TIPS FOR A PROFESSIONAL LINKEDIN PROFILE

Linkedin is an incredible social media channel for business. With its high level of search engine optimization, your Linkedin profile can be found by most who conduct a web search on you. It is therefore essential that your Linkedin Profile is complete, professional and has good and informative content.

One of the most important reasons for having a Linkedin account is to expand your Business Network.
Here are some great tips below to complete your Profile in a professional manner :

Add your Company Website and a contactable company email and make sure they are visible publicly. Hiding these is counter productive.

Write a good 'Headline' worded clearly to grab the attention of visitors to your profile. It should be instantly clear what it is that you do, readers will within seconds know if they should connect with you and if your industry is relevant to theirs.

Write a powerful opening paragraph

Your opening paragraph should be used to encourage readers to connect with you. If you dont get their attention quickly they will move on to someone else.

When listing the name of the company you work for, be sure to connect it with its correct Linkedin Company Page. This will allow the reader to hover their mouse over the company name and immediately see more information on the business. It simply adds a professional touch to your profile.

List your interests and charities of choice

Adding in these will tell the reader a little more about you as a person. People need to get a feel for your personality and who you are. Be sure not to omit these.

Feature your groups

By including your main groups of interest on your Linkedin Profile, people will gain a clearer understanding of your interests and begin to get a feel for the person behind the profile.

Your Linkedin Summary

When you are writing your Linkedin summary, make sure that your content is clear and concise and that you focus on your skills, accomplishments and goals. Be modest, but communicative at the same time. Try to put yourself into the reader’s shoes and write something that you would want to read if you were the reader. Always write your summary in the first person and dont be shy to add in a little humour (in good taste of course). At the end of the day adding in some personality, encourages people to want to connect with you.

Endorsements

A new wonderful tool on Linkedin is that of endorsements. Receiving these from your clients and connections verifies certain skills that you have listed. Obviously the more endorsements you have, the better your profile will appear. I must add that it works two ways. People may endorse you, but be sure to make a concerted effort to give an honest endorsement back where deserved.

Recommendations

These are a little more difficult to secure, but of great value. Recently worked for an important client? Be sure to send them a 'recommendation request'. Each recommendation added to your profile is a powerful tool that can assist in leveraging new clients and business. As with endorsements above, be sure to return the favour as social networking is after all about building relationships.

The impression that you create with your Linkedin Profile will mean the difference between getting people to interact with you and eventually want to become your customers and clients. Spend some time tweaking and completing it. A professional Linkedin profile is an investment in marketing your business and the services that you offer. Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions or need assistance. Simply click HERE to email me :-)