Why lurking in the online space is harming your career
Are you still hiding under an online rock? Lurking on the sidelines at the LinkedIn party, wondering how to dip your toe into the Twitter paddling pool?
Well, let me take you by the hand so you can shake off that invisibility cloak, put your best self forward and take your first steps to becoming more visible online.
Being visible online can give you a much needed boost to your career. For me and some of the leaders I've worked with who take the plunge we've seen countless benefits to being in the 1% of the 260 million monthly LinkedIn users who post content for others to consume and engage with.
Between us we've seen:
Skyrocketing confidence
New clients and inbound leads
Posts leading to 'shall we have a Zoomoffee?' invitation
Old acquaintances coming out to re-establish relationships
Networking meeting requests, leading to strong business relationships
Feedback from Senior Leadership and other colleagues about the quality of posts
But you have a tonne of reasons not to get out there and write online, right? I did too, being a very social media shy person who loathed the idea of splattering my thoughts all over the LinkedIn timeline of colleagues, acquaintances, friends and possibly even an ex-boyfriend or two! Yak. No thanks! I'll just sit here and keep on lurking.....
Not knowing what to write about is one of the biggest reasons why people never post.
But that's not the only reason. People also fear:
Being judged by others
Weird or nasty comments that they don't know how to deal with
Not having enough time to keep on top of writing, posting and commenting
Looking like they're moving jobs because they're suddenly showing up online
All of these fears are completely valid and very much surmountable. I know, I finally dragged myself over the hump and got actively posting in March 22, starting with Twitter. It was one of the scariest things I've ever done.
One of my biggest fears was, what if nobody likes my posts?
And I guarantee there are people out there who don't particularly care for what I'm saying. So what? They can scroll on by. I got over that one fairly quickly...Here's how you can do it, to get yourself over whatever your initial fear hump is:
Step 1: Prove to yourself you have something to say
Getting over this barrier will help you with all the rest of the problems.
What do you know a lot about?
Perhaps it's your subject matter expertise, leadership or maybe you're studying something and you want to share your learning.
Maybe you're amazing at Excel and you want to help people understand it better.
Think about what you know about and use the idea mapping exercise I use to think of endless things to say online.
Take a subject you know, let's say interviews.
Now break it down into specific points about interviews, and keep drilling down until you have 50 things to say about interviews.
Check out this hand-written idea map I created in 10 minutes, which gives me 94 possible posts.
Step 2: Piggyback onto the conversations of others
If you don't yet feel like you want to post, get involved in conversations that others start.
Come and talk to me!
Responding to someone else's post and knowing that NOTHING TERRIBLE WILL HAPPEN can give you the confidence to start creating your own posts too.
Ask yourself, can I add an additional valuable thought here? Or maybe a question to ask for clarification or expansion. Or even just a 'thanks, that really made me see this differently' to start off with will get you moving in the right direction of travel.
Step 3: Get some support
Grab a few pals and enlist them to write with you, committing to helping out each others posts by some likes and comments.
That way you won't feel like Billy No Mates when you give light to your first few posts.
It can be helpful to let colleagues and others in your business know that you're developing yourself by writing online.
It might get you some support from them as well as stopping them from wondering if you're leaving the business.
It might even be worth pointing out to your boss the benefits of you being visible online for the business. That way, you're less likely to feel like you shouldn't be doing this during work time.
Step 4: Carve out some time
Be really honest with yourself about how you're currently spending your time.
Could you set aside a golden hour (or even half hour) every day to work on something that will not just change your career but also enhance the way you do business?
What time killers and fillers do you currently have in your day that you could ditch right now?
Or what slivers of time do you use to do something mindless when you could be switching on the productivity light instead?
Your career progression is worth an hour a day, isn't it?
Don't wait any longer to start making this hugely positive, impactful change to your career habits. Future you will thank you for it.