If you work a lot with other businesses or professionals in different industries, then today’s blog post may be perfect for you. Today we’re diving into LinkedIn, and I’m going to share with you eight (8) tips to help you stand out on LinkedIn.
Custom Header
Creating a custom header for your profile is a great way to showcase your brand and remain consistent across different platforms. You may also want to consider including your contact information in the header. This will make it even easier for prospective clients to get in touch with you when they come across your profile.
Profile Photo
Get a professional headshot done; you’ll be amazed at how a good headshot photo can draw people to your profile. You may be tempted but don’t (unless Holy Spirit advises you), use your business logo as your profile picture. Remember, people work with people they know, like, and trust. If you want to build that trust factor, you’ve got to let us see the face behind your amazing brand.
Make sure to smile and look confident. Depending on which industry professionals you’re trying to draw in, consider dressing in a more business-casual look as this can help you appear more approachable. Lastly, make sure your profile picture is consistent across all your social media platforms. This will help your audience remember you and your brand.
Headlines
Do not leave this area blank; this is a great SEO opportunity. Use keywords in your headline. This is not the time to get creative. Don’t use words such as “web wizard,” instead use terms such as “B2B social media specialist” or “digital marketing specialist.” These are terms prospective clients will use to search in LinkedIn, not the creative terms.
About Summary
The first two lines of your summary are the only ones visible unless someone clicks to read more, so make these count. One thing to keep in mind is that your summary is not actually about you. Your summary should identify your ideal prospect, their problems, and how you solve those problems.
Your Experience
Have you done a lot of work for big-name companies and brands? List them in this section; this will help you increase your search odds. If someone is searching on LinkedIn, and they have also worked for that company or brand, it’ll bring your profile to the top of the search.
Groups
Not only do groups help give visitors to your profile a sense of your interests, but it also helps you rank in the search bar. Anyone searching who belongs to one of your groups will see your profile near the top.
Recommendations
If you’ve received positive feedback from past clients, don’t be afraid to ask for a testimonial. Use LinkedIn’s recommendations tool to collect and feature those testimonials. A little tip if you struggle with asking for a testimonial, use a survey to gather feedback from clients after wrapping up a project. Be sure to ask in your survey if you may use their comments and feedback as a testimonial on your site and social media platforms.
By administering a survey with every client after a project wraps up, you begin to develop an easy, routine way to gather testimonials, and it also helps you learn areas you can improve.
Connections
Don’t connect with anyone and everyone to build your network; be selective. Connect with people you truly know so you can recommend and refer them, and they can refer you. Sometimes you might come across someone you don’t know who has a lot of shared connections or similar interests/groups or who may be in a field you’re interested in pursuing. It’s okay to try to connect with them, but again be selective. If you send out a connect invite, be sure to include a personal message with it.
These are eight tips for using LinkedIn for your business. Which tip did you find most interesting, and which will you be implementing today? Leave a comment below!
To your success!
