What's Missing From Your LinkedIn Profile?
Visible experts know exactly how to accelerate their impact. Their personal brands accurately represent who they are, whom they help, and the results they generate.
Does your LinkedIn profile reflect your expertise and tell your story in a way that resonates with the people you're seeking to attract?
Whether you're a respected executive with a 9-5 you love or an ambitious entrepreneur bringing new ideas to the market or a subject matter expert at the top of your field, your LinkedIn profile is the MOST important piece to your personal brand. Yes, really.
❌It's not your bio.
❌It's not your website.
❌It's not your resume.
❌It's not your portfolio.
❌It's not your list of accolades or accomplishments.
In this episode of Mondays with Mindi, we're going to delve into the most important sections that EVERY expert should maximize on their LinkedIn profiles and why it matters.
Tune in to discover what you can fix IMMEDIATELY to start getting the results and opportunities you want on LinkedIn... and you don't need to become an expert copywriter to do it!
If it’s been a while since you’ve really taken a HARD look at your LinkedIn profile, you may not realize the importance of keeping this up-to-date and compelling.
Maybe you’ve tried to figure out how to update it and model after someone else you admire or follow online, but you’re not sure if you’ve done it right?
Or, you’re trying to figure out how LinkedIn fits into the big picture of your entire personal brand and online presence.
Many experts I know who come to me for help on their profile, their presence, or their personal brand, and they are a bit embarrassed when they say they feel like they are “the industry’s best-kept secret.”
It’s not uncommon for them to have spent far too much time on building a website (or thinking about it) or putting together their portfolio, but they have no idea that if they channeled all of that energy into JUST their LinkedIn profile as the starting point, that they’d be lightyears ahead.
Numbers Tell the Story Best
Did you know that LinkedIn has 722M+ members - and ALL of them are focused on business, professional growth, their career, and networking with like-minded professionals.
If your presence is subpar here, you’re missing out on a HUGE opportunity to reach your target market.
Many professionals get sold on the “slick and sexy” look of Instagram or the steadfastness of Facebook, but those channels are not actually the best place for them to drive business, land their next opportunity, or get recognized by fellow industry professionals.
How many professionals do you know who found their dream job or kickstarted a multi-million dollar deal from an Instagram DM?
...and you know how often these engagements happen on LinkedIn? Yep, 3 new people get hired EVERY SINGLE MINUTE as a result of LinkedIn.
And, those mega deals start on LinkedIn *all the time* I’ve got one InMail that needs a response right now for social selling training for a large organization trying to bring their account managers up to speed.
If you’ve been wondering what’s actually MISSING from your profile to start getting the results you want, it’s time to find out WHAT! Let’s do it together.
The Best-Ever LinkedIn Profile Writer
One mistake that people make when it comes to updating their profile is that they think they need to be an EXPERT writer to actually revamp their LinkedIn profile in a way that “sings” to their target audience.
As a result, they either scour the interwebs for a plug-and-play copywriting formula to address every part of their LinkedIn profile. (Maybe that’s how you found this video!)
They start looking for a LinkedIn profile copywriter who has a track record of working with industry experts and making them shine! (Boy, the good ones are EX-PENS-IVE!)
Or, they literally start copying and pasting sections from other people’s profiles that they like and tweaking the keywords to match their expertise.
The thing is YOU are the best person to make your LinkedIn profile shine - not that copywriter with a portfolio bursting with success stories, not another personal branding guru, not a LinkedIn expert… NOT ME!
What happens is that you don’t feel aligned with your profile - something feels off, and you’re not proud to reach out, share content, apply for that job, get connected - because you don’t feel that it’s an authentic representation of you as a professional.
So instead, you might just either accept it as “good enough” and look at other channels or cross your fingers hoping people will figure it out and trust you regardless…
Or you might just skip LinkedIn altogether because it just feels uncomfortable.
Sound too familiar?
Take 100% Ownership of Your LinkedIn Profile
What if instead, you decided to take 100% ownership of your profile - equipped with the knowhow to optimize your profile and understand which sections to fix?
It’s about taking 100% responsibility for your profile - it’s yours, it should sound like you, you know yourself and capabilities better than anyone.
If you know how to write an email, you can rework your own LinkedIn profile.
All you need to know about is “what’s missing” to actually figure out what to fix and where to start.
Owning your LinkedIn profile as your responsibility is about committing to yourself, to your career, to your personal brand - whether or not you have an amazing job or are looking to get a business off the ground or take your startup to the next level!
LinkedIn is THE place where professionals, like you and me, come to network with each other, explore doing good business with other good people, and focus on creating a better workplace and environment for ourselves and others.
Own your LinkedIn profile. If there’s just one thing you take away today, it’s that your profile is pretty darn special - you are the one who can make it shine brightest!
This is how I approach LinkedIn - and how I teach and coach my program members to see the platform. This is LinkedIn. It’s special.
Let’s talk through some really important sections on your LinkedIn profile that you don’t want to skip over!
The 7 Important Sections on Your LinkedIn Profile
Note: If you'd like to see me talk through these and share my screen, start watching at 9:16 in this video.
#1 - Your Header Image
If this is blank, you’re going to immediately turn people away because they think you’re not even on the platform. Only people who are completely new (or too busy to care) skip this section.
What to do: Add something that shows you in action here or helps people to get a sense of your areas of expertise.
#2 - Your LinkedIn Headline
If you’ve followed any of my videos or content, you’ve likely heard me talk about the headline as your first impression.
You may not get it right the first time, but you can always change this down the road.
What to do: Focus on the formula of - Who You Are + Whom You Help + How You Help + Results You Generate
#3 - Cover Story & Name Pronunciation
Let people know who you are and a bit more about how you help people professionally with this section. Voice and/or video can go a LONG way in building trust with people who are new to your profile. Very few people ever use this section.
What to do: Check on your mobile to see if you have the option to upload a video, and everyone has the option to add an audio message
#4 - Digital Creator Mode
This mode is NOT for everyone, but it definitely helps if you’re trying to build a strong personal brand.
If you’re more focused on making it easy for people to connect with you, do NOT turn it on because it will make people jump through hoops if they want to send you a connection invitation.
What to do: Decide what your goal is for LinkedIn and change modes depending on your current focus.
#5 - About Section
If you don’t have one yet, or if it’s just a copy from a bio or executive summary on a resume, you need to get this section dialed in. You’d be surprised how many people don’t have one at all!
What to do: Make a note to come back to your About section once you’ve made the simple tweaks, and I have a plug-and-play templated formula that can help you knock this section out! Will tell you about it at the end if you’re interested.
#6 - Featured Section
Everyone needs a Featured section, no matter what your profession or focus on LinkedIn is. You need AT LEAST 2-3 featured items for this section to look decent.
What to do: Look for some posts that you can feature or a few PDFs or media or uploads you can add here to make it more visually appealing.
#7 - Recommendations
When is the last time you received a professional recommendation from someone? If it’s been more than a year, you need to start getting some recommendations. This section builds a LOT of credibility - if someone takes the time to scroll all the way to this section on your profile, make sure they see something here to reinforce what you have up top.
What to do: Ask for one new recommendation from a friendly, a colleague, or another professional in the industry.
That’s ONLY seven of the sections to fix on LinkedIn, and there are definitely others that will transform your ho-hum profile into one that instantly engages and inspires!
If you’re just starting to improve your LinkedIn profile, pick ONE thing from today to add to or update on your profile.
Once you get that profile looking rock solid, you’ll be able to start building your network and not be afraid to put yourself out there to attract those opportunities and new connections.
If you’re looking for that extra edge to get started on the right path, I’m in the process of putting together a small BETA group program called The LinkedIn Accelerator, which is tailored to take you through ALL three of these steps in just five days flat - - one week, and you’re off to the LinkedIn races.
If you’re interested, here's the link to learn more in my latest LinkedIn Masterclass and save your spot!
