Your LinkedIn profile page is the foundation for your personal branding. Here are six profile features you should review and update to help develop the personal brand you want to reinforce.
1. Choose the right pictures for LinkedIn
Your profile picture is your calling card on LinkedIn โ itโs how people are introduced to you and, visual beings that we are, it governs their impressions of you from the start. Here are some quick tips to start with: make sure the picture is recent and looks like you, make sure your face takes up around 60% of the shot (long-distance shots donโt stand out), wear what you wear to work, and smile with your eyes!
2. Turn your summary into your story
The first thing to say about your LinkedIn summary is, make sure you have one! Itโs amazing how many people still leave this field blank when creating their LinkedIn profile. Your summary is your chance to tell your own story, so donโt use it just to list your skills or the job titles youโve had. Try to bring to life why those skills matter and the difference they can make to the people you work with. Donโt be afraid to invest some time, try a few drafts, and run your summary past people you know. This is your most personal piece of content marketing and itโs worth the effort.
3. Ditch the buzzwords
Buzzwords are adjectives that are used so often in LinkedIn headlines and summaries that they become nearly meaningless. Rankings show the most over-used buzzwords include terms like โspecializedโ, โleadershipโ, โfocusedโ, โstrategicโ, โexperiencedโ, โpassionateโ, โexpertโ, โcreativeโ, โinnovativeโ and โcertifiedโ. Itโs not that you canโt describe yourself as these things, or that they donโt matter. However, just using these words wonโt convince people that you have these qualities. You need to demonstrate them as well, both in the way you describe yourself, and in the way you use LinkedIn profile features to show what youโre about.
4. Grow your network
One of the easiest and most relevant ways to grow your LinkedIn network is to sync your profile with your email address book. This enables LinkedIn to suggest people you could connect with. Itโs amazing how effective this can be at surfacing relevant people for you to reach out to โ and no connection requests are sent without your permission, so you can vet all of the potential connections. Beyond this, get into the habit of following up meetings and conversations with LinkedIn connection requests. Itโs a great way of keeping your network vibrant and up to date.
5. List your relevant skills
Itโs one of the quickest of quick wins on LinkedIn: scroll through the list of skills and identify those that are relevant to you. Doing so helps to substantiate the description in your headline and summary, and provides a platform for others to endorse you. However, the key here is staying relevant. A long list of skills that arenโt essential to who you are and what you do can start to feel unwieldy. Take time for a spring clean of your skills list every now and then.
6. Share relevant content from your LinkedIn feed
Itโs one thing to have a network of connections on LinkedIn; itโs far better to have an active role in that network, appearing in your connectionsโ LinkedIn feeds in a way that adds value for them. Sharing relevant content with your network is one of the most accessible ways of doing this. You can make a start by keeping a close eye on your LinkedIn feed, and sharing content that you find genuinely interesting and that aligns with your point of view.
Getting your LinkedIn profile working harder for you doesnโt have to take up hours of your time. Try working through these ideas, building from one to the other and youโll find that you can make progress quickly, even if youโre just able to set aside a few minutes over a lunch break or in the evenings. Once you are taking full advantage of your LinkedIn profile, youโll be amazed what a difference it can make to both you and the bank.
(Resource: https://business.linkedin.com/en-uk/marketing-solutions/blog/posts/content-marketing/2017/17-steps-to-a-better-LinkedIn-profile-in-2017)
