How to get over the LinkedIn ‘ick’

If you follow me on social media (and if you don’t, why not…?) you’ll know I’m what you’d call a LinkedIn ‘stan’. I’d go so far as to say I’m a bit in love with LinkedIn.

I found the past two roles I’ve done as a journalist on LinkedIn, and I am approached often by potential new clients on there, too.

But it wasn’t always this way.

As a journalist, LinkedIn was always the ‘corporate no-go platform’. We journos hung out on Twitter, in Facebook groups, and (gasps) in person. We didn’t need to post about our work on stuffy snoozefest LinkedIn.

It’s hard to remember now when this shift happened for me, but I think it was around the time I retrained as a coach and began to see the platform as something other than a place for people in suits to share Apprentice-style musings on the world of work.

The more I hung out there the more I enjoyed it - and when work began to come in through it, I knew I had to take posting there more seriously.

If your skin is now prickling with the ‘LinkedIn ick’, I hear you. It does still have a lot of ick.

BUT

If you are looking for work and/or new clients and trying the same things over and over but not being active on LinkedIn, then I’d argue that LinkedIn is the missing part of your client/job hunting puzzle.

Whether you’re staff looking for a new staff role, a freelancer looking for clients or a freelance journalist looking for commissions, LinkedIn has a lot of opportunities that I believe you don’t see anywhere else.

Using LinkedIn requires practice. I’m not saying you need to jump straight in at the deep end. But paddle, then splash about, learn to swim around. Because (and I’ll say it again) if the usual things aren’t working, and you’re not LinkedIn-ing, then that’s the place you need to start flexing your ‘I’m great, hire me!’ muscles.

I run LinkedIn workshops, and the ‘ick’ comes up a lot. The ick of posting, of being ‘out there’ of asking for recommendations.

Here are three things to try, to begin to banish the ‘ick’:

1: Ask yourself what the ick is really about. Is it because you’re nervous to share thoughts, or you just don’t fancy being on LinkedIn. Are you worried about others judging you? Well, you have to ‘let them’ and carry on with focusing on YOU.

2: Lurk - but lurk with purpose. If you’re scrolling, scroll pages and groups in your niche and industry. Lurk with purpose, see what others are posting in your industry.

3: Dabble with a comment or a repost. Rather than going full on into your own post, which might feel super ‘ick’, comment on someone else’s or repost a post with a few lines of your own thoughts.

The thing with the ‘ick’ is, the more you post and take part, the less icky it all feels. It’s a bit like going to the gym… the more you go, the more it becomes your ‘normal’ and then you begin to see results.

And the ick? Well, it starts to fade because you get used to turning up and you start to enjoy it more than you resist it.

If you want help with your LinkedIn, please reach out. I offer one on one LinkedIn coaching, as well as running the workshops.

I’d love to connect, too! Come and find me on there as Jenny Holliday Coach or email jennysholliday@gmail.com to set up a session.