Last week I worked with a client on her LinkedIn profile. She was in a service-based industry. With 15 years of experience she was looking to go out on her own and establish herself as a consultant.
This client’s strategy included a number of elements. A key component was using LinkedIn to locate and engage with prospective clients.
When I was working with her I highlighted the importance of writing her LinkedIn profile (and other content for online mediums) for the digital first world.
In Ctrl Alt Delete, Mitch Joel introduces the concept of digital first. That is the first place we learn about people is online. This means that people are making decisions based on what they read online, so you don’t even know the opportunities you could be missing.
Here are my top tips for writing your LinkedIn profile in today’s digital first world.
Understand people are making decisions based on the information they read: In the case of my above client, her LinkedIn profile was potentially the first place people found information on her and decided whether to take further action. This meant her profile needed to quickly appeal to and engage with her audience.
Support subjective statements with evidence: As she was starting her own business, her ability to achieve results needed to be supported with evidence of past achievements, testimonials from people her ideal audience could relate to, and quantifiable results.
Make it easy for people to contact you: Having a strong call to action that included contact details meant my client’s prospective clients could easily take further action.
Moving forward, my client’s LinkedIn strategy to support her digital first impression included:
Posting search engine optimised articles to support her validation as an expert. This is a great (low-cost) alternative to a personal blog if you don’t have one.
- Editing her summary and headline to reflect her business plan and targeted audience.
- Joining and commenting in groups to increase visibility and build credibility.
- Curating information of value to her audience.
- Sharing and promoting business and industry events to her audience.
By using LinkedIn effectively to support her digital first impression this client could support her positioning to maximise her future success.