Over the past couple of years, LinkedIn has become the premier “business to business” network resource, boasting in excess of 100 million users.

People use LinkedIn to find jobs. Businesses and “Head Hunters” use LinkedIn for locating key employees with specific talents. Business uses LinkedIn for selecting management candidates and partners. Companies use LinkedIn to evaluate suppliers/vendors, technical resources/solutions. And sales uses LinkedIn to obtain prospective customers. Essentially, LinkedIn is one gigantic networking event that you cannot afford to miss, and you have to do it right!.

The Profile Says It All

Your LinkedIn profile may be your prospects’ first contact with you and your company. First impressions count, so let’s make it a good one.

The LinkedIn profile, information wise, is a lot like a resume or CV, with an objective statement, education, and a chronological listing of your work. Where it differs is that it should be written in the first person (me, my), and you should use each listing to sell your capabilities and the resulting benefits for the reader. 

Be open and honest: Integrity is everything, and facts are too easy to check online, so make sure your profile highlights you and your capability without embellishment.

An incomplete or closed profile can create suspicions for a potential client. So make you profile complete, open, honest, and professional.

Profile writing – my Top Tips

1. Ensure your profile is 100% complete. Your profile reveals who you are, how you got there, and how that event or experience can benefit the reader. Authenticity is key, show all of your relevant experience. It is important to show no gaps in your work experience. List ALL of your work experience, even if it is not relevant to your current roll.

2. Include all education: Along with schools and institutions, you may have received training offered by companies you worked for and business associations. Highlight each occurrence and how that education uniquely qualifies you to offer your products and services.

3. Recommendations: The LinkedIn Recommendation system is very powerful AND very easy to use. In fact, LinkedIn requires a minimum of 3 recommendations to list a profile as “complete”. Recommendations from customers are most powerful. Recommendations  from management or superiors adds credibility. A few recommendations from colleagues can be useful to demonstrate that you are a team player. I recommend the 3 2 1 ratio approach:  at least 3 recommendations from customers, 2 from superiors, and one from colleagues. In addition, a few recommendation every couple months is far more effective than having all of your recommendations listed at one time. It would be good if you could add a new recommendation every two months, 6 per year, thus revealing a continued high level of service and customer satisfaction over a period of time.

 4. The Photo Is Important:  People do business with People. As such, studies show that people are 40% more likely to view your profile if you include a photo of yourself. It servers to warms and humanizes your profile, and helps people remember you, the person, as the one to do business with!

Your profile is about YOU. Do not include partners or kids. No logos, avatars, or buildings, just you in all of your glory. Make it a close-up so folks and really see you.

Make it professions. Wear business attire and make it your best image possible.     

Do not leave it blank.

5. Name and Headline: Use your name, not your company, phone number or LION (Linked In Open Networker). Using your name reaps benefits when someone is searching for you.

Your headline should sell what you do. This is key because you want people to click through to your full profile. Simply stating your job title will not yield good results. Use the headline to answer What You Do and Why it is Beneficial for the reader to continue reading!

6. Summary: A properly summary will briefly list who you are, what you do, and why you are the best person to provide goods and services to your customers. Use short but powerful paragraphs (not bullets), and make it personable. Finish it with your contact information and a brief invitation to connect with you.

7. Work experience: This section is used liberally by search engines. Be conscious of keywords. Your description should powerfully reflect how people would search for you and your services. Simple role titles may not provide the desired results. A carefully written role description, however, will greatly enhance your profile.

As with resumes or CVs, gaps will lead a reader to have instant concerns about you. Tell it all, listing benefits every step of the way.

8. Web links: LinkedIn provides for three web links. You can use them to link to your website or to articles written about you, or links listing some of your successful projects. You can also change the title to the web link. Key is, use them all AND use them to your advantage.

9. Applications: LinkedIn allows you to embed presentation, link to your blog, and your YouTube video. Done correctly, application links can add authenticity to your profile and provide addition advertising.

10. Profile Settings: Make sure that your profile is visible to everyone. Otherwise, nobody will see it.

11. Customize your LinkedIn URL: The public URL that LinkedIn gives you is customizable. Make it memorable and searchable.

12. Update your profile: Edit your profile regularly, to keep it fresh and up-to-date.

Final thoughts

Keep in mind that a good LinkedIn profile ranks extremely well on search engines. When potential clients, employers or recruiters search the web for your name or capabilities, your LinkedIn profile may be the first things they are likely to find in a search engine list. In addition, any links listed on your LinkedIn profile will attract the attention of search engines to those links. So make sure you have a LinkedIn profile, and maximize it so that you can get the most benefit from it.