By bbr

by Matt Galchick, intern

First you can network with professionals from all over the world, then you can promote and advertise your business, now you can publish? Is there anything you can’t do on LinkedIn any more? Members now have the ability to publish blog posts directly on the social media platform. Whatever you post will immediately be added to your profile and can be openly published and viewable by all LinkedIn members, not just your connections. LinkedIn’s goal is to push your content and knowledge beyond just the members of your trusted network.

In 2012, LinkedIn started Influencer, a feature where many top experts in their respective fields would post blogs and helpful guides to be seen by all LinkedIn members. With the introduction of the LinkedIn Publishing Platform, the network is making that same option available you so these experts can see what you have to say!

According to LinkedIn’s own Ryan Roslansky, “The valuable Influencer posts and the wide range of professional content from millions of publishers that we currently aggregate on LinkedIn are powerful, but only the tip of the iceberg. Combined, our members have extremely valuable and varied experiences; however, their knowledge and expertise has not yet been captured and shared.”

With the new publishing option, you never know who could see your post. How awesome would it be to publish something about computer software and get a response from Bill Gates? Unlikely, yes, but as the great Justin Bieber said “Never say never.”

Image Source: https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/19/linkedin-opens-its-publishing-platform-to-all-members/

So how is this different from posting links to your current posts housed on your own blog? In essence, it’s the same content, so nothing new there. However, by publishing the content directly on the LinkedIn Publishing Platform, the content of your posts becomes visible to every LinkedIn member, not just your immediate connections. This opens a few more doors for people to discover you as a thought leader. Plus, for those who have thought about blogging but haven’t quite worked up the nerve to commit to it full time, this can be a great way to test the waters. You can create and share posts about current events, trends, etc. without having to worry about keeping a regular schedule, SEO or any of the regular pressures of creating and maintaining a formal blog.

LinkedIn began rolling out this feature to members in February. Go here to learn all the ins and outs of LinkedIn Publishing Platform. Read about posting to the LinkedIn Publishing Platform here. And if you’re gung-ho and ready to check it out, you can apply for early access to the LinkedIn Publishing Platform here.

What do you think? Is this option another great way to get your content out to potential readers and clients? Will you take advantage of it? Let us know.