I was asked recently what I thought about LinkedIn, whether spending more time on there was a good idea and if it’s worth paying for LinkedIn training.
Here’s my take.
When it Makes sense
If you sell software, consultancy, or anything to other businesses, then fine. LinkedIn MIGHT make sense. (Although even then it’s a bit of a stretch at times).
But if you’re a clinic owner treating patients with dodgy knees and bad backs, your audience isn’t scrolling through posts about leadership, resilience, or your latest “reflections on authenticity.”
Your patients aren’t on LinkedIn reading your latest post about professional fulfilment. Unless they’re trying to find a good way of getting to sleep.
If your business is B2C, you have no business being there.
LinkedIn: The World’s Most Polite Echo Chamber
LinkedIn is a vacuum.
A beige one.
You post something, ten people like it, and they’re the same ten people every time. Other clinic owners. Other business coaches. Maybe a marketing agency or two trying to slide into your inbox. You get your dopamine hit for the day, but nothing changes.
It’s the world’s biggest circle of self-congratulation. A place where everyone is “so proud,” “humbled,” or “delighted to announce.” And everyone else is pretending to be inspired.
You won’t find a single patient there, but you’ll find every clinic owner in the country trying to out-inspire each other.
“But I Want to Build My Personal Brand!”
Of course you do. Daniel Priestley told you to. FML.
Every clinic owner who’s read Key Person of Influence suddenly believes they’re one LinkedIn post away from becoming the Simon Sinek of MSK.
Here’s the problem: you don’t actually have anything to say that’s relevant to your business goals. You’re not posting to attract patients. You’re posting to look clever in front of other clinic owners.
The Course Epidemic
Let’s be honest: most clinic owners posting on LinkedIn aren’t there to attract patients.
They’re there to sell to other clinic owners or at least they’re a few steps away from announcing their latest course or pyramid scheme because quite frankly, their physio business doesn’t actually make any money. This is usually the route failed clinic owners take. Can’t do it? Teach others how to do it.
Every week, there’s another post from a “healthcare entrepreneur” or “leadership coach for clinicians” launching a new mastermind, mentoring programme, or course on how to “scale your practice.”
It’s a pyramid of clinic owners teaching clinic owners how to be clinic owners.
The “Thought Leadership” Delusion
At some point, someone told clinicians they needed to “add value.”
So now we’ve got a feed full of recycled advice, badly formatted infographics, and posts beginning with “I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately…”
It’s all the same drivel. Mostly written by ChatGPT.
There’s always a stock image of someone on a mountain or, for the ones that really are trying hard, a picture of them with a fake Rolex, a cheap business class seat or some kind of flex to show others just how successful they really are. Because they don’t actually have any money most of the time the flex is pretty weak which is hilarious. “Look at me with my £2k business class seat on BA (which I’ll use in 20 different posts to try and get some ROI on it).
There’s nothing like a picture of you in Dubai to make the masses go “fuck me, he’s an entrepreneur”.
Should You Have a Profile?
Sure. It looks professional, helps for networking, and makes your LLM results a bit neater.
Should you have a company page?
Fine. It’s good for Google visibility and adds a touch of credibility.
Should you spend hours posting content?
No.
There are 50 better things you could be doing. Like running your business or taking a nap.
“But I See Other Clinics Doing Well on LinkedIn!”
Do you? Or do you just see them posting more than you?
Likes don’t pay the rent. You can’t pay staff with “reach.”
There’s this idea that if you’re “top of mind” you’ll somehow grow. But being top of mind among other physiotherapists doesn’t help. It just makes you feel validated.
It’s vanity disguised as strategy.
And every time someone comments “great insight” under a post about clinic culture you might get hard but most sensible people sigh and your business is once again being ignored.
“But it’s amazing for Recruitment”
No it’s not. No physio ever has gone “Christ, look at this guy’s post on “why vulnerability is the real superpower of modern leadership”, I must apply for a job”.
What About LinkedIn Training?
If you’re even considering LinkedIn training, stop.
You don’t need to “optimise your profile for reach.”
You don’t need a “posting cadence.”
You don’t need to pay someone £500 to tell you to write “I’m so proud of my team.”
You’re not Coca-Cola. You’re a local healthcare provider. Your market is five miles around your clinic, not 500 miles across the UK.
And ultimately, the person selling you LinkedIn training has absolutely no evidence of it actually working for them. This is what always surprises me. The convo goes like this:
“LinkedIn training is amazing. It’ll make you rich/better/add whatever promise you like”
“Okay great! How much”
“£500”
“Amazing. I’ll buy that!”
Except there’s a simple question missing.
“Can you show me how you used LinkedIn in your last business (that’s relevant to my business) to generate you more revenue and a higher net profit?”
The answer?
“Well, I’ve never actually run a business, but my LinkedIn training business is great, I made £20k last year”
If you really want training, ask ChatGPT, you’ll get just as much value.
The Leadership Phase
Remember when every post on LinkedIn was about leadership?
Leadership isn’t about titles. It’s not about being in charge—it’s about being there.
Everyone was suddenly a philosopher. Clinic owners who hadn’t done a one-to-one with their staff in six months were talking about “servant leadership” and “creating safe spaces.”
It’s all just noise. A cycle of trends. Last year it was leadership, this year it’s “mindset,” next year it’ll be something else as dumb.
The same people who haven’t checked their Google Analytics since 2020 are now experts in artificial intelligence.
What You Should Actually Do Instead
Literally anything else.
