7 LinkedIn Profile Tips to Attract More Customers
Crafting a LinkedIn profile that actually piques the interest of your clients, buyers and customers is the key to turning your profile from a lackluster bio into an inbound opportunity generator. đź’Ą
While most people just copy their resume sections and "about me" pages onto their LinkedIn profile, you know better.
When it comes to attracting any type of business opportunity, the steak AND the sizzle matter...
...it's not enough to just complete your profile.
Your LinkedIn profile must have that "little extra something" that gets a prospect's attention within seconds, keeps them interested enough to want to learn more about you, and immediately starts building trust and credibility.
In this Mondays with Mindi episode, we will talk about seven of my favorite LinkedIn profile fixes that will help you GET and KEEP the attention of your future customers and clients.
P.S. What's the ONE major profile tip you'd share with fellow entrepreneurs and business leaders who are trying to attract the right people? Share yours below 👇🏽
What should you optimize on your LinkedIn profile?
Last week, I taught the latest cohort of The LinkedIn Accelerator, which was an engaging group with a LOT of excellent questions. One of the themes that came up got me thinking about today’s topic.
Many of them had either recently pivoted their business (or side hustle) and had a renewed focus on a target market. Questions centered around how to use their LinkedIn profile to “do the heavy lifting” when it came to attracting inbound prospects.
Thing is that no matter HOW GOOD your outbound prospecting may be on LinkedIn, if your LinkedIn profile is not in alignment or optimized, EVERYTHING you do will fall short of its potential.
Every activity on LinkedIn is somehow linked to your personal profile. It makes absolutely no sense to invest a lot of time in publishing content, writing posts, building your network, and trying to get into conversations with your prospects until your profile is as good as it can be!
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 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.
Did you know that LinkedIn has 740M+ members (up from 722M in May of this year) 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 customers.
If you’ve been wondering a few simple ways to improve your profile TODAY to start getting the results you want, it’s time to find out WHAT! Let’s do it together.
Should you hire someone to write your profile?
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! I know - my starting rate is $750 per profile for very simple refreshes!)
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 could likely happen is that you don’t feel aligned with your profile - something feels off, and you’re not proud to reach out, share content, get connected with your prospects - because you don’t feel that it’s an authentic representation of you as a business owner or entrepreneur.
So instead, you might just either accept it as “good enough” or cross your fingers hoping people will figure it out and trust you regardless…
Does this 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 are some simple tweaks 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 business or side hustle, to your personal brand - especially when you are trying to get a business off the ground or take your side hustle 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 from this video 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 cohort members inside The LinkedIn Accelerator to see the platform. This is LinkedIn. It’s special.
7 Sections to Optimize on Your LinkedIn Profile
Let’s talk through some really important sections on your LinkedIn profile that you don’t want to skip over!
#1 - Your LinkedIn Headshot
It’s critical that this headshot is a reflection of you and who you are now - NOT a glamour shot of you looking your absolute best dressed up for typical company headshots.
As long as the image is crystal clear, close-up and professional - you’re good to go.
What to do: Make sure it feels like people understand what to expect when they show up to a Zoom call with you… there needs to be a match here.
#2 - 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’s shows you in action here or helps people to get a sense for your areas of expertise.
#3 - 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
#4 - Cover Story
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
#5 - Name Pronunciation
Be sure that you use this audio feature next to your name. Will need to add it via LinkedIn mobile to get it to show up.
What to do: Rework your LinkedIn cover story or your LinkedIn headline into a 10-second tagline.
#6 - 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.
#7 - 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.
That’s ONLY seven of the sections to optimize 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 you started on the right path, 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 these seven sections I covered today (and the rest of them!) 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.
