Explore, experiment, play!

I’m in the middle of a 30-day LinkedIn experiment.

It seems timely, given that Twitter/X has become a bin fire, and Mark Zuckerberg suddenly seems intent on sending Facebook and Instagram the same way. TikTok meanwhile has troubles of its own, with a possible ban on the app looming in the US. 

Just to be clear: if you have a following on any platform and it’s generating work for you, please don’t let me put you off using it. But for many of us, it might be time to start exploring new and better ways to share and promote our work.

Before stepping back from social media entirely, however, I’m posting every day on LinkedIn, just to see what happens. 

Why LinkedIn?

• It’s a platform about work, and creative work is what I’m most interested in. 
• The platform has over a billion users in more than 200 countries, but only a tiny fraction of them post regularly. So you’re more likely to have your content shared and noticed than on many other platforms.
• There’s a fair bit of shouting, bragging and wannabe gurus selling courses or sending cold DMs offering to get you more clients/10x your business/other unproven promises. But far fewer trolls. So far, comments on my posts have been warm and friendly. 
• Even if you rarely post, you might want to check that your profile is crystal clear on what you do and who you enjoy working with. Increasing numbers of creatives tell me they get interesting and well-paid work via LinkedIn. It’s been quite a while since I’ve heard that about other platforms!
• The more I use it, the more my feed is filled with relevant posts and people I’m interested in. The opposite seems to happen now on other social channels.

So what’s the experiment?

Simply to post, every day, about creative work, and try to comment on at least 10 posts by others writing on that subject. 

I’m at the half-way point now, and I have 42 new followers. That’s hardly spectacular, but 1) I started on January 1, when hardly anyone is thinking about work; 2) It’s more than I’ve ever gained by posting daily on other platforms. 

As for income: one person booked a one-to-one session with me after reading a post. And at least three people booked my January workshop after reading about it on LinkedIn.

And what happens after 30 days?

At the end of January, I’ll either quit, or carry on for two more months. By then, I usually have enough information to decide whether to make something permanent.

I find 30 days is enough time to know if you want to extend the experiment; 90 days gives you time to tweak it a little, adjust it to your own style and preferences. 

And after 90 days?

I look at the results, and consider questions like this:

• Is it helping my business?
• Is it helping the creatives I want to support?
• Am I connecting to new and interesting people?
• Am I enjoying it?
• How much time does it take, now I’m in the habit?
• Does it feel worth that time/energy?
• If I want to continue, are there systems I can create, or other ways of making it easier?

Experiments can be about anything.

Work, play, self-care.. You might want to experiment with a new income stream. A different creative approach. A personal project. A new exercise routine. 

Experiments should be as simple and as playful as possible. Ditch your perfectionism, for now. Start with the easiest, scrappiest possible version of whatever you want to try. 

It’s not about getting it working brilliantly, or buying lots of new kit or expensive software. It’s about seeing how it feels, if it helps, if it’s something you want to develop and improve on.

There’s no failure here, no judgement. Only data, curiosity – and learning. 

So what experiments will you run in 2025? Let me know how they go!