VIDEO: How to have an effective LinkedIn profile in 10 steps
ARTICLE: The 10 Secrets of a Perfect LinkedIn Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is the starting point for your presence on LinkedIn . It is the showcase of your career and your personal branding . This is why it is essential to have a neat, complete profile that best reflects your person, your experiences and your skills. Remember that LinkedIn is first and foremost a professional network in which you create contacts and develop professional relationships . Let’s take a look at the 10 secrets of an EFFECTIVE LinkedIn profile , taken from my Proinfluent Profile training .
1. Take care of your profile picture
Did you know that a profile with a LinkedIn profile picture of quality is generally 10 times more seen than a profile which does not have one? Putting a professional and airy photo is to guarantee your credibility and indirectly the confidence that you are given. Remember that LinkedIn promotes your professional identity and that your image is part of your identity. The first impression we will have of you is your profile image that will define it. So, heal there!
2. Use a catchy slogan or headline
Keep in mind that you have to do the marketing yourself . And you know, behind every good ad there is a good slogan . The same goes for your LinkedIn profile. You need to have a catchy profile title that is punchy enough to sum up your business in just a few words. Your slogan should arouse the interest of professionals who consult your profile and search for your skills.
3. Have a good introductory presentation
Like the slogan, the presentation, or even the summary on LinkedIn, must be catchy and make you want to know you.
The LinkedIn summary is to writing what the elevator pitch is for your oral presentation. Your summary should show who you are, your personality and your professional profile in just a few lines. Display your key skills, embellished with your best achievements in the field, and voila. You can use LinkedIn™ emojis to structure your text.
I invite you to read the full article on the subject which gives you frames and LinkedIn summary examples .
4. Describe your training
I wrote well “ training ”And not“ diplomas ”. Why ? On the one hand, so that those who do not have a diploma to value their learning and, on the other hand, because it is important to show that we have been able to question ourselves and strengthen our knowledge throughout our career. Do not be afraid to promote your course and indicate all the subsequent training that you have followed (such as the LinkedIn Prospecting training Where LinkedIn sales training or even the LinkedIn profile training of Proinfluent 😜). This will undoubtedly have a chance of being spotted by your former colleagues and thus widening your contacts and your LinkedIn circle. But above all, the keywords will make you go up in the searches of your target or recruiters, and this is what will serve your LinkedIn prospecting or your search for professional opportunities on LinkedIn .
5. Complete your professional career
Indicate all the jobs you have had. The more experiences you have, the more you will be seen as an active and social person. Do not hesitate to put the right keywords concerning your activities. Thus, you will be more easily referenced and more easily findable.
Also link your experience to the company concerned if it has a LinkedIn Company Page . Thus, the company logo will be added to your profile. LinkedIn is offering you 2,000 characters to sell you, so don’t overlook this step. The more detailed and complete your profile, the better. I advise all the same to focus the descriptive part of the position on the exposure of your results. Because being visible is good, but showing that you have been successful is better.
6. Have recommendations
In the business world, the more positive opinions you have, the more you increase the confidence of prospects and more you convert customers . It’s the same on LinkedIn. The more referrals you have, the more easily you will find employers, new clients or new ones partnerships . The recommendations prove your credibility, an essential element for succeed on LinkedIn ™ . So, if you don’t have any recommendations yet, it might be a good idea to ask your coworkers, former employers, or former clients to recommend you.
Also, you can start giving some, usually your contact will throw the lift back to you.
7. Be present on other social networks
Indicate the social networks you are on: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube , etc. Put your website or blog there if you have one. This will show visitors that you are active and present on the web. If you are a content creator, this can be a considerable asset in demonstrating your expertise in your field and thus fostering the trust that can be placed in you.
8. Vary your publications
Enrich your LinkedIn profile in posting articles on LinkedIn , photos, in posting videos on LinkedIn , studies or even webinars. As with the previous point, if you create content, it will promote your credibility, especially if several of your contacts share your posts. Make your profile attractive and interesting enough to focus on.
Be careful to always publish natively so as not to be blacklisted by the LinkedIn algorithm !
9. Have a minimum of contacts
Having only a few contacts on your LinkedIn profile will not serve your success, that’s for sure. On the other hand, having a network of 1,000 contacts is starting to change the game.
I already see people getting indignant: “it is not the quantity, but the quality that counts”. My answer is: this proverb certainly exists, but not for LinkedIn. How do you assess the quality of your network in concrete terms?
I recommend this 1,000 threshold because LinkedIn is built on the power of the network. Materially, it is not necessarily your direct network that counts, but the network of your network. It is the level 2, 3 and 4 circle that can boost your career! Yes, when you post content, people you don’t know will be browsing your posts. This snowball effect doesn’t work if you only have a hundred people in your relationships.
So, all means are good to widen your circle. When you go to a conference, seminar or professional event, take the opportunity to present your elevator pitch with those present, exchange your business cards and your LinkedIn profiles.
What if you’re still wondering whether to accept contacts or not? Read this article in which I reveal my method for accept LinkedIn invitations (or not).
Do not forget to mention all your contact details (professional I mean: do not mention your personal address, this represents a security danger for you and your current company) on your profile so that we can find you and contact you easily.
10. Customize your LinkedIn profile URL
When you create an account on LinkedIn or even on Facebook or Pinterest , the site imposes a URL, often made up of numbers, that you have not chosen. Don’t be like everyone else.
Today you have the opportunity to personalize your Url . With a unique URL, you are sure to differentiate yourself from other profiles. But above all, it will serve your natural referencing, that is to say that your LinkedIn profile will naturally rise in the first results of search engines, because they will mention your name.
Concretely opt for a LinkedIn domain name of this type:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/firstname-name/
As you will have understood, your LinkedIn profile is generally the first contact that potential partners, prospects or recruiters will have with you.
Having a LinkedIn profile is showing that you are active on new tools and that you manage your personal brand. And the more your profile is completed, the more likely you will be contacted directly.
Learn more about the subject for free thanks to my checklist to have a perfect LinkedIn profile, unique in France and above all go for the tips that really work using the Proifl Proinfluent method to truly infiltrate the mind of your target through your LinkedIn profile.
You have my secrets in hand, your keyboards, it’s up to you to achieve your goals!