Business professionals have a new outlet for posting their thoughts and ideas on the Internet. Since February 2014, LinkedIn's publishing platform has been available to the site's users. The platform allows business owners, managers, CEOs and professionals to share insights, experiences and knowledge within a LinkedIn network. Popular posts share globally through LinkedIn Pulse, potentially giving business professionals an audience of millions.
LinkedIn's publishing platform was started in 2012 as LinkedIn Influencers, an experiment through the company's news feed. Industry leaders such as Bill Gates, President Barack Obama and Richard Branson were among 150 invitees to create blog posts. Less than two years later, 25,000 active users were invited to write professional blogs of their own.
The idea was to draw more traffic to LinkedIn users, and it worked. The business website became more than just a networking website for job-seeking professionals. Instead of creating a separate business account on social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, every post on LinkedIn's publishing platform is geared toward issues dealing with running a business, managing employees, human resources and much more.
Karim Abouelnaga wrote a professional blog piece responding to a mainstream article about employees leaving for Silicon Valley jobs. Abouelnaga's rebuttal to the piece was "liked" only 10 times on Facebook, but the LinkedIn post received more than 46,000 views. Even better, the entrepreneur's LinkedIn profile was viewed more than 1,400 times.
Thanks to LinkedIn's publishing platform, users earn more networking potential. When someone reads a piece, that person connects with another LinkedIn profile. More connections means more business, a greater exchange of ideas and potentially higher revenues. The online professional network is no longer just a website to find a job. However, job seekers can take advantage of these posts to leave thoughts about the kind of job they want to obtain and why, utilizing a platform that is less formal than the process of submitting a résumé or cover letter.
A LinkedIn blog post removes the dreaded "middle man" of PR websites and other social networks. A trending blog means more visibility for a business when shared with the right people who already use the website's powerful networking abilities. LinkedIn's publishing platform offers an outlet for business professionals to tout what they do, expound upon viable ideas for their business and even publish their own marketing copy. Such posts draw the right kinds of people to a business, including potential employees and well-paying clients. Imagine the clout a company receives when it makes news using a LinkedIn blog post rather than a press release to disseminate information.
The trick is for a blog post to reach LinkedIn's recommendation engine, a proprietary program with unknown criteria. Just as with recommending a person's profile, users and networkers get together and recommend professional posts. Trending topics from one day to the next may mean certain posts get buried. As with any writing, effectiveness includes composing a catchy headline, creating a unique style, finding a trending topic and disseminating useful information.
LinkedIn's publishing platform seeks to give business professionals a way to speak to their ready-made audience of networked clients. Whether a piece is about revenue streams, hiring data or customer retention, blogs as varied as LinkedIn's subscribers offer new ways to communicate in the business world.
Photo courtesy of Sheila Scarborough at Flickr.com
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