Why you don't need to post 5x a week to find clients on LinkedIn

Have you been posting numerous times a week on LinkedIn but these efforts aren't resulting in new clients? 

Many business owners know that their ideal clients are on LinkedIn, so decide to post on LinkedIn numerous times a week to reach them.

And I know that many experts talk about the importance of consistent posting to build trust and authority. They say that LinkedIn marketing takes time. It's a marathon, not a sprint. In general, I agree with them.

However, you want to find more clients now, not just at some point in the distant future. So, what do you do? 

You don't need to post every day of the week to find clients.

In fact, you can get clients without ever posting.

As a small business owner, I want you to think of maximizing and minimizing your time on LinkedIn. 

Let's say you spend 15 minutes a day on the platform. What I mean is that you will limit (minimize) your time to just 15 minutes, and do (maximize) strategic actions that will help you get clients during that time. 

This means ditching mindless scrolling and a focus on vanity metrics at the door. 

I think of LinkedIn in three areas:

1. Profile and positioning

2. Content and engagement

3. Outreach and networking

Different tools on LinkedIn - posts, comments, messages, etc. - have different functions. So, depending on your goals (e.g. collecting email addresses, booking calls), you will choose to leverage different aspects of the platform.

This means that not every business owner needs to post frequently. While it's a strategy that many use successfully (including myself!) to generate inbound interest, many business owners experience success without posting at all.

For example, sending direct messages (DMs) on LinkedIn is often the best and fastest path to getting leads. Because when you send strategic DMs, you create conversations with those you want to work with most. You get to pick your clients! 

Posting is a powerful tool on LinkedIn that has the potential to build your authority and create trust with potential clients. At the same time, posting can backfire. 

Here are a few examples:

• A financial coach posts about how they didn't hit their financial goals for last year. 

• A book editor posts about their morning routine but does so with a handful of spelling and grammar mistakes. 

• A marketing expert talks about how they are struggle since they don't have enough clients in their pipeline. 

In all of the examples above, the expert's LinkedIn post demonstrates that they are struggling in the domain that others pay them to help them with. 

Here are a few more subtle examples: 

• A web designer sells in every post that goes live. 

• A business coach shares long podcast episodes and articles they enjoyed without highlighting the key takeaways. 

• A lawyer shares technical posts that go over the heads of even their most sophisticated clientele. 

In these examples, the expert's LinkedIn posts don't add much value to the reader, often causing frustration and even a feeling that they are salesy or disconnected. 

As a small business owner, it is critical that you write strategic posts that build, not break, your credibility. 

I'm talking about posts that teach your audience about the problems they have, why they matter, and the beliefs that impact how they go about solving them. 

And similarly, posts that demonstrate that you're a credible expert with the experience and track record to solve those problems. 

Small business owners go wrong when they:

• Focus on the quantity of posts over the quality 

• Overuse call-to-actions and constantly share sales-focused posts 

• Spend all their time on posts instead of starting conversations in the DMs

This is why having a thoughtful LinkedIn strategy is so important. It keeps you focused on taking strategic actions that generate interest for your services - without wasting your precious time.

Does LinkedIn feel overwhelming to you?

You might be asking:

• How do I fix my profile?

• How frequently should I post?

• What does a successful post look like?

• How do I engage connections in the DMs?

• How do I get someone to accept a connection request?

Now, imagine for a minute that you have answers to all these questions.

You know how to navigate LinkedIn with ease to generate leads. You have:

• A clear and updated profile

• Scripts to use when sending DMs

• A plan for when and how frequently to post

• Exact search terms to use to find dream clients

• A bank of content ideas that will attract clients to you

When I start working with a small business owner, we always start with optimizing your profile so that you clearly explain your credibility, who you serve, how you serve them, and what action the profile viewer should take.

Then, we create a custom LinkedIn strategy for you so that you can feel comfortable navigating LinkedIn and find right-fit clients for your business. We’ll answer all the above questions and more.

Learn more and get started here.