Things you SHOULD and SHOULDN’T post on LinkedIn

Do you find it hard or uncomfortable coming up with things to post on LinkedIn?

You are not alone. Many of our clients and colleagues have been getting more active on LinkedIn of late, and are continually asking us what they should be posting online. So we’ve put together a list of ideas that you can use as a guide for what you should and shouldn’t post on LinkedIn.

Things you should post on or do on LinkedIn include:

Share links (using a URL shortener like bit.ly) to interesting articles, websites or video you have found that some individuals in your network might appreciate. Don’t worry about whether all of your connections will find the information equally valuable. Also, try to use words that grab the readers and encourage them to click the link.

Pose a question that could lead to solving a problem you have, like: “Anyone know any good graphic designers?”

Conduct an informal poll of your network relating to a topic that is of interest to you, such as: “What tools are you using to deliver online content to your clients?“

Mention a person or a situation that might be helpful to some of your connections, like: “I just met with John Jeffrey from ABC Engineers and found out they are saving companies lots of $$ on building services design.“

Talk about an event you are attending or have attended to encourage involvement and/or questions

Use the “Like” feature when you see a helpful update from one of your connections. Doing this shares that update with your entire network. This is a great way to give the writer of the helpful update exposure to your network.

Comment on other people’s posts. Giving your community feedback “engages” with them, which is one of the core purposes for social media usage.

And, just as importantly, following is a list of “No-Nos” and netiquette you should observe on LinkedIn.

Don’t Use LinkedIn Like Facebook and Twitter  – The netiquette on LinkedIn is no more than a couple of updates per week (max one-two per day), whereas on Twitter you are almost expected to tweet twenty times per day.

Please disconnect your Twitter feed from your LinkedIn Updates (or don’t connect them in the first place) – Usage of LinkedIn and Twitter is different… Active Twitter feeds on LinkedIn pollute other’s updates with more personal commentary than might normally be appropriate for LinkedIn.

Don’t mention personal things – like what you had for breakfast or that your cat, dog or child is sick today – this is inappropriate. It suggests to the business professionals in your network that you don’t really respect their time.

Don’t flog – Continually talking about specific products and services make people think you are trying to flog something. This is not the purpose of social media, especially LinkedIn.

Avoid talking about topics that might be sensitive or inappropriate to some of your audience. [if your mother would dislike the comment – don’t make it]

Think twice before posting your physical whereabouts. If you must, do it after you return. Burglaries have occurred after location status tweets.

Don’t waste your time reading updates from people who violate all of the above netiquette rules. By using the “Hide” function, you can stop an individual’s status updates from showing up on your home page.

Don’t hold your breath for a lot of feedback but know people ARE watching you, getting to know more about you.

Want to know more about LinkedIn? We have put together a quick and free “Professional Use of LinkedIn” slideshow you can work through at your own pace.

If you like our article, why not share it with your LinkedIn network?  They might find it as useful as you have.