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I keep getting asked when I’m going to start posting on Pulse, the new publishing platform from LinkedIn. At the present time, I have no intention of doing it and here’s why.

When Pulse originally started, only a select group of influencers was allowed to post. These were people widely recognised as experts in their particular field. It was a terrific opportunity to hear from the best business minds in the world. Popular leaders like Jack Welsh, Richard Branson and Bill Gates were early contributors. You didn’t have to be connected to them to read their posts.  All the content published at LinkedIn Pulse was original. I followed a few favourites and found people I’d never heard from before. It was a place I could always find something interesting or thought-provoking. It was a place to go when I wanted or needed my thinking challenged.

Contemplating the opportunity

When LinkedIn invited me to start publishing on Pulse I was excited and a little daunted. I knew I had to come up with a killer topic and put some thought into what I wanted to say. I knew I had to be original – turn a little sod – if I wanted to get published. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, for sure, but I also wanted to make sure it was worthy of the other contributions at Pulse.

Todd Wheatland, Head of Strategy at King Content nailed it when he wrote about leaving a great company.  His post provided insight and lessons learned without being preachy. It was well written and precise, giving me something to ponder over the coming days and weeks. Wheatland made it look easy but influencing the way people think is never easy.

What’s so special?

Before I settled on a topic, LinkedIn opened the doors to Pulse. You probably know the rest of the story. I get daily notifications saying someone in my network, “published a new post.” For the most part, none of these posts are influencing my thinking. The site has become diluted with titles like:

• 7 Things That Annoy Hiring Managers
• Can You Trust a Retailer?
• How Would Don Draper Tell a Powerful Story about Jeans?
• Increase Your Sales By Going Through Your Own Checkout Process
• Dos and Don’ts for Young Freelancers

In other words, LinkedIn Pulse, as a publishing platform, is no longer anything special. The influencers are still there but they’re lost in the clutter of the mundane and boring.  It’s just another channel shifting a lot of the same old stuff and I can’t get excited about it.

Why pay rent?

At Content Marketing World in Cleveland last year and in Sydney earlier this year, Joe Pulizzi cautioned against building your content house on rented land. In light of that advice, contributing to Pulse seems like a good thing for LinkedIn but not so much for Sarah Mitchell. Posting on Pulse is akin to renting land from LinkedIn. I’d much rather keep blogging at Global Copywriting and continue to develop my own patch of influence.

I’d be really interested in hearing your thoughts about LinkedIn Pulse. Leave a comment and let me know if you agree or disagree with my thinking on this.