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Raise your hand if you share your blog posts and other bloggers’ posts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms.
Now raise you hand if you only share your posts. If this is you, you’re missing out on at least 8 pluses of sharing other’s posts. Not to mention you’re secluding yourself from, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other communities.
Those of you who share others’ posts understand the value of sharing.
1. It creates reciprocity. I, for one, am more likely to share what others write if they share my posts. It’s just plain right. Blogging pundits say that your posts will be shared more often if you reciprocate.
2. It demonstrates great personality skills. Sharing posts of other bloggers shows you as someone who thinks of others, not only of yourself, thus portraying you as a team player. You read others’ articles, see value in them, and share them with your connections; demonstrating your awareness and desire to educate your audience (your team).
3. You are secure in your established expertise. I understand the desire to establish oneself as a thought leader in the industry. But this can also be accomplished by sharing posts of others. Some of my valued connections, who are experts in their field, aren’t afraid that sharing the writing of others will affect their reputation.
4. You know sharing won’t hurt your brand. “If I promote others’ material, readers will get confused by my message,” you think. Hog wash. If you are so insecure that you feel your message isn’t strong, your voice isn’t poignant, your style isn’t unique; maybe you shouldn’t be sharing your posts on LinkedIn and other platforms.
5. You don’t come across as narcissistic. Ouch. I know this one hurts. At times I believe I’m guilty of this, so I try to be the best curator of information as possible. But if you only share your posts, you come across as “all that.” The true blogger will acknowledge the efforts of others, not act as though he’s standing in front of the mirror primping himself.
6. You become known as a curator of great information*. LinkedIn is known as the most professional online networking platform. One reasons why LinkedIn has this reputation is because its members provide information capital. I know, for example, that I can find a plethora of articles on the job search, LinkedIn, and introversion—my preferred topics—on LinkedIn.
7. Sharing is a great way to educate yourself. The posts you share are the ones that teach you something; so impressed with them that you want to comment on the lessons you learned. I learn more about the job search or LinkedIn when I read others’ posts; and, as such, I want to educate my connections.
8. You add value to LinkedIn’s community. Related to number 6, LinkedIn offers its members more value when they can read a well-written, thoughtful post and learn somethings from them. It makes visiting LinkedIn worthwhile. Conversely, if one were to only post his/her articles, the content would be limited and LinkedIn wouldn’t be the valuable platform it is.
*My (partial) personal list of LinkedIn curators include, in no particular order, Hank Boyer; Hannah Morgan; Pat Weber; Sabrina Woods; Rich Grant; Jack Mulcahy; Greg Johnson; Randy Block; Lynda Spiegel; Doug Ales; Jeff Sheehan; Sultan Camp; Mark Babbit; Edythe Richards; John White, MBA; Paul Drury; Marietta Crawford; Maria Fafard; Paul Croubalian; Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch; George Armes; Kurt Foedisch; Bobbie Foedisch; Trent Selbrede; Susan Joyce; Sarah Elkins and Shelly Elsigler
I could be better about sharing; I know this. I search for job posts that are relevant to my connections, posts they will appreciate. I fear that my posts outnumber the ones I share from others, but I’m trying to be better. For those of you who don’t share other bloggers post, perhaps you should try.
Related: Four Experts Share the Hot LinkedIn Trends for 2020