This Issue
I've noticed that people who want to post more consistently on LinkedIn often make the same mistake before they publish a single word.
They look at the creators with momentum, the ones with thousands of followers, polished videos, high production value, and a feed full of content that looks effortless, and they assume that's where they need to start. So they try to post like that right away, it feels overwhelming, and they either never start or quit after two weeks.
The path that actually works looks nothing like that. It's a progression. Each stage builds something the next stage requires, and trying to skip ahead costs you more than the time you think you're saving.
This issue is about that progression: how to think about ramping up on LinkedIn in a way that builds confidence and consistency before it builds production value.
In this issue:
Why starting with video is the wrong move for most people
The three-stage progression that makes showing up sustainably possible
What each stage teaches you that the next one depends on
The Framework: Earn the Next Format
The creators you see winning on LinkedIn with polished video content didn't start there. They started somewhere simpler, built comfort and consistency at that level, and added complexity only when the previous stage felt sustainable. The progression isn't a shortcut. It's the reason the advanced stuff looks effortless when you eventually get there.
There are three stages, and each one has a specific job.
Stage 1: Text only
This is where everyone should start, and most people skip it because it feels too simple. It isn't. Text-only posts are the highest-leverage format for building the foundational skill that everything else depends on: thinking clearly in public.
When there's no image to draw attention, no video to create engagement, and no production value to hide behind, the only thing that makes someone stop scrolling is the quality of the idea and how clearly it's expressed. Text-only posting teaches you to develop that, to lead with something worth saying, to make a point without padding it, to write in a voice that sounds like a person rather than a press release.
It's also the lowest-barrier format to produce consistently, which means you can build the posting habit without the cognitive overhead of producing anything more complex. Habit first, format second.
Stage 2: Text with your image
Once you're posting consistently and your ideas are landing, adding your headshot or a photo of yourself is the next move. Not a stock image, not a graphic. You.
This stage has one job: humanizing your content. People connect with people, and a face changes how a post feels to scroll past. It signals that there's a real person behind the words, which builds trust faster than any amount of polished design.
The barrier here isn't technical. It's psychological. Most people overthink how they look, whether the photo is good enough, what their colleagues will think. The honest answer is that none of that matters as much as you think it does. Post your face, move on, and let the content do the work. The discomfort disappears faster than you expect once you've done it a few times.
Stage 3: Video
Video is the final boss. Not because it's impossible, but because it requires everything the first two stages built before it stops feeling like a performance and starts feeling like a conversation.
If you haven't built comfort with your ideas through text, video exposes every gap in your thinking in real time. If you haven't built comfort being seen through photos, being on camera feels like standing under a spotlight rather than talking to someone. The earlier stages don't just build an audience. They build the version of you that can show up on camera without freezing.
When you're ready, start with the simplest possible version: talking head, minimal editing, natural light. The production value is not the point at this stage. Getting comfortable being heard is. Watch tutorials, reverse engineer creators you admire, and iterate. It's less scary than it looks from the outside, and the first decent video changes your relationship with the format permanently.
Field Notes
I took this exact path, and I'm still on it.
I started with text. Just ideas, clearly expressed, posted consistently. That phase taught me what my audience responded to and what my natural voice sounded like in writing. It also taught me that showing up consistently with something worth saying was harder than it looked and more valuable than most people realize.
Adding my image came next, and the decision was simpler than I expected. I realized the image humanizes the content; there's a person behind these posts, and people connect with people. I'm not going to pretend there wasn't a psychological moment there, but once I made the decision I stopped thinking about it. Post it and move on. The content matters more than whether the photo is perfect.
Video is where I am now, and it's the stage I've been building toward since I started. I began with talking head videos and simple edits, the lowest-production version of video that still puts you on camera. It was a lot less scary than I'd built it up to be in my head. CapCut tutorials on YouTube got me comfortable with the editing side, and reverse engineering the creators I admire most helped me understand what makes video content actually work rather than just guessing.
I'm not at the finish line with video yet. But I'm further along than I would have been if I'd tried to start there.
The Build
Figure out which stage you're at and commit to mastering it before moving to the next one.
If you're not posting consistently yet, start with text only. Pick one idea this week, write it as clearly as you can, and publish it. Do that every week until it feels like maintenance rather than effort. That's when you're ready for the next stage.
If you're posting consistently with text but haven't added your image yet, that's this week's move. Update your headshot if you need to, attach it to your next post, and stop thinking about it. The discomfort is temporary and the credibility it adds is permanent.
If you're already posting with your image consistently, start thinking about video. Watch ten videos from creators you admire in your space and write down what they have in common. Then film one talking head video with your phone, edit it simply, and post it. The first one is always the hardest and it's never as bad as the version you imagined.
Each stage builds what the next one requires. Don't skip ahead.
The Principle
Consistency compounds when you master each format before adding the next one: comfort with your ideas before comfort being seen, comfort being seen before comfort being heard.
The Archive
Recent issues: Issue 011: Your Tools Are Your Influence
Tool library: Notionly
Full archive: Consistent Content
ICYMI
Tools I Use...
📧 Beehiiv: Where my newsletter lives — and my website, and more. Use this link to get a 14-day trial + 20% off for 3 months → Launch on Beehiiv
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📅 Buffer: How I schedule and plan content without letting it take over my day → Schedule your posts
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