Better #39

Kia ora legend,

My first ever LinkedIn post was on 3 December 2020. I’ve got a post-it on my desk with the date - not because it was a masterpiece (I have no idea what it was about), but because it marked the start of something.

It was the beginning of me being a LinkedIn weirdo - sorry, I mean showing up.

Almost five years on, I don’t have a million followers, I’ve never gone viral, never been invited on a podcast, and no one’s stopping me in the street 🤣

But when I launched my consultancy in 2023, initially almost every client came through LinkedIn - from people who’d followed, commented, or just quietly read my posts and (presumably) liked how I thought.

Fast forward two years: I get more work now through referrals and repeat clients, but LinkedIn is still a major driver - of work, visibility, and connection. I owe it a lot, I guess.

My original goal was to build enough credibility and goodwill that I’d never have to interview for a job again. Either someone would approach me, or I’d have enough visibility to make consulting work. Luckily for me, the latter came true.

So today’s issue is all about LinkedIn - how to make it work better for your organisation, and for yourself.

Hope you find something useful in it.

Cheers 👋
Seamus Boyer

I still think LinkedIn gets a bad rap, although all the LinkedIn Lunatics out there can make it pretty indefensible at times.

But as a strategic channel for your organisation, or as a personal career tool, it’s pretty hard to beat.

So whether you’re posting as yourself or your organisation, here are five insights to help you get more from the platform - without needing to become a B2B Hustle Bro or LinkedIn Lunatic.

👇

1. Boring is still boring on LinkedIn

It’s professional, yes - but it’s still social media. And on social media, boring doesn’t work (if we weren’t bored we probably wouldn’t be on it).

So if your post doesn’t stop the scroll, it doesn’t matter how strategic, informative, or aligned it is. LinkedIn’s algorithm is showing us fewer follower posts and more “recommended” content - and the game is increasingly brutal. Even posts from people you follow are currently showing up two weeks late for some reason.

So yes, LinkedIn is about ideas and professional credibility. But your content still needs a strong hook. And every so often, everyone needs to entertain. Everyone.

Many organisations default to their LinkedIn “voice”, which is often cautious and wooden (or weirdly exuberant). But in trying to sound professional, they often just sound distant and robotic.

If you’ve worked hard to write something important, don’t bury it under a safe intro and three lines of throat-clearing. Say the thing. Make the case. Tell a story. And remember - the first line matters like 1,000,000% more than the last.

2. Office humour is king

Work is weird. We all know it.

From awkward Teams calls to shared fridge politics, office life is full of oddly specific experiences that people love to laugh about online. And organisations that lean into this - carefully, cleverly - are reaping the rewards in reach and engagement (and actual fandom).

One of the best examples is Monzo Bank in the UK (660k followers). They post about Monday dread, Friday office vibes, and more interesting email sign-offs . They even created a fake internal “employee” (Greg) so they can riff off each other and make the joke more elaborate.

Similarly, The National Trust (372k followers) finds humour in the quirks of heritage, but also plays on the idea of taking breaks from work - inevitably involving spending time in nature. It’s not strictly core messaging, but it connects audience situation (boring, stressful work) with the benefits of nature reserves and conservation (relaxing, rejuvenating).

These moments of office humour aren’t off-brand - they’re what make a brand feel human and relatable. The approach is optimised for attention and good vibes, not key messages and self-congratulation.

LinkedIn is a site for professionals, so show that you get it by adding some relatable professional humour. And best of all? That kind of content is incredibly taggable and shareable.

3. It’s like playing a multiplayer game

Unlike other platforms, we have so many more levers to pull on LinkedIn - which means more ways to win.

Because it’s not just the corporate page we can influence - we’ve also got our employees, partners, and stakeholders. All of them can interact. All of them can boost our reach - and it makes sense for them to do so.

This is one of the most underused features in public sector LinkedIn use. You can ask people to help amplify your content - share a post in your internal Teams chat and say “this is live, if it aligns with your work, feel free to comment” (commenting is far more powerful than just liking BTW). Or go the whole hog and plan to get a bunch of people all posting about the same thing (from their personal POV) on the same day to flood the feed.

And to make this easier, you can literally provide training to all your colleagues on how to better use LinkedIn for work and career - it’s a win-win.

Because the beauty of LinkedIn is that supporting each other on the platform feels natural - it’s not weird to comment on a colleague’s post. In fact, it’s a key way to publicly show connection and support.

4. It's good for you, too

One of the best ways to build trust and credibility - both for your organisation and for yourself - is to show the results of your work.

LinkedIn gives you a low-effort, high-impact way to do that.

You don’t need to write a thought leadership essay or share intimate personal reflections (although these can work too). You can just highlight the processes, outcomes, and lessons of something you helped make happen - a campaign, a project you supported, a consultation that got great engagement.

It’s like publicly building your CV, one post at a time.

That visibility matters. Not just for future roles, but for:

• Helping others learn from your work

• Attracting collaborators and allies

• Reinforcing the impact of comms within your org

And yes, it’s totally fine to do this while employed. You're not "job hunting" just because you post. You're communicating your value, reflecting on lessons, and lifting the profile of the work you're proud of.

You’ve got good work to share. Don’t let it disappear into a folder somewhere.

5. LinkedIn is a live opportunity to show what you're good at

If you work in comms, social media, content or engagement, you already know the job is about clarity, tone, timing, audience insight, and knowing what to say (and what not to). That’s exactly what LinkedIn can be - a real-time platform where your comms and content skill is on display.

Now, to be absolutely clear (before someone comes for me): not being good at LinkedIn doesn’t mean you aren’t good at your job. There are plenty of great comms and social media professionals who keep things quiet online, which is totally cool (and perhaps healthy).

But the opportunity is there if you want it. Posting well on LinkedIn - or even just commenting with insight or humour - is a live demonstration of your ability to communicate effectively in a public space. It’s a chance to show, not tell.

Personally, I have been hired to help large organisations with their LinkedIn strategy because of my LinkedIn content - not because I post about LinkedIn strategy for large organisations.

Your LinkedIn game doesn’t need to be daily or overly polished - it just needs to reflect the fact that you understand how to stop the scroll, engage, connect. Which is, after all, pretty much the whole job.

Think about it 🤷

That’s all for today, friend.

Hopefully you didn’t notice that it’s been slightly longer than the normal fortnightly break between editions, but in case you did - sorry! It’s been an extremely busy few weeks and the next month looks similar 😴 I’ll do my best to be back in two weeks.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Forward this email onto someone you think might benefit from it.

And maybe I’ll see you over on LinkedIn...