Since we all have hit the pause button, or at least have slowed down, on our businesses for the time being, it’s a great opportunity for us to work on the important but not urgent areas that in normal times would often get pushed to the side. One of these things we can use this time to focus on is LinkedIn.
What if we used this time to work on improving our Linkedin profile, so that we feel even more confident in and proud of what we’re putting out there?
Here are a few things, from the top of your profile to the bottom, you can do to improve your profile and get more out of LinkedIn!
1. Images- now is a great opportunity to assess if your profile photo is a bit dated and to upload something more recent. Do you have professional headshot you haven’t used here yet? If you don’t, nowadays you can just use your iPhone’s portrait mode to get some quality pictures. Also take a look at your background photo – do you even have one? Is that outdated too? Keep this in mind when choosing your background: how can you visually tell people what you do or what you offer?
2. Headline- this is your value proposition – what is a succinct, engaging way to describe who you are and what you do? I have had clients get business from people doing a Linkedin search using the words they’ve put in their headline. So don’t overlook this part of your profile!!
3. About- A common mistake I see here is people using this section for a biography. Bio information here isn’t inherently bad, especially if you are job seeking, but in normal circumstances I would use this section as a professional, benefit-rich summary showing how you service others. Make it about your clients, or prospective clients, instead of yourself! And I recommend finding ways to turn paragraphs into bullet points – people will be more willing to read.
4. Experience- this will work for some industries/professions better than others, but a lot of times, the past jobs we have listed aren’t really relevant or helpful in getting us new business. So if you can, I recommend using this section to highlight recent speaking engagements, consulting gigs, etc. This is just a way I’ve found to be able to shift the way I present my experience to others.
5. Recommendations- always try to be up to date on your recommendations. And remember, this may look different pre- and post-COVID-19, but be thinking about how you can get some recommendations relevant to what is happening in your current environment.
Check out my full LinkedIn Live video below:
