Mastering Your LinkedIn Profile

How often do you look at other people’s LinkedIn profiles?

How often do you look at your own LinkedIn profile?

If the answer to the second question is never … it’s time to bite the bullet.

Take 5 minutes and read this post, then go to your LinkedIn profile and do a quick sanity check with these six points. Also, consider the +2 Bonus Points.

Your LinkedIn Profile is Your Resume and CV

If you don’t think people are looking at your LinkedIn profile and making decisions about whether they should work with you then you probably should delete your profile.

People look at LinkedIn profiles to determine a lot of things. One of the most critical questions people seek to answer is this:

Do I want to do business with this person?

The time, effort and thought you put into your LinkedIn profile upfront is worth it.

Here are a few tips and points to consider. If you are already doing some of them great. If you are doing all them … Fantastic. If you have other tips and suggestions please add them to the comments section so we can all learn.

Why do this?

It’s simple. It’s so that you can Stand out in your Career.

The 6 – Six Initial Steps to Create / Update Your Profile

1. Current Picture – It should be a professional look
2. Current Role – Be candid if you are looking for your next challenge
3. Current Goals / Deliverables – What are you doing now? / What have you accomplished?
4. Degrees / Awards / Activities – Don’t make them up, people WILL check.
5. Professional Associations / Clubs / Non-Profit Work – If you don’t have any, perhaps it’s time to start. Your experiences matter.
6. Recommendations – Ask for them AND Reciprocate.

+2 … Nice to Have Options (Two Bonus Points)

1. Endorsements – Appreciate them. If someone writes you an endorsement you have the option of accepting it as is. Or, you can reject it outright. Or you can reject it with a suggestion to the author.
2. Have a Call to Action – This can help people move in the way you prefer. Let people know what you want. Don’t make them guess. They may guess incorrectly or they may not realize you want them to do anything.

These points were created for a post I wrote several years ago. The core elements of LinkedIn haven’t changed much. Some of the content buckets have moved around, but the core elements are still there.

Your LinkedIn profile lets people know
what they can expect when working with you.

Pro Tip: Continuity and Brevity Matter

Make sure your LinkedIn profile can be easily consumed. Everyone is busy. Put your information in “Bite Sized Chunks” and you will increase the likelihood of someone reading it and taking the action you suggested (See Call to Action above).

As always, if you have ideas and suggestions on how to use LinkedIn please share them in the comments. Let’s start a discussion.

Remember:

Your goal should be to help the reader decide:

Do I want to do business with this person? 

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12 Tips to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Social Selling

“You can create a business, choose a name,” Sir Richard Branson told Inc. magazine, “but unless people know about it, you’re not going to sell any products.” …Or, professional services, for that matter.

And it’s not just advertising, promotion, direct mail and website content that helps you sell. In professional services, it’s all about the quality of the people working on the front lines—their areas of expertise, their insights, and their ability to solve client problems. Your employees are your advantage.

Highlight Your Visible Experts℠ on LinkedIn

As your employees’ expertise gains greater visibility in professional circles, becoming what we call Visible Experts℠, your professional services firm benefits tremendously. Here’s how:

• Increases visibility
• Attracts new clients
• Builds and strengthens the brand
• Commands higher fees

You can help employees have greater visibility on your website by creating individual bio pages.  Showcasing their thought leadership in blog posts, white papers, etc., will help them get better results in Google searches. Another critical platform for visibility is LinkedIn.

According to our research, when prospective clients turn to social media for a professional services firm and specific expertise, 70% tune in on LinkedIn.

Your challenge is to get found on LinkedIn. You can set up your profile, your company page, and even get involved in several LinkedIn Groups. The next step is to get every professional in the firm—executives, account managers, business development specialists, consultants, and more—using LinkedIn to its best advantage.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

Your presence on LinkedIn begins with each employee’s personal profile. When writing or editing the profile, remember to use action words that convey a sense of what you do, how you bring value to clients, and the kinds of people you serve.

Optimize the profile for LinkedIn search by using relevant keywords in all fields, especially in the headline, summary, and interests sections.

With more people using LinkedIn like a digital business card, add LinkedIn Badges for employees on your website. And have employees add their LinkedIn Profile URL to their email signatures.

Below are the key areas of a LinkedIn profile that should be thoroughly vetted:

1) Before You Edit

Turn off the Activity Broadcast (go to Settings/Privacy Controls) while you edit and update. This way, you won’t fill up everyone’s feed with notices of all your edits and adjustments. Remember to turn Activity Broadcast back on when you are finished.

2) Headline

The headline is not simply a job title. It may be the most important 120 characters in the perfect profile. Clearly state your role, the value you bring, and the types of clients you serve.

3) Picture

Have employees use professional photographs. Don’t omit a photo either. People like to see the person they are considering hiring. Headshots are best. If some employees lack good photos, schedule a companywide photo session.

4) Contact Information

Make it easy for prospective clients who find your employees and want to know more to get in touch. Contact information should include an email address, phone number, Twitter handle, and company URL.

5) Profile URL

LinkedIn creates a default URL for each profile, but you can do better by customizing it. Maybe you’ll want to create a companywide format, such as https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathydam, which uses both the employee’s name and company name. You can use up to 30 alphanumeric characters, and you can change your URL.

6) Connections

While it’s logical to invite clients—both past and present—to connect on LinkedIn, there are other categories to consider: prospects, professional peers, and press. Remember, when you reach out to people you have not met, send a personalized invitation that explains why you wish to connect instead of using the LinkedIn template.

7) Summary

Your summary is prime real estate. So, don’t repeat content. Use those 2,000 characters wisely. Flesh out your background or showcase a more personal side of yourself. Show that you are an interesting and approachable individual. Most importantly, talk about the value you provide.

8) Experience

If you’ve worked in the same firm for years, you will want to go beyond listing career experience and jobs. LinkedIn now makes this easier. You can showcase Projects, which is an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and range of skills.

9) Additional Information

Don’t overlook any categories that enable you to demonstrate your skills and expertise, and that includes Interests, Publications, and Honors & Awards (include certifications). You should even list the causes you care about and your volunteer work.

10) Skills and Endorsements

LinkedIn lets you list up to 50 skills. If you want prospective clients to find you based on skills, use only the skills that LinkedIn recognizes. As you begin typing, LinkedIn uses a drop-down menu to show you the skills it knows. If you want to move certain skills to the top of your list, just drag and drop. The Skills list becomes even more robust with the addition of Endorsements, which enables others to add their support.

11) Recommendations 

Our research shows that 46.4% of people rely on reputation-based referrals, so encourage your colleagues and clients to recommend you. It’s a great way to build credibility and trust.

12) Groups

As you join other professionals on LinkedIn Groups, you’ll want to make sure you have the Groups section turned on, so they appear on your profile. In addition to using Groups as a forum for starting discussions and commenting, they’re also great places to connect and introduce yourself to someone you want to invite into your Connections.

There is power in numbers. And when you and your employees all build strong LinkedIn profiles, you’ll have the foundation for an effective companywide social selling strategy.

Amplify your LinkedIn strategy and download our free guide, The LinkedIn Guide for Professional Services Executives.

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10 Steps To a Complete LinkedIn Profile Makeover [TUTORIAL]

When a prospect arrives on your LinkedIn profile, are they inspired to take action and reach out to you?

For most people, the answer to this question is a resounding NO. Nobody will dispute the value and importance of a first impression but there’s a disconnect in the way many perceive first impressions online.

Let’s be clear…if a random prospect arrives on your LinkedIn profile and they aren’t inspired to take some sort of action, whether it’s connecting with you or going to your website, you’ve failed to make a great first impression.

Sound harsh? Maybe it is, but the truth will help you if you use it to improve yourself rather than accept defeat.

4 Elements of a Great LinkedIn Profile

What does it take to have a truly great LinkedIn profile? I believe it’s a combination of four essential elements.

1. Are you an authority in your field? Show us the evidence.
2. Optimization for LinkedIn search. It’s not helpful having a great LinkedIn profile if nobody ever sees it.
3. Do you create enough of an impact to be memorable and inspire the right people to take action?
4. A connection to your target market. When the right people land on your profile, can they clearly see you are the person that can solve the problem they have? Make sure that is obvious.

Step 1: Great a Killer LinkedIn Profile Headline

The ideal LinkedIn profile headline heavily relies on those same four elements: credibility, search optimization, impact and connecting to your target market.

Let’s take a look at mine as an example:

• It establishes credibility quickly. I mentioned the fact that I’m a #1 international bestselling author. Obviously that’s a major credibility booster for anyone of my ideal clients so I put that front and center.
• It’s optimized for search. Notice how I mentioned the keywords “LinkedIn Expert”, “Keynote Speaker” and “Social Selling” as these are terms I want to rank high for in LinkedIn search.

Step 2: Write Your Summary Section

Your summary section is where the real meat of your profile lies. You’ve captured the reader’s attention if they’ve gotten this far so it’s time to make a connection to your perfect prospect.

I believe a great LinkedIn summary should be written in first person, as if you were speaking directly to your ideal clients. It’s important to have the keywords you want to be found for sprinkled throughout your summary section to help improve your rankings.

WARNING: Whatever you do, don’t resort to keyword stuffing any part of your LinkedIn profile. This is where you’re blatantly repeating the terms you want to be found for without actually integrating them into the copy. This does not leave the right impression and looks horrendous.

Step 3: Get a Professional Profile Image

Did you know that you are 11 times more likely to have your profile viewed if you have a picture? Many people won’t accept connection requests or even bother engaging with profiles that don’t have a picture.

Make sure your profile photo is simple, professional and only has you in the picture. Leave the personal photos and group shots for Facebook.

Step 4: Add a Cover Photo

Look at that beautiful visual real estate above your profile. How could you ever consider not taking advantage of this?

Do yourself a favor and have the image professionally designed so that it has maximumimpact. Your profile picture should focus on you but you can use your LinkedIn cover image to showcase your business.

Step 5: Fill Out Your Contact Info

Update your contact info to include your email, phone number, Twitter ID and your website(s). Also make sure you get a custom URL for your LinkedIn profile (eg. LinkedIn.com/in/yournamehere).

PRO TIP: You’ll want to avoid using the canned labels for your website links such as “Personal Website” or “Company Website”. Here’s a comparison of what I’ve done vs. the standard option.

To do this, select “Other” in the drop down menu when editing your website links under Contact Info. I suggest writing something that describes what can be expected when they click the link. Notice how I’ve taken the opportunity to promote my free webinar and LinkedIn Master Class.

6. LinkedIn Publisher Posts

I love LinkedIn’s Publishing platform so much that I wrote an article describing ten reasons you should be using it. Shortly after publishing that article I stumbled across an amazing study that reveals the most common dominators among the top 3000 posts.

Having high quality original content published on LinkedIn will create a memorable impact with new prospects that are just finding you and establish your credibility in a powerful way. If your content is popular, it further adds to your credibility as an influencer when they start snooping around your profile.

7. Current Experience

Your current work experience should include information about your company and the services you offer.

Make sure it also includes:

• Keywords in the title field
• Keywords in the description
• A clear call to action

8. Past Experience

Include at least a few of your past positions to make your profile look complete and fully optimized for search results.

Make sure your relevant past positions include:

• Keywords in title field
• Keywords in description
• Minimum of one paragraph in the description outlining what you did in that position and include any accomplishments

9. Multimedia

Adding Slideshow presentations and video to your profile will quickly set you apart from the competition and add a personal and visual element to your profile. People will immediately feel more comfortable with you when they can see your face and hear your voice, even if it’s only a video.

10. Skills & Endorsements

The skills section has a few important functions that will allow you to increase your level of social proof and improve your search ranking. Be sure to:

• Have a minimum of 10 skills added to your profile
• Think keywords as you choose your skills
• Endorse others as many will reciprocate and endorse you

LinkedIn Profile Makeover Service

Need help creating a killer LinkedIn profile? If you’re socially savvy and have a way with words, you can always check out my free guide or you can opt for our LinkedIn Profile Makeoverservice and have a pro do it for you.

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3 Reasons Why Your LinkedIn Invitations Get Ignored

For a while now there has been some debate over how to use LinkedIn.

Some suggest connecting with only people you know and work with, while others encourage inviting people to your network. The same way you would with Twitter, in other words, adding anyone and everyone. It doesn’t matter if I am delivering a key-note, conducting a workshop or presenting a webinar, a question that seems to always be asked is:

“When building my LinkedIn network, is quality better than quantity?”

But first lets look at some LinkedIn facts that show the quantity piece. Some cool Linkedin facts.

The LinkedIn facts

The global web produces some big numbers and the Linkedin facts are hard to ignore. Here is a snapshot of an infographic created by Linkedprofilewriter.org, that reveals some of those Linkedin stats.

• Over 300 million people are on LinkedIn.  In fact at the time of publishing this post there are 347 million
• The average user spends 17 minutes per month
• 35% access the site daily
• Linkedin reaches 200 countries
• Over 25 million Linkedin profiles are viewed every day

The connection quality versus quantity question

And typically in the audience you will always have two vastly different opinions. There are people who are advocates of a quality-based approach whereby only connecting with people they either know well or who are directly relevant to them and what they do.

And on the flip side there are net-workers who believe quantity is more important than quality and therefore connect with everyone and anyone. This is a different article in itself which Iíll be covering in my next blog.

But for now, no matter which philosophy you follow, there ís one hurdle you  will always have to overcome: Getting people to accept your invitation!

Obviously, we all know to scrap the generic I would like to connect with you message and send a personalized invite. Right?

Well you'd be surprised how many people don’t actually take the time to personalize their message. And even when they do, it still doesn’t guarantee their invite would be accepted because they're missing the top 3 fundamental rules when it comes to sending out invitation requests.

Below I’ve listed these reasons and what you need to do instead. Here are 3 reasons why your Linkedin invitations will be ignored.

1. Not meaningful

I would like to connect to stay up to date with your business and refer clients to you?

I had a look at your profile and would like to connect to discuss possible synergies between both our current activities.

Now let me ask you a question, out of the above two invitations which one are you more likely to accept, the 2nd one right?

Absolutely!!! The first invitation is just a little too vague and a little creepy. The underlining intention on why the person wants to connect is unclear, and that makes it harder for someone to accept this invite.

You'd be surprised how many people use lines like that or similar. I guess common sense is uncommon? To avoid this from happening to you, make sure your invite has a straightforward and, ideally, mutually beneficial reason for connecting.

2. Untargeted

I see so many business owners connecting with people for the sake of building the number of people in their network. They believe that the more people they have in their network the greater amount of times they will show up in search results.

Whilst this is true to some degree, a reactive approach to using LinkedIn should only make up 10% of an overall marketing strategy.

The other 90% should be you going out there and being proactive by searching, connecting and building a relationship with your core target market. So before you send another connection invitation ask yourself the following questions so you can be crystal clear on your target market.

1. What's my outcome for using LinkedIn? (Is it to generate more leads, get in front of decision makers, and expand internationally etc.?)
2. What are my marketing objectives over the next 3-6 months?
3. Who do I need to connect with in order to achieve those goals?

3. Serious

And last but not the least; they connect with people who are curious and not serious when it comes to using LinkedIn as a networking and marketing tool.† Even though there are now over 330 million members with a LinkedIn profile, not everyone checks it as frequently as they probably should.

The person you're trying to connect with might very well be open to connecting but just doesn't use LinkedIn as often as you do. Don't take it personally. Over the past few years the way I've tackled this challenge is to simply check for 3 things before you send out your invitation:

1. Do they have a picture?
2. Have they got more than 150 connections?
3. Have they completed more than 50% of their profile?

If the contact you're looking to connect with, ticks at least 2 out of 3 questions above I would go ahead and send your invitation. If not then you really should move on to the next person. With millions of other people to connect with, don't feel like you're missing out!

When you follow these 3 rules you not only increase the number of people accepting your invitation but have a more quality network of people you can market to. After all, your network is your net worth.

Author: Alex is an entrepreneur and founder of Linkfluencer, the world’s leading online community for LinkedIn training. He loves playing basketball, travelling and covering the latest stories on entrepreneurship. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Facebook

Missed the last Webinar? - Discover the 3 Steps to LinkedIn Mastery

Don’t worry, we are running another one very soon!

It’s at a new time that will allow those of you who were sleeping at the last one to get a look in!

Over the past couple of months I’ve received a ton of emails from readers asking me to share more insight in and around LinkedIn so I’ve decided to hold another webinar with Alex Pirouz, founder of Linkfluencer.

The first one I held a few months back was well received with over 3000 people registering for the session. Click here to register

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5 LinkedIn Mistakes You Need To Avoid

When it comes to your online presence and your LinkedIn profile in particular, for years, I’ve been telling professionals: Brand or be branded”

In my opinion when you fail to create a compelling LinkedIn profile, you are basically telling the professional world one or more of the following:

• You aren’t tech-savvy enough to know how to use social media
• You don’t have any truly notable accomplishments
• You have something to hide.

Every year I speak with thousands of business owners on the topic of LinkedIn and Iím constantly surprised by the number of people who believe that having their name and job title up to date is enough to merit a presence in social media.

LinkedIn mistakes people make on their profile

Here is a great little excerpt from an infographic from the Undercoverrecruiter.com. about the LinkedIn mistakes that some people make all the time.

Whilst I’ve seen every mistake possible, below are the 5 most common stuff ups that people on LinkedIn do across the board regardless of age, location or industry.

Any one of these LinkedIn mistakes in your profile could turn into a major professional liability. So here ís how to identify them and get them fixed:

1. No plan

Building a solid foundation is the backbone to being successful and all of that starts by having a plan. You†wouldn’t†build a house without first†laying the foundation or framework, right? Well developing an effective LinkedIn campaign is no different. If you donít have a plan any road will get you there right?

Before designing your profile or building your network, get crystal clear on what your looking to achieve on LinkedIn and how that fits in with helping you achieve your marketing objectives over the next 3, 6 or 12 months. In turn this will help you identify who you need to connect with in order to meet those objectives.

2. Add value

Nobody, and I really mean nobody likes to feel like they are being sold to. Hammering your new connections inbox with messages about your product and services straight away is not going to win you any friends or customers for that matter.

The clue is in the title … Social media is meant to be exactly that – social. Ok so LinkedIn is very much a professional and business based forum but the underlying principle remains.

Before you start email marketing to your contacts, think of a few ways you could add value to them. This will help develop the trust and rapport necessary for them to be interested in what you have to say. Remember, to be interesting, you have to be interested.

3. Profile Photo

You would never go to an in-person networking party naked, dressed in your dirty old sweat pants, or without any shoes. Why? You want to make a good first impression.

Yet, failing to fully optimize your LinkedIn profile has the same effect online as coming to the party dressed wrong. Studies show that people are seven times more likely to click on your LinkedIn profile if there’s a picture than if you don’t have one.

Your photo should be up-to-date, clear, professional, and an expression of you, preferably the smiling you. If you are a casual guy, no one expects or wants to see you in a suit.

In a virtual world we may do business with someone we have never met. The connection provided by a photo, especially when you can see the eyes and a warm reception can go a long way.

4. Personalizing Your Communication

A lot of LinkedIn users complain about the impersonal invitations they receive. When you connect to someone for the first time on LinkedIn, don’t just use the generic message option, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

Take a few moments to write something personalized. It will make the recipient more open to your request and the message feel less spammy.

Personalizing your messages is important because it shows that your request is personal — that you didn’t just send out a mass connection request blindly to all of your contacts.

For example: “Hi Steve, I came across your profile earlier and thought I’d reach out given there may be some possible synergies between both our current activities. Would be good to connect. Alex”

5. Not Using It!!

Seriously, the number of businesses who ignore the platform and don't leverage it to its full capacity shocks me.

We’re talking about a platform that allows you to connect with millions of new potential customers, find new partners to help grow your organization, connect with the media to build your personal and even hire new staff.

With over 330 million members across 200 countries/territories and two new members joining per second thereís no other platform like it. In my opinion, this is why LinkedIn is the most powerful marketing tool of the 21st century.

Author: Alex is an entrepreneur and founder of Linkfluencer, the world’s leading online community for LinkedIn training. He loves playing basketball, travelling and covering the latest stories on entrepreneurship. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Facebook

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