187: How to Promote Yourself as a Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn

How to Promote Yourself as a Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn

A reminder that I’ve moved to a once-a-month webinar format, held on the third Thursday of the month at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. The topic is different each month, and I jam-pack them full of content.

To learn about the next webinar: https://mastercoachwebinars.carrd.co

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Today, I want to drill down on ways to promote yourself as a SME on LinkedIn.

Let’s start with why this is important:

1. If you are job searching, putting content on LI in your area of expertise will show potential employers that you are a thought leader in your field.

2. This can be a great tool for your company – instead of a hard sell on why you should buy a particular product or service, your expertise is much more interesting to others in your field, potential buyers, and potential future employees. You can really differentiate your company from the competition this way.

3. As you become known as a SME, recruiters will increasingly reach out to you. The optimal state is that you never go “in” and “out” of job search mode, but rather you are always having those conversations. I call it ARFO – Always Ready For Opportunity.

4. Your expertise can be repurposed for your employer – they may want to use it on the website, in videos, or social media posts. This is a win/win/win situation.

Now that I’ve hopefully persuaded you of the reasons to position yourself as a SME, why LinkedIn? Here are three reasons:

1. It’s the most professional of the SM sites

2. LI is set up to also be your de facto blog

3. People will engage with professional content on LI – it’s one of the main reasons people use LI

Finally, let’s get to the meat of this episode – how to promote yourself as a SME on LI. Here are my suggested steps:

1. Decide on your “why” – if you don’t know why you are doing this or your reason isn’t very strong, you’ll likely put it on the back burner when other things in your professional or personal life become more urgent.

2. Create a strategy. How often will you post? What will you post each time? Here’s an example for someone in HR:

   Mondays – Original content around a basic concept in Human Resources

   Wednesdays – Share someone else’s article and comment on it

   Fridays – Create engagement around a question or idea and ask other HR professionals to give input

3. Calendar everything.

   You’ll need time to create the posts and associated artwork, time to post (I would recommend Hootsuite’s free version).

   Although you can’t really calendar in time to respond to comments on your posts, you’ll want to keep an eye on this so you keep the conversations going.

4. Periodically shake things up.

   I do this in my business once a quarter. I look at a) what kind of content I’m putting out on my various channels, and b) what days I’m putting that content out.

   By shaking things up every three months, I am hopefully doing the same thing grocery stores do when they move product to another part of the store. The shoppers now have to actually look for what they want…and who knows what they might find along the way.

   Also, you may find that some kinds of posts get far more engagement than others, so either eliminate the less effective or think of a way to tweak it to get more eyes on your content.

Here are some specific types of posts you may want to consider:

1. Share expertise around a hot topic in your field

2. Pose thought-provoking questions

3. Share a problem you’ve solved and how you solved it

4. Share what your company is doing to address a problem

5. Post thought-provoking statistics relevant to your field or industry

6. Post relevant quotes from industry leaders

7. Share upcoming trainings, certifications, or other professional development opportunities

8. Align yourself with thought leaders in your field by posting a quote and expanding on it

9. Post about an award your company, a leader in your company, or you have received

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