LinkedIn is probably one of the most underutilized social media networking services amongst our clients. It’s an excellent way to connect with other professionals in your area – the majority of LinkedIn users are in the age group of 35-54. It’s actually one of the older social networking sites, but it has prevailed throughout the years because of its dominance in the business professional scene.
One of the most important aspects of your LinkedIn presence is your personal profile. You need to look good on a professional level for others that are searching for you – which is why we’ve created this “EZY” list for you to check out!
#5 – Make your profile picture professional – While it may be tempting to showcase that awesome picture of you and your dog that was so popular on Instagram, LinkedIn is not the place for that kind of profile. Our general rule is this: if you wouldn’t staple it to your resume, then please don’t use it on LinkedIn! Think of how you want to portray yourself to potential colleagues and clients. Make sure it’s high quality and up to date. And for goodness’ sake, don’t leave your profile pic empty! Your profile is 11x more likely to be viewed if you have a picture!
#4 – Get a personalized profile URL – Your LinkedIn page automatically generates a url for your profile that is a jumble of letters and numbers, but this doesn’t really help you stand out. A personalized url will help brand you in the viewer’s mind, making it easier for them to remember you and your name. To do this, you can go to Settings > Edit Public Profile > Customize Your Public Profile URL.
#3 – Only connect with other professionals – At the risk of being anti-social, we’re going to advise you not to connect with friends and family. To reiterate, LinkedIn is an arena for professionals and you should treat it as such. Although you will definitely get requests from overzealous LinkedIn-ers, try to only make connections with colleagues and clients. This helps establish your credibility and boils down your endorsements and recommendations.
#2 – Connect with your company page – If you work for a big company, you can request to list that company page as your place of employment. If you work for a small company, or perhaps own your company, you need to make sure that it is listed as your place of employment as well. This doesn’t just mean writing down the name of the business in your profile – you need to make sure it is an active link that actually connects you to that page.
#1 – Be as thorough as possible – Not fleshing out your LinkedIn profile is comparable to not filling out every field on an application for employment. It is NEVER a good idea to leave your profile half finished. Make sure you fill out your education, your work experience, your skills, and flesh our a summary for your profile. Be honest about it and be real. The point of this social media site (and really, all of them) is to make authentic connections – the more honest you are, the better your profile will perform.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our recommendations. Think you have some advice that would compliment what we’ve said here? Comment below or send us a message! We would love to hear from you.
Do you need help setting up your profile or perhaps getting your company page out there and going strong? Call us and we can get you there! (904)269-8630.