7 essentials for your profile to be a stand out on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the best networking and B2B sales platforms currently out there and creating your online presence with a profile on you and what you currently do is extremely important for you to be able to connect with like-minded individuals and companies. Connections can then be used for networking, B2B sales and collaborations & partnerships.
Your personal LinkedIn profile needs to be filled in correctly and with the right information for you to be able to make the right connections. Here are the key essentials you need to complete your ideal profile.
PROFILE PICTURE
I know what you’re about to do, but stop. A recent Facebook picture cropping out your friend is not a good look at your LinkedIn profile picture. Instead, you want to get a head shot, with shoulders, on a plain preferable white or light background so your face stands out.
If you have a camera or even your phone, either set this up on a tripod or have a friend take a picture for you. Don’t worry, it’s not a passport photo so smile!
HEADLINE
This space can be used to tell LinkedIn and possible connections what your current job role is. An example is ‘CEO of Floral Marketing’. If you want people to know more of what you do in your heading rather than just your job title, you can change it to a few words showing what you offer or what value you provide to clients.
BIO DESCRIPTION
Here you will talk about your current company and job role. There is a chance that the company you are working for is on LinkedIn so showing that you are a part of that company and what you and them together are working on or towards is a great addition to your bio.
Even though it is your profile don’t make it all about you. Mention past successes how you (and the company) have helped your clients and what the team achieved.
Add a CTA (call to action) at the end of your bio such as the company website and your email address so people have another area to see where they can contact you. Of course this is completely up to you but is a great way for people to easily get in contact.
EXPERIENCE
This area allows you to add in your past and current jobs. Your current job should be the last one you enter and will appear at the top of the list. If your current employer (the company) are on LinkedIn, you can search the company name and select their LinkedIn page as your employer meaning others can see this and even click on the company’s page from your profile.
You past experiences can be entered (need at least 2 others for all star status) and enter in details as you would with a resume. Using dot points is perfect for this as there are not too many people that are going to read through every single part of your previous jobs (unless you have applied for a job through LinkedIn).
Your current company will show up to the right of your profile picture.
CURRENT WORK & CONTACT INFORMATION
As mentioned under experience the company you currently work for will show, along with your contact information, to the right of your profile picture on your page.
Your connections as well as others viewing your profile will be able to see your current company and can click on this to view their LinkedIn company page if they have one and you have linked to it through the experience area of your profile.
It is a good idea to also update your contact information (can be done by clicking the pencil near contact info) as this gives your connections another opportunity to be able to easily contact you via email, phone and Skype.
ACHIEVING ALL STAR STATUS
Filling in all areas of your profile leads to LinkedIn providing you with ‘All Star’ status. Having all star status means that your profile is 40 times more likely to receive opportunities which includes new clients, new markets and new connections.
For your profile to be deemed complete you need to have the following finished:
Profile picture
Experience
Skills
Summary
Industry & Location
Education
Connections
ALL OTHER AREAS
The other areas include skills and industry & location.
To get All Star status you will need at least 5 skills added to your profile. Think of what you currently do at work and what you have done in your past jobs and add these. Feel free to add others in as you please.
Adding your location tells your current and future connections where you are located and also adding your industry can help people search for and connect with you.
If you take the time and focus on the above points and add in the necessary information your LinkedIn profile is going to look fantastic to all your connections both current and future.
If you would like us to look at your LinkedIn profile and provide any assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.
