Introduction
LinkedIn is the professional network for business people. Whether you are a job seeker, a corporate executive, a small-business owner, an entrepreneur, or a professional with the desire for more, LinkedIn is the place to build and nurture your network. It’s so easy to get caught up in your day-to-day life and job. People flow in and out. But by using LinkedIn to build a network of the people you meet and then keeping in touch with them, you are creating an engine for opportunities.
American businessman and author Robert Kiyosaki has said, “The richest people in the world look for and build networks; everyone else looks for work.”
Beyond the network and networking capabilities, LinkedIn is also the place to forge a strong professional brand. As you move through your professional life, people will want to learn more about you. Who are you? What do you do? How do you help others? What do you represent? What is your mission? These are all questions on top of people’s minds. The answers to these questions help people decide if they like you and want to spend more time with you.
Remember, people do business with people!
Not everyone has a personal website or websites devoted to them (well, unless you are a celebrity); however, the LinkedIn profile has become the de facto website for everyday professionals. A simple name search for most people returns their LinkedIn profile on the first page of search results. How does your LinkedIn profile portray you? Your LinkedIn profile is your online reputation, digital introduction, and first impression. The good news is that you have complete control over your profile and can shape how your reader perceives you.
Most people simply copy and paste their resume into their profile because it’s easy, but a profile consisting of a copied-and-pasted resume impresses no one. Consider the recruiter who has your resume in his hot hands and wants to learn more about you, so he looks you up on LinkedIn, only to find the exact same information that is in your resume. He would be disappointed, to say the least. To have a strong and optimized LinkedIn profile, you need to move beyond just your resume that details your past and aligns you to a job. An optimized LinkedIn profile tells your professional story, is geared strategically toward your goals, and contains what your target audience needs to know about you.
When you are done with this book, your LinkedIn profile is going to be a true compendium of who you are and what you stand for. It’s going to authentically tell your professional story, and people will see you as someone who inspires confidence and ability.
About This Book
This book is a how-to manual that shows you the steps to craft a strategic and compelling LinkedIn profile that captures your unique brand and professional story. I show you how to take your profile from nothing more than a simple outline to a robust, full-featured profile of you as a professional that commands attention and evokes action.
Although you can pick up this book at any point, I highly suggest, at the very least, reading Chapter 1 and then Part 2. In Chapter 1, I discuss the importance of determining your LinkedIn goal and target audience. If you don’t identify your goal, your profile cannot be written strategically and it will not perform adequately. Likewise, you need to understand your target audience and write to what they need to know about you.
Part 2 is all about the intro card of your LinkedIn profile. This is the very first part people see when they open your LinkedIn profile and you want to make sure you capture their attention immediately, or else they’ll surf off to another profile.
Regardless of your LinkedIn goal, you will benefit from the information in this book. Although LinkedIn isn’t rocket science, it isn’t the most intuitive social network either. Plus, writing about yourself is hard! In this book, I break everything down to its core to make it easy for you to use LinkedIn and create an impressive profile that helps you achieve your professional goals.
Foolish Assumptions
Having worked with thousands of professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and companies from all over the world, I am going to assume that like them you are optimizing your profile for:
- Professional branding/reputation management. You know that people are looking at your profile and you want to showcase yourself in a professional and impressive manner. You recognize that people draw conclusions based upon what they read, and you want to ensure they see you as a thought leader and someone who deserves to be noticed and respected.
- Sales and prospecting. You want to use your LinkedIn profile to help you prospect better and sell more. You know that prospects and clients are looking at your profile, and you want them to see you as a solution provider who can help them achieve their goals. You also know that people may be looking for a service or product that you sell and you want to appear in search results.
- Job search. You are either currently working or displaced, but you are ready to spread your wings and find the next great opportunity that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and go to work. Recruiters, hiring managers, and human resources professionals are using LinkedIn to find candidates. You want to make sure that your profile stands out in those searches, and that when they click on your profile, what they read is compelling and makes them want to reach out to request your resume. Alternately, you have likely submitted your resume to various job postings and you know that recruiters, hiring managers, and human resources professionals may look at your LinkedIn profile to learn more. You want to make sure your profile is an impressive introduction that compels them to call you for an interview.
How This Book Is Organized
This book is divided into five parts:
Part 1: The Strategy Before the Siege
Most people just jump into writing their LinkedIn profiles, but not you! In this first part, I show you how to immediately stand out by determining your LinkedIn goals, target audience, and keywords.
Part 2: Getting Your LinkedIn Profile Started
In this part, I show you how develop a compelling intro card section by choosing a professional profile picture, creating a compelling headline, and uploading an on-brand background image. I also show you how to create a personalized link to your profile that makes marketing a cinch.
Part 3: Detailing Your Career Trajectory and Creating the Ultimate First Impression
In Part 3, I walk you through filling out the two LinkedIn profile sections the majority of people find the most challenging: Experience and About. You’ll learn how to craft impressive experiences that focus on achievements over pure job description. You also learn how to craft an About section that acts as a professional manifesto that engages and impresses your target audience.
Part 4: Rounding Out Your Profile and Adding Finishing Touches
Part 4 is all about the extra flourishes you can add to your profile, such as with sample projects, publications, patents, organizations, and more. I show you how to spice up your profile and professional brand by getting active on LinkedIn and joining the LinkedIn conversation. When you are done with Chapter 15, you will know more than most Influencers do about LinkedIn publishing!
Part 5: The Part of Tens
The Part of Tens is the traditional end of a For Dummies book and contains lists of ten items that will help you leverage your profile and LinkedIn even better. This part is packed with links to external websites that provide the tools you can use to create a powerful profile.
The last three Part of Tens chapters are pure powerhouses of information. If you want a quick and dirty education on LinkedIn, don’t skip these. By reading these chapters, I promise you, you’ll have more knowledge of LinkedIn than most of those social media “gurus” who have set up shop.
Icons Used in This Book
I use a number of icons in this book to draw your attention to pieces of useful information.
This whole book can be considered a series of tips! When I share information that I find especially useful for optimizing your profile, I indicate it with a Tip icon.
This icon is used to flag information that may be useful to remember when you think about and work on your profile.
Whenever something may cause unnecessary work or a headache down the road, I alert you with a Warning icon.
A Technical Stuff icon contains detailed or background information that is not necessary to know to optimize your profile, but is otherwise interesting.
Beyond the Book
In addition to what you’re reading now, this book also comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that gives you even more pointers on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. My favorite cheat sheet details how to take your LinkedIn profile photo yourself! To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.
You can also visit my website for additional free resources like my LinkedIn Headline Generator, LinkedIn Text Formatter, Background Photo library, and more. Click the Free Resources tab at www.linkedin-makeover.com.
An optimized LinkedIn profile is more than just your online reputation. A powerfully written LinkedIn profile has the ability to change your life. After optimizing their profiles, I’ve seen people find amazing jobs and opportunities. They connect with more people and experience the full gamut of what LinkedIn and a successful career has to offer.
I wish you the very best of luck — now go get optimizing!