With more than 225 million members in more than 200 countries, LinkedIn, the world’s largest online professional network continues to attract two new members every second. Did you know that your LinkedIn profile is one of the first things that recruiters see when they look you up on Google? What impression is your current profile conveying to potential recruiters, employers, clients or colleagues?
Take Control
If you haven’t given your LinkedIn profile the attention it deserves, it’s time to take charge of your online professional identity. With a refurbished LinkedIn profile, you can:
• Establish your skills, experience, career information and current position
• Explore new opportunities and offer your job candidacy
• Find experts and ideas to resolve a unique business challenge
• Follow hiring information for your interesting companies
• Grow your network of contacts
• Drive more traffic to your business
• See detailed statistics on a company’s business page
• Get recommendations to make your profile more trustful
• Follow fresh topics on different unique professional groups
That said, a complete profile doesn’t mean just replicating your resumé. Here are 15 step-by-step actions to take your LinkedIn presence from OK to extraordinary.
Step 1: Picture Perfect
Always upload a professional picture. Nothing impacts like a perfect headshot.
Step 2: Just the Name
First impressions last. Keep the name section clean and concise.
Step 3: Strong Headline
Create a strong, unique, “benefits-loaded” headline that captures attention with rich keywords that you want to be known for.
Step 4: Status Updates
Update your status frequently, weekly, even daily. Post helpful content for your target market.
Step 5: Recommendations
Contact your ex-colleagues and seniors on LinkedIn to get at least 10 recommendations. This is key for building credibility.
Step 6: Connections
Keep building your connections to up to 500 people or more. It’s not what you know, rather who you know.
Step 7: Rich Keywords
Ensure that your Summary and Profile are loaded with the right keywords. Strategically place them throughout both.
Step 8: Speak Directly
Keep it direct and address your target market with benefit statements. Every word should be positioned with that goal in mind.
Step 9: Offer Value
Offer something that appeals to your target market. Give them a free report, white paper or something of value to download.
Step 10: Promote Projects
An excellent avenue to showcase projects, products and your portfolio. Promote free reports and articles for others to download.
Step 11: Blog Boost
Add the WordPress application to your Profile. This is a great addition to showcase your most recent blog posts.
Step 12: Add Videos
Add the SlideShare Application to your Profile to feature videos. Introduce yourself with your own voice and face.
Step 13: 50 Skills
Think about the skills you possess and upload up to 50. Skills and Expertise should be filled with keywords.
Step 14: Join Groups
Join groups relevant to your profession and industry. You can join a maximum of 50 groups on LinkedIn.
Step 15: Honours and Awards
Add all Honours and Awards you have received. Use this section to promote your media or press attention.
And lastly, it’s important to constantly keep updating your profile as LinkedIn has done away with old features like Signal and introduced new changes to their platform for both professional profiles and company pages, in the last few months.
Remember, a great LinkedIn profile not only ensures you are always putting your best foot forward, it also puts you ahead of your competitors, making it possible for recruiters and great opportunities to find you faster!
