How Your LinkedIn Profile Can Create More Opportunity in 2022
Opportunities to attract. Sales funnels to fill. Career evolutions to pursue. What's the one thing they have in common? They all start with your LinkedIn profile.
No matter what your professional goals are for this next year, they all somehow tie back to your LinkedIn profile.
Your LinkedIn profile is the face of your personal brand and your business on LinkedIn. If it's not aligned with your current professional or business objectives, it's time for a refresh.
When your profile is not optimized, you are going to lose credibility, business opportunities, and potential prospects. Plain and simple.
In this episode of Mondays with Mindi, we pinpoint the most common trouble spots for those who are just getting started on LinkedIn or who are looking to "revive" their profiles.
Come ready to take notes because we will get actionable... and I'm also going to workshop MY LinkedIn profile this session because it's well overdue!
Every Opportunity Begins With Your LinkedIn Profile
Have you ever wondered what the secret to unlocking your next opportunity on LinkedIn is?
Maybe you’re trying to get on some new boards this year.
Or, you’re trying to get more conversations with your ideal prospects.
You could be trying to become an influencer in your space, so you can scale your impact and share your messages.
Maybe 2022 is the year you will land your dream job or make that career pivot.
No matter what your professional goals are for 2022, each of them hinges on how you present yourself on your LinkedIn profile.
Think of your profile as the face of your personal brand or your business on LinkedIn.
When it's not aligned with your professional goals or your business objectives, you know it's high time for a refresh.
If you overlook your profile, you’ll start losing credibility, miss business opportunities, and deter potential prospects. Or you might not ever get noticed AT ALL because you cannot be found!
Who else is ready to troubleshoot the most common trouble spots on the LinkedIn profile?
I am! Putting myself in the hot seat for today’s session because my LinkedIn profile is actually well overdue, and we’re going to pinpoint exactly where I could improve my own profile today.
“I already updated my LinkedIn profile.”
A huge mistake that many of us make is that we think once we’ve updated our profile, we’re done.
No need to revisit the profile.
We did all the hard work.
We can just sit back on our laurels and expect the opportunities to roll in.
Some expert gave us a few formulas that we used to update our LinkedIn profile (that expert could have been me!)
We might have used those formulas to fix up some sections months (or years) ago and haven’t thought about our LinkedIn profile ever since.
Or we made a note on our “someday-maybe” list to refresh our profile, but we just haven’t gotten around to it because there are other priorities that seem more urgent or like they’ll actually make us revenue faster.
How sexy is it to tell a colleague that you’re going to refresh your LinkedIn profile this next quarter? You’ll probably get a look that says it’s about as exciting as cleaning out your microwave.
As opposed to telling “I’m going to do this 30 TikToks in 30 Days challenge! Maybe I’ll go viral!” Yeah, they’ll probably whip out their phone and show you some of their favorites.
You know exactly what I mean, especially if you’re a visionary entrepreneur or intrapreneur type who likes to always be thinking about “the next big thing.”
Wasn’t LinkedIn like “the next big thing” about 10 years ago?
LinkedIn just doesn’t have that “oh shiny” feel to it, but you know what it does have?
The staying power of a proven social platform where ALL of today’s B2B companies, career professionals and influential experts continue to make an impact and generate REAL business revenue.
On LinkedIn, you don’t have to spend hours a week choreographing reels, dancing to the tune of Island Boy with your own lyrics, coming up with a 3D GIF, or monitoring trends that change faster than you can swipe!
AND, it’s where professionals go to have real conversations about doing real business together and closing real six- or seven-figure deals.
It happens all the time with those business leaders who actually INVEST in how their LinkedIn profile looks and pay very close attention to the details that matter.
No more getting caught up in the hype.
It’s back to the LinkedIn business basics.
Your Profile IS Your Business Calling Card
No longer are we handing out business cards at those real in-person events, seminars and workshops. Oh yeah, remember those?
Whoever had the most memorable business card or clever way to get your business card won!
Nowadays, people look you up on LinkedIn first and foremost.
If what they find does not match their perception of you from a piece of content, a podcast you were on, an offer you’re selling, a referral from a colleague… you’ve already lost them.
Poof! Just like that.
But when they can easily find you, in less than 60-seconds can know “what you’re all about” and then make a determination that they want to start to get to know, like and trust you.
You’re in!
Your LinkedIn profile can do ALL of that hard work for you, but you need to realize the power of your LinkedIn profile.
In many industries and professions, your LinkedIn profile is even more important than a website.
So why is it that we’ll shell out $5,000 - $10,000 on a stagnant website to a branding firm and designer that requires constant SEO work and Google Analytics attention… blah, blah, blah.
But we won’t spend one single afternoon updating our LinkedIn profiles?
Unless your website is your first and last name, when people look you up, they are MORE likely to see your LinkedIn profile. Then, they’ll use your profile as a springboard to check out your website if they’re interested.
If you’re serious about your business…
If the future of your career matters to you…
If you don’t want to ever worry about losing your job…
If you want to build a business that NEVER runs out of new prospects or opportunities…
Your LinkedIn profile is where it all begins.
Let’s Do a LinkedIn Profile Review Together
I usually don’t get this personal with my own branding, but I wholeheartedly admit that my LinkedIn profile is in need of a serious refresh!
I’m actually going to be going through the next cohort of The LinkedIn Accelerator program in January ALONG WITH my group members because I need to practice what I teach. You can join the next cohort if you want to see me “get real” with my own profile, too. :)
Whenever I work with a new client or program member on their LinkedIn profile, I always start with a LinkedIn Profile Review to go through my first impressions and areas of most improvement.
Let’s dissect my profile now! (See Video Demo)
In a nutshell, these are the four most important sections to get right on your profile.
#1 - Your LinkedIn Headline
This section must get across who you are, whom you help, how you help them and the results you generate. With 220 characters to work with in this section, you can get in a good number of keywords along with get across your “secret sauce.”
#2 - Your LinkedIn Header Section
In the header area, you want your personal brand to come across visually, so they can “get you” within a 2-second glance at this section. With a clear headshot, a decent header image, and a quick look at your LinkedIn Creator mode hashtags, people can learn a LOT about you very quickly. Don’t make them guess!
#3 - Your LinkedIn About
Start your About with an interesting 2-3 lines that speak to their problems and how you solve them, or ask a question that you answer for people all the time!
This is to get people to click to read your entire About section, so you must make those first lines irresistibly enticing.
The goal of this section is to showcase your subject matter expertise and how you are able to translate that expertise into helping your target audience. You have 2600 characters to work with (including spaces.) Use them all and pack this section full of your most important keywords.
#4 - Your LinkedIn Experiences
Your Experiences add that layer of credibility to your LinkedIn headline and the story you told in the About section, so you don’t need to make these too wordy. Focus on the high-level overview of each role to ensure people can quickly scan this section to understand what you’re doing now and how your prior roles led to where you are today.
Don’t add old or irrelevant work experiences here if you can help it. Focus on the here and now!
Creating more opportunity for yourself as the go-to expert in your niche all begins with your LinkedIn profile. Focus on addressing these four sections before you go into all the other extras that will make your profile shine.
Nail your LinkedIn headline
Pull together your branding in the header area
Tell a great story in the About section
Match your Experiences to the story you told in the About
If you’re looking for that extra edge to get you started on the right path with LinkedIn to make 2022 your best year yet, get on the waitlist for the next cohort of The LinkedIn Accelerator kicking off at the beginning of 2022, which is tailored to take you through ALL of the sections on your LinkedIn profile in just five days flat - - one week, and you’re off to the LinkedIn races. If you’re interested, here’s the link to get on the waitlist and find out a few more details.
