Why You Need to Use LinkedIn Publishing and Blogging Platforms, with Joshua Waldman

LinkedIn is more than just a collection of professional profiles; it is increasingly a publishing platform where people share articles and ideas. With an audience of over 450 million users, LinkedIn publishing has become one of the best tools for building your professional profile with insightful content.

On this bonus episode of the Find Your Dream Job podcast, Joshua Waldman, founder of CareerEnlightment.com and author of Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies, explains how you can use LinkedIn publishing tools to your professional advantage.

Whether you’re sharing an interesting article, commenting on someone else’s post, or writing your own thought piece, adding new content helps you stand out from the crowd. You’re no longer just another lifeless, corporate profile. It shows you stay informed and that you have something to say!

Plus, LinkedIn articles tend to generate a lot of reader feedback. This helps you to build your online network and supports your job search.

Start by sharing an article with your own commentary included. It’s a simple way of growing your personal brand and getting your skills and ideas in front of others.

Transcript

Ben Forstag:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life.

I’m Ben Forstag, Managing Director of Mac’s List. On today’s bonus episode, we’re sharing exclusive content from Land Your Dream Job Anywhere. It’s our new book that was published February 1, 2017. For 15 years at Mac’s List, we’ve helped people find meaningful, well-paying work in Portland, Oregon, one of the country’s most competitive job markets.

Now, we put all of our best job hunting advice in one new book that can help you no matter where you live. Land Your Dream Job Anywhere also includes advice from many of the national career experts who have appeared on our podcast. Today, we’re sharing one of these features exclusively with you, our podcast listeners.

Here is Joshua Waldman, founder of CareerEnlightenment.com and author of Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies, reading his contribution, “Why You Need to Use LinkedIn as a Publishing and Blogging Platform.”

Joshua Waldman:

Using LinkedIn for publishing has really exploded over the last year. When you can tell your story with your voice—whether it’s an article you write or someone else’s work you are sharing along with your comments—it makes you a more rounded individual. You’re not just another lifeless corporate profile on LinkedIn. You actually have something to say.

One of the reasons LinkedIn is such a great blogging platform is that posts tend to generate a lot of reader feedback. I get comments on my LinkedIn blog every week. Building this kind of community and dialog can be a huge asset in your job search. You want to be seen as a thought leader. Even if you aren’t actively looking for a job, consistently publishing on LinkedIn helps you build your reputation bit by bit.

How do you get started? The first step is to start sharing. You don’t have to publish a 500-word article right off the bat. Share an article someone else has written along with some of your own commentary on the topic. This is a great way to create engagement in your network. When you post, other people in your network will see it on their homepage when they log in to LinkedIn. If they share it or like it or comment on it, your posts now get exposed to their networks. It’s a simple way of growing your personal brand.

If not used to its full capacity, LinkedIn can be very passive. Many people just go online and tweak their profiles, and hope something will happen. That approach is disempowering and unproductive. Instead, you need to put yourself out there, and blogging is a good way to do that. Just as your profile should be engaging and tell your story, the content you publish is another way to create points of contact with your connections and position yourself in their opinions. There’s no better way for people (including prospective employers) to see how you can provide value.