Are You Doing These 4 Things To Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile? When you meet a potential client or business contact for the first time you want to make a great impression right? Your LinkedIn profile is often that first contact, so make it count. All eyes on you! Your photo is the first place people’s eyes go to on your profile page. It’s human nature. When we meet a stranger for the first time it Read more
When you meet a potential client or business contact for the first time you want to make a great impression right? Your LinkedIn profile is often that first contact, so make it count.
All eyes on you!
Your photo is the first place people’s eyes go to on your profile page. It’s human nature.
When we meet a stranger for the first time it takes us a tenth of a second to form an impression by looking at their face*. Your profile picture is the same. What opinion do you want potential customers or new business connections to form? Credible? Professional? Approachable?
People will decide whether they want to spend any time looking at your work experience, accomplishments and specialities based on their initial reaction to your image.
Use a head and shoulder shot, preferably facing forward. Don’t use selfies or cartoon avatars.
What would you wear to impress a new client? Choose the same style for your profile photo.
Select your background carefully, busy visuals are distracting, so keep it simple. Likewise, a complex banner on your page will divert attention – make it neutral, in a colour palette and style that promotes your picture, rather than drawing the eye away from it.
What do you do?
The headline, that title line below your photo, is like the one-liner intro at a function when someone asks, ‘so, what do you do?’. After your image, it’s the next thing someone finds out about you.
Note, it will default to your current job role, so it’s important to edit the headline to display what you want people to learn up front.
What do you put there? If someone asks what you do, would you answer, ‘owner,’ ‘manager’ or some other title? Or do you tell them your speciality, your area of expertise, or the problem you solve? Put that in your headline.
When people are searching on LinkedIn for connections with specific skills or knowledge, they’re not looking for a ‘business owner’, they’re looking for a ‘copywriter’ or an ‘executive coach’, or a ‘digital transformation specialist’. You get the idea.
LinkedIn’s search algorithms go first to the headline and then to content. People search for specific industries, skills and experience so put those items in your headline where they’ll be found.
Can I have your business card?
Would you leave your contact info off your business card? No, yet too many people don’t have contact details in their profile. If someone finds you and you haven’t shared your email and phone number, how will they contact you? Yes, we know there is direct messaging, but not everyone is comfortable meeting that way.
Do you have your website link available so they can find out a bit more about you before they contact you?
Who have you worked with lately?
Recommendations showcase who you work with, the solutions you provide and how good you are at it.
LinkedIn testimonials are more credible than references on your website because they’re tangible; there’s a photo and profile link for a real person who’s put their reputation visibly on the line to say how great you are. That’s powerful.
And you want current, as in provided this year, references. Five glowing recommendations from 2015 will show you were great then, but what about now? Things change. Who have you worked with most recently?
If you don’t have recent recommendations, go and ask some connections/clients today!
