Writing a LinkedIn post is similar in many respects to writing a blog post. Both activities can help establish your credentials in a professional area.
A blog is a website where the owner can post text, pictures and other media, themed on a particular issue or interest. Basic versions of blogging software, such as WordPress, Tumblr or Google’s Blogger, are freely available on the web.
Once readers have discovered a blog of interest (e.g. from content shared by their contacts), they can opt to see further postings as they appear. With popular activities, such as cookery – where blogs have resulted in bestselling recipe books – the right kind of blogs can offer professional audiences well-informed industry insights.
They are more common in some sectors than in others. For example, advertising consultants typically go to the trouble of hosting and maintaining a personal blog to demonstrate they are in touch with the latest trends.
For the majority of networkers, however, publishing a post on LinkedIn from time to time is probably a more effective use of time and effort.
Useful networking opportunities can also come from contributing to someone else’s blog as a guest blogger.
A convenient alternative is to ‘microblog’ on Twitter. This allows users to tweet messages limited to 140 characters. Such brevity might seem limiting, but the ability to share media and links to other websites means a Twitter account can act as the gateway to more substantial information elsewhere.
It takes time to establish, maintain and nurture a network. If you make the decision to commit to a blog, ensure you can find time to sustain its momentum by posting at least twice a month.
Making an impact on Twitter or LinkedIn through regular updates, posts and tweets demands a similar level of planned commitment
