Some things are inevitable and there's just a few ways you can respond to them. You can try to ignore what's coming, try to prevent it from happening or join the party. I'm not talking about robots taking over the world or going after your job.

I've seen the same three reactions over and over too. This happened in Print vs The Web, Radio vs Podcasts, music sales, streaming...you name it.

The 100%

But, I'm talking about LinkedIn's Creator Mode. It's here and it's really going to change LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning. It's already available to 100% of members.

It's one of the reasons I started this newsletter and learned more about video production and streaming. I have the equipment and now some experience putting things together. I've worked on developing a cadence for posting and although Covid slowed me down a bit, I've gotten better at being consistent.

You can really tell that these are the pioneer days of Creators on LinkedIn. I'm not sure the feature does a whole lot just yet, but it feels like it's really going places. For now, Creator Mode involves changing your profile and turning the feature on, plus adding a few hashtags. I'm not sure what it's going to do to my numbers, but honestly I don't care.

What really Matters

It reminds me of when I first applied to be a Lynda.com contract author...you know what I didn't ask? How much I was going to make, what to expect for payments. Other than a discussion about the advance (I had some experience from writing a book). I just wanted in. I knew I could figure it out once I had the right opportunity. And it's surely paid off in the long run.

The same thing happened when the web came along. I was a graphic designer with virtually no web experience, but a decent design portfolio and a list of good clients. In my first internet job, they wanted to offer me less than what I was making at my current job. Although I negotiated for something a bit better, it wasn't that important. I just wanted in...I knew where it was going.

I see a lot of posts and controversies about people trying to measure what Creator Mode is currently doing for their numbers...trying to figure out the algorithm. I never understood people who try to figure that out. As a developer, I know that it's a moving target. Once people figure it out, it's time for the company to change it.

Build Your Audience

The most important thing is to start building your audience. It drives everything on sites and there's only one way to do that. Post and post often...Get used to posting meaningful content that helps you find your audience. Algorithms will change, features will change, but constant posting works.

The fact that LinkedIn's features have been a walled garden has helped me build a decent audience full of people that are just like me. Now that Creator Mode is open, we'll see a rush of new content. Some good, some not so good.

I know I work here, but I've never wanted to be in any other social network...at least not unless you count Twitter, before it got all nasty. What I really love about LinkedIn is that it's more...well professional. You can learn a lot about the people you connect and follow. Their whole resume is there for you to see. What you post also goes in your profile...which is what you use when you apply for jobs. So it's definitely tamer than something like Twitter.

The Floodgates are Open

And honestly, it's inevitable. The floodgates have been opened, creator mode is open to everyone. LinkedIn will be flooded with lots of creators, newsletters, streams. It's going to change things, we'll see if it's for the better. In the meantime, I'm going to go create and see what happens.