12 Tips To Create A LinkedIn Profile That Gets Noticed
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for branding & development of yourself and your business. People use it, but very few really know how to harness its potential to the fullest. LinkedIn is an excellent platform for showcasing your skill-set, receiving recommendations, finding potential resources, and connecting with potential employers. This is a great platform not only to find a job but also to give a boost to your career if used optimally. InstaOffice brings to you 12 tips to create a LinkedIn profile that gets noticed –
Profile Picture
Use a professional picture of yourself that projects the right image on your LinkedIn profile. Avoid putting up a recent passport size picture of yourself or your Facebook profile picture. Get a picture of yourself in a professional setup with a focus on your face. Smile and look confident to create an impact.
Connect with your Target Audience
Instead of connecting with your friends, make it a priority to connect with people who could add value to your professional network. Do not hesitate to connect with people you don’t know if you think connecting with them could enhance your network. While you are at it, it goes without saying to not go overboard. As far as influencers go, it is a good idea to follow them, instead of connecting with them.
An Active Profile
Stay active on your LinkedIn profile. You do not have to update something every day, but keep things going on a regular basis. You can update your status by asking for suggestions, sharing good reads and images, and tagging relevant people or companies in your updates.
Tip: A LinkedIn status update shows 50-100 characters, and everything after that goes under the “See More” button.
Don’t Shy Away from Getting Noticed
LinkedIn has the Premium option for you, using which you can go incognito when visiting other profiles. Although Premium offers a lot of great things, hiding your profile from people on LinkedIn could limit the growth of your network. Do not hesitate from getting noticed by people whose profiles you visit. Getting noticed could really help you connect with more relevant people and boost your network.
Engage
Many of us just create a LinkedIn profile and leave it at that. It is important to connect with people, engage with their profiles and activities. Connecting with people, wishing them on their work anniversaries, and congratulating them on starting a new position is not enough engagement.
Have some activity on your profile page. Allocate some time in your week for your LinkedIn profile, where you can share an important industry-relevant update, a new skill you have learned, and engage with activities and people based on your know-how.
Experience
You can easily take this as it is from your updated CV. Make it easy to read by inserting bullet points and jotting down everything in a systematic manner. Also, link your website or your blog where applicable.
Headline
A headline is an extremely important part of a LinkedIn profile. A headline should be professional, should be an image of who you are, and what you are looking for. It should also include a skill or a know-how that makes you stand out from the crowd. Try the 4-step formula of What-Who-How-Proof for a simple and effortless LinkedIn headline.
Also, it is important you choose the right keywords for the title on your profile to trigger in searches. It is recommended you update your headline regularly to keep it updated and fresh, and do not forget to put in all the right keywords.
Tip: Use the symbol “|” as a separator of different parts of your headline.
Summarize, Don’t Advertise
The summary on your profile is just as important as the headline and has a huge potential to create an impression on those visiting your profile for the first time. The summary should include who you are, your passions, your top achievements, your goals, what you are currently looking for, the value you could add to a company, and how someone could benefit from connecting with you. Write a summary that is straight-forward and creative enough to grab the attention of your connections.
End your summary with the best way to get in touch with you. Some of the options here are a link to contact form, by connecting with you on LinkedIn, by leaving you a phone number, etc. Do keep in mind that leaving your phone number in the summary could lead to spamming by unwanted recruiters.
Tip: Avoid over-used words like creative, motivated, passionate, enthusiastic, leadership, etc to advertise yourself. Think out of the box!
Skills
Think specialized when it comes to highlighting your skills on LinkedIn. Come up with up to ten skills that showcase your competency in the field. Share a list of skill-sets that is not only unique but is made to impress.
Applications
Add the Amazon application to your LinkedIn profile to showcase what books you are reading. This will show a little extra about your personality. If you are a blog owner, link the same to add snippets of your blog to your profile. This could also help drive more traffic to your blog page. You can also add a YouTube video or use the SlideShare application to showcase your work.
Recommendations
Social media platforms are all about building strong relationships. Do not hesitate to ask your clients or your senior for giving a recommendation on your LinkedIn profile. You can also give a recommendation to someone and request for the same in return.
Try to send out one recommendation every week to someone you know. Even if you do not ask for a recommendation back, you will automatically start getting them in return.
Contribute in Groups
Become a part of relevant groups on LinkedIn and stay active on them. This will help you stay updated with the ongoing trends of the industry you belong to. The potential of exposure to the industry, in this case, exists on a global level, where you are aware of how the industry is shaping up on the other side of the world.
Also read, Facebook Business Page – Is It Right For You?
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