I want to talk to you about the importance of having a completed LinkedIn profile. What’s common on LinkedIn is for people to say ‘Right, well, I’ve created my profile, I’ve put my name on and I’ve put on my job title, I’m done. People can find me.’
You’re wrong. Other people cannot find you. There are about 10 other people who have the same name as you; there are about 10 other people who have similar jobs to you and you don’t have a photograph. Frankly, if you don’t have a photograph, you are invisible.
So, the most important things you need to think about when you are setting up a LinkedIn profile, you have to have these 2 fundamental things:
a. You need to have a professional headshot
b. You need to have a professional headline.
What is a professional headshot?
A professional headshot is not a photograph of you and your family; it’s not a photograph of you partying. Facebook is for that. LinkedIn is Facebook for professionals.
When you are selling to professionals, you need to have a professional photograph. That means thinking about things like ‘Am I wearing the right clothes’? If I am selling to the corporate sector, ‘am I wearing a suit’? Also, is the picture right? Is the light right? This is not a photograph you can simply take on your Blackberry or iPhone. You need to go to a professional corporate photographer and pay good money to have a good photograph because they will capture you in a professional light, they will make sure that your expression is right, they will make sure that the clothes are right and that the background compliments the clothing you are wearing.
All these things matter because first impressions last and you literally have a few seconds before people will look at your profile and go elsewhere.
What is a professional headline?
Your professional headline is what is right at the top of your LinkedIn profile under your name. So for example, it might say for me ‘Danny Bermant, converting your social media followers into clients’.
What I am trying to say there is not just to give my job title. If you are a Managing Director, Managing Partner, Sales Person or Marketing Manager, none of that means anything to your followers. You actually need to say something a little bit about what you do or how you add value.
Let’s say for example you are a Solicitor specialising in the property market. What you need to do is actually say how you add value. So not just ‘I am a Solicitor’, ‘I am a Solicitor’….what do I do? I’m a Solicitor who works in the property market. How do I help people? ‘I help people to get planning permission’. Why don’t you say that in your profile? I help businesses, property Lawyer, Property Solicitor, helping businesses get planning permission.
Are you an Internet Marketer? What do you do? What’s the benefit? You might help convert internet traffic into sales.
If you are an Accountant for example, you’d say “helping you save money on your tax”. Think about the benefits.
There is an old saying….sell the sizzle, not the sausage!
These two key things when you are setting up a profile the first thing people look at is your photograph, and your professional headline. Make sure you have got those things right.
