Showing your work on LinkedIn is the best way to attract new freelance writing clients and build credibility. It’s the classic way to “show, not tell” your skills and expertise.
However, it can feel repetitive to simply share links to your published content on LinkedIn without any context or storytelling. And let’s face it, the reach for posts with external links can easily fall flat as LinkedIn penalizes you for sending people away.
So, let’s look at innovative ways to share your work on LinkedIn that may also convince the algorithm to spare your sin of adding an external link to your post.
Pre-requisite: Make sure you have permission from your client to publicly share the work you do for them. If you have signed an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) with them, you can’t share your work with them openly.
5 Ways to Share Samples on LinkedIn
1. Share the Sample Link with Context on What the Client Was Looking For
One way to make your sample more interesting is to add context around the client’s requirements and vision for this project. What were they looking for and why?
I shared this blog post on LinkedIn recently. See how it’s more interesting with a little bit of backstory on what the client wanted?
With the added context, you also know what to focus on when you read this piece — the tone and style.
2. Share a Video of the Piece (Scrolling Through It)
How do you share gated content on LinkedIn, like a lead-gen white paper? You can’t share the link because prospects will be required to give away their contact info to your client in order to access it (which is an added hurdle and might deter them from looking at your sample). And you can’t share the downloaded content directly because that would make it distributable and override your client’s choice to keep the resource gated.
Here’s a workaround: create a video of the white paper as you scroll through it. Prospects can still pause the video to read it, but you didn’t make the resource freely available in its intended format.
My client had gated the white papers I wrote for them, but they didn’t object to me sharing it in this way.
3. Share Your Process of Writing and Link the Sample in the Comments
I’m endlessly interested in how other freelance writers approach their writing projects. And your prospects would love to learn about your process and approach, too.
That’s why this method works. You can detail your process of working on the project and then drop the link in the comments section. LinkedIn’s algorithm will spare you from the low reach when you add the link to the comments.
Better yet? Create a carousel with screenshots of your published writing and explain each decision you made throughout the process, as John Harrison does here.
4. Reveal the Hero’s Journey of Writing this Piece
Another way to make your sample link more than just a link is to share how you overcame a hiccup while working on this content and how you overcame it.
The challenge could be writing the piece on a short deadline, overcoming writer’s block, dealing with an unresponsive SME whose inputs you wanted for the piece, spilling coffee on your laptop, construction noises in the neighborhood, or any of the myriad stuff we deal with every day as writers.
The stories of challenges we overcome can become helpful guides to our peers and show our grit, determination, and problem-solving skills to our prospects.
5. Share How You Approached the Writing THEN and How You’d Approach It NOW
This is a new one that I haven’t tried yet, so I’d love for you to experiment on this one with me.
Our processes and work evolve over time. We are always learning new and better ways to write, edit, brainstorm ideas, etc., whether it’s intentionally taking courses to up-level our skills or subconsciously learning from our peers and clients.
So, when you share an older sample, break down the process you employed at that time. (Note: You don’t always need new samples; it’s perfectly fine to share older samples of your work.)
Then, describe how you would approach the project today. Would you add something to the project? Remove a step? Do something different? Use AI for research? Get your piece peer-reviewed?
This method of sharing your work will show your prospects you’re constantly evolving your skills and you’re learning to write better.
And it makes for a more interesting read than just a link.
Bonuses: Add Other Kinds of Context to the Sample
You can also feature other types of context to add interest and dimension to the sample you’re sharing. Here are four more examples to give you ideas…
For example: Talk about the kind of writing you’re sharing.
For example: Talk about the industry.
For example: Set the stage.
For example: Share what’s inside.
Sharing your writing samples is an incredible way to get prospects interested in your services. They see the end result of your efforts, learn more about your process, and build trust in your services.
