Is LinkedIn saturated?

😤 Feeling frustrated by LinkedIn?

Read time: 5 minutes

The LinkedIn landscape has definitely changed over the last year or so. Word has gotten out that editors and companies post freelance opportunities regularly, plus a slew of gig roundup boards and newsletters make it even easier to discover these postings with minimal effort.

The result? Many LinkedIn postings are getting flooded with hundreds of comments in a single day. 😱

How do you even stand a chance to get noticed in these circumstances?

Let me just start by not gaslighting any frustration you’re feeling. I get frustrated too!

But I’m still having some successes over LinkedIn and thought I’d share what is working for me right now. I share my basic LinkedIn prospecting strategy in my ebook, The Fully Booked Freelance Writer, and these are a few new tweaks and trends based on that foundation.

🗓️ Set a daily schedule for searching posts

Gone are the days when you can search LinkedIn posts once or twice a week and send out a blitz of responses to calls for freelance writers. Prospective client posts are blowing up within hours (if not minutes). In other words, time is of the essence - you need to send your curated pitch as soon as possible.

So when you’re in active pitch mode, I would set aside 15 to 30 minutes every day to search posts. Otherwise, I think you’re going to be too late to be considered for a large percentage of opportunities.

Filter for the last 24 hours and a send DM rather than posting a vague comment about how interested you are.

I prefer to do this towards the end of the workday in the U.S. to capture the most recent posts and get better response rates when I get in quickly. (If you do it in the morning, you’ll just see yesterday’s leftovers).

📲 Connect with current and past clients

Stay on top of mind for new projects by connecting with current and past clients. Editors and content marketers move jobs and you may only have their professional email address. By connecting on LinkedIn, you get a long-term way to keep in touch (for instance, I recently had a former editor in a new job reach out).

You also get their posts in your feed very quickly - and they may be posting for freelance work. One example that worked for me is seeing an editor repost another editor’s call for freelance writers at the same pub - I had the right experience and dropped my original editor’s name for some extra incentive. And it turned into a new project.

🏢 Respond to postings for full-time jobs

Ok, I’ve done this A LOT over the course of my writing business and it has NEVER worked for me…until it FINALLY worked for me this month! Here’s what happened…

I saw a post for a FT job in a niche I love to write about. I have no interest in full time work, but I looked at the job description and saw that the position would oversee freelancer writers. Interesting….🤔

So I DMed the hiring manager and had a nice exchange, including supplying relevant writing samples that he will send to the new editor once hired. Now, I know that’s not work on the books, but it is a nice rabbit trail of easy follow-up in the future that could lead to a new client. And I was so excited because I’ve sent this type of message so many times and have never gotten a bite until now! 🤣 

But it just goes to show that half the work of being a freelancer is never giving up.

I hope these tactics give you a bit of inspiration to keep going on LinkedIn. It’s not the only way to get freelance work, but it’s definitely an area that’s worth investing your time in.

If you want to up your LinkedIn game by posting more frequently, check out this blog post I wrote on LinkedIn post frameworks for freelance writers in 2024.

This week’s Write With Lauren newsletter is brought to you by:

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Until next week - happy freelancing!

Lauren

When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help with your freelance business:

Read The Fully Booked Freelance Writer to follow my exact process for keeping a full schedule (whatever that looks like for you).

Organize your business with my income tracker or pitch tracker.