An artist needs the proper brush to paint a masterpiece. An author needs the right words to fill pages of a book. A photographer needs the precise lighting to get the shot. What do all of these artisans have in common? The exact tools they need to produce their work.

When it comes to being consistently active and adding to the conversation on LinkedIn, the greatest tool available to you is high-value, useful content to share with your audience. I know that getting the ball rolling on being consistently visible can feel daunting. Do you convince yourself you’re sharing obvious information? Or that the people you want to be noticed by aren’t paying attention?

Like any skill you want to become a habit, you have to dive in feet first and act repeatedly before this will feel normal. It takes a good bit of effort, but once you’ve got a rhythm going, knowing what, when, and how to post on LinkedIn for maximum effectiveness will feel natural and you’ll wonder why you weren’t doing it sooner.

So where do you begin? At LISI, we always recommend you start with what you know. It is an easy opportunity to demonstrate your expertise to your audience.

Identify problems your target market faces

Pay attention to the problems your colleagues and clients are facing within the industry. If it is an area you have extensive knowledge in, use it to your advantage and make it the subject for your posts. Not only will it be relevant, but it will help your audience do their jobs. Questions to ask yourself:

• What problems do I solve for my clients?
• Why do they have this issue?
• How is this issue impacting their business?
• How can I help?

Example: We have a client who utilizes our LinkedIn training and services. As part of this process, he was asked to create original thought leadership to post to his LinkedIn profile. We discussed certain topics and figured out that he could create original, thought-provoking posts centered around issues he knows his clients faced, and where he has advised them, in the practice areas he wants to promote. What better way to show his expertise than use what he knows for post content while at the same time helping others that may face the same issue.

Advise how to handle

Create posts that address the problems. Offer your solutions and unique take based on your expertise while keeping in mind your audience. Intertwine some personal professional examples if you or your clients have had similar experiences and show how you handled it. Make sure the post is easy to understand and can be succinctly addressed in 300-500 words, which is the ideal length for LinkedIn content.

Pro tip: Keep your posts concise and prompt a call to action from your audience.

Write a LinkedIn series

If the problem/solution story is too long for a single post, write a blog article and repurpose that content over several posts on LinkedIn. You get the most bang for your buck by breaking your stories into multiple posts. By expanding your content to focus on each solution at a time, you have now easily created a number of posts to fill your content calendar without having to start from scratch.

Pro tip: Create a simple content distribution plan and space your posts out over a month or two depending on how many you are able to pull from the story. Always include a link back to the original resource such as your blog. By doing this, you will reach a broader audience, help drive traffic to your profile and your company page, and perhaps start a conversation.

Embrace third-party content to support your advice

While your advice may be novel, don’t forget to share other industry leaders’ ingenuity. Find content – articles, blogs, videos – that reinforces the advice you provided in your original pieces. Not only will it help strengthen your position as a thought leader, but it will also show your audience you’re not just on here to promote yourself. Posting this type of content demonstrates you are “in the know” when things happen that are relevant to your audience, and you care enough to deliver the information to them and tell them why it is important. It will prove you know what you are talking about. Take inventory of the news outlets you read every day. That’s the content you should be sharing with your audience.

Pro tip: Keep in mind some content will be behind a paywall. It’s still ok to share this type of content sparingly, but let your audience know they might have trouble accessing without a subscription.

Recycle your LinkedIn content

You already put the work into creating these posts, why not share them again? Your first thought may be to republish the same pieces. But before you do, ask yourself if it is still relevant. Ensuring your content is as effective today as it will be tomorrow is key when it comes to repurposing your work. The content you choose to publish, whether it be the first time or third, should be evergreen. It should stand the test of time and provide the same value to your audience today as it did when you first published it. Avoiding trendy topics and focusing on areas that have consistent search potential is what it’s all about.

Pro tip: Don’t be afraid of overexposing your content to your audience even if they have already seen it. They may have missed valuable details the first time.

LinkedIn is about building relationships and one of the best ways to do that is by consistently providing valuable content your connections can relate to, interact with, and share. Be the thought leader you know you are and stand out among your competitors by continuing to provide them with content in ways no one else is.

Our Content Calendar template can get you started. Download it now.