Did you know that Linkedin has 690 million users in 200 countries and regions around the world?
With so many users and being available in 24 languages, you'd think that it'd easy to find clients on Linkedin, right?
The thing is, not many people know how to set up their LinkedIn profile properly and end up missing opportunities: jobs, sales, promotions, etc...
Linkedin and their members around the world. Image from the Linkedin website.
For many people, setting up their profiles is something that makes them lose sleep - but, you guessed it, that wasn't the case for me!!! - so if you don't want to lose sleep over your LinkedIn profile, here are some tips for you to shine bright like a diamond - as Rihanna would say :)
(I did search for Rihanna on Linkedin but could only find her here.
1 - Linkedin Profile Photo
Since I started working in PR almost 3 years ago today (I was a marketer before), I started paying more and more attention to photos because these are what journalists see. It baffles me that people don't understand the power of a good image and how it can portray your professionalism. Since we're not talking about Tinder or Facebook, let's make sure we show the right picture on Linkedin profile.
Do you remember when Dolly Parton showed the right pictures to the right channels? If you don't remember, check this out:
You get the idea right?
So, let me show you some photos that work:
Needless to say, Richard's photo is professional, and it's not showy. It shows he is a thinker.
Your photo also shows your personality, so if a posing photo is not you, find your way to show your personality.
Too vain to show my Linkedin profile photo? Maybe, but I thought I'd share that I am using my brand colours, I used a professional photographer and we did in my office - so you don't need to do in studio to have a professionally taken photo! #nofilter
How could I choose bad photos without embarrassing or making people feel bad?
Well, it was not too difficult to find someone who had the image below as her profile photo:
I won't' link the photo to the profile because the only thing I have to say is NO - do not use a photo like this on Linkedin. No matter what you do. DON'T!
In the know:
Minimum image size: 300 (w) x 300 (h) pixels
Recommended image size: 300 (w) x 300 (h) pixels
2 - A killer banner image
Banners are a great way to show you a bit more about you. Either your work or creativity, you can bring a bit more of your personality with an image.
Carol shows off her creativity by showing that she clearly does public speaking and she runs two businesses We Get Digital and Women on the Web.
We're very proud to share that Lara was a member of High Profile Club for a year and we introduced her to the TED team.
You can also see that both Carol and Lara use professional portrait photos on their profiles.
It seems that people who invest in their professional photos, also invest in their banners to make their profiles stand out professionally.
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
In the know:
Minimum image size: 1192 (w) x 220 (h) pixels
Recommended image size: 1536 (w) x 768 (h) pixels
If you're looking to create a great banner for your website, Venngage has some very interesting concepts and designs to show your personality.
3 - Write an eye-catching headline
Some people underestimate the profile headline but it's the first sentence people will read about you, after your name.
John G Courtney is a good example of what your headline should tell the others. When John sends people a message, this is what the reader is going to see about John and his Linkedin profile: Photo: that's why it has to be clear background, sharp and high resolution, so when it's small people can still see you.
Headline: what you do (CEO) and if you want others to know more without clicking on your profile, describe your company (BOARDROOM ADVISORS) and then what your company does (part-time, fractional, interim CEOs, MDs, COOS, etc...
Another great example is Cody Dufrene, from Leadsster. Cody's headline says:
"I help fill your calendar with laser-targeted B2B prospects through omni-channel sales funnels 📅" Cody also uses an emoji (like I do!) on his headline to emphasize his "calendar".
Using this formula on his headline: "I help A achieve B by doing C".
A = target market
B = what you do to help them
C = how you do you
If I was writing this;
I help entrepreneurs get featured in the media by using my AI platform High Profile Club.
Get it?
You can use this formula if you think it suits your profile. You won't mind Cody, will you?
4 - Write a great Summary
Once someone has seen your photo, and have read your name and your headline - that's a good sign, this means they like what they see and it only takes a few seconds for them to make up their minds if they want to continue reading or not.
Now, let's talk about the summary.
It's one of the most important fields to be completed because it will show how much you actually "care" about your profile.
Let's start showing a few bad examples and why:
My reaction when I read this profile exactly...
Do I need to say what's wrong with this one? Really?
Well... Yes, we get that accountants are not marketers and if you say "I'm an accountant" it explains well enough what you do, but you could do a better job than that, right?
Let's see another accountant:
From one extreme to another, right?
Shishir is also an accountant and he brings his personality, he tells people how he achieves results and how "working with him, you could actually save millions of pounds
B💥💥M You don't have to be boring no matter which industry you are in!
What makes a summary successful?
I did some research online and there are some common traits:
👉 storytelling: if you're good at telling your story, people will enjoy it. Make it fun and people will engage with it.
👉 share your personality: we tend to try to impress when we write. You shouldn't. Be yourself and show your personality in your bio (summary).
👉 no jargons: don't use difficult words, jargons, etc. KISS = keep it simple stupid (remember that one?).
👉 show how much you love what you do - like Jenna.
👉 You could use my BANEC® system to help you write your bio. BANEC® is a system I created to help my clients write their bios to send to journalists so they are featured in the media.
Sure! I can show you the money but it's better if one of our clients tell you his experience instead of me bragging about it, right?
Dr Dave is a High Profile Club member and has been featured in the media many times since joining the club.
At the beginning of March, Dr Dave and I had a meeting because he wanted more speaking engagements so he could share his expertise on stage and attract more opportunities. My marketer mind got to work right away... and got me asking questions to Dr Dave to make sure I'd provide him with service he was looking for.
Without sharing too much from our meeting (but sharing with Dr Dave's consent), here are some questions I asked:
- who is your audience ❓
- why do you want to do this strategy to make sales (if not Linkedin ❓
- have you reached your goal by following this strategy before❓
- how many sales have you made in the past 8 weeks❓ 4 weeks❓ 2 weeks❓
- how active are you on social media❓ Linkedin❓
- do you have a professional photo on your profile❓
And the list goes on... but it's not exhausting, don't worry. We normally have a really nice chat over a cup of tea or coffee but with C-19 around, we can do a nice video call instead.
Results-driven Linkedin Builder Campaigns - get ready to supercharge your connections. Dr Dave shares his achievements:
🎯 Dr Dave is now posting more and his posts are great. Read this one about psychology and coronavirus or if you'd rather read about innovation, you can read this one;
🎯 - After making a few high level changes to Dr Dave's profile, we sent 1000 LinkedIn invitations to potential clients – all CEOs, business owners, or senior executive leaders.
🎯The acceptance rate for Dr Dave's invitation was over 60% – which is amazing, and probably because he is a co-founder of the MIT Innovation Lab.
🎯Dr Dave then personally follows up each new connection, to suggest a call, and has so far done this with 527 of the 608 new connections.
🎯 This led to 28 calls, plus another 16 presently scheduled over the next few weeks – already a 9% success rate (46/527).
🎯 From these 28 conversations, 18 requested proposals for Dr Dave to help them with team engagement and/or strategic innovation leadership – and 5 of these proposals have already been accepted.
So, the personal touch has paid off – and even during the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr Dave has managed to win new business. He is very pleased with the results the High Profile Club helped him achieve!
Clients who work with us on their Linkedin Profile Builder, on average achieve:
1000 new connections 200 phone calls 5 to 10 new clients*
in 90 days booked
How can you cope with the demand?
Don't worry - we automate part of this process for you!
Enjoy the rest of your day - or night - depending on where you are in the world.
Ps: do you mind sharing your views with me and leave a comment so I can learn what you enjoyed about the post?
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Rafael dos Santos is the CEO and co-founder of High Profile Club, an artificial intelligence platform that connects entrepreneurs with the media. He has won seven awards including the Sunday Times 'Top 100 Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs in the UK'. His award-winning TEDx Talk 'What it takes to be a migrant entrepreneur' has been watched over 156k times. Rafael has 14 years of experience running businesses in the UK including a successful property company which was sold to a leading competitor. Rafael also has an MBA from Henley Business School and speaks 3 languages.
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