Power Up Your Profile

It’s not just about a CV and a list of previous jobs: this is your first impression.

Your LinkedIn Profile is the first impression your potential business contacts, employers or team members have of you. Will you make the best impression if your profile is out of date, badly worded and not showing a good photo? Your profile also has an SEO value to it, so it’s important you understand what you want to achieve with LinkedIn and where you want to be seen.

  • LinkedIn Profiles with photos are 36 times more likely to receive messages

  • Profiles with professional photos are 14 times more likely to receive connection invites

  • Listing 5 or more skills on your LinkedIn Profile is likely to receive up to 17 times more views

In this lesson, learn how to create a kick ass LinkedIn Profile.

Flosocial Business Man Juggling Work

6 Steps To A F***ing Awesome Profile

1. Your Profile Picture Matters… Like A Lot

Humans read into a person’s photo, reading their facial expressions and mannerisms (or lack of) while making subconscious decisions about whether to like them or not. It’s important to make the most of that first single glance to create the best first impression.

FloSocial Taking A Selfie

  • Make sure you are smiling –  regardless of how serious the role you might be applying for. Smiling suggests approachability, so save the “Blue Steel” looks for your tinder profile and use a good quality, happy looking profile pic

  • Dress to impress. Dress appropriately for your industry and audience. You don’t need to wear a power suit if you are a chef, but a clean-pressed jacket and perhaps your chef’s hat will work well. Your LinkedIn Profile shot should represent the very best Work You, rather than the Weekend You – so present yourself correctly.

  • Unless you are feeling very extra, you don’t need to get professional head shots done. A smart phone can take a nice clean, clear picture. Make sure your background isn’t distracting and your face is well lit. Ask a friend to help you: stand facing the light with a simple background behind you

  • Avoid extreme close ups or action shots. When your profile picture is loaded, it’s going to be very small when displayed, so action shots will be hard to decipher – besides, no one wants to see up your nose. For the ideal profile picture, aim from your mid chest to just above the top of your head

  • Update your image every few years. You don’t necessarily need the most up-to-date image, but keep it current so you are recognisable within your peer groups.

2. The Devil’s In The Details

This is not a copy and paste job of your CV. This is the opportunity to be more than your CV. Tell others what drives you, what kind of projects you enjoy working on, clients you enjoying working with and why you care about your industry or sector. Every single section of your LinkedIn Profile assists in you being found in the search function. So make it clear what you want to be known for and where you want to be found.

  • Your Headline: Prime Retail Space For Selling You.
    Your headline can be your current role or something more interesting. As you’re writing your headline, think ‘what’s in it for the people reading this?’ Create an elevator pitch for yourself and write short, punchy sentences describing the value your business brings to others.

  • Don’t Lie, But Do Lean.
    This is your chance to be noticed for your next role by your next clients or network group. Don’t lie about your skill set, but do lean your profile towards where you want to be. Choose the most useful and applicable information about your work history and write it leaning towards where you aspire to be.

  • Don’t be a Buzz Word Wanker. 
    Listen up: this is going to sound harsh but we say this because we care. Using buzz words makes you sound like a wanker! It doesn’t make you sound smart. It makes you sound unimaginative. Be direct and use your own tone – describe yourself in words you actually use – and leave the thesaurus alone. Authenticity is far more impressive than ‘trying’ to be impressive. Just be You.

  • Review Review Review
    Have a friend or coworker proofread your profile for you. If you don’t have friends, hire someone on Fiverr… not to be your friend but to proofread your profile (maybe you’ll go out for a beer after).

FloSocial Chatting Man

3. Define Your Skills

From your LinkedIn Profile, list your skill set then arrange them so your top 3 skills are pinned to the top. You can also arrange other people to “endorse” your skills. This builds your professional reputation while helping you stand out from the crowd. LinkedIn has a pre-mapped skill set to choose from: choose the 3 most relevant for your top 3 pinned skills, then add additional relevant skills in. Aim for between 5 – 10 skills in this section.

  • Watch our video for step-by-step instructions on how to find, pin and sort your skills.

4. Ask For Recommendations

Yes we know it’s not always comfortable to, but asking for recommendations is super important for powering up your Profile. This gives your Profile an element called Social Proof – as in, it’s not just you saying how awesome you are, other people are saying it too.

How Do You Get Recommendations?

  • Ask!!!! We’re sure somebody likes you enough to recommend you, but you will never know unless you get off your butt and ask.

  • Ask bribe your friends with wine and pizza – especially ones with big networks or high profile jobs.

  • Ask previous bosses  – or the ones that still like you (if you left them a brown “surprise” on their desk when you left, you might want to avoid that one). If they are willing to write you a recommendation, they would be able to do this on LinkedIn too.

  • Ask current clients. Reward them with wine and pizza – or a discount on services even.

  • Watch our video for step-by-step instructions on how to add recommendations to your LinkedIn Profile.

5. Show You’re A Legend With Links & Videos

You can add links to websites, media, articles you have written or videos about you in your Bio. Use this space to showcase who you are and the work you do. If you’re a public speaker, display a show reel of your presentations. If you’re a weight loss coach, feature before and after client testimonial videos. All you need to do is load them into YouTube or Vimeo, then upload the link to display the video.

  • Watch our video for step-by-step instructions on how to add links to your Linkedin Profile

6. Create A Custom URL

Without being super extra about it, who wants to be LinkedIn profile no88477236891p39010847? LinkedIn allows you to have your name, company or location in your LinkedIn URL.

Look at how fancy this is: www.linkedin.com/in/lynsey-fraser-flosocial

Creating a custom URL gives your profile a more professional touch, and makes it memorable and easier to find.

  • Watch our video for step-by-step instructions on how to create a custom URL

Useful Resources

FloSocial Learning

Homework

FloSocial Office Man

Take an hour going over your LinkedIn profile with a fine tooth comb to make sure it’s awesome. Fill out the fields, add the links, update the bio and get a friend or professional to spell check it for you. This will be time well spent.

Happy LinkedIn Profile-ing!