Hi Reader this is the first edition of my Build In Public (BIP) newsletter; welcome!

Here are the most relevant things that have happened since Monday:

Metrics update

• Monday and Wednesday posts resulted in 1078 impressions, 452 members reached with two posts. That’s better than I expected!
• Reached software developers (11.5%) and founders + CxO (11.9%). I was pleasantly surprised. Many software engineers told me they struggle to reach decision-makers, who are more likely to hire them.
• No calls with decision-makers. Understandable due to the holidays.
• +3 subscribers to the newsletter (Hi Mom!)

LinkedIn Insights

• I learned that scheduling LinkedIn posts can actually lower their reach, as the platform allegedly penalizes them. Just in case, I’ll keep publishing the posts manually
• Adding links to outside of LinkedIn in a post also results in a penalty: LinkedIn wants you to stay on its platform! Successful creators say to post without the link first. Wait an hour for the post to take off, then edit to add the link. That way, there’s no penalty
• The first comment you make on your own post is always pinned to the top of the thread. It can be useful to spotlight links or extra content
• Also, LinkedIn has a dark mode! Using it and toggling the DarkReader extension off for LinkedIn made the website much faster to browse

Networking

• Had video calls and chats with 9 other freelancers this week. We got to know each other, talked about the business of doing business, sales, social media. It was great!

Musings

I have frequent calls with fellow freelancers, decision-makers, and people who reach out. I love having these calls because I learn so much, I enjoy meeting new people, and we often learn something new from each other. I am focused on learning everything I can about sales and marketing at the moment. So, social media strategies come up often during these calls, and I’ve noticed there are two schools of thought for using LinkedIn:

1. Some use it as an advertising, promotion, and marketing tool. They post to maximize the reach of their posts and play into LinkedIn’s algorithm’s wants. Prospects then see the publication, get in touch, and a sale occurs.
2. Others use it to raise their profile. They write (regularly) about topics they’re inspired by but don’t try to humor the algorithm. The goal isn’t to get inbound inquiries via their posts, but to showcase what they can do. These users actively reach out to potential clients. The clients then visit the user’s LinkedIn profile to judge the user and their trustworthiness/competence.

I’m still deciding how much to cater to the algorithm. It feels silly to “like X comments today” just to boost my visibility. This bothers me because it’s manipulative, and also because some days I have enough things to say to leave more than X comments, but other days I don’t. Posting these vague, empty comments like I’ve seen so many on the platform is weird. It doesn’t reflect who I am; it robs me of my agency, and I don’t like it much. It’s not my style, and it’s not the type of content I enjoy reading.

To continue with that thread, I find LinkedIn to be very time-consuming. Publishing a post and optimizing for maximum reach involves “priming the pump” for 30 minutes before by commenting on other’s publications to tease the algorithm into boosting my post later, then posting the post and sticking around for 30–45 minutes to answer the comments, during which time I’ll come across something in my feed and get sidetracked… And that’s my morning gone.

I’m reading “Fanatical Prospecting,” and the author makes an interesting point. In an hour of cold calling, he can make dozens of dials, which will result in several appointments. What do I have to show after spending a morning on LinkedIn? Cold calling is something I’m keeping in my back pocket. When I get the guts, find where to get call lists, and come up with a decent pitch, I might try cold calling. I’m not done with the book yet, but once I am, I’ll share my opinion of it and what I learned.

Final thoughts

What an intense week that was; I accomplished only half of what I had planned and feel exhausted. I still have to figure out what the best way to leverage LinkedIn is and the balance between playing by the rules and staying true to myself. I also need to be more deliberate about my schedule to not get sidetracked as much. Any advice or suggestions are welcome!

That’s it; I hope you enjoyed reading and wish you a nice weekend! Any questions, thoughts, or want to chat: hit reply. I read every message.

--Pierre