5 Steps To Marketing Yourself On LinkedIn

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Don’t sleep on LinkedIn. I’ve covered the value & importance of using Microsoft’s social media platform in other posts. LinkedIn is far more than just a place to post an update. It is a living & breathing resume that is either improving with age or decaying. I’m going to give you my 5 best tips on marketing yourself on LinkedIn to get prospective clients & employers to land on your profile and stay there.

The secret to successful self-promotion on LinkedIn is to first create a rock star profile and then remind people who you are, what you do, and why you’re special. Nearly every aspect of your online profile should underscore your personal brand – here are the power tips to get you started:

1. Headline.

Your headline appears just below your name. Many people type their job title here, but why not utilize this space to tell people not what job you have but what skills you have or some recent accomplishments?

Here are some high-impact headlines:

Forbes Contributor
Digital marketing leader experienced in lead generation
TedX Speaker
Senior-level B2B marketer, revenue-driver & brand builder
Experienced direct marketer seeking new opportunity

You’ve got maybe 3 seconds or less before they bounce to another profile, unless they’re trolling you. Make that headline count!

2. Status.

Update your status at least once a week and mind the 80/20 guideline… eight out of every ten updates should reinforce your personal brand. Use this space to tell people about the work you’re doing, the type of employment you’re seeking, or about career-related events, books and articles. For example:

Sue is planning a national conference for mobile solution providers.
Tom is reading The New Rules of Marketing and PR and highly recommends it!
Sima is hosting a High Speed Networking event on November 16. Register now to grow your network.
Joe is researching St. Louis area pharma companies for entry-level marketing opportunities.Updating your status is what I call a two-for: One, it reminds people of what you do and two, it helps keep you high on your network’s radar

Keep your posts short and relevant to your brand. In also doesn’t hurt to share other people’s content. You will learn that some of the best profiles on LinkedIn are sharing and re-sharing other’s people stuff.

3. Summary.

It’s called a summary for a reason. Keep it brief. This isn’t the place to get long winded. Feel free to beat your chest a bit, but don’t go overboard.

I’d also recommend speaking in the first person. Everyone knows that it’s you who is writing up this content. This isn’t an autobiography. Make the reader feel like you are speaking directly to them. I’m not saying to make it too casual and conversational-I’m just saying don’t speak in the third person.

If it’s hard for you to brag about yourself, partner with a fellow marketer and work on each other’s profiles instead. Reinforce your achievements, summarize your credentials and position yourself for your next job.

4. Specialties

Don’t skip this important aspect of your profile. It’s easy to overlook as it is tucked within the Summary section.

This area helps drive the LinkedIn search function so practice your best SEO and include words and phrases that highlight your talent such as:

Events
Copy Writing
Advertising
Lead Generation

The other reason you want to add these specialties is so that people can give you recommendations. The more recommendations you have on a particular specialty the more it validates to the viewer that you are really good at what you say you are good at.

One last tip in this section is to give recommendations to other LinkedIn users. When you do this others are more likely to reciprocate it.

5. Custom URL

LinkedIn automatically assigns a URL that links directly to your public profile but you can customize it. Mine is www.linkedin.com/in/TalkToPauldotcom – simply because I used to use TalkToPaul as my social media “handle” on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Flickr, etc. Most people opt to use their first and last name. If your first+last name is no longer available, be creative.

If at all possible try and use words that describe what you do or words that attract your target audience. If you sell solar panels you should consider using the words solar panel in your custom url. I’d use something like solar-panel-specialist or even save-money-solar-panels. All these little hacks contribute to you being found not only on LinkedIn but on Google itself.

I hope that after reading this you optimize your profile on LinkedIn. Comment below and let me know the instant you close a sale by using the tips I shared with you in this blog post!

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– Paul