LinkedIn® Profile Optimization For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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LinkedIn is the professional network for business people. Whether you are a job seeker, a corporate executive, a small-business owner, an entrepreneur, or a professional with the desire for more, LinkedIn is the place to build and nurture your network. It’s so easy to get caught up in your day-to-day life and job. People flow in and out. But by using LinkedIn to build a network of the people you meet and then keeping in touch with them, you are creating an engine for opportunities.
American businessman and author Robert Kiyosaki has said, “The richest people in the world look for and build networks; everyone else looks for work.”
Beyond the network and networking capabilities, LinkedIn is also the place to forge a strong professional brand. As you move through your professional life, people will want to learn more about you. Who are you? What do you do? How do you help others? What do you represent? What is your mission? These are all questions on top of people’s minds. The answers to these questions help people decide if they like you and want to spend more time with you.
Remember, people do business with people!
Not everyone has a personal website or websites devoted to them (well, unless you are a celebrity); however, the LinkedIn profile has become the de facto website for everyday professionals. A simple name search for most people returns their LinkedIn profile on the first page of search results. How does your LinkedIn profile portray you? Your LinkedIn profile is your online reputation, digital introduction, and first impression. The good news is that you have complete control over your profile and can shape how your reader perceives you.
Most people simply copy and paste their resume into their profile because it’s easy, but a profile consisting of a copied-and-pasted resume impresses no one. Consider the recruiter who has your resume in his hot hands and wants to learn more about you, so he looks you up on LinkedIn, only to find the exact same information that is in your resume. He would be disappointed, to say the least. To have a strong and optimized LinkedIn profile, you need to move beyond just your resume that details your past and aligns you to a job. An optimized LinkedIn profile tells your professional story, is geared strategically toward your goals, and contains what your target audience needs to know about you.
When you are done with this book, your LinkedIn profile is going to be a true compendium of who you are and what you stand for. It’s going to authentically tell your professional story, and people will see you as someone who inspires confidence and ability.
This book is a how-to manual that shows you the steps to craft a strategic and compelling LinkedIn profile that captures your unique brand and professional story. I show you how to take your profile from nothing more than a simple outline to a robust, full-featured profile of you as a professional that commands attention and evokes action.
Although you can pick up this book at any point, I highly suggest, at the very least, reading Chapter 1 and then Part 2. In Chapter 1, I discuss the importance of determining your LinkedIn goal and target audience. If you don’t identify your goal, your profile cannot be written strategically and it will not perform adequately. Likewise, you need to understand your target audience and write to what they need to know about you.
Part 2 is all about the intro card of your LinkedIn profile. This is the very first part people see when they open your LinkedIn profile and you want to make sure you capture their attention immediately, or else they’ll surf off to another profile.
Regardless of your LinkedIn goal, you will benefit from the information in this book. Although LinkedIn isn’t rocket science, it isn’t the most intuitive social network either. Plus, writing about yourself is hard! In this book, I break everything down to its core to make it easy for you to use LinkedIn and create an impressive profile that helps you achieve your professional goals.
Having worked with thousands of professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and companies from all over the world, I am going to assume that like them you are optimizing your profile for:
This book is divided into five parts:
Most people just jump into writing their LinkedIn profiles, but not you! In this first part, I show you how to immediately stand out by determining your LinkedIn goals, target audience, and keywords.
In this part, I show you how develop a compelling intro card section by choosing a professional profile picture, creating a compelling headline, and uploading an on-brand background image. I also show you how to create a personalized link to your profile that makes marketing a cinch.
In Part 3, I walk you through filling out the two LinkedIn profile sections the majority of people find the most challenging: Experience and About. You’ll learn how to craft impressive experiences that focus on achievements over pure job description. You also learn how to craft an About section that acts as a professional manifesto that engages and impresses your target audience.
Part 4 is all about the extra flourishes you can add to your profile, such as with sample projects, publications, patents, organizations, and more. I show you how to spice up your profile and professional brand by getting active on LinkedIn and joining the LinkedIn conversation. When you are done with Chapter 15, you will know more than most Influencers do about LinkedIn publishing!
The Part of Tens is the traditional end of a For Dummies book and contains lists of ten items that will help you leverage your profile and LinkedIn even better. This part is packed with links to external websites that provide the tools you can use to create a powerful profile.
The last three Part of Tens chapters are pure powerhouses of information. If you want a quick and dirty education on LinkedIn, don’t skip these. By reading these chapters, I promise you, you’ll have more knowledge of LinkedIn than most of those social media “gurus” who have set up shop.
I use a number of icons in this book to draw your attention to pieces of useful information.
This whole book can be considered a series of tips! When I share information that I find especially useful for optimizing your profile, I indicate it with a Tip icon.
This icon is used to flag information that may be useful to remember when you think about and work on your profile.
Whenever something may cause unnecessary work or a headache down the road, I alert you with a Warning icon.
A Technical Stuff icon contains detailed or background information that is not necessary to know to optimize your profile, but is otherwise interesting.
In addition to what you’re reading now, this book also comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that gives you even more pointers on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. My favorite cheat sheet details how to take your LinkedIn profile photo yourself! To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.
You can also visit my website for additional free resources like my LinkedIn Headline Generator, LinkedIn Text Formatter, Background Photo library, and more. Click the Free Resources tab at www.linkedin-makeover.com.
An optimized LinkedIn profile is more than just your online reputation. A powerfully written LinkedIn profile has the ability to change your life. After optimizing their profiles, I’ve seen people find amazing jobs and opportunities. They connect with more people and experience the full gamut of what LinkedIn and a successful career has to offer.
I wish you the very best of luck — now go get optimizing!
Part 1
IN THIS PART …
Understand your LinkedIn goals and target audience to give your profile purpose.
Learn how to use the proper tone in your profile to draw people in, not push them away.
Optimize your LinkedIn search results by discovering your keywords and infusing them throughout your profile.
Learn how to use LinkedIn as a search tool and how to ensure your search result listing catches a reader’s eye.
Add skills to showcase your strengths to potential employers or clients.
See why soliciting endorsements and endorsing others boosts your credibility.
Chapter 1
IN THIS CHAPTER
Deciding your LinkedIn goal
Understanding your target audience
Using the proper tone
When you register for a LinkedIn account, the first thing you encounter is the LinkedIn profile. Most people jump in and immediately fill out the fields of the profile, not giving much thought as to why they are on LinkedIn or who will eventually be reading their profile.
Profiles created without a goal or a target audience in mind lack purpose. These profiles don’t catch readers’ eyes and compel them to reach out to the person behind the online persona. You see these profiles on LinkedIn every day. Scanning the profile, nothing grabs you or makes you want to learn more about that person.
To experience success on LinkedIn, you must approach your LinkedIn profile strategically. In this chapter, I show you how to determine your LinkedIn strategy by looking at the three most typical goals people are trying to accomplish on LinkedIn. Once you’ve determined your goal, I show you how to figure out your target audience and discuss the importance of creating a compelling profile tone.
To create a profile that has purpose, you must ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish on LinkedIn?” Many people get a LinkedIn account because they want to find a new job. Other people are interested in reputation management and branding. Still other people are on LinkedIn because they are in sales and want to prospect and increase sales through social selling.
To help you determine what you want your profile to accomplish, review the following three most common types of LinkedIn profiles.
LinkedIn plays a huge role in the job search process. Recruiters, hiring managers, and human resources professionals search LinkedIn looking for potential candidates. They may perform broad-based keyword searches looking for a candidate who matches the skill sets the position requires, or they may already have certain candidates in mind. When they have a person already in mind for a position, a name search is performed on LinkedIn with the goal of learning more about that person than what is stated on his or her resume.
LinkedIn is also a job board. The LinkedIn Jobs section (www.linkedin.com/jobs) is where thousands of jobs from all over the world are posted. These job postings are promoted throughout LinkedIn as well. When you find a job posting that interests you, you can apply for the position by submitting your resume and LinkedIn profile.
Even if you aren’t utilizing LinkedIn’s job postings or hoping to collide with a recruiter, potential employers are still looking you up on LinkedIn and reviewing your LinkedIn profile. Think about it: If you are about to hire someone, and available to you is a database in which to look this person up and see a picture of the candidate, a listing of people he or she knows, and recommendations of his or her work ethic, of course you would use it!
Potential employers are looking at your profile. The good news is you have control over how you represent yourself and how they perceive you. A job search profile complements and echoes your resume without being a direct one-to-one copy. The profile is written to the job description of that next position you are targeting and showcases you as the perfect candidate for that role. See Figure 1-1 for an example.
To find out more about how to create a powerful job search profile, see Chapter 11.
FIGURE 1-1: A job search profile.
It’s a Google world. At one time, if you needed to find out information, you headed to the library to search the encyclopedias and other reference materials. Now, all you need to do is pull up a web browser and perform an Internet search to get more information than you could ever read or use.
This easy access to information has some side effects. People are doing more research than ever before and they are researching you! Going to the doctor? Most people search the Internet for the doctor’s name to see the results that pop up in a search engine. Executives who find their names appearing in press releases or in magazine articles may find that views to their LinkedIn profiles skyrocket by readers wanting to know more about them.
Job candidates’ names are entered into search engines all the time by hiring managers looking to discover more than what is provided in the resume. Similarly, hiring managers’ names are searched by job candidates wanting to learn more about their potential new employer.
LinkedIn profiles rank high in search results. Not only is it usually the top result when a person searches for your name, but also it’s sometimes the only result, as most people don’t have a personal website. You create your LinkedIn profile. You choose what people learn about you. You have total control over how people perceive you. A reputation management profile is one that showcases your successes, honors, awards, and accomplishments, and leads people to see you as a credible, impressive professional.
LinkedIn is more than just a job search tool. LinkedIn is a compendium of professional profiles with industry and contact information, which makes it a terrific prospecting tool for sales professionals. However, it’s not just for sales people looking for prospects. People use LinkedIn to search for service providers and consultants who can help them.
Most people prefer to do business with someone they know or someone with whom they share a connection. When searching LinkedIn for a service provider, you see how you are connected to that service provider through the degrees of connection. This ability to see shared connections provides a level of trust and comfort.
A sales and prospecting profile shines the spotlight on not just the salesperson, but also on that person’s products, services, and company he or she represents. Most important, the sales and prospecting profile focuses on prospective clients and their needs, and solidifies the salesperson as someone clients can feel confident in working with. See Figure 1-2 for an example.
FIGURE 1-2: A sales and prospecting profile.
Knowing your goal is only half the battle. Now it’s time to figure out your target audience. One of the most common mistakes people make with their LinkedIn profiles is using it to tell the story they want to tell. Instead, you need to use your profile to tell the story your audience wants to read. Write for your target audience first.
When you are looking for a job, your target audience is typically recruiters, hiring managers, and human resources professionals. In almost every case, they are armed with a job description. Recruiters want to know that you have the skill sets and experience required to fulfill the job. They also want to know that you are professional, respectful, and capable of doing the job. You want to make it clear in your profile that you are the perfect person for your desired position. After reading your profile, the recruiter should feel confident in your skills and abilities.
When you are on LinkedIn for sales and prospecting, your target audience is your client and prospective client. They are less interested in hearing about your sales expertise and more interested in knowing that you understand their industry and their needs, and can provide solutions to their issues. As you consider your target audience, think in terms of the solutions you offer them and provide them the information they need to feel confident with you as a potential partner.
The sales world has changed in the age of Google and social media. Buyers now educate themselves, researching products and services online. They even research the salesperson, wanting to make sure they are reaching out to someone they can feel comfortable working with. Knowing that you are under a magnifying glass, make sure you provide your target audience with the information they need to feel confident in you and your products or services.
When the goal of your LinkedIn profile is reputation management and branding, your target audience may not be as clear cut as it is with a job search or sale and prospecting. To figure out your audience, you need to determine the type of person you want to cater your profile toward. Is it the executive team and colleagues at your company? Audience members who watched you give a presentation? Readers of articles you wrote? Private equity investors? Once you pinpoint the type of person who you want to target, consider what that person needs to know to take that next step forward.
Do you want your target audience to connect with you on LinkedIn? Perhaps you want them to visit your website and download a white paper. You may want your target audience to email you to request your resume. Your target audience could pick up the phone and call you. Figure out what that next step is so you can build it into your profile as a clear call to action.
Strategically written profiles do not state what you want to say as much as what your target audience needs to know.
LinkedIn is a social network, and writing an impersonal profile filled with business jargon doesn’t mesh. Social networks are all about you interacting with your network. And because your network will check out your profile, it’s imperative that what they read is from your pen. You don’t want to push people away by creating distance between you and your reader.
A powerful LinkedIn profile is written in first person narrative form (“I”). Draw readers in by writing about yourself in the first person. Writing in a conversational, natural tone is a great way to connect with your audience and start forging an easy rapport.
As important as it is to write in first person, you also must be careful not to overuse “I.” There is nothing worse than a profile where every sentence starts with I. In my profile, I sometimes use the second person narrative form (“You”) because it brings your reader in even closer by speaking directly to them, and it eases the potential overuse of “I.”
The best way to ensure your profile is compellingly written is to read it aloud. Does it sound stilted? Does it sound like it’s something you would never say to an acquaintance live in person? If so, the writing is forced and not conversational in tone.
Here is an example of stilted, hard-to-read resume speak:
Creating a clear strategy for leveraging resources to produce the maximum number of insights possible. Integrating contextual analytics to business processes. Centralizing deep analysis expertise for use across the organizational axis but mandating each individual department and line of business takes responsibility for their own reporting needs.
You want to write your profile as if you are talking directly to your reader. Your words should sound professional yet natural. A profile written in corporate jargon or resume speak is a turn off. Demonstrate your human side and warmth by writing in a natural, conversational tone.
When you see profiles written in the third person, typically the reason is that they simply copied and pasted their biography or resume into the LinkedIn profile. That’s a cop-out! Your LinkedIn profile is not your resume nor your bio. Your LinkedIn profile is your career future! It’s who you are, how you help people, and why you deserve to be noticed. A powerful LinkedIn profile is strategically written for your goals and your target audience. It’s not a copy and paste of some other document.
While the best profiles are written in first person, there are times when other styles work better. For example, if you are in sales and marketing and your profile is written with the goal of engaging potential clients, second person works great: “If you want to up your game and improve your productivity, our CRM solution will help you save time and … .” Notice how the focus is on the person reading the profile.
If you are a person with a long list of accomplishments and awards, it may feel more comfortable writing about your successes in third person: “After winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Jane Doe sold her company for $33 billion and decided to dedicate the rest of her career to saving the rain forests.”
Think about your target audience and your brand, then tailor your voice accordingly.
Part of your LinkedIn strategy should extend to your use of LinkedIn as well as how your target audience typically accesses LinkedIn. At one time, LinkedIn was a site you accessed via a browser on your desktop computer or laptop. With the rise of mobile devices and apps that run on them, LinkedIn has extended the features and functionality of its desktop experience to a mobile app.
Since debuting its mobile app, LinkedIn’s success has exploded, and it makes sense why. Even though LinkedIn is a professional platform, many companies block the use of LinkedIn over the company’s Internet connection, which means in order to access LinkedIn, one would have to do it at home after work. Who wants to do professional stuff after work? Once LinkedIn was accessible via the mobile app using personal mobile data, LinkedIn could be used anywhere and everywhere. Waiting for a meeting to start? Click the LinkedIn app on your smartphone and scroll through your LinkedIn feed to see what’s going on with your network. Grabbing lunch at the local deli? Check the LinkedIn profiles of the people who you’ll be pitching later today via the mobile app.
Fewer than half of all LinkedIn users access the site via a browser on a computer or laptop. If you find that you struggle to find time to access LinkedIn, it may be because you are only accessing it from a computer. Install the mobile app on your smartphone and you may be surprised at the frequency with which you begin to access it.
It’s important to note that your LinkedIn profile appears differently in the LinkedIn app and the LinkedIn desktop experience. As you move through this book and begin updating your LinkedIn profile, I recommend doing as much of the updating of your profile via a desktop browser as possible, using a full-size keyboard. But when you are finished with each section, make sure you check out how your work looks on the mobile app.
Next up I look at how to get found on LinkedIn.