LinkedIn has established itself as the most used social site for professionals. Many people are using LinkedIn to not only establish their expertise in their industry, but also to generate new leads. When reaching out to potential new prospects, there are a few things you’ll want to include in your message. Including, who you are, why you’re contacting them, and how they can best reach you. All of that is important, but could you be forgetting about one more important piece? Once you reach a potential new prospect, the first thing they will do is look at your LinkedIn profile. They will see your picture, read your summary, and check out your work experience. Here are a few ways to make sure your profile reflects the professional you are.
Work Experience
Your work experience tells a lot about you. Make sure you include it on your profile as many companies on LinkedIn use it to search for job candidates. Even if you are not currently looking for a job, you may be interested in reviewing a better position. For example, if you work in sales include information such as B2B sales, inbound sales, and telemarketing.
Keywords
There are three places you will want to include keywords that involve what you do for a living. These include your title, summary, and work experience. Having keywords will not only show your expertise in the area, but will also help your name pop up in more search results. Examples of keywords may include social media manager or outbound marketing. Use keywords relevant to your work experience.
Summary
Your summary field should describe yourself. Make sure you use the first person when describing yourself, as it will be more personable than using the third person. Including accomplishments in your summary is a great way to show your effectiveness. This may include “saved company $10,000/year by decreasing unnecessary overhead costs.”
Custom URL
Did you know you can change the URL for your LinkedIn page? In order to change it, click the Edit button next to your picture then click edit again next to the URL under your picture. On the next screen, click the ‘Customize your public profile URL’ button on the bottom right of the screen. From here, you can change your URL to www.linkedin.com/yourname . If someone else has already claimed that URL, use a number or character after your name. This way, you can easily let people know how to find you on LinkedIn!
Picture
It seems like an obvious feature to add to your LinkedIn page, yet some people still don’t have a profile picture. No profile is complete without a profile picture. People want to know who they are connecting to when on LinkedIn and without a profile picture it can push people away. Additionally, it is best to dress in work attire and take a picture against a white background. This will help you look professional.
As you can see, there are many ways to improve your LinkedIn profile so that you not only look professional but also show up high in search results when people are looking for professionals with your expertise. Follow these steps and you’ll be in great shape for turning that new prospect into a new customer. How have these tips worked for you? Do you have any other tips to add?
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