Reflections on 2.5 years on social media.
“I’ve now been posting on LinkedIn consistently for the past couple of years and whilst a post doesn’t always spur up a tonne of new client leads; the platform has given me so much more than I expected.”
Social media…what a minefield. It can be both a powerful tool and a drain on our emotional and mental health. But for freelancers and business owners, it has an immense amount of power to determine success or failure.
When discussing the highs and lows of self-employment with other freelancers, there seems to be one common thread, people find marketing themselves or their business difficult, time-consuming and overwhelming.
I’ve had a social media presence on LinkedIn for around 2.5 years now and I must admit without having built up a small following, I don’t think my self-employment career would have been as fruitful.
Now I have just under 10,000 followers, so I’m hardly an influencer and have never aspired to be one. Before being made redundant 2.5 years ago, my LinkedIn posts were very few and far between. I updated my bio when I changed jobs and got married, but that was about it. When I suddenly lost my job and my stability I panicked and the first thing I thought was: ‘I need to start posting on social media’.
The reasoning behind this was to get in the faces of recruiters. I was frantically applying for full-time jobs, so I figured the more I could post on LinkedIn and connect with potential hiring managers, the more likely I was to land a position.
Well….it didn’t quite work out like that.
Did I get a full-time job? No…*awkward…*
Did I get any leads or interviews from LinkedIn? Also no.
So that little experiment wasn’t exactly successful.
It was very much a slow burn and thankfully I was headhunted by a digital learning recruitment agency and landed my very first contract position. This essentially kickstarted my freelance career.
I’ve now been posting on LinkedIn consistently for the past couple of years and whilst a post doesn’t always spur up a tonne of new client leads; the platform has given me so much more than I expected.
This includes a sense of community; I’ve virtually met (and in-person for some of you!) so many lovely people who have been generous in sharing their knowledge. Being self-employed can be isolating, but I truly believe through LinkedIn I’ve been able to build up a community of fabulous learning practitioners with whom I can share frustrations, ideas and receive feedback from.
Now as a freelancer I get the struggle with social media. It can be relentless, exhausting and frustrating having to set aside time to schedule posts, think of ideas and prepare any assets. Not to mention deal with trolls, because yes, LinkedIn has them. (I was once called dramatic on one of my posts..hahaha.)
I’m no marketing expert, but let me share what I have learned so far and a few top tips to help you out…
1.You need to find a niche – pick something you’re passionate about, or an area of your skillset you want to highlight the most. This could be your business’s primary service for example.
Learning and development has a lot of noise. Everyone has an opinion on everything, therefore when I first started gaining traction on LinkedIn I was very aware that I was adding to this noise. It was important to me that I contributed in a way that felt meaningful and had value. But, standing out in a sea of posts about ADDIE, AI and “L&D has too much content”, felt intimidating.
I soon realised that I needed to harness my primary skillset and use this to grab people’s attention. We can’t all be experts in everything, so whilst I do branch off and talk about other aspects of L&D occasionally, I tend to focus on digital learning the most. This helps create consistency and people then know what to expect when they see a post from me. It’s also an area I feel very confident in talking about, which I feel is reflected in what I post.
I suppose this is a really roundabout way of saying, make yourself memorable. Find what you’re good at, or what you love and showcase it. Be the go-to person for that specific topic, that makes people search your name when they need inspo or insight.
“…you have to be prepared that people will challenge what you’ve written and not everyone is very nice about it.”
2. Be prepared to be challenged and make sure you’re in the mindset to receive it.
I remember the first time I had a post gain a fair bit of attention. I had written a fairly lengthy mini essay around learning styles and preferences. It wasn’t anything massively controversial, I wasn’t out here saying I thought learning styles were gospel and we should all follow them. I’m pretty sure I was just discussing how our preference for how we learn or consume content, should be considered when planning curriculums and methods of learning.
Oh boy was I not prepared for the backlash.
Every single L&D practitioner came crawling out of their cave to have arguments in my comment section. With me, with each other. It was chaos.
I remember seeing the notifications ping up whilst I was trying to concentrate on my busy workday. I didn’t have the brain space or time to reply to people, yet it became such a distraction because I felt like I had to explain my reasoning to everyone. Like I’d done something really bad and needed to justify my actions.
Nowadays I’m much more careful when I post something that I know may ruffle a few feathers. I mean a slightly controversial post is fantastic for engagement because the comments just keep coming. But you have to be prepared that people will challenge what you’ve written and not everyone is very nice about it.
Sometimes you can’t predict what people are going to get riled up about, but if I know I’ve posted something that may spark a healthy debate, I’ll make sure it’s on a day or time that I have the headspace to reply to comments and engage with people.
3. Nuance is dead on social media, you kind of have to accept people will take what you’re saying in their own ways.
Picture this, I post a snippet of a new eLearning I’m working on, that has nice visuals.
The response: “all style and no substance”, “content is more important”.
I post a snippet talking about my instructional design and process for developing content.
The response: “L&D has too much content”, “not everything has to be an eLearning”.
I post about different authoring tools and how to get the most out of these.
The response: “the instructional designer should be deciding the authoring tool.” “Rapid authoring tools are rubbish, they just encourage content dumps”. “Rapid authoring tools are great, Storyline is dead”.
The moral of this? People will often take what you’re posting at face value and you’re never going to please everyone. Now don’t confuse this with constructive and helpful criticism. I have gained some valuable feedback from posting my work on LinkedIn. But sometimes you will have people that just want to disagree with what you’re saying for the sake of it. Or they forget that you can’t cover all bases in one single LinkedIn post. If I’m posting about adding visuals to my digital learning it doesn’t mean I think content doesn’t matter, content just isn’t the subject of that specific post. But not everyone thinks like that, so you always get the same comments of ‘but what about content?’ or ‘the visuals are pointless without strong instructional design.’ As I said, L&D folk can be very opinionated and they reaaalllly like sharing these opinions.
Anyway, sometimes you have to decide when to add more context or reply to these kinds of comments and when not too. It can be tempting to fall into the trap of over explaining yourself, but sometimes it’s best to just thank the person for their input and move on!
“I’ve had some fantastic discussions in LinkedIn comment sections that have challenged my own thinking and encouraged me to look at things from another perspective.”
4. Stand by what you’re saying and accept feedback.
Off the back of the last point, you need to be prepared to stand by what you’re saying. If you’re going to share your opinion, thoughts and expertise on social media be aware that it can be seen by future employers, colleagues, current employers etc. Whilst this may be obvious, often people forget that once you put something out on the internet it’s there forever. So, make sure you really believe in what you’re saying.
This doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind or that you won’t make mistakes. This is where it’s important to accept feedback from others, for example if you are unintentionally spreading information that’s false. I’ve had some fantastic discussions in LinkedIn comment sections that have challenged my own thinking and encouraged me to look at things from another perspective. It can be a great place to learn from other people.
Standing by what you’re saying doesn’t mean being defensive and disagreeing with anyone who dares challenge your opinion. It means considering what you post before you hit that publish button. Ask yourself, what value does this post bring? Why is the topic important to me? What do I want people to get from reading this post?
Remember earlier I mentioned cutting through the noise? Well, asking these questions can help you to define your niche and encourage you to only post about topics that you feel truly passionate about, or that you feel can strike up productive conversations.
5. Don’t overcomplicate it.
I really struggled with this when first starting out on social media, I thought every post had to be groundbreaking and the length of a small dissertation. But as work got busier and I didn’t have time for 5 essay-type LinkedIn posts a week, I quickly realised I needed to rethink my approach.
As I mentioned in the previous point, this doesn’t mean just posting for the sake of it, but you don’t just have to post finished pieces of work or polished videos, or thought-provoking blog posts. Sometimes a quick ‘here’s what I’m working on’ can be just fine.
For example, I will often share progress of my personal projects. I may share a screenshot of where I’m at and a short bit of blurb explaining why I’ve chosen the specific interaction or visuals etc.
Let’s run this example through my three questions:
1. What value does this post bring?
Well as a freelancer it shows off my skillset, which is always valuable in attracting new clients. It also demonstrates to others the work and time that goes into the projects and it can be helpful in teaching fellow ID’s and learning designers new skills.
2. Why is the topic important to me?
As someone who learned a lot of what I know today from following other L&D practitioners on social media, it’s important to me that I ‘give back’ by sharing my own knowledge. I’m also passionate about changing perceptions of digital learning, therefore sharing examples which go against the norm, is something that truly motivates me.
3. What do I want people to get from reading this post?
Inspiration, to learn a new skill, to be aware of me as a freelancer and the work I do.
See? Something as simple as posting a work-in-progress screenshot can still be adding value and demonstrating your passion or interests.
Try not to overthink it and start by just jotting down a few ideas for posts. Start small with maybe one post a week and build upon that.
“…keep it consistent. Experiment with a few different combinations and find what works for you.”
6. Mindset is important when writing social posts – use the scheduler!!
Sometimes you just won’t be in the mood to write social content. If work is busy and you’re tired with a to-do list as long as your arm, drafting up a month’s worth of social posts will feel like a mammoth task. I also wouldn’t recommend posting or writing posts when you’re in this mindset, as it will become very forced and this will be apparent in your tone of writing.
This is where the scheduler will be your best friend.
If I’m having a day where I’m feeling really creative and motivated, I will set aside a couple of hours for social posts and bash out as many as I can in that time. Using the scheduler doesn’t mean the posts are false, or inauthentic, it actually allows you more time to be reactive when you need to be. I tend to schedule two ‘core’ posts a week around a month in advance. I then leave space for a third ‘reactive’ post. By this I mean I may start working on a new project that I want to share, or something might come up in the news that I want to talk about, or I may attend an event that I want to discuss. With these two core posts in place, I can then focus my creative energy on these more sporadic posts.
I don’t really have any advice on the best days or times to post, but I would say keep it consistent. Experiment with a few different combinations and find what works for you. I now stick to posting on the same two days at the same time and so far, have got good engagement. Consistency will keep your algorithm happy, so I would recommend starting off with just one, possibly two posts a week that always go out at the same time.
7. Show your personality!
This one sometimes divides people. On one side you’ve got the die-hard LinkedIn-ers that will say LinkedIn isn’t a place for selfies or personal posts. On the other side you have those which share almost anything on there and do treat it as an extension of their personal social media accounts.
I float around somewhere in-between. I don’t share too much about my family and selfies are few and far between on my feed. But I do think it’s important to show who you are, because we’re more than just our jobs.
I’ve previously shared about my journey to running the half-marathon, re-starting French lessons, my sons’ neurodivergence and just general thoughts and opinions around self-employment.
I love hearing more about people’s hobbies, interestS and personal goals. It builds a sense of connection and has often led to me going into client calls spending more time talking about running or kids, than the work itself!
It’s also important to show your personality through your writing style. I’m quite conversational in the way I write, whereas others may be more formal. The way you write can say a lot about who you are, so just be aware of this.
I won’t sit here and say that managing social media alongside running a business is an easy task. I definitely have those ‘can I really be bothered with this?’ moments.
However, once you have established yourself and put yourself onto the metaphorical map, it can be easier to slow things down.
Now a couple of years in, I feel able to take a breather from social media every now again. For example, over Christmas I don’t engage with it all, other than a few scheduled posts pinging out. During the Summer holidays when my children are home, I usually slow things right down too.
But my biggest piece of advice would be don’t stress about it. The more you get worked up about what to post, the more likely you’re going to stifle your creativity. Some of my best post ideas come whilst I’m not even thinking about social media. For example, when I’m walking the dog, talking to my kids, or out for a run. Even sometimes when I’m in the dentist chair and trying to distract myself!!
Having a positive mindset towards it can really help to. When I’m feeling stuck in a rut with socials, I remember that it’s a contributor to me being able to continue being self-employed. So, I can take the hour or two of extra work each month, if it means I can still maintain the privilege and flexibility of working for myself.
To summarise…
Showcase what you’re good at, or passionate about.
Don’t give too much time to arguing in the comments but accept feedback where it’s constructive and valuable.
Use the scheduler and aim for consistency not quantity.
Don’t overcomplicate the content, talk about yourself, what you’re up to and what you’re interested in.
Try and see social media as a supporting player in your business, not a chore!
See you on LinkedIn!
