LinkedIn is a great social media platform for entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals. Does that mean you’re going to grow your connections? No, it may not always help you to build your network.
But there is a way to tune yours up with just six simple steps:
Step 1. Revisit your goals. LinkedIn is about how you market yourself or your company. You sometime got lost as you strongly worked through the mechanics of finishing up your profile and get your resume completion task. From what I believe, do not bother to define yourself and it is not exactly as important as what you hope to accomplish, so you better off to think about your goals and what you desire to achieve into keywords. Why keywords? Keywords are how people find you on LinkedIn.
I bet you that the first thing you come up with a new keyword is probably one of million people came up with that keyword. You need to think differently. You need to make it exciting and intriguing. You need to be more specific about the job or goals you have. The important of all, uses a keyword tool to find general terms that you believe it could attract a broader audience, so from there you simply dig deeper to target your niche by identifying what company might search for.
Step 2. Layer in your keywords. The headline is an essential factor in search results, which means that you have to ensure about picking an important keyword and having it appears in your headline. I want to make it clear that “important” does not mean that one keyword has the most searched! Pick what keyword that reflects your goals and niche. When you do this, be sure to work through the rest of your profile and replace some of the vague description of skills, education background, and many more with keywords.
Step 3. Strip out the clutter. Maybe you have changed your jobs six times before you reached age 26. That experience is only relevant when it relates to your goals. You need to go through your profile and eliminate everything that doesn’t support your business or goals. For instance, if you are a marketer, but you were a software programmer, that is a distract because both are not relevant. Otherwise, it is okay for you to keep your previous jobs in your work history, but please limit each job title, company, and a brief description of duties.
Step 4. Reintroduce your personality. I have emphasized on focusing on keywords and eliminating clutter is very important, yet in the process your individuality probably got lost. Simply way to make it a little enthusiasm and flair by describing yourself as something that is specific and targeted so that says nothing about you as a person. It is all about what you believe in. Share why you love what you do in your profile. Reveal what you hope to accomplish. Describe companies you worked for or projects you completed. Share your results.
Please remember that keywords are important, but it only helps potential clients find you. Keywords are not going to get you hired. It is you that get yourself hired. They hire people, not keywords. Remember that!
Step 5. Take a hard look at your profile photo. When you follow someone on Twitter. What is the firs thing you do? Check out who they are or their photo.
Let’s say that a photo is similar to a logo concept. Take a good look at your current photo. Does that reflect who you are as a professional or does it reflect a hobby or something else? Does it look like a businessman? Frankly, a good photo does flatter, yet it can mislead to something else. Maybe you end up meeting your customers or clients, they might feel disconnected by photo they have seen and in reality.
Now you only need to find your photo that reflects how you will look when you meet a customer or client, not a photo that shows how awesome you are. The best profile photo does not have to be your favorite photo. Be sure to find a photo that it strikes a balance between professionalism and approachability, making you looks good, but also real!
Step 6. Get recommendations. As a customer here, I just couldn’t resist reading reviews about restaurants, movies, products, and many more. Why? Reviewers have already experienced while I haven’t. Reviewers tend to be more honest because they are real customers. Don’t get me wrong that there are some reviewers who aren’t exactly honest, but the point is that I trust them based on their experiences. Let’s get back to the LinkedIn topic, get yourself many recommendations so it helps your potential clients to feel confident that you are a great candidate and more intrigued to you.
Subjective Mind 