I recently ran a 5 day LinkedIn Visibility Challenge for 200+ ELT freelancers, encouraging them to get their profile optimised and to start posting regularly with posts that their ideal clients would be interested to see.
There were a lot of wins.
People finally managed to post on LinkedIn after years of lurking, and found that the sky didn’t fall in.
They saw their connections and views rise, even after such a short time.
And quite a few people managed to find work or clients as a result of getting visible, with people reaching out to them. This last one even took me by surprise as I’d usually advise to expect it to take maybe 3 months of consistent posting.
But there was also an awful lot of resistance.
This was mostly around beliefs that people were holding about what getting visible on social media means, and the impact it might have.
Here are some of the ‘favourites’
1 People won’t be interested in learning more about me.
In fact, in the feedback many many people mentioned how much they’d enjoyed finding out more about other people who they’d previously perhaps just known by name.
We even noticed quite a few people joining in with similar introduction posts, who hadn’t actually been part of the challenge- and good for them.
2 People will feel ‘bombarded’ by my posts.
It’s true that social media can feel a bit much at times, but the quantity of what appears on your feed won’t change. What you can influence is which posts or which kind of posts you see. The algorithm will take note of what you read and what you like and comment on, and, of course, who you follow- especially if you click the bell on their profile.
So, if people are seeing a lot of your posts, it’s because they like them. And they’d rather see them than other stuff on there.
3 You need specialist equipment to create videos for social media.
You need a smartphone, and that’s about it. The camera on any smartphone is probably better than an old video camera, and the mic is probably pretty decent too, especially inside. You don’t need a ring light, you just need to face a light source, like a window or a table lamp. What you do need is a way of holding the camera still, and a tripod is probably easiest, but you can get one of those for about £10 on Amazon.
I’d recommend adding subtitles, but you can easily do that, for free, using an app like Capcut.
I was impressed how many people on the challenge created and posted their first video on LinkedIn. This is the way every social media platform is going, so it’s worth trying to get past our hang ups. It does get easier, and its one of the best ways of getting visible fast.
4 I don’t feel comfortable selling myself.
Let’s get one thing clear. No one is suggesting you sell yourself. You’re not even really selling your service. What will work is to give people the information they need and want about who you are, how you can help them, and why they might want to choose you. Then they can make their own decisions.
If you don’t give them this information, you’re actually doing them a disservice.
5 I don’t want to show off.
One of the tasks I set people involved sharing a win, which could be a client testimonial. Lots of people hate sharing testimonials. It feels like bragging. But, don’t you read the reviews before making an important purchase? Would you rather the company didn’t share them in case it looked like showing off? Thought not. Again, it’s a service to your potential clients.
These 5 beliefs about getting visible on social media are unhelpful for your business, but they’re also unhelpful for your potential clients.
Before you post, ask yourself, will this help a potential client either to understand or do something better, or to understand better how I could help them. If yes, then don’t hesitate to post it.
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If you’re an ELT freelancer/business owner you may feel a bit overwhelmed by all the business advice out there…
Should you start a podcast or a YouTube channel, a mailing list, a membership? Is it a good idea to keep things as simple as possible, or should you be looking to diversify? What does scaling even mean, anyway?!
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Brilliant sum up of a quality-filled challenge. Your conclusion is so right. Ask if you post could help someone.
Thank you, Ruth!