Marianne's hand on a notbook and keyboard, thinking about creating content
“I have a limited amount of time to spend on LinkedIn how do I make the most of the time that I have?” 
 
This is a question that I get asked a lot so before answering, I reached out to my network on LinkedIn to understand more about how much time people are spending on LinkedIn. 
One of the key ways to make the most of the time that you do have, is to have a routine or have a checklist that you follow. 
 
It can be easy to get distracted by an article or newsletter and then you’ve used the time you allocated and get disheartened. 
 
If you’re new to LinkedIn or haven’t been using it much, having a routine will be new, and it may take you a little longer to start with and that’s fine. We all start somewhere. 
 
I don’t want you to be discouraged because as the more you do it, the quicker you will do it, and it will become a habit. 
 
Before I share what you can achieve in 10 minutes, 20 minutes or an hour (or more) I'm going to share a list of the main activities you ideally should be doing on LinkedIn. 
 
The first caveat is that this isn’t an exhaustive list, and it also isn’t a list of things that you need to be doing every single day! 
 
Some can be done once or twice a week, weekly or even monthly. As your LinkedIn confidence grows you will naturally want to do more and achieve more. 
Marianne holding a coffee cup and smiling at the camera

The KEY activities you should be covering on LinkedIn. 

Here's a breakdown of what to include in an effective LinkedIn routine: 
 
🔷 Notifications: Check your notifications and work through them. It's how you keep yourself updated with your network. You can sort through notifications for ‘my posts’ and ‘mentions’. If you are really tight for time, this would be the most valuable time you can spend on LinkedIn. 
 
🔷 Comments are gold, they build relationships, showcase your expertise and enhance your visibility. When you are engaging with content, this is what you want to be doing. 
 
TIP: Remember, if you do share content (just like on any other platform, share with your comments to explain why it is relevant for your audience!) There is nothing more frustrating than thinking why has this been shared? 
TIP: If there are connections (clients or prospects that you really want to engage with) the ring the bell on their profile (the icon on the top of someone’s profile to the right) this means that you will get notified when they post. (You’ll see this in your notifications) 
 
🔷 DMs - check and reply to your DMs: Respond to messages to continue to nurture your networking and build relationships. Remember that you can star messages that are important to you, and you can sort them. 
 
TIP: When keeping in touch with your network, remember that you don’t just need to type a message, you can use a voice note or a video message they are a great way to keep in touch and let them see your face. And a great way to stand out from other people! Will you give it a go? 
 
🔷 Manage your invitations (connection requests): You can see who has reached out, whether they have included a personalised message. 
(There is a limit for free users on the no. of personalised messages. Remember you can see their headline. If you’re not sure you can always reply and ask what prompted them to connect with you.) 
TIP: When you connect with someone, make sure you send a welcome message to them. It’s just good manners frankly. 
 
🔷 Engage with content: This isn’t just throwing out the odd like here and there and thinking that’s it! This is spending time reading content (posts, articles, newsletters) and engaging - like (other emotions) commenting and sharing.  
There are a few ways you can do this this.  
You can start by checking your ‘All’ notifications, this is where you will see everything that is going on with your existing connections if they have posted, shared or commented on content.  
You can also go to your home feed and select ‘Following’ to see content from those you are following. (This will also include promoted content which can get annoying)  
There is another way called saved lists which I will share in another post. 

Notifications 

Notifications are the lifeblood of LinkedIn and here is how they work. 
 
Go to Notifications on the top navigation toolbar 
 
Click on Notifications and a sub menu will apear. Here you can select: 
Mentions - this is where you have been mentioned in a piece of content, a post, article or newsletter. 
My posts 
 
There is a filter available for 'My posts'. I would encourage you to prioritise comments and reposts. 
 
Then go to 'All' and work through any that you want to engage with. 
 
TIP: Remember to delete the notifications once you have dealt with them as that means when you come back you are only working through new ones.  
 
 
🔷 Create content for your audience and be there to reply to comments. It's often a good idea to break up the time you are spending on engagement and create content in the middle of that engagement time. 
 
🔷 Plan content: You may want to dedicate time to planning your content in the week. Some people do this as a standalone activity, others do it after engaging with content. It’s up to you. 
 
Remember you need to make sure that your content aligns to your LinkedIn goals - what are you on LinkedIn for.  
You want to be creating content that is original, educational, and/or informative that helps to to establish your expertise and personal brand. 
 
TIP: Don’t just post content and leave LinkedIn (known as posting and ghosting) - you’re not amplifying your message.  
If you don’t have much time, split your week and maybe create content on one or two days and engage and do the other activities on the other days. 
 
🔷 Explore Groups: Join and actively participate in groups related to your industry or interests to expand your network and learn from others and share your expertise. 
 
🔷 Analytics: On a weekly or monthly basis, you want to be looking at your analytics to understand what of your content resonates with your audience and what doesn’t, and then you can adjust your strategy accordingly. 
 
When you are starting out you want to look at your weekly sharing tracker to check the ratio between your posts and comments to make sure that you are hitting the sweet spot. I wrote a post on LinkedIn explaining this. 
 
🔷 Experiment and Adapt: Don't be afraid to try something new and adjust your strategy based on your analytics. 
 
🔷 Network growth: Much of what I have listed is reactive and not proactive. Ideally, you want to spend some time identifying potential connections and building up a picture of them via their content, and engaging with it and then connecting with them. This will vary based on where you are with your LinkedIn journey. Make sure that these are your ideal clients - do your research. 

Final Thoughts on buiding a LinkedIn routine for success 

LinkedIn is all about community and reciprocity (not easy to say, or spell) in simple terms this means giving back to your community and there are a few ways that you can do this: 
 
Acknowledging a post 
Writing a recommendation 
Endorsing a skill 
Connecting people together that you think would benefit from being connected. 
 
You will see some people do this regularly, John Espirian for example does a 'Friday shout out', each Friday, he shouts out someone from his community. He has taken it a step further and you can even buy merch - a T-Shirt and Mug. 
 
Tips for Success: 
 
Be consistent: Aim to post regularly, even if it's just a few times a week, to stay visible and relevant. Make sure that you are posting at the same time so that your audience learns to expect to hear from you at that time. 
 
Focus on delivering value: Share content that is valuable, informative, and engaging to your audience. Think about the same with your comments 
 
Be Human, be you, be authentic: Share your thoughts, experiences, and insights to build trust and credibility. 

Who viewed your profile? 

If you are paying for Premium on LinkedIn, you can also look at who has viewed your profile. This is useful as you can see who has looked at your profile but hasn’t necessarily engaged with you or your content. You can see where they found you - through feed, search or people similar to you. 
 
Someone doesn’t just come and look at your profile for no reason. They might be interested in what you are talking about, they saw a comment you made and came to have a look,  
OR  
maybe they want to work with you and are checking you out.  
 
So, you might want to check them out and decide if you want to message them (this is part of your proactive network growth tactic. 
 
TIP - you can bookmark the url, which will make it easier to check this (You will see [Profile Name] viewed your profile). 
Recommended reading. 
In summary. 
It's important to understand that everyone on LinkedIn is following their own path and will be a different stages of their business journey to you.  
You need to understand your "why" behind being on LinkedIn. What are you trying to achieve? Once you know what you are aiming for, you will find it much easier to prioritise which of the activites to focus most of your time on. 
 
There will be days and weeks when the amount of time you have available will vary, depending on what else is going on in your business and your life. You may be attending client meetings, doing client work, or if you are unwell, looking after an elderly parent, on holiday, or looking after the kids during school holidays. 
 
The best advice I can give you if you're worrying about what you should be doing is this: go and make some comments. The more you do this, the easier it will become. Think about adding value to the creator's post and that your comment is showcasing your expertise and make each comment stand on it own. 
 
So don't wait: get active on LinkedIn today! 

Your questions answered 

Do I need to post to LinkedIn every day? 
 
No you don't. You will see people post every day, some 5 or even 7 days. The key is to work with a schedule that suits you and that is sustainable. 
 
You need to be CONSISTENT. So, if you can post once or twice a week, then stick to that. 
Should I post more than once a day? 
 
No. You want to focus on delivering valuable and engaging content to your audience and ensuring that each post has time to "breathe" on LinkedIn.  
 
If you post more than once a day you are diluting your message and reducing engagement.  
Should I engage with content every day? 
 
If you only have 5 minutes, spending time engaging is really valuable.  
 
Even if you only manage 5 added value comments that will make a difference to growing your personal brand. 
How often should I be checking my analytics 
 
It depends. As a minimum you should be reviewing your analytics when you are planning your content for the next period.  
 
Some people plan a month or a quarter ahead and will review analytics once a month to see if any adjustments are needed. If you are planning a week ahead, then check weekly. 
If you have further questions then please reach out to me. 
 
Simply click below to get in touch and we can discuss how best I can help you with LinkedIn. 
Tagged as: Linkedin Tips
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