143 - Expand Your Visibility, Authority, and Reach with LinkedIn Newsletters

LinkedIn is more than a business networking platform; it's one of the best places to build visibility and grow your business. And newsletters are a relatively easy way to build thought leadership and expand your reach.

In this solo episode, I share a few reasons why you should at least think about starting a newsletter, like how articles are indexed by Google, and how to create one in 10 minutes or less.  

Top Takeaways

🔹LinkedIn articles are indexed by Google, increasing long-term visibility.
🔹Consistency in publishing is more important than perfection.
🔹Use images and videos within articles to serve diverse learning styles.
🔹Your first newsletter edition should be your best to maximize subscriptions.
🔹LinkedIn followers are invited to subscribe when they follow you.
🔹You can change your newsletter's name, but LinkedIn advises not too.
🔹Publishing frequency can be flexible; twice a month is effective.
🔹Revise and repurpose LinkedIn content for other platforms like Substack.
🔹Engage your audience with compelling headlines and highlights.


 Chapters

00:00 Introduction to LinkedIn articles and newsletters
01:56 Embedding images and videos in articles for better engagement
04:01 How newsletters expand your reach beyond articles
06:05 Tips for choosing a newsletter name and schedule
07:20 Repurposing LinkedIn content across platforms
07:50 Additional benefits of newsletters and final tips

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➡️ Need more? Check out the 300+ videos on my YouTube channel Click here for my YouTube channel 

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For additional insights, connect with Annette Richmond and Black Dog Marketing Strategies on social media.
Substack: https://substack.com/@annetterichmond
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetterichmond/
YouTube: ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Content marketing, especially video, is something we know we need to do. But figuring out where to start, that's another story. On Content Marketing School, we talk about video creation, content strategy, social media, and how to make it all work for your business. I'm Annette Richman, your host. Let's get on with the show. Hi, I'm Annette Richmond. Thanks so much for joining me today. Now, if you've listened to this podcast before, you know that I talk a lot about video and social media in general. But the overall theme of this show is content marketing. Now, video and social are the two that I talk about the most, but today I'm turning to LinkedIn, specifically LinkedIn newsletters, which are similar to the format called posts in Substack and also often referred to as newsletters. Now I've been talking about this on LinkedIn and also on Substack lately, and I thought that it might be a good idea to share it here as well. So today I want to walk you through LinkedIn articles and newsletters, what they are, how they work together, and why you just might want to start using them if you're not already. Now I want to start with articles because articles are the foundation. Now, LinkedIn is more than just a business networking site. It remains one of the best places to build visibility and grow your business. And articles are a solid way to share your knowledge, build your audience and reputation as a thought leader. And here's the bonus most people don't think about. LinkedIn articles are actually indexed by Google. Now that's a fairly big deal because an article that you publish can keep showing up in search if it's strong enough long after you have published it. Now, if you're a service professional, a coach, a consultant, a trainer like me, articles are a great way to answer the questions that you get asked over and over and over again by clients and maybe even more importantly by potential clients. Instead of answering those questions one-on-one through an email or a DM, you can use an article to answer them. It's also a great way to respond to questions without just giving away your knowledge for free through a DM or an email. You can use the question and your response as a LinkedIn post. Now that's something I learned from my good friend Brenda Meller, who is a LinkedIn marketing coach. Now, another great thing is that LinkedIn supports embedding images and also videos inside your articles. So that means that you can write a step-by-step bit of instructions for the people who learn by reading, and also include a short video demonstration for the people who learn by watching. And that way you're covering and serving both audiences in one piece of content. If you're wondering what you can actually write about, here are a few ideas. You can discuss industry trends, maybe where your industry is right now, where it's heading, and maybe where it will be five years from now. You might share lessons that you've learned or what you changed if you were starting your business over again. Another popular topic is sales strategies, things that work, and maybe even more importantly, things that don't work and why. And once you've published your article in your newsletter, LinkedIn will prompt you to create a post, which is a great idea, and you just pull out a few highlights or takeaways to encourage people who are not subscribers to click on your article, read the article, and hopefully subscribe to your newsletter. Another article bonus you may not already know is people looking you up in search can actually see the articles that you've written while viewing your profile, even if they're not logged into LinkedIn. Now, articles are the foundation, but newsletters are how you expand your reach on top of that foundation. I had a conversation recently with someone who'd started writing articles to build his reputation as a thought leader. And I suggested that he take it just a little bit further and start a newsletter. And here's why. When you publish the very first edition of your LinkedIn newsletter, all of your connections get notified. Now that's a very different reach than a regular post will ever get, which is exactly why your first edition needs to be kind of the best one you ever will write. So people, when they're notified, will immediately say yes to subscribing. Now, after that first edition, subscribers get notified by email every time you publish a new issue. Well, that's what LinkedIn says, but here's a caveat based on my own experience and that of several of my colleagues. Email delivery is not a sure thing. Now that might be a platform glitch, it also might be the fact that people just opt out of email notifications. Either way, don't count on email as your only distribution channel. Just treat that as a bonus, not a guarantee. There are other real advantages that make newsletters well worth setting up anyway. Now, one is whenever someone follows you on LinkedIn, they are invited to subscribe to your newsletter. And when you publish your first article, LinkedIn now adds your newsletter to the featured section on your profile. Of course, you can remove it anytime if you like, but it's there by default, giving you visibility that you didn't have to ask for. Now setting up your newsletter takes less than 10 minutes and it's a little hard to just explain over audio, but if you go on LinkedIn, you can find directions on how to do it. All you basically need is to have a name, your description, and you're gonna want to upload an image. Now, the image size is 300 by 300 pixels, so think logo more than image. And then you're gonna set a publication schedule, might be daily, weekly, every other week, or monthly. And don't worry about locking yourself in because any or all of these things can be changed later. That said, I have to mention that LinkedIn does warn against changing your newsletter's name. They note that it may confuse subscribers. So that is something to consider. But having said that, I've changed my newsletter's name more than once. A few years ago, my newsletter evolved from Smarter Business Moves, which was also the name of my LinkedIn Live Show and my podcast at the time, to what it's called today Smarter Marketing Moves, which is more in line with my business. If I have convinced you to start doing a LinkedIn newsletter, one thing you have to think about is publishing and you want to publish consistently. Now, I have gone back and forth in my time of doing newsletters from monthly to twice a month, and that seems to be the sweet spot for a lot of my colleagues and where I am right now with twice a month. And I will be honest, even with a schedule that feels doable for me, I've missed a month or three here and there over the years. And I'll also be honest, sometimes life just gets lifey. So don't beat yourself up over missing an issue. Consistency over time matters more than perfection, as with most content. So articles or a newsletter maybe, LinkedIn articles and newsletters are both opportunities to develop thought leadership on the platform. And they don't have to live only on LinkedIn, both can be repurposed into other content for other platforms. As I said, I published a similar post on Substack as I did on LinkedIn and also something on my blog. Now, as I mentioned before, a few of the reasons that I decided to relaunch my newsletter is because LinkedIn articles are indexed by Google. What I really love is that new followers are automatically asked if they want to subscribe to my newsletter, and new issues are potentially delivered by email to all the subscribers. Another thing that I want to mention is if you do decide that you want to write about something that is completely off topic, you can always publish a standalone article or even start a second newsletter, as my good friend Jillian Whitney, a book and author coach, has done. Thanks again for joining me for this episode of Content Marketing School. If you found it helpful and relevant, please share it with a friend. I bet they'll thank you. And I'll see you next time. Want to continue the conversation? Connect with me on LinkedIn or find me on Substack and let me know if you found me through the show. And if you find Content Marketing School valuable, please follow the show and leave a five star review. It's the only way I'll know that I'm on the right track. Thanks again for joining me, and I'll see you next time.