.
- Be a little vulnerable and share a mistake. I bet you’re not the first.
- Share a moment building your business you can reflect on and laugh about. It can be that little chuckle someone else needs to hear, too.
Social Proof Posts
9. Share a success story from one of your clients or customers. This can look like a quote or testimonial about their experience working with you.
10. Provide a snapshot of the data showing how you delivered positive results that benefited their business.
11. Focus on common questions you hear from clients and break that out into different posts and what you do (or your services provide) to help with their challenges.
12. Take a snippet from an email exchange where your client talked about how you and your services have helped, and repurpose it as one of your post ideas.
13. Ask a peer who can validate your expertise, and ask them to write a testimonial about working with you and what they’ve witnessed first-hand.
14. Get quoted in a credible article, then feature it as a post online.
15. Share any awards or certifications as social proof.
Thought Leadership Posts
16. Share a statistic or research finding related to your industry and why it’s valuable for your audience.
17. Mention a quote or advice from a thought leader in your industry and why you agree or disagree.
18. Share how you use a tool or follow a certain process.
19. Based on your expertise and other credible sources, give your POV regarding industry trends of what you think the future holds and why.
20. Take a resource you created that you use with clients and summarize how it’s helpful for others.
How to Post on LinkedIn
So now that you’ve understood the different types of posts and enough ideas to post 5 days/week for a full month, here are steps to take to make your first published post happen.
This is assuming you already have a LinkedIn profile set up and want to keep it simple with a text-only post (image is optional).
Step #1 – Download Kleo
I’ve mentioned this in my newsletter. If you’re posting on LinkedIn, I highly suggest you install the free browser extension called Kleo.
It’s a tool designed by Jake Ward, and I have loved it ever since I started using it. It prioritizes formatting my posts for mobile. And with most people viewing content from their phones vs. desktop, making my content mobile-friendly is top priority. Kleo makes it so easy.
Step #2 – Click on “Start a post”
At the top of your feed, you should see the callout box for you to start a post. Click on it.
If you’ve already downloaded Kleo, you’ll see a side-by-side view when you start typing. This allows you to see how the text will appear for your post as individuals view it from their mobile phones. This is the automatic pre-set view. But you can also change the Kleo settings to view your post in tablet or desktop view.
Kleo gives you insight into other popular posts to get ideas and formatting suggestions from freelancers and creators on LinkedIn. (Which is a cool bonus using the extension.)
Step #3 – Check the post formatting
Look at the spacing once your post is written with a killer hook. Are there any sentences you could shorten? Did you consider bullets or purposely include white space?
Pretty important – Do you get to the point?
Once you like the way it looks, check for any grammatical mistakes and add any relevant hashtags or image(s). If you’re done, you can immediately publish your post or schedule it to go live later.
Getting in the Posting Mindset
A lot of the hesitation about posting on LinkedIn is your mindset. And I say this from personal experience. When I first started posting consistently in February 2023, I was nervous.
Nervous is a nice way to say it. It’s more like I was freaked out and completely stepping out of my comfort zone as an introvert. I found myself swirling on questions like…
“What would past co-workers think?”
“Did I have something unique to say that others cared about?”
I had a crazy amount of fears and hesitations in my head.
But here’s the thing. I also had a fire lit inside me to make this freelance career work (and I still do). So, I had to develop a consistent marketing habit and show up online where others needed my services (hello, LinkedIn). Or how else was I going to find clients?
I’ve found that the biggest barrier to posting on LinkedIn hasn’t been about the posts themselves; it’s listening to the little voice called “doubt” in my head. And the only way to shush that doubt has been to write one post, and then do it again, and again, and again.
Key Takeaways
You can do this. You can begin writing posts on LinkedIn. I have no doubt about it!
By understanding the type of possible posts, ideas for how to get started, and the mindset you need to embrace…you’re on your way.
Start today. Write your first post and tag me in the comments. There’s a supportive community waiting. I’m here cheering you on! Thanks for reading.
