I’m Trying My Hand at LinkedIn. Again.

I know, I know — “It’s where the work is” they say. That’s what other designers keep telling me, like some kind of business gospel handed down from the mountaintop. If you run a branding and design studio, apparently this is the place you have to be. The “professional networking hub.” The big virtual cocktail party where clients are supposedly just wandering around with open checkbooks, waiting to bump into you and say, “Wow, I’ve been looking for someone exactly like you!”

Yeah. Hasn’t happened. Not once.

For the record, I’ve been on LinkedIn for years in that way you’re “on” a social media platform you never check. I’ve never liked the platform. It feels like a giant trade show where everyone’s wearing “Ask Me About My Revolutionary Business Idea™” buttons and trying to sell you something before they even learn your name. And now I’m one of them just adding to the noise.

The truth is… I’m not on LinkedIn because I want to be. I’m on LinkedIn because apparently it’s a necessary evil if you want to find clients. Which is maddening, because nothing about it feels natural to me. I’m not a “DM strangers and pitch them” person. I’m not an “influencer content strategy” person. I’m a “make the work great, then the work finds people” person. But on LinkedIn, the work doesn’t just magically find people. The work sits in a corner sipping lukewarm coffee, hoping someone will wander over.

So I’ve been forcing myself to show up. Posting. Commenting. Trying not to sound like an AI-generated thinkpiece or like I’m handing out fortune cookies disguised as business advice. I share my actual opinions about branding and design — the kind of stuff I’d say to a client over coffee, minus the part where I can read their facial expressions and know when they’re nodding because they agree vs. nodding because they just want me to stop talking.

And still, no leads. Not even a “hey, I know someone who’s looking for a designer” breadcrumb. Just a few polite likes and “Love this insight!” comments from other people who, like me, are probably also trying to get work on LinkedIn.

But for some reason I keep doing it. Because they’re right. It is where the work is. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say: it’s where people think the work is. Which means you have to be there, even if you’re quietly side-eyeing the entire experience. It’s like networking at a wedding: you didn’t come for this, but you brought business cards just in case.

So I’ll keep showing up. I’ll keep posting. I’ll keep pretending this isn’t all just a very elaborate group project where no one actually knows what the final deliverable is. And maybe — just maybe — one day, the mythical LinkedIn Client will appear.

Until then, I’ll be over here, scrolling, posting, trying to sound smart without sounding salesy. Trying to be real without oversharing. Trying to walk that fine line between “professional” and “human.”

And yes, silently wondering how much easier this would all be if I could just get paid to do the work, instead of doing the work of finding the work.