Hey Reader,

Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader, and this week's comes from a senior internal communications specialist in Australia.

I love this question, because it gets at something we don't talk about enough. You can be brilliant at this job and still feel like you're doing it in a vacuum, and that's a hard way to grow. Comms can be a bloody lonely job and it's time we were able to admit that without feeling silly.

But what can you actually do about it? Let's talk about that in today's newsletter.

First things first, you don't need to spend a penny to start growing your network in this profession. You can start right now for no money at all simply by using LinkedIn. You don't need the paid version (I've never paid for LinkedIn in my life) and it's easier to get started than you might think.

Build your network on LinkedIn

If you're not sure what to do on LinkedIn and you're nervous to post about anything, then start smaller. Simply starting sending out some connection requests to people in the comms world; find people with job titles similar to you or job titles you aspire to and either follow them or connect with them. You don't need to write a personalised note for every connection request you send (again, this is something I never do) and you don't need to be nervous to connect with strangers. Comms folk in general are very friendly and nice and most will be happy to connect with others in the same line of work.

This will start to grow your network and increase the number of comms posts coming up in your feed. Once you've done this, you can start to get braver. Still scared to post anything? No worries, why not simply engage with other people's posts? Leave a comment, share an experience, ask a question... this is a low-risk and less scary way for you to start connecting with others on the platform but it does increase your visibility and get your name out there.

And once you're feeling courageous, then it's time to start posting some content. Posting on LinkedIn is an art, not a science. It doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to be polished, in fact it's often better received when it's a bit raw and real and there's clearly a human person behind it. Post about your work, share a snippet of something you've learned this week, post about something you heard on a podcast or read in a book, talk about why you love work in internal comms... the list of ideas is literally endless. Posting your ideas and your point of view is what people connect with, and the more you do it, the more the right people find their way to you.

Where LinkedIn runs out of road

LinkedIn is brilliant for this, but it is limiting to be fair. And I say that as a LinkedIn superfan. When I was working in-house I was always hyper-aware that my colleague or even my boss or CEO could see all my posts. So I could never quite be as real or candid as I wanted to be, it just wasn't the right space for that. I could never post about the messy problem I was genuinely stuck on, the leader who was making my life difficult, the decision I really wasn't sure about, the wobble in confidence I'd never admit publicly... none of that belonged on my social media feed. But those are exactly the things I most need to talk about!

This is exactly why I built The Curious Tribe, my membership community for internal comms pros. I wanted a safer, more confidential space to talk openly about the real stuff, to get advice when stuck, to have genuine peer support all year round, away from the public eye and with people who GET IT.

I'm always looking for ways to give tribe members more support and feel less isolated which is why I've just launched quarterly mastermind groups in the tribe.

What the hell is a mastermind group?

"Mastermind" is a bit of jargon now that I read it back, sorry about that. A mastermind groups is simply a small peer group that meets regularly to share problems and exchange advice and ideas. Having a small, curated group of peers creates a consistent set of people who know you, know your situation and can help you work through whatever you're stuck on in real time.

Virtual masterminds are new to the tribe and they are built from our experience of running them in-person in our Curious Tribe Global Gathering in Barcelona this year. The highlight of the event was the peer-led mastermind sessions to give tribe members space to talk about their challenges with peers and walk away with practical ideas and inspiration for how to fix things. People told me afterwards it was the best session they had attended at any event EVER and it helped them so much to solve problems they'd been stressing about for months.

So it made total sense to bring this format into The Curious Tribe as a whole, not just for our annual in-person event but for every member in the community who wanted to take part virtually.

Our first set of masterminds will kick off soon, with 30 tribe members from 11 different countries signed up to take part. I have personally curated 6 groups with 5 people in each and they will meet once a month for an hour for the next 3 months. The groups will be re-created every quarter so if this is your jam, join us and I'll get you into a group.

In each meeting, each attendee gets their own slot to present a challenge they're facing to the group and ask for help and advice. Maybe your boss is micromanaging you, maybe your content approval process is excruciatingly painful, maybe you want your CEO to respect you more or maybe you're burnt out and need advice on what to do. Whatever your challenge is, you bring it into the safety of this small group and get real-time, immediate help and support from a group of friendly peers.

You leave with practical ideas you can put into practice, and you also leave with a sense of relief of having people to talk to and the feeling that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Your problem is probably being experienced by at least one other person in that group.

You don't need to be alone anymore

If you've had enough of being alone in internal comms and you're looking for a community of experts who are just as nerdy about internal comms as you are, then this is your sign to join The Curious Tribe. You'll have direct access to me all year round for advice and tips (and a rant, should you need one).

The tribe has regular live events, peer sharing calls on the topics and challenges we all wrestle with, exclusive masterclasses from me, a swipe file of cheat sheets, templates and resources, as well as a video library of 45+ recorded events to watch back whenever you like, two on-demand training courses and an exclusive invite to our 2027 in-person gathering (phew!). And because I have a personal disdain for add-on fees, there's no add-on fees in the tribe. Everything is included in one membership fee.

Are you the next member of The Curious Tribe? 👀

I hope today's issue helps you feel a bit less lonely in your role.

Thanks for reading and stay curious,

Joanna

PS On 21st July we're running a live event in the tribe about how to build your visibility on LinkedIn. I'll share my experience of growing my LinkedIn to 58,000+ followers which led to the creation of my own business. I'm not exaggerating when I say that LinkedIn genuinely changed my life!

Find me on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and check out my book​

Want to work together?

• Join The Curious Tribe. This is my membership community for ambitious, curious communicators who want to achieve more in their roles and have fun at the same time. Membership allows you to work directly with me for 12 months, make deep connections with other communication pros who 'get it' and improve your skills through training and learning. More info here.
• Ready to review your channels and content but don't know where to start? Download my practical Internal Comms Audit Playbook to guide you through a DIY audit - no expensive consultant needed.​ This has ready-to-use templates and checklists to give you a systematic way to do your own audit which you can repeat every single year. Get it here.
• Take a shortcut. I've developed a collection of tried-and-tested templates, checklists and how-to guides for the key processes you'll need in your role as an internal communicator. You can download my Internal Comms Cheat Sheets here.​

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