How often should a founder post on LinkedIn?

Up to 5x

more profile views LinkedIn reports for members who post twice a week

What does LinkedIn say about posting on your own profile?

LinkedIn's own advice to members, in a post on its Talent Blog, puts a number on it. Members who post twice a week see up to five times more profile views, which makes two posts a week a sensible starting point for a founder's personal brand.

The same post says videos get 1.4 times more engagement than other formats on LinkedIn. That is a good reason to make one of your two posts a video, rather than posting the same kind of post twice.

Neither figure is a promise for any one profile. Read them as a nudge towards a steady rhythm and a mix of formats, not a target to hit every week.

Is posting once a week enough?

As a minimum, yes. One post a week keeps your profile active and your name in front of your network. Treat it as the level to hold in your busiest weeks, not the target.

If you are just starting, one text post and one video a week is plenty. Once that feels routine, add a post at a time and build towards three to five a week, alternating text and video so readers see both. If video feels like a leap, start with text and fold the videos in once the habit sticks.

How do you keep posting through a busy week?

The useful question is which rhythm survives your worst week, not your best, because a schedule only helps if it holds when the week gets crowded. Habit research points the same way.

Dr Pippa Lally, whose study is behind the often-quoted 66 days to form a habit, told the University of Surrey that figure was an average for a daily habit, with a range of 18 to 254 days. She also said that deciding in advance exactly when and where you'll do something makes it more likely to happen. For a founder, that turns into three habits.

• Book fixed slots in the calendar, such as Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and treat them like a customer call rather than filling them whenever the week has room.
• Keep a running list of ideas from sales calls, customer questions and things you have explained twice, so a slot never starts from nothing.
• When a quiet week comes along, draft a couple of posts ahead for the next busy one.