Why Insolvency Professionals Cannot Afford to Be Invisible on LinkedIn
IPA Insolvency Practitioner newsletter, August 2026
By Ashley Leeds, The 15-Minute Guy®
When I spoke at the IPA Roadshow in Birmingham in July, I asked the audience who was using LinkedIn.
I always get a few hands go up, and it was encouraging to see so many raised hands. But when I asked who was regularly creating content, not many hands were visible. Which gives credence to the fact that I say less than 5% of people create content
That is not unusual. Many professionals have a LinkedIn account, but having an account and being visible are two very different things.
I want people to be visible
So that means doing a little more than having an account.
You need to be active, which starts with an optimised profile, commenting on other people’s content and then creating your own content. Yes, you do need to write posts on LinkedIn.
It works.
Visibility does not mean shouting
For many insolvency professionals, becoming more visible feels uncomfortable because you may worry about appearing unprofessional, saying the wrong thing or attracting unwanted attention.
You don’t need to spend hours on LinkedIn either. I advocate 15 minutes a day. But it is a structured 15 minutes rather than ad hoc sessions.
Visibility is not about becoming an influencer or telling the internet every detail of your life; it’s more about helping people understand who you are, what you know and how you can help.
People buy from people they know, like and trust. LinkedIn helps you build that familiarity before a conversation even begins.
Think of LinkedIn as a networking event
If LinkedIn is a networking event, you’d go there and chat to people. You’d move around the room, and you would always talk about your business. You talk about everything, even the breakfast.
When you understand this concept, using LinkedIn becomes easier. At a networking event, we do not sell all the time, and we are always ourselves. So why not just be you on LinkedIn and start adding comments on other people’s content?
This is just like chatting to different people in a networking room. Only you can do it from the comfort of your own home, in your pyjamas if you like.
A thoughtful comment allows you to become visible without having to create your own post.
And this is where the magic happens, because every comment shares your name, your profile photo, and your headline. So people are seeing you. And if your comment adds value, they could even look at your profile and connect!
Here are some suggestions of what to add.
You could:
- Add a practical observation
- Share a relevant experience
- Answer a question
- Offer a different viewpoint
- Encourage somebody who has shared something useful
Commenting is currency. It is one of the easiest ways to stop lurking and start building genuine relationships.
It also means that you don’t need to create as much content, and while you’re reading other people’s content, you’re getting an idea of what works!
Can people understand your profile?
So if your comment is good, you may get a new profile visitor, but what will they see?
Your profile should quickly answer three questions:
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Who do you help?
Start with your profile photo. Please make sure that you have a recent image in which you are looking at the camera. Fill the available space with your face and, please, smile.
And if you can, replace the background with a solid brand colour that people will recognise
Next, you want the cover photo to tell your story. It should also explain what you do in simple language. Avoid filling it with tiny logos, contact details and complicated terminology.
It’s a snapshot of what you do, so include your brand colours and give it the “ten-year-old test. Could a 10-year-old look at your banner and explain roughly how you help people?
If not, it may be too complicated.
The same applies to your headline. The default is our job title, but that means we are labelled by what people think that job title is.
“Insolvency Practitioner” may be factually correct, but could you make it clearer, more memorable or more relevant to the people you want to attract?
The objective is not to be clever. It is to be understood and to spark curiosity. I use The 15 Minute Guy®. It leans on my method of building a 15 minute-a-day habit. What could you be?
And finally, content.
If we create content on LinkedIn, people see us as the expert, the thought leader, the one with the answers. One of the biggest reasons people give for not posting is that they do not know what to write.
Start by sharing your knowledge and think about the questions clients regularly ask you.
- What do people misunderstand about insolvency?
- What warning signs do business owners ignore?
- What should directors do earlier?
- What have you learned from a situation that went well?
- What common mistake could you help somebody avoid?
You do not need to discuss confidential cases or provide individual advice. You can still educate people about processes, responsibilities and common misconceptions.
Stories are particularly powerful. Because we love a good story. So why not describe a typical situation, explain the problem and share what people can learn from it. But make sure that you remove identifying details.
It’s all about sharing valuable lessons because useful content helps people see you as somebody who understands their world.
Begin with just one post a week
You do not need to be like me and write content every single day. Just pick a weekly theme and stick to it. Say Monday Motivation, or Fact-Filled Friday.
This means that as you think of ideas, you just create content for that day, and before you know it, you’ll be seeing ideas everywhere and your weekly content will become easy!
Write your ideas down as they occur.
Consistency is more valuable than intensity.
Fifteen focused minutes each day can be enough to:
- Respond to your notifications
- Comment on a few relevant posts
- Connect with somebody new
- Improve one section of your profile
- Capture an idea for future content
Small actions build familiarity. Familiarity builds trust. Trust creates conversations, recommendations and opportunities.
What is the best that could happen?
My own speaking career began because I wrote a LinkedIn post about a problem I had noticed within the accounting profession.
That single post led to an invitation to speak at a conference. Further invitations followed, including the opportunity to speak at the IPA Roadshow in Birmingham.
I could never have predicted all of that when I pressed “post”.
But that is the point.
You never know who is reading, or who is remembering you or who may recommend you six months from now. But if you are active on LinkedIn, for just 15 minutes a day, you are giving them the opportunity.
Start small.
Update your photograph. Clarify your banner. Add one thoughtful comment. Write one useful post.
You do not need to spend your entire day on LinkedIn.
You just need to stop being invisible.