Why the Heck Are You Still Not on LinkedIn?

Here's something I don't get: What do some writers have against being on LinkedIn?

I hear it all the time. “LinkedIn is for job seekers.” “It’s too corporate.” “LinkedIn is only for business.”

Guess what? Writing is a business. And beyond being a fabulous showcase, LinkedIn is the best Rolodex ever. More on that below.

Whether you’re writing nonfiction, fiction, or screenplays, you are building a career. You need visibility. You need relationships. You need people to know who you are and what you do. And you need to be able to check out the people you meet … and research the people who reach out to you. 

Let’s be real: LinkedIn is pretty much mandatory if you want to be taken seriously as a professional. It’s your calling card—a place to share your contact information and links, as well as your expertise through posts, articles, videos, and other content. It’s a way for people to get to know you in a professional online setting.

You meet someone at an event, have a great conversation, and what happens next? They look you up. Your LinkedIn profile is often the first place they’ll go.

It works the other way, too. Someone reaches out to you, and you check them out, before you agree to a meeting, collaboration, podcast appearance, or anything else. It helps that you can see which mutual connections you have, if any. 

BTW, even if you work a day job, there are ways to let your writer-self shine on LinkedIn.

Still not convinced? Here are ways you, as a writer, can use LinkedIn to your advantage.

1. Show Your Personality

LinkedIn may be a business platform, but you don’t need to take it seriously all the time. Have a little fun with it.

People want to know the person behind the work. Your interests, sense of humor, point of view, stories, and passions give people something to connect with.

• For nonfiction authors, your personality makes your expertise more memorable. 
• For fiction authors and screenwriters, it gives people a glimpse of the person behind the stories.

Try this: Add something fun to the end of your headline. For full-time writers, it can be a fun fact, for those with a day job, try “Ask me about my novel,” “Ask me about my screenplay,” or “Ask me about my passion project.” It gives people an easy way to start a conversation and adds another layer for rapport.

2. Build Your Platform

If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, your platform is part of what sells you. Publishers need and want to know where you show up online and offline, as well as how involved you are with communities and others in your industry.

Size matters.

LinkedIn gives you another place to build that visibility and demonstrate your connections.

Try this: Use your Featured section, and include media under each work experience. Include your best articles, videos, interviews, podcast appearances, or other links that give people a sense of who you are and what you do.

3. Share Your Expertise

Agents and publishers aren’t just investing in your book idea; they are investing in you. LinkedIn is a way for decision-makers to get to know who you are, aside from the pages of your book proposal or manuscript.

• If you’re writing nonfiction, you have years of experience, knowledge, opinions, stories, and ideas.
• The expertise of fiction authors and screenwriters shows up differently, but it is still there. Maybe you’ve researched a particular time period, location, profession, or subject. Perhaps you have tips on dialogue, character development, world-building, or storytelling.

There are plenty of ways to demonstrate that expertise on LinkedIn. Through posts, articles, and comments, talk about your experience and what you’ve learned along the way. Share your perspective on your industry, your subject matter, or your craft. The more people see you talking about what you know, the easier it is for them to understand what you bring to the table. 

Try this: Do live video. Host your own live or be a guest on someone else’s. It’s a great way to let people experience your expertise and personality.

4. Be a Resource

Part of the goal of LinkedIn is to become one of the people others think of when it comes to your subject matter or expertise. And, since only a small percentage of people who use LinkedIn actually post content, doing so regularly helps you stand out.

Through posts, articles, and videos, you can:

• Talk about great books and other resources.
• Interview others in your niche or genre.
• Reshare other writers’ content.

You can also:

• Comment with helpful information on other people’s posts.
• Make introductions, either in public content or via Messenger.
• Write recommendations for your connections.

Be useful. Be interesting. Be the person who knows things and is willing to share.

Try this: Start a LinkedIn newsletter. It gives you another way to consistently share your ideas, build an audience, and demonstrate your expertise. Plus, LinkedIn automatically invites your connections to subscribe, so it’s an “easy” way to build this asset for your aforementioned author platform.

5. Build Your Rolodex

This is actually the biggest benefit of LinkedIn.

For those who don’t know, a Rolodex is an old-school address book made up of cards on a rotating spindle. You’d flip through the cards to find someone’s contact information. LinkedIn is basically the modern-day, turbocharged version.

After you meet someone at an event or through a friend, connect with them on LinkedIn. Stay in touch. Continue the conversation. You never know where that relationship may lead.

• That person you met at a conference might know the editor, producer, or publisher you need to meet.
• One of your connections may know the thought leader you want to approach to write the foreword for your book.
• If you host a podcast, you can search by subject matter to find potential guests. The reverse is also true if you’re looking to guest on podcasts.

You never know.

Try this: Make sure your LinkedIn profile matches who you are when you show up at events … at least to some degree. Make sure you look like your photo, and that your About section and experience match your IRL persona.

Remember

LinkedIn doesn’t replace your other social media. It serves a different purpose.

It’s a business platform. Writing is a business.

So, if you’re a writer who has been avoiding LinkedIn because you think it’s too corporate, too boring, or not for you, maybe it’s time to reconsider.

You want to give yourself—and your projects—every advantage.

LinkedIn is one of those advantages.

*Featured image by nuvolanevicata (Adobe)