Check off as many of these are you can before you post on LinkedIn, to ensure your content is THOUGHT LEADERSHIP content rather than 'all about you'.
✅ Does your post/content give value?
Thought leaders provide insights. New thinking. New opinions on the status quo.
They help make other people's lives easier. They understand the problems people face in their businesses and can show new ways of thinking or doing that helps fix those problems.
Your LinkedIn posts should offer some value to people that helps them fix their problems or learn something interesting and new.
Value can include some of these:
sharing an experience
sharing research findings
sharing a white paper
doing a LinkedIn live
doing a LinkedIn audio event
sharing a video with helpful thoughts/tips
✅ Does your post say something people won't have heard before?
Thought leaders offer up original thoughts. A unique take on something that may be familiar.
If you are saying something that has been said by hundreds of people already, you aren't going to stand out and you won't be considered a thought leader.
You need to be able to state, very clearly in your headline and your content, what your unique thing is. And this isn't just about the thing you do best or like doing. This is the thing that you want to be known for.
You need to be known for one thing in order to be an effective thought leader.
If you are unclear about what it is, we will be unclear. And confused people do not buy.
✅ Is there some of YOU in your post?
Assume that we don't know you.
Assume that some of the people you've just connected with are seeing this post and they don't know who you are yet.
Make sure you repeat your history and your story whenever you can We don't know your story
We don't know why we should trust you
We don't know your experience
We won't take your thought leadership advice if we don't trust you.
So remember to build trust via your content and allow us to 'see you'
So add the personal stories (with a link to what you've learnt/how it got you to where you are today). We need a mix of those and the value-style posts too.
If we don't know you, we won't trust you.
✅ Does your post grab attention visually?
Text-only posts are on the rise in terms of reach - handy if you're not into posting lots of pictures or videos.
BUT remember that even with text-only posts, those first two lines must grab attention.
They need to be surprising or intriguing.
If you are posting a picture, make sure it's interesting. Don't post any images that have text on them that is hard to read (eg small-text testimonials) Make sure any image you post is visible on mobile too. This is especially important if you're posting carousel PDFs.
Selfies still work - the algorithm likes them
Multiple pictures on a post (3,5,7) work well too.
Groups of people in an image work well too - that's a bonus because you can tag them which will help the reach of your post (as long as they acknowledge the tag - your reach is penalised if they don't acknowledge the tag).
✅ Is your content relatable?
Being relatable is the number one thing to be as a thought leader on LinkedIn.
Because you need to show how you understand your audience.
You need to show you understand our situation and our problems.
Only by us recognising that you understand us, will we trust that you can fix our problems.
✅ Does your post invite engagement?
If your post doesn't get engagement, it won't be seen. So while thought leadership content shouldn't be a popularity contest, you do need to build a community on LinkedIn. That community and your loyal fans will be your support and you need to embrace them. Those are the people who will help your content be seen. So invite engagement on your content.
If you post stating facts and advice without inviting engagement and input, we will switch off. EG Ask people to add their number 9 (if you post eg 8 tips).
Ask people a question that is very easy to answer
Make sure that you respond to anyone who engages with your content.
They took the time to comment, acknowledge that generosity and reply to them.
✅ Thought leaders lift other people up
If you don't have acres of experience but you want to prove your point or share your knowledge, you can do that by researching and sharing the advice, pointing to the source.
So you don't have to experience everything yourself personally, in order to be credible.
When you point to others, this also lifts them up. So by talking about other people not only are you increasing your own credibillity, you're increasing your thought leadership qualities by being generous with your focus and drawing people to them.
✅ Don't make out that you have all the answers
Thought leaders are passionate about their one thing.
Your one thing is the thing you want to be known for. And it needs to be original.
But if you're someone who is so passionate that you preach and don't listen, you will put us off. If you preach and give advice and don't stay vulnerable and human and open to other opinions, you will put us off.
You need to show us that you're a specialist in your one thing and that you continue to hone your focus.
That helps convince us that you're the go-to expert.
✅ Back up your claims
You can tell us how to do things until you're blue in the face but if you're not credible, then we won't follow your advice or pay heed to what you're saying. So whatever you are telling us, make sure you refer to your experience or your source.
Make sure your profile shows your experience and your qualifications too.
✅ Don't be perfect
Coming across as someone who never makes mistakes or who seems too good to be true, creates distrust. People who are more human and therefore fallible, are much more approachable and believable.
Some ways you can come across as more human:
being funny
being vulnerable
asking for advice
talking about your mistakes
talking about your learning journey
If you are too on brand, or too focused on being whatever your idea of a 'leader' is, you will be boring. We won't feel a connection.
And we need to feel a connection in order to trust you.
✅ Don't post as soon as you finish your post
You may think you've written the best post ever but give it a minute. Wait, ideally until the next day, to post it.
Edit it down to be as to the point as it can be. Remove waffle.
Ask someone else to read it to see if they can understand it without having to try.
✅ Format your post so we can digest it quickly and easily
Short sentences.
Gaps between most sentences.
Your posts should be a mix of longer and shorter.
A mix of video and pictures. A mix of text-only and other formats.
Mixing things up, means you'll find what resonates best with your audience.
Contact me for more assistance with your thought leadership content.
I coach you to create content for yourself. Or I create you content with you.
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