LinkedIn has a new publishing platform. The idea is to use the new tool in the same way that you would use a personal or business blog.

The social network has opened up the publishing platform to some members recently (all members will soon have access – if you don’t have access yet, it’s coming!), and that means that your LinkedIn feed will soon be cluttered with blog posts.

The question is: how can you use the new blogging tool to make your profile stand out? How can you generate comments or follows? And, maybe more importantly, how can you use the new platform to spread the word about your business? Let’s take a closer look.

Super Intuitive

If you have access to the publishing platform, you’ll see a small pencil icon near your status update box. All you really have to do to post a blog is click on that pencil. You will then see all the usual blogging tools located at the top of your screen (bold, underline, italics, links, etc.). Clicking on any one of these icons will do what you’d expect it to do, and the whole setup acts just like a regular blog.

You can also add images to your posts by clicking on the small camera icon. Really, this couldn’t be simpler, and it’s the perfect platform for anyone with little blogging experience – or a lot of marketing experience. As it turns out, the new LinkedIn blogging option makes it really simple to market your business or product with just a few clicks – but don’t try this is you don’t have any writing skills.

The Unwritten (or Written) Rules

As with any company blog, the trick to your LinkedIn blogging platform is not to sell. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s best to simply offer useful materials. Let your audience know that you know what you’re talking about by making really good suggestions, providing helpful tips, and helping your network understand what you do and don’t do – after all, this blog tool is all about you.

LinkedIn will showcase any new posts and images towards the top of your profile, so do keep this in mind when you post. Your blogs won’t just show up in friend feeds either. Anyone that stumbles upon your new blog will see your last post. In short, it’s a good idea to make sure that your latest posts are the best posts – maybe even better than what you’re posting on your personal blog, since LinkedIn is often the best social tool for business usage.

Sharing Your Posts

LinkedIn doesn’t include an automatic bio space for your blog posts, so make sure to add that to each post. Once you’ve created a post, all you have to do is start sharing it with your other networks and friends. Really, it’s just like any other blog. With that in mind, though, it’s kind of hard to see why some people would use the LinkedIn blog as opposed to a site blog.

Although, it’s not always true that everyone in your LinkedIn circle visits your blog, and this way you can expose all of those contacts to you, your work, or your product, and link back to your site.

Thoughts?