5 Simple Tips for Creating Content on LinkedIn

The best thing is to offer solutions to the problems for which our highly targeted audience is seeking a solution.

This article was written in response to a question that was asked by one of my LinkedIn followers. This is an example of one way to provide good content on LinkedIn — Answer the questions your followers are asking. Cultivate and inspire the questions to be asked — so that you can answer and provide value ahead of time. Offering solutions, answering questions — this builds your tribe. But don’t expect sales from everyone in your tribe. 80% of them will just follow to read, listen, or watch the content you provide. The magic happens in the 20% that will take action and become clients or customers.

There are five fundamental metrics (things that can be counted, quantified and are scaleable) that are key to your business growth (and social selling on LinkedIn):

1. Market — Whose problem are you solving? Who are you “talking” to in your online marketing efforts? Don’t talk to “everyone” or “no one” will pay attention. If you have multiple market segments that you work with, don’t bundle your marketing message. Create specific marketing messages for each market segment.
2. Location — Where are you engaging and connecting with your market? Once you have identified your ideal market segment(s) focus your magnetic marketing message where they already hang out. LinkedIn may be one social platform where your ideal prospects and customers are spending time. This platform facilitates the opportunity to establish yourself as the influencer or the expert problem solver for your audience. How does one do this? That’s the next fundamental metic.
3. Value Ahead of Time — We have so many tools in this digital age that we can use to promote our business. Never before in history has it been so “easy” to reach so many of our ideal prospects and build a relationship of value and trust. Tools such as websites, social media, video, and podcasts are just a few of the well known and easy to implement options to create & build a connection with your ideal client — Yet the average business drastically under-uses these amazing tools!
4. Make an Offer — Most people call this “sales”. Most salespeople make offers to everyone without much qualification — wasting way too much time trying to convince their prospect that they need whatever their selling. The best offer making strategy is to build a tribe of prospects who already self-identify that they have the problem for which you provide a solution. The people or businesses that follow your valuable message are the prospects that need to receive your offer. And even from this group that has already self-identified as needing the solution(s) that you provide — only 20% are going to engage in a transaction or accept your offer — but those that do will be self-appointed brand ambassadors!
5. Delivery — This is key. How you deliver on your offer — the one that your prospect said yes to become your customer — will allow you to exponentially grow your tribe and your business!

So, it’s not really “magic content” that works well on LinkedIn. Content that does well on LinkedIn is “value” offered ahead of time. It is even better if the content has been developed specifically for a particular ideal avatar or persona.

Thank you to those that have shared their knowledge with me: JeffHerring.com, Tim Maudlin, Sergey Faldin, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Gary Ryan Blair,

I am inspired by the writing efforts of Trista Ainsworth, Olga Ward/Beaverton Neurofeedback, Helen Boss, Michele Thill, Ksenia Sein, Danielle Street, Brett & Butter, Allison Divine Bridges, Rocky Blessey-Bragg, Danny Forest.

May I offer you something? Lead the Field with More Referrals. Download my Top 10 Tips to Grow Your Business by Referrals.

This article was originally published at The Small Business Guru.