You might have heard about the United Influencers, but what about the LinkedIn Influencers? It took me three years from LinkedIn launched it, until I really picked it up. You do not know it yet? Let me help you. Just give me two minutes of your precious time. Expert advice, is closer than you think!
The LinkedIn Influencers, an exclusive list
I guess you all know the LinkedIn, the world’s largest business network. Most of us have a profil, we are members. Some members are on a special list. They are approximately 500 hot shot profiles in their industry and/or geography.
When they speak, we listen! When they write, we read!
The LinkedIn Influencers are invitational only. It is not a fixed list. The influencers change according their contribution and engagement.
The list is a bit tricky to find (or maybe I have missed something):
- You go to your LinkedIn homepage and choose Interests from the menu on the black top bar
- Then you choose the drop down menu next to Pulse on the left side
- Scroll down and choose Discover more
- Now you are here, you can check out Influencers, Channels and Publishers. (I did not find an easy way to see the complete list of influencers, but I clicked and clicked and clicked on See more until I had all 500)
In my next blog post, I will share who I follow! You see some above, marked with a green tag.
Can you become an LinkedIn influencer?
Both yes and no! If you are a hot shot, and LinkedIn believe you should be one of the 500, you can. You cannot apply, you must be chosen. For the rest of us, free or premium membership, we can share your thoughts and opinions through the long-form post template. You find it to the very right of the mid-section at the homepage.
A longer post with an eye catching picture, reaches more out than just a Status update. Remember to tag it, so that it appears in the right channels. If it is your first time, write about something you know well and are confident about.
My experience!
I am a newbie. I have only shared four long posts. My posts are short versions of my blog posts. I delete some of the more personal stuff and communicate the hard core information about a topic. An example is my story about Leadership style.
This weekend, I did a lot of research on LinkedIn. It can be used in a much more powerful way, than I initially knew. I publish more long posts. It is a good way to share my inspirational thoughts and increase the visibility for this blog. I just test different topics and see how they are received. Next, I should check out the slide share feature.
One of my posts was read by more than 300. Not a very high number, but I was surprised. I see that long posts engage more and are read by far more people than just a short LinkedIn update. That, I find rewarding!
Photo: Stian Schioldborg
Do you know someone, who needs some Christmas reading? Feel free to share this blog post in your social media! Introduce your friends to LinkedIn Influencers and Pulse (download the app).
And please do, add me on LinkedIn!
Have a great Christmas week!
Cecilia 😀