Developing a Powerful Profile, Section by Section
It’s time to learn how to create your own LinkedIn profile one piece at a time. First, take some time to review your goals as discussed in Chapter 2. Next, determine your profile focus and the strengths you want to lead with. Finally, visit LinkedIn.com (see Figure 3.4), enter the requested information into the Join LinkedIn Today box, and click the Join Now button to create your own LinkedIn account.
Figure 3.4: Enter the requested information to create your LinkedIn account.
After you click the Join Now button, you’ll be taken through a series of screens with questions that might vary depending on the information you input. These questions enable you to create a skeleton profile.
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Depending on the type of email account you have, you might have to complete an extra step to verify your email account before your LinkedIn account will be fully functional. This step simply involves clicking on a link that is sent to the email address you provide during the LinkedIn registration process to verify and register that address with your LinkedIn account.
Once your account is created, you can start working on developing a comprehensive LinkedIn profile section by section.
Write a Captivating, Keyword-Rich Headline
Which sounds better as a profile headline?
• Owner, ABC Mobile
• Mobile app developer, mobile marketing consultant
The first headline is very literal. It tells people exactly what the LinkedIn member’s title is and what company he works for. On the other hand, the second headline tells more of the LinkedIn member’s story. It communicates his strengths in just six words and includes more than one keyword phrase that people might use to find industry experts via LinkedIn searches or search engines.
Your LinkedIn profile heading should accomplish two things: tell your story and strengths, and make your profile search-friendly. What are the most important things that you want to be known for? What do you want people to know about you before they even view your complete LinkedIn profile? What keywords are people using to find others with skills and goals similar to yours? These are the questions you need to answer in order to create a truly useful LinkedIn profile heading.
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To edit your LinkedIn profile heading, log in to your LinkedIn account and click on the Profile link in the top navigation bar. The Edit Profile page opens. Click on the Edit link next to your name to open the Basic Information editing page shown in Figure 3.5. Just type a new headline into the Headline text box, and click the Save Changes button to make your changes go live immediately.
Figure 3.5: Enter your headline into the Basic Information section of your profile.
Basic Information
In addition to editing your headline in the Basic Information section of your LinkedIn profile, you can also edit your name, location, and industry information, as shown in Figure 3.5. This is the information that appears in your LinkedIn profile snapshot along with your photo.
Keep in mind, people might search LinkedIn members by industry, location, name, or keywords. Be sure to complete all fields in the Basic Information section of your LinkedIn profile, so as many people as possible can find you.
Photo
In the Edit Profile view of your LinkedIn account, you can click on the Edit link in the top-left corner of your profile to edit the photo that is displayed with your live LinkedIn profile. Just click the Browse button to locate the photo from your computer’s hard drive that you want to upload to your account. Make sure the file is under 4 MB and is in JPG, GIF, or PNG format.
Once you upload your photo, you can choose to make it visible to your connections only, your entire network only, or to everyone. It is recommended that you make your photo visible to everyone in order to give you the most exposure, but if your LinkedIn goals are more limited in scope, you can choose a more private setting.
Summary
The summary section of your LinkedIn profile is where you can really tell your story. From the Edit Profile page of your LinkedIn account, you can click the Add Summary link to add a summary to your LinkedIn profile or click the Edit button next to the Summary heading if you’ve already created your summary and need to revise it.
The Summary page opens as shown in Figure 3.6. Here you can enter a written description of your professional experience and goals, as well as enter a list of your specialties. Be sure to use keywords in this section to increase the chances for people to find your profile via searches.
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Your summary is your opportunity to really sell yourself. Don’t be modest. However, your summary is limited to 2,000 characters. You also shouldn’t try to include everything about you in the summary. Instead, focus on your strengths and the most important things you want your target audience to know about you in order to meet your goals. Your summary should encourage the right people to want to learn more about you and connect with you.
When you’re satisfied with your summary, click the Save Changes button and see how it looks on your live profile. Be sure to proof-read it!
The Experience section of your LinkedIn profile is where you can provide information about all of the jobs you’ve held and work you’ve done. Many companies are already included in the LinkedIn directory, so as you enter your positions, you should be sure to provide the company name, your job title, the start and end dates of your employment, and a description of your job. If the company you worked for is not already in the LinkedIn directory, you’ll need to enter the company’s industry and website address as well.
To enter your experience, simply go to the Edit Profile page of your LinkedIn account and click the Add a Position link to the right of the Experience heading. The Add Position window opens as shown in Figure 3.7.
Figure 3.7: Enter details about your jobs using the Add Position form.
In order to add a position to your LinkedIn profile, you must provide a job title, company name, and dates of employment. The other fields in the Add Position form are optional. You can add as many positions as you want, including freelance work, consulting work, and so on.
The goal is to show everything you’ve done and can do, particularly as it relates to your LinkedIn profile focus and goals. People search for other people on LinkedIn by company, job title, and experience keywords. You don’t want to miss a chance to be found by leaving jobs out of your profile.
For example, if you’re looking for a job in graphic design but your only experience in the field has been designing websites for friends, you can enter that work as a position and refer to it as “Freelance Graphic Designer.” While you don’t want to be deceptive in your profile, you do want to make sure all relevant experience is included.
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If you’re currently employed in a specific job, be sure to check the I Currently Work Here box in the Add Position form. This removes the end date from the position. Also, uncheck the Update My Headline button unless you want LinkedIn to automatically overwrite your existing profile headline with information from the new position.
Education
Completing the education section of your LinkedIn profile makes it easy to reconnect with old classmates and tells people who find your profile more about you. You can add your high school, college, graduate school, law school, medical school, vocational school, and so on, to your LinkedIn profile.
Just click on the Add a School link to the right of the Education heading in the Edit Profile section of your LinkedIn account to open the Add Education form shown in Figure 3.8.
Enter your school name, the degree you earned, fields of study, dates attended, activities and societies, and any other relevant information into the form, and then click the Save Changes button. Make sure the information looks good on your live profile, and then add any additional schools you want to include in your profile.
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Recommendations
As you complete your profile, you’ll notice in the Edit Profile view, that beneath each job and school listing is a link that says, Ask for recommendations. Recommendations are a powerful feature of LinkedIn that allows members to provide testimonials about other members they have worked with or attended school with.
In order to reach 100 percent completeness of your LinkedIn profile, you need to obtain at least three recommendations. These links are where you can request recommendations from your connections. Recommendations are discussed in detail in Chapter 8.
Additional Information
The Additional Information section includes four sections that can help you make your profile more comprehensive. Remember, the more information you can give to tell your story, the better. Therefore, if you can enter information into the Additional Information section of your LinkedIn profile, do it.
To complete this section, go to the Edit Profile page in your LinkedIn account and click on the Edit link next to the Additional Information heading (you’ll probably have to scroll down to see this section). The Additional Information form shown in Figure 3.9 opens.
Figure 3.9: Enter as much additional information to tell your story as you can.
The Additional Information section of your LinkedIn profile provides space for you to enter the following details:
Websites: Enter the URL for any websites, blogs, forums, or other online destinations that you own. Be sure to personalize the URLs so they’re not given generic labels such as “Personal Website.” To do this, click on the Choose drop-down menu to the left of the URL text box, and select Other from the list. A new text box appears where you can enter a custom name for your link. This is a very important step that can boost traffic to your content and conversations that happen off of LinkedIn.
Interests: You can enter professional and personal interests into this text box. What do you want people to know about you that might not already be reflected in your LinkedIn profile? Enter it here in 750 characters or fewer.
Groups and Associations: If you belong to any groups or associations that can help tell your story or get your LinkedIn profile in front of your target audience, be sure to include them in this section, which is limited to a maximum of 750 characters.
Honors and Awards: Show off the honors and awards you’ve received in this section of your LinkedIn profile. Again, you can use up to 750 characters.
Once you’ve entered all of your information into the Additional Information form, click the Save Changes button and review it on your live LinkedIn profile. Make sure there aren’t any spelling errors!
Other LinkedIn Profile Sections
LinkedIn has launched several new sections that you can add to your LinkedIn profile to tell more of your story. These sections don’t apply to everyone, so you need to click the Add Sections link beneath your LinkedIn profile summary (while in the Edit Profile page of your account) to find them. However, depending on your skills and experience, one or more of these sections could be very important to you.
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Publications: If you have authored any published books or articles that you want to feature as part of your LinkedIn profile, simply click on the Add Sections link to open the Add Sections pop-up window, and select the Publications link from the list of sections provided. You’ll be asked to provide the publication name, publisher, date of publication, link to the publication, and a description. You can also add other authors if you co-wrote the publication.
Certifications: You can highlight any special certifications you’ve received by adding the Certifications section to your LinkedIn profile. Just click on the Certifications link in the Add Sections pop-up window and complete the form provided.
Languages: For many people, highlighting the various languages they speak is a critical part of their LinkedIn profile. You can add a languages section to your profile by clicking on the Languages link in the Add Sections pop-up window and entering the information requested.
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Patents: If you own any patents, then you should add the Patents section to your LinkedIn profile. Click on the Patents link in the Add Sections pop-up window to do it.
Skills: Not only is it useful to add the Skills section to your LinkedIn profile so you can provide a quick list of your most important and marketable skills, but it’s also a great way to add keywords to your profile! Click on the Skills link in the Add Sections pop-up window to create your skills list.
LinkedIn frequently launches new tools and features, so keep an eye out for announcements on the LinkedIn blog: blog.linkedin.com/.