Yes that’s right, I believe operant conditioning, the behavioral theory created by psychologist B.F. Skinner, has helped to get my post featured on LinkedIn. Not once, but three times in the last year. Similar to the other two times I have been featured, I did not see it coming. My latest published post on January 27th, 2016 has gotten 1500+ views, over 200 likes and over 50 shares.
Getting featured presents a great opportunity because it instantly increases your article’s visibility on LinkedIn to readers outside your network. Consequently, this exposure can help you to help more people with your writing, build your network and may even open new doors to business, personal and/or career opportunities.
However, the art of getting featured remains a mystery and is no guarantee even for LinkedIn Uninfluencers and veteran writers, those whose followers may range from hundreds to tens of thousands. Not even marketing gurus are sure how and when this will happen, even when they can tell that your piece is a knockout.
According to the Theory Into Practice Database, positive reinforcement, which is the foundation of Skinner’s theory, in the form of verbal praise, will elicit a desired response. Encouragement, from my readers or in the form of an incandescent feature on LinkedIn, has resulted in my continuing to hone my craft. This in turn has allowed me to become a better writer. And as a writer whose piece is highlighted on LinkedIn, I am able to encourage others to keep doing their best.
Being featured on the mammoth LinkedIn network automatically markets your piece for you in the designated pulse channel they feature you in. Putting you in front of a zillion people (don’t quote me on the zillion) is an amazing feat in and of itself. But these are not just people—these are fantastic people that enjoy reading and are looking for your article to inspire them or help them solve a problem. LinkedIn is one of the biggest networkers and for a moment in time they are on your side…no matter how small you may think you are.
I sometimes amuse myself into thinking that LinkedIn may be using some form of operant conditioning with a variable-ratio schedule, where one gets rewarded for the art of good and useful writing on a varied scale. You never know when it will happen! This ensures the author keeps practicing their writing and honing their skills, which in turn increases the chances that the platform attracts and/or creates top writers. You may yawn or smirk and say lucky you: to that I say, keep writing and don’t sweat it. For your writing will help someone out who needs it. Most importantly, as you practice more, you are developing your art and that will help you in the long run.
I started my personal blog commonsensgal.com back in June 2015 and didn’t anticipate all the love, support and engagement I have gotten thus far from readers (and trolls too).
I certainly did not anticipate getting featured, not once, but three times by LinkedIn Pulse and twice in the same month. If you are so inclined, to learn and share, here are my articles that got featured, the most recent one is listed first:
Published January 2016: You Are Here: Learn Something New to Continue To Be Your Best
Published November 2015: The Missing Mentor: Fuel your Career with Mentoring Moments
Published November 2015: What Makes A Successful Employee: Who Is In It To Win It?
Being featured has helped me to grow my network on LinkedIn and Twitter. My Twitter network has a life of its own, as my very active Twitter followers have increased and amplified my readership and shares, helping me to make additional inroads. Today, as I am finishing up my writing on this post, I just hit the 10,000 follower mark on Twitter. This is really an awesome platform and warrants its own post next time. But until then, I wanted to give it a High Five and a mention, because it has also helped me tremendously. Both networks now provides me with a combined total of almost 12,000 followers strong and counting.
While getting featured should not be your motivation for writing, it can give you a boost when you least expect. I can already see that my writing on LinkedIn has made a difference for me on a personal level, as well as helped me to create a platform that has, in turn, had a definite impact on my readers. All of this has happened despite the fact that my personal blog follower count is still small, but growing steadily. So I encourage you to keep writing and sharing your ideas and building your network on LinkedIn, Twitter and other platforms. Your writing can only get better if you persevere, no matter what happens. Cheers to you and Thank you for your support 🙂.
Credits: Creative Commons images
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Kaylaa T. Blackwell is an IT Professional working @ Itron, Inc. and a student @ Southern New Hampshire University with a penchant for writing, researching and helping others resolve real world issues. She has a great interest in technology, business and psychology and how they impact each other. The views and opinions expressed in this article belongs to Kaylaa and do not represent the opinions of her employer. Learn more about her here.
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Congratulations! And a very informative post too.
Thanks so much~I appreciate your support. Glad you thought my post was informative too.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the week and the upcoming weekend :).
You’re 100% correct that having an article become featured on a major website or go viral is an amazing feeling. Within approximately three months of starting my blog I had a post that literally exploded on social media, which was very encouraging. I’ve since had two other posts that were widely shared by leading organizations in my intended field.
As far as I can tell, these sorts of events have a good deal to do with being in the right place at the right time. Every now and then a connector (someone who knows a lot of people) will find an article that resonates with them on some level. They then share it, and because of their immense social networks the tipping point is reached.
If I’m correct, this reinforces your claim that we should keep writing. We never know when the right person will discover our work at the right time. It also means we should always try to put out the best material we can. The more well-written a post is the more likely someone will connect with it.