LinkedIn is a powerful platform for establishing your professional online presence and enabling connections. One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability to share updates, articles, and other content with your network. However, sharing capabilities are disabled by default for new accounts. Here are the steps to enable sharing on LinkedIn:
Enable Posting of Articles, Images, and Videos
LinkedIn allows you to share articles, images, presentations, and videos to your connections. However, this capability needs to be manually enabled:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile
- Click on the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy
- Under the Privacy tab, go to the How others see your LinkedIn activity section
- Make sure the option “Share articles, images, videos you view, presentations you download, and people you follow” is enabled
Once enabled, you will be able to post articles, images, videos, and other rich media content to your LinkedIn profile and share them with your connections.
Enable Sharing of Your Connections’ Posts
In addition to sharing your own content, you can also share posts made by your 1st-degree connections. To enable this:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Privacy tab
- Under How others see your LinkedIn activity, enable “Posts and articles in your network” option
This will allow you to reshare content posted by people in your network. A powerful way to amplify good ideas and commentary from your connections.
Make Your Profile and Activity Public
To enable full sharing capabilities, you need to make your profile public. A private profile restricts sharing options. To make your profile public:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Privacy tab
- Under Your public profile, select the option Your profile is visible to everyone
Additionally, go to the Share profile edits option under How others see your LinkedIn activity and select Yes to allow public sharing when you update your profile.
Share Updates With Your Network
Once your profile is public, you can post status updates that will be shared with your connections. To enable this:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Communications tab
- Under After you post, select Your connections only for Posts
This will allow your connections to see updates and posts that you share on LinkedIn. You can control the exact audience for individual posts at the time of sharing.
Join LinkedIn Groups
Joining relevant LinkedIn Groups related to your industry or interests is a great way to expand your network. Groups allow you to share discussions and content with a larger audience beyond just your 1st-degree connections:
- Use LinkedIn search to find Groups relevant to you
- Visit the Group page and click on Join group
- Once approved, start engaging in Group discussions and post content
Sharing helpful insights and content with Group members is a great way to establish yourself as an expert and thought leader.
Follow Company Pages
Following Company Pages allows you to share their content with your network. To do this:
- Search for company pages that interest you
- Visit the company page and click Follow
- Updates from the company page will now appear in your feed
- You can share these posts with your connections
This allows you to amplify relevant industry news, articles, and updates with your network.
Adjust Your Activity Broadcast Settings
LinkedIn allows you to control what activity is automatically broadcast to your connections via email digests and notifications:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Communications tab
- Under Broadcast your LinkedIn activity, adjust based on what you want to share
- For example, uncheck articles and posts if you don’t want automatic sharing
Customizing these settings allows you to fine tune sharing to suit your preferences.
Install the LinkedIn Share Plugin
The LinkedIn browser plugin makes it easy to share interesting content you find on the web. To install it:
- Go to https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/46687/adding-the-linkedin-share-button-plug-in-to-your-browser?lang=en
- Click Add next to the browser you use
- This will install the plugin so you can easily share webpages
Conclusion
Enabling sharing capabilities and making your profile public unlocks the full power of LinkedIn in terms of expanding your reach. Adjust privacy settings as needed and actively share relevant insights and articles to establish thought leadership. Join Groups and follow Company Pages to further increase your sharing potential. With these tips, you can maximize the impact of your LinkedIn activity.