—
LinkedIn is considered the number one networking site for professionals looking to expand their horizon, build their connections and further their career development. It’s got the potential to help you get in the way of potential employers, partners, or influencers in whichever industry you’re in. However, the problem is that many people haven’t mastered the art of maximizing this platform as a tool to grab and run with new opportunities.
In this article, you’ll learn how you can stand out from the crowd using simple yet effective strategies that will help you grow whether at a professional or business level.
Let’s get you started:
A personal profile drives more engagement
There are many companies and businesses on LinkedIn. Yes, these accounts are important because they make it easy to provide business information, supporting your employees’ network, and link to important other pages of the company. If you’re looking to drive engagement and establish a human touch with your connections, a personal account is a way to go.
Below are some reasons that favor personal profiles over company or business accounts:
- The business page doesn’t grant you the luxury of using LinkedIn Publisher;
- A personal profile makes it easy for you to establish a human touch with your connections;
- People will accept more connections as opposed to company requests;
- It’s not possible to send personal messages from a business page.
Regularly update your profile
At any given time, your profile should reflect where you’re in life in terms of business or career development. The platform is more like your online resume that gives your connections an overview of who you are and where you’ve reached. It’s critical, therefore, that you make a habit of updating the profile on a regular basis; say monthly. But in case you can’t keep up with that pace, always do an update as soon as you achieve any milestone in life. That includes starting or completing your studies, starting a new job, successfully completing a contract, and more.
Showcase your work
You need to apply your professional and marketing acumen to LinkedIn. For instance, if you’re a writer or editor, showcase some of your best work on LinkedIn. But, the trick is in going the extra mile. The platform has thousands of writers or writing businesses and so you need something to make you stand out.
For instance, instead of merely copy-pasting your articles, you can have a brief description or summary coming before the actual article. In addition to that, you can use hashtags that make it easy for readers to identify if the content is relevant to them.
Use keywords in your profile
There are certain keywords or short phrases that are specific to what you do. For instance, if you’re a writer, don’t just stop at stating in your profile that you’re one. You scatter specific skills such as ghostwriter, SaaS writer, SEO expert writer, and more through your profile and descriptions. It’s a simple tweak that has the potential to open a whole new world of prospects for you.
Another way to go about this is to take time and search for what clients in your industry are looking for most of the time. What keywords do they use when posting their job ads on the platform? If analyzing many of those, take the most common phrases and sprinkle them throughout your profile and descriptions. If you’re able to come up with a profile that matches most of those job descriptions, you would have made it easy for recruiters to find you.
Use polished photos
Appearance and first impression matter a lot on these LinkedIn streets. You need to ensure that the moment a potential recruiter lands on your profile, their search ends with you. There are two main photos that you can’t afford to get wrong. Let’s talk about those briefly:
Your headshot – It’s the image that people first see when you show up in search results or feed. You need to ensure that it’s professional and of the highest possible quality. As a matter of fact, you need to invest in having an appealing and impressive photo. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean buttoned-down and formal. If you’re in the creative industry, taking the photo in a suit will make you appear out of place and unrealistic. The main factor is to ensure you’re looking decent and professional.
The background Photo – Don’t use the default background photo for your background. Replace them with a photo that communicates your brand story or one that point to what you do, your industry, or other professional elements.
Craft compelling content
LinkedIn Users look for professional content. That means you stop looking at the kind of content from the perspective of entertainment or pastime activity. Instead, the content you create and post should achieve the following key objectives.
- Provide relevant and real-time value to the readers
- Speak of the value and story of your brand
- Have keywords in your content that enable you to show up in search results
The best place to begin is by looking at your LinkedIn summary. Does your headline come out as an instant elevator pitch? Does it provide the context that’s needed to draw the reader in and make them proceed to other sections of your profile? Is what you do clear from the headline? If not, take the time to make these simple tweaks so that you turn it into an effective hook.
Use the following tips to help you come up with a laser-focused summary:
- Use simple and clear language – acronyms and jargons will do you more harm than good;
- Demonstrate the value offer your clients;
- Include a call-to-action;
- Make the summary easy to scan and read;
- Add links to your website;
- Provide contact information;
- State how you stand out from the crowd
- No hype or superlatives e.g. I’m the greatest;
- Stick to measurable facts for which you’ve got evidence or can demonstrate.
Summary
It’s not just enough that you’re on LinkedIn. As you’ve seen, there are simple steps that you can take to lessen the frustrations and the time taken to start getting results on the platform. Try out the above tips and see as opportunities start to unfold.
—
