Carly Quellman is a movement artist, storyteller and disability advocate whose work challenges and strips perspective around the human experience. As an advocate for young women, artistic potential and the "anomaly" identity, Carly dedicates her time to spreading the power of expression. She resides in Los Angeles.
I've taken the plunge into content creation on LinkedIn. After reading numerous thought leadership posts, updates from my professional network and the classic takeaway/lesson learned post, I tried it out myself.
I was exhausted within the first week from minute edits and tweaks I'd make to my post. I needed support -- and that's how I found Taplio, an AI-powered LinkedIn content creation and management tool for personal branding.
A newer company, Taplio was founded in 2021 by Tibo Louis-Lucas, and acquired by Lempire in 2022. Its base customers include professionals, entrepreneurs and businesses looking to grow their LinkedIn presence.
Taplio presents itself as a digital hub with tools for content scheduling, AI-powered post suggestions, analytics to optimize engagement and insights to track performance. Taplio aims to streamline your LinkedIn activity, so you can establish thought leadership and make meaningful connections.
And here I thought everyone else was spending half their work day drafting one post...
Eager to reduce the time spent ruminating over one line of syntax, I signed up for Taplio's 7-day trial on its Standard Plan ($65/month), one of its three subscription tiers, and put the tool to the test.
Taplio works as an all-in-one tool for content creation. You need to download it as a browser extension, and also have a LinkedIn account. (Though you don't have to be a premium subscriber.)
When you sign up on Taplio's website, you'll be directed to link up your LinkedIn account. Once linked, you can see the Taplio X logo on the right-hand side of your LinkedIn page. (You'll also receive an email with tips on using Taplio.)
Here you can fill out a small questionnaire on your interests and what you post about. Once submitted, your Linkedin posts stats will show up in its place. To fully access Taplio, navigate to the Open Taplio button, which will bring up a user interface where you can draft, schedule and refine posts with the help of Taplio. Based on your questionnaire, Taplio will also present a feed of inspirational posts it believes connect to your interests.
Over the week-long trial, I tried out Taplio in a couple different ways. First, I copied in already-live posts that I wanted to experiment with to see how Taplio would respond. I had Taplio refine the post to "make it better" and then played around with its AI features -- generating an image, making the post shorter and more casual.
Then I decided to brain dump into Taplio about a topic and see how it could refine my post. This is what ultimately sold me. I really felt like Taplio took my initial questionnaire and profile into consideration when regenerating answers. I enjoyed how it edited my language. While I ended up Frankensteining some of its results to create my finalized post, I was very happy with what I created in such a short amount of time.
I decided to batch content for the week as part of a strategy to post on LinkedIn two to three times per week, and use its topic inspiration button to help create ideas along the way. After drafting, I clicked Add to Queue and set my posts up.
In total, I spent an hour creating what would normally take me several hours, plus days of repetition to gain muscle memory. I felt incredibly supported in my goal and clear-headed as a result.
Maybe it's because I'm a writer myself, but the overthinking that occurred from trying to create LinkedIn content that felt both authentic and like it would resonate took the fun out of writing, something I enjoy so much I pursued a career in it. After cutting my LinkedIn post time by 75%, I'm now committed to using this tool daily and batching content in a single session.
With its ability to provide feedback, edit sections of your post, create strategies, design post carousels, and view analytics all in one place, it's undeniably helpful -- innovative and multifunctional at best. I don't really think you can go wrong.
Yes, Taplio is on the pricier side of subscription models ($65 a month for standard and up to $199 a month for pro). While you can save 20% by subscribing to a year-long plan, it is an investment. My suggestion is to try out any subscription tier for a week and then decide. (I personally side with the standard or pro subscription tier, since they provide Taplio's AI post generator and AI chat assistant.)
And if you end up becoming a leading voice on LinkedIn in the process, congrats. You can thank Taplio -- and the CNET team -- for the nudge.
I you experiment with the AI tool and learn strategies to improve your writing in the process, even better.
