Become a LinkedIn Influencer Overnight

How do you use LinkedIn? Chances are, your favorite uses (especially if you’re a power user) involve the off-brand ideas and innovations the company doesn’t tell you about and the majority of casual users don’t know.

Of those LinkedIn features that tend to remain a “best kept secret,” is one that with the right strategy in place will help you become a LinkedIn influencer overnight: LinkedIn Publisher.

When LinkedIn launched the publishing network known as LinkedIn Influencer in 2012, members gained instant access to top voices in business such as Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, and Arianna Huffington. Now you have the opportunity to join these powerful voices as LinkedIn opens the doors to its publishing platform to the public. In a recent Inc.com article, Marla Tabaka explains how we can all be LinkedIn influencers. 

“The more you converse, the more you know about how your community works and why they need you. LinkedIn publisher opens up the door to community conversations,” says Barbara Rozgonyi, founder of CoryWest Media and Chicago’s Social Media Club. These conversations can expand your network in a big way, because all likes, comments, and shares will distribute your content beyond your immediate network. You may also find your content distributed as part of “Best of LinkedIn” and even beyond LinkedIn to its partner sites.

Who Writes?

The privilege of publishing extends to 25,000 members on the network, but LinkedIn is steadily expanding the capability to all members in multiple languages over the next few months. Apply here for access; you’ll know you have posting privileges when you get an email from LinkedIn.

Why Publish?

To help you determine your purpose, Rozgonzi provided a list of reasons to publish. Do you wish to do any of these things?

• Increase traffic to your site via links in your posts.
• Increase visibility as LinkedIn distributes your posts to your network and in the Pulse channels.
• Expand your connections and community as you meet new people who read your work.
• Use analytics to reveal what people are really interested in, which may not be what you think.
• Start conversations about topics you are passionate about and meet others who want to exchange views.
• Add credibility with posts being displayed on your LinkedIn profile.

In order to validate these claims, we conducted our own test of the LinkedIn Publisher network, publishing one of our recent blog posts “4 Tips for Telling a Compelling Business Story.” Starting with only 123 professional connections, our Content Editor applied for publisher access and within a week posted her first published work on LinkedIn. Within 24 hours, the post had been viewed by more than 3,000 LinkedIn members, had 12 comments, and more than 30 likes. Today, now a month later the same published post boasts the following results:

• 6,185 views
• 56 likes on LinkedIn
• 12 comments
• 32 tweets
• 50 likes on Facebook
• 31 1+’s on Google+
• 544 LinkedIn Shares
• 181 followers on our Content Editor’s personal LinkedIn profile

If you ask us, the results speak for themselves. Not only does it offer excellent visibility for individual thoughts, it offers the opportunity to position your company and your people as thought leaders in niche topics, provided you have a well thought out and insightful message.

As we’ve said before, it’s crucial that your employees are well represented and active on LinkedIn. The key to success on the business network is combining self-promotion with company promotion in mind. “Make sure to sell yourself just as you would a brand, but don’t forget that you are also a mouthpiece for your company to gain visibility and leverage that 24/7 networking. It doesn’t matter if you are looking to become an influential person in your industry or niche, sell more products, get more leads, drive traffic to your website, find a job, get more clients, build your brand, or receive funding – LinkedIn Publisher is a “best kept secret” worth exploring.