Six Ways Posting on LinkedIn is Like Cooking for My Family

Dishes, again?!

Check out the slideshow for this post on LinkedIn.

Every job contains essential elements we'd rather not do. One I've had to lean into since launching Axis is regular posting on LinkedIn.

Over time, it's gotten less daunting. Yet even when I enjoy aspects of LinkedIn, the work of posting hangs over me like a cloud. Much like cooking for my family.

Here are six ways I find the two activities alike.

I. Some Planning Required. I love my children, really, I do. Yet I think back fondly to days when I could wake up, do a day's worth of work or play, and then figure out what sounded good for dinner, if anything.

Not anymore. For working parents, feeding families healthfully and within a budget means menu planning, shopping, and cooking ahead of time. Could we wing it? Sure. Is that advisable, with growing children and limited resources? Not often.

The same is true for posting on LinkedIn. Sure, some posts arise spur of the moment. But I get better results when I plan at least a couple posts each week.

II. Great Intentions Only Go So Far. Meal planning and cooking generally meets basic requirements. No one goes hungry, we prioritize (mostly) quality ingredients, and we manage costs. Most weeks I can check these boxes.

Some weeks, though, grandiose visions fill my menu plan. I can't explain it. Why I think a recipe with 70 minutes of prep will work on a Tuesday is beyond me. Somehow the calendar looked more accommodating–and the recipe less daunting– when I planned the menu. Sometimes the effort is even almost worth it, when we finally eat at 9:00. But only sometimes.

Likewise with LinkedIn content, some ideas seem better at the outset. By the time I've gotten a post ready to publish, I can't believe I put in that much time and sweat for such a paltry reward. Sourcing, drafting, revising, designing, and dealing with inevitable hiccups can be a lot. And like my kids' dissatisfied airs around the table, sometimes my target audiences similarly won't engage. Live and learn.

III. Tastes Vary. Consistent with "great intentions," tastes vary mightily. Some of my favorite meals to feed the family are met with "meh" or a more decisive "ugh–again?" Chicken curry or stuffed sweet potatoes are two of these.

The same thing happens with LinkedIn posts. I can publish an obvious winner that shows how smart I am, how much I understand the content, how well I speak to a demonstrated need in the market . . . and "meh" or "ugh–again?"

Sure, I can make the recipes I like and the content I'm fond of. But if the goal is to feed a family or connect with community, I better moderate accordingly.

IV. Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Success. Some meals hit all the right notes. The ingredients work. The flavors support each other. Second helpings fly from the pan. Everyone raves. I star that recipe and make a point of coming back to it.

And next time . . . something doesn't hit right. Maybe the herbs aren't as fresh. Maybe the weather's not ideal. Maybe I rushed it, or maybe I let it sit too long before baking. Who knows?

The same thing happens on LinkedIn. Scoring a win in March doesn't mean an audience will love a formulaic post in April. So it goes. Was it the ingredients? The prep time? The cultural moment? The algorithm? Has the novelty simply faded? I may never know.

V. Sometimes, Simple Wins. For sure, I'll keep trying new recipes and looking for new ways to engage. But some nights, instant pot chili and quesadillas are just the way to go. They are fast, easy, and crowd pleasing.

On LinkedIn? Post a picture of my dog, write a platitude about how business development is like playing endless games of fetch, and watch the likes and comments pour in. Sometimes we all appreciate a little comfort food, I guess. It's a reminder that we don't always have to work so hard to make the connections we're going for.

IV. Yes, There is Always Follow-Up. Unless we want to wake up to last night's dishes (and I'll be honest, it happens occasionally), we've got to clean up.

The same is true for posting on LinkedIn. Some follow-up is easy, like liking other people's comments and responding to jokes or questions. Some is harder, like clarifying misstatements or adding nuance the original post didn't include.

Just like doing the pots and pans at home, we've got to follow through on LinkedIn. Otherwise we may not like what we find the next day.