From Passive to Pro: LinkedIn Tips to Take Your Profile to the Next Level

Getting Started

Let’s start with the basics. All LinkedIn profiles should have the following:

• A profile picture. People are seven times more likely to look at your profile if you have a photo, so don’t skip this! If you don’t have a professional headshot, don’t let that hold you back. Just make sure that the photo is professional, cropped from the shoulders up, current (and actually looks like you!) and not blurry.
• A bio. You can use this space to describe your current and past roles and your expertise. Don’t be afraid to add personality by including quotes, your hobbies or a fun fact about you.
• Rich descriptions of your experience. List every place that you’ve worked, and aim to describe what you did at each job in three to five sentences.
• Every place you’ve gone to school.
• Your skills. Consider the order, and move the most relevant skills to the top.
• Where you’ve volunteered.
• Nonprofits you support.
• Honors and awards.
• Your contact information.

When adding this information to your profile, aim to include keywords that describe your work/industry. This will help make your profile searchable so you can better connect with new contacts and opportunities.

Next Steps

Once your profile is complete, it’s time to start connecting with people. Here are our tops tips for finding and adding connections:

• Start with the “People You May Know” feature that appears in the upper right hand corner. Ask yourself if the person you wish to connect with is somebody who you actually know and respect professionally, or if you have experience working with them. Don’t be afraid to deny connections requests if they don’t fit these criteria! Remember, your connections are a reflection of you as well.
• Be personal. The standard “I’d like to add you to my network in LinkedIn” isn’t particularly attention-grabbing. Take a moment or two to make the message personal. Here’s a great example: “Glad we had a chance to chat briefly at XX event yesterday. Please keep in touch!”
• Join groups to stay top-of-mind and to find new people to connect with. You can find groups for your industry, alma mater, hobbies and volunteer organizations.
• Don’t forget to provide recommendations for your peers — many times, they will reciprocate and recommend you!

Sharing and Posting Content

Ready to start sharing and posting content? Start by making LinkedIn part of your daily routine. The first 10 minutes of your day is a great time to read industry news, check out what’s new on LinkedIn and share content. If you aren’t sure what to post, we recommend sticking to the 80/20 rule: 80 percent your content should be informative think industry news and articles), while 20 percent should be more promotional.

Think outside of the box when posting and sharing content! Your calendar is a great place to look for ideas. Going to a luncheon or volunteering this month? Share it on LinkedIn! Here are some more content ideas to get you started:

• Personal milestones: Awards you recently received, certificates or certifications you recently earned.
• Work events (such as holiday parties, panels, conferences) you attended.
• Company news: You can share or repurpose the content that your company is sharing.
• Projects that you are working on (as long as they are not confidential).
• Books you are reading or podcasts you are listening to.
• Industry predictions.
• Who are you mentoring? Who is your mentor? Shout them out!
• Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or give advice. It’s a great way to start a conversation.

And remember to take pictures or videos to make your content stand out. Posts with pictures earn twice as many comments as posts without pictures, and videos earn up to five times more comments!

Extra Tips

ou are almost a LinkedIn pro! Here are our final tips:

• Ditch the URL full of random numbers and letters in favor of a URL that actually helps people find you. A personalized URL is memorable and can make your page easier to find. We recommend making this as close to your page as possible (ex: www.linkedin.com/in/katmariegarcia). Here’s how:

• Consider your privacy settings if you have any clients and/or competitors you don’t want viewing your connections. You can turn this off so others cannot see with whom you are connected.

• Download Lusha, a tool that helps find your connections’ contact info. This is a great tool if you need to email or call a connection.

If you are ready to take your LinkedIn presence to the next level, we can help you get there. Following the tips above to get started, or give us a call! We can provide you with personalized tips and a content strategy to start you in the right direction.