When there’s a locked door in front of you, how do you open it? By posting on LinkedIn consistently, because consistency is the key.
I’m sorry for that bad joke.
In building your freelance writing career, staying consistently visible on LinkedIn can be one way to success. LinkedIn has small business owners, marketing managers, and solo professionals with serious budgets seeking excellent writers to help them craft the right messaging.
But I keep hearing from freelance writers and copywriters that it’s challenging to stay visible on LinkedIn… consistently. Sure, you can do it for a week or a month, but how do you keep it going for years on end?
As someone who’s been posting on LinkedIn for seven years (humble brag!), I can tell you that it doesn’t have to be hard.
One of the pieces to solving this puzzle is to look for sneaky limiting beliefs that hold you back. You can have content ideas for inbound marketing and outbound lead generation tactics on LinkedIn, but without the right mindset, you may end up sabotaging yourself, playing small, and ensuring failure.
Let’s address some of these pesky mindset issues today.
The Fear of Running Out of Content Ideas
Yesterday, I had a call with a prospect, a new start-up founder who left the corporate world to build an AI company. He told me about his goals on LinkedIn — visibility and lead generation.
When I asked him how frequently he wanted to post on LinkedIn, to gauge the scope of the project, he said, “I think I should only post three times a week because anything more and I might run out of ideas in a few months.”
Now that mindset will hold him back if left untreated. So, I addressed it.
The truth is that when you’re in the trenches of your craft, working with people on exciting projects, learning, and upskilling, there is no way you will ever run out of content ideas.
Because this is what content is, sharing what you’re learning, showing what you’re good at, and letting people into your little corner of the world. This is what builds trust so your ideal client will want to work with you.
So if you’re afraid of running out of content ideas, look all around in your business. Everything you do to run and manage your business is fodder for content.
The Fear of Annoying People
Writers and executives alike share this fear, including my latest prospect. He said, “Yes, okay, I understand that the fear of running out of ideas is baseless. But what about people? I don’t want to annoy people by posting too much. I don’t want them to go, ‘Oh, there he is again!’ (with an eyeroll) when they see my content every morning.”
This fear that’s holding you back isn’t an easy switch, but it’s simple to reason against. The audience in your head isn’t real. It doesn’t exist. The mean things you hear about yourself from an imagined audience in your head are just things your brain invented to keep you safe.
Here are a few facts:
- Most likely, no one has ever come up to you and said, “You post too much on LinkedIn. It’s annoying.” If someone has, that says more about them than you. Very likely, they’re insecure about your courage to put yourself out there.
- If someone is actually annoyed by your content popping up, they will silently unfollow you. And they are entitled to do so — and it won’t be the end of the world for you.
- The people who like your content want to see you on their feed. They often stay in the shadows, so you may not know them. But they’re there, and you light up their day by posting about your pet/family. And you help them by sharing helpful/insightful content.
Let the voice in your brain say what it says. Show up nonetheless.
Overpromising
This one is sneaky. It shows up as that Burst of Motivation after you read a post by another writer who landed a $5,000 project from LinkedIn.
In that sudden Burst of Motivation, you make a plan to post five times a week on LinkedIn. You are resolute, almost smug in your determination.
And you accomplish it. You consistently use LinkedIn for two weeks, making 10 posts. Then, life happens. Your child falls sick. You sprain your ankle. A client becomes demanding about an ongoing project. And your ambitious LinkedIn marketing plan goes down the drain… and now there’s been a month of silence.
This happens because you made your marketing plan in a Burst of Motivation under Perfect Life Conditions.
Perfect Life Conditions are those short periods in our life when:
- None of our loved ones is sick
- All of our clients are happy with our work
- We’re doing okay with our health, finances, friends, and relationships
A lot has to go right for us to land in Perfect Life Conditions. But it inevitably passes. And the Burst of Motivation dwindles. We’re left with our Regular Self inside our Average Life.
The solution? Make a LinkedIn marketing plan your Regular Self can follow on any given day in your Average Life. Don’t commit to five posts a week right off the bat. Start with three posts a week. Keep that up for three months. Then move to five posts a week.
Make your marketing sustainable, not aspirational.
Have other fears holding you back from showing up on LinkedIn? Share with me, and I’ll address them in my next article.
Meanwhile, read previous articles in this series, exploring LinkedIn as a creator platform vs. a lead generation platform:
- Which path on LinkedIn? Creator or generating B2B writing leads?
- LinkedIn creator or thought leader? Depends on your goals
- Top tactics and tools well-paid LinkedIn creators are using now
- Content strategy and tactics to find leads from LinkedIn
5. Defining success and the mindset of successful LinkedIn creators