Pulse-ating: What drives readership on LinkedIn?

“Should I write a blog?” a colleague asked me the other day

He had written a few posts on LinkedIn and had gotten a decent level of engagement, so he was trying to figure out if he should keep writing. The simple and short answer to that question is, “Don’t blog unless you have an ongoing stream of valuable content.”

LinkedIn Pulse is the app that readers can use to curate and receive the kinds of business content they want each day. It can, along with other social media apps (except for maybe Peach — the jury is out on that one) to expand your readership, cultivate a business fan base, and establish your personal brand (assuming you have one or are looking to build one). Here’s my personal brand, according to Forbes.

Last night, I decided to analyze the 30+ blogs I’ve posted on LinkedIn since the end of 2015. My findings are fascinating (at least to me…and hopefully to some of you)!

1. Vice is nice. Posts that had weed, booze, or sex in the titles were most popular (even though the posts themselves dealt with business). My Bowie tribute was well received too. Rock and roll will never die. That bad girl thing seems to be working.
2. Business people must be dealing with a lot of fear and anger. My posts on dealing with both were especially popular.
3. Personal posts (stuff about my private life, which I do sparingly) were especially well-trafficked. We are all voyeurs, I suppose.
4. My more intelligent (or so I thought) pieces on new apps, trends, and business tips were among the least “viral.” I think the social media world is pretty cluttered with that stuff already. Although it’s useful, breaking through the clutter is tough.
5. I was concerned about frequency, but I found that posting daily (or close to it) isn’t hurting my readership. My choice of cover photos also seems to have an impact on viewership. Still experimenting on that one…

What do I take away from all this?

Business people are people too. Like parents who hide vegetables in visually appealing and tasty food, if you want your content to spread, you need to make it fun and engaging to read/view/digest.

So, if you’re going to blog, be sure you have a pulse (literally and figuratively)!

More app facts:

	What successful people read in the morning. Not Bad Girl, Good Business? I’m upset!
	Build your fan base in the real world too. Here’s how.
	Is your business or industry fundamentally boring? Here’s how to spice up your content. (Or hire us to write it for you!)
	“I like to watch!” Here are the most popular business videos of 2015. Visual content is key too!