You have to make the time to write: Steve Blakeman talks on LinkedIn publishing
There are over 150,000 posts published by professionals every week on LinkedIn and nearly two million users who have used the publishing platform. In the plethora of the voices available on the platform, how can writers create their own niche and become one of the top rated writers? Steve Blakeman, Managing Director – Global Accounts, OMD Worldwide, who was named in the Top 10 authors on Marketing and Advertising on LinkedIn for 2015, has recently released a book on ‘How to be a Top 10 Writer on LinkedIn‘. He spoke to Digital Market Asia about the book’s inspiration.
What inspired you to write this book?
In December last year, I was named as one of LinkedIn’s ‘Top 10 Writers’ of the year for Marketing and Social. Soon after, I was named LinkedIn’s ‘Agency Publisher of the Year’ for EMEA. Winning both of those accolades got me thinking about how the hell I had managed to achieve that and it occurred to me that I had learned quite a lot along the way. So, pure and simple, I decided to write a book about it. I started writing it on a flight to CES in January. 10 hours later, I was already over 40 pages in. A much better use of my time than watching yet another movie.
The recognition is being among the top 10 writers/ voices on LinkedIn – what drives you to write on the subjects that you do?
First and foremost, I simply love writing. I always have done when I look back. I have kept that up over the years, writing for publications such as Digital Market Asia. In fact it was simply reposting those same articles on LinkedIn that became the catalyst for the accolades on LinkedIn.
In terms of subject matter, I think it’s fair to say that my style is somewhat diverse. I have written about anything from adult colouring books to the financial crisis in China. However, I always write with my tongue stuck firmly in my cheek and I think that has, at some level, connected with readers.
In the marketing and advertising business, people usually are hoping for 30-hour days to just keep up. How do you make the time to be able to write regularly?
If you try to ‘find’ the time you will fail. You have to ‘make’ the time to write. And that means making some sacrifices. So rather than watching movies on a flight, as I mentioned previously, you reassign that time to writing. It could be five minutes on a cab ride, 10 minutes at the end of the day or even in the bathroom (come on, admit it, we’ve all done emails on the throne so why not a paragraph for a book?!).
What can readers expect in this book?
Well it’s definitely not like many business books. Anyone who has ever read any of my articles will know that I take a slightly acerbic look at life and this book is no different. It offers plenty of hints, tips and insights into publishing on LinkedIn but it’s done in a lighthearted way so that it never feels like you are reading a business book.
Who did you have in mind while penning this book? Who would this book be most relevant to?There are around 400 million people on LinkedIn. Of those around 1 million of them publish on LinkedIn. So, I guess I’m targeting the remaining 399 million.
If you wanted the reader to have one takeaway from the book, what would it be?
The one thing that I would want readers to take from the book is that anyone, and I mean anyone, is capable of writing engaging content on LinkedIn, or indeed any platform. If I can do it, then they can.
Is this a first of many? What next?
I’m already working on the next book. It’s a collaboration with Mike Adams, the author of “The Intrepid CEO” on a crowdsourced book entitled “Journey Pathing: The Ultimate Corporate Survival Guide” – it’s a quirky look at the phenomenon of business bulls**t. If you want to be a contributor, contact me on LinkedIn!
Following that, I have already got the outline for a screenplay which I have been working on, intermittently, for a few years now. And then? I’m finally going to tackle my first novel. And the subject matter? The advertising industry of course. I’ve been collecting stories and anecdotes for years and I intend to weave them into a story. Only the names will change. Be afraid…
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