WiP #11: Embrace an obsession

If you want to progress your career, start your own business, or grow your business's brand awareness, this one's for you.

When you are in full-time employment, it's difficult to know what you're allowed to post on your LinkedIn.

I've been there. You get spotlight syndrome and feel as if all your colleagues will see your content and judge you.

Then, if you're an entrepreneur, you get a similar feeling where you'd rather be silent than look desperate or, again, seem stupid.

All of this is nonsense.

Wherever you are in life, showing an active interest in something and documenting your learnings is positive:

• It looks good for businesses to be seen to encourage their team to write online

• It generates brand awareness for the business

• It's effective for bringing in leads

As a Founder, every day you get a chance to reach millions of people with your business and with your thoughts.

So it's a no-brainer to start posting regular content on LinkedIn.

How to start producing content

The easiest way to start creating content is to embrace an obsession.

You don't even need to talk about yourself; you just need to focus on teaching people stuff:

• I went viral talking about Monzo's orange card

• I went viral talking about what pisses me off with Netflix

I don't care who you are, you have knowledge that others don't.

And if you have a base knowledge, you can add to it quickly.

When I decided last year I wanted to become a freelance brand strategist, I became obsessed with all things branding.

Here's what that looked like:

a) I bought all the highly rated brand books.

b) Downloaded the best podcasts.

c) Searched the Reddit communities.

d) Documented all my learnings in my notes.

Then, in my head, I started engaging with the world and all my learnings as LinkedIn posts. It's easier to learn when you try to teach at the same time.

If you spent one hour concentrated time each week doing the above (read books, listen to podcasts, etc.), you will be amazed at how your passion and understanding shine through for your obsession.

Share it with the world.

Share with me.

How did you find this challenge? Let me know how you got on via e-mail at [email protected]

Good luck and look out for the next activity this time next week.