August 15, 2011
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members. Your LinkedIn profile offers a unique opportunity to brand yourself as a polished professional and yet so very few professionals leverage this amazing tool. Think of it this way, if your resume is your career history, your LinkedIn profile is your career future! This is where you want to DELIVER VALUE and SELL YOURSELF! You wouldn?t go to a job interview or a prospective client meeting half-dressed? so why is your LinkedIn profile not complete?
10. Start at the BOTTOM
The easy sections are at the bottom of your profile… so start at the end and work your way up. By starting at the bottom, you are less likely to get intimidated and quit.
9. Determine Your Goal
What are you hoping to achieve by having a LinkedIn profile? Who is your desired reader? What does your audience want to learn about you? Write your profile with your goal and reader in mind.
8. Include Your Contact Info
If you don’t include your contact information, how will opportunity know which door to knock on? Add your phone number and/or email to your LinkedIn summary and throughout your profile.
7. Get 3 Recommendations
Three recommendations brings your profile 15% closer to 100% complete. Reach out and request recommendations from customers and people in high places!
6. List 3 Past Job Experiences
You need 3 Experiences to achieve a 100% complete profile. Provide a summary on the company, explain your role and responsbilities and tell a brief story of a success.
[box type=”info”] Profiles that are 100% complete are 40 times more likely to show up in LinkedIn Search Results
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5. First Person Summary
Don’t copy and paste your resume into your Summary! Write in first person and talk about your strengths. Describe a key achievement. Be genuine and conversational.
4. Create a Powerful Headline
Create a compelling headline by summarizing what you do in a short sentence. Start the sentence with something like “Helping Businesses achieve…” Need more help? Sign up to receive my LinkedIn Headline Generator!
3. Say Cheese
Get a professional photographer to snap your picture. You’ve spent time making sure your profile is polished and professional, now make sure you look good!
2. Claim Your Public Profile URL
Use your name or some variant of your name to make a memorable Linkedin Public Profile URL that you can market on your email signature and other places.
1. Keep it REAL & be YOURSELF
Stay away from resume speak and corporate jargon. Write conversationally and speak from your heart. Don’t be shy, tell the world your value and strengths! Sell yourself!
Do you need more help? Optimize your profile today with my fun and easy to read book (available on Amazon), LinkedIn Makeover: Professional Secrets to a POWERFUL LinkedIn Profile! Learn how to build an engaging LinkedIn profile step by step. Chock full of LinkedIn Summary and Headline Examples, LinkedIn Makeover is your one stop resource to a POWERFUL LinkedIn profile.
Or hire me to write your LinkedIn profile for you!
Donna Serdula is an author,
LinkedIn Profile Writer, professional public speaker, Social Media Strategist, and Web Designer helping businesses leverage the Internet in their quest to market themselves. Read her blog for more LinkedIn Profile Tips!
Access my LinkedIn Headline Generator app to boost your brand and achieve higher placement in LinkedIn Search results. Your profile will get more views and you will collide with amazing opportunities! All it takes is a couple of clicks and in seconds you have an engaging, professional LinkedIn Headline that impresses. It's fast, easy, and completely free.
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Great blog post! May I ask where you got the statistic for 40x more likely to show up in a search if your profile is complete?
Hi Brynne! LinkedIn states, you are “Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.”