Amanda Rose: How to be strategically personal on LinkedIn

Careers expert Amanda Rose explains when it is ok to share personal content on LinkedIn – and when it can destroy your brand.

LinkedIn is a professional social network, but that does not mean you can’t make it personal.

You just have to be strategically personal.

Before posting, ask yourself: Does the community in which I am working give a damn? Is this adding value? Is this building my brand? Is this going to get me business or get me a job?

If the answer is “no” and you post anyway, you can damage your brand or be seen as less professional or off topic.

If you are working in fitness and it’s normal to post gym-related content, great.

If you are a chef or nutritionist or dietitian and showing people meals they should be eating, that’s on brand.

But if you are in finance and posting pictures of your food, people will unfollow you.

You don’t want your accountant posting pictures of his food or you will be thinking “Aren’t you busy? Shouldn’t you be working on my accounts?”

Amanda Rose says what is appropriate for one profession could be inappropriate for another. Picture: Monique Harmer

Just like a job interview, it’s about how you want to be perceived.

The same goes for sharing political views on LinkedIn.

If you have aspirations to run for politics or want to position yourself with a particular political issue, it is appropriate in your community.

If politics are totally irrelevant, though, people may turn off you because you have a different political view – it can happen overnight.

The key with all social media is to be smart about it and don’t assume everyone cares what you have to say.

On social media, people either want to learn from you, be entertained by you or be impressed by you.

They don’t want people attacking others, it’s not a good look.

For most people, it’s better to save the foodie photos for Facebook Picture: iStock

Another aspect of your LinkedIn profile that should not become too personal or casual is your profile picture.

Think about first impressions.

I see so much boob.

You can be fun, but be smart about it.

Show your personality but make it something people don’t find aggressive.

All social media is all about positioning yourself and how you want people to see you.

And not just social media, that’s life.

Amanda Rose is a business consultant, workplace trainer, LinkedIn influencer and founder of six organisations – and now she is tackling your career questions for SMART Daily every week.

Got a question? Send it to [e-mail]

Originally published as Amanda Rose: How to be strategically personal on LinkedIn