Last week I got an email from one of my amazing subscribers asking if I “had or were working on any content to leverage your PhD on the social media network, LinkedIn?
I got chatting with Chaya Gutnick and she put together this post on the 5 steps to optimise your LinkedIn profile. Stay tuned as I will be rounding up some additional LinkedIn experts for future posts on how to leveraged LinkedIn and build yourself as an authoirty.
Why optimise your LinkedIn profile?
Linkedin is a unique platform because it was created for business. Everyone is there for business and their profile shows you exactly what they do. You are able to quickly see who might be beneficial to network with based on their profile.
It is also way less saturated than the other platforms right now.There are more people viewing content than creating so your content is more likely to get seen. But in order for Linkedin to work well for you, you need to know some ground rules to make sure you maximize your impact and time there.
When people come to see your profile, you want to make sure they get a good idea of who you are and what you do. Otherwise, you will be missing out on many potential opportunities. Here are some tips to optimize your profile for success.
Five simple ways to optimise your LinkedIn profile
1. Profile Photo
Use a clear and high quality image. There should not be other people in the picture or obvious cropping. You want your picture to portray the professional that you are. Since it is quite small, it should only include your face. People like to do business with people they perceive as friendly and your profile picture makes a big impression.
2. Headline
Your headline is the space right below your profile picture. The first few words are visible when you comment on other people’s posts so you want them to have impact. The most common formula for headlines is “I help (insert the type of people you help) to (write the goal you help them achieve) through (write how you help them meet that goal). You can get creative but keep that formula in mind. Also remember that Linkeidn is a search engine so you want to make sure to have keywords in your headline.
3. Summary
Here you have quite a bit of space to talk about who you help and what you do. Make sure you write about your client and their pain points first. Then you can talk about your accomplishments and why you are qualified to help them. Each paragraph should not be longer than 3 sentences or else it gets hard to read. Keep it simple and easy to read.
4. Profile Banner
You’ve got a big space at the top of your profile to put up an image. If you have a picture of you speaking publicly or training that would build credibility. Otherwise, you can use canva to make your own banner image that says simply what you do. Too much text is hard to read so keep it minimal. Look around at other banners to get inspiration.
5. Recommendations
Five simple ways to optimise your LinkedIn profile
If you work on these five things, you will be well on your way to developing your personal brand on Linkedin. As you start using the platform, you will discover more but if you have this you’ll have a strong start. When people come visit your profile it will look credible and people will be more likely to start a conversation about your services.
Author Bio: Chaya Gutnick
Chaya Gutnick helps businesses create the systems they need to scale and is pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational leadership. She has managed teams of 20+ so she knows what it takes to keep things running smoothly and while making time for needle moving activities. She generates 100K+ post views on Linkedin per month and growing! To learn more and get free training, join her community: Systems and automation for Business Growth
