LinkedIn Profile Tips that Will Get You Recognized

do you have a LinkedIn profile if you're like most people you created a LinkedIn profile a few years ago but barely ever touch it am i right in this video I'm gonna give you 15 easy powerful LinkedIn strategies you can do right now to supercharge your profile my name is Vanessa van Edwards and I am the best-selling author of captivate my goal is to give you easy behavior hacks to level up your career life and success [Music] it's estimated that one in three professionals on the planet are on LinkedIn with that kind of reach as a professional you can't afford not to take LinkedIn seriously here are my top tips for improving your LinkedIn profile and strategy LinkedIn tip number one post thematic updates one of the biggest mistakes people make on LinkedIn is thinking that having a profile is enough reports show that less than one-third of users post at least once per month suggesting that the majority of people create their profiles and then occasionally add new connections this is a wasted opportunity why because LinkedIn gives valuable real estate to updates immediately after logging into LinkedIn your context get taken to their newsfeed which is filled with recent updates posting regularly is an easy way to stay front of mind for your connections want to be a master at this don't just post updates post strategically I highly recommend picking themes for your updates what would your network like to hear about what fits with your brand strategy what could help you what could help your contacts here are the themes that work most often industry news you attended an industry conference and gained some great insights share them insider knowledge you read a book and learn something others your network could benefit from knowing post a summary inspirational you saw a quote or heard a story that inspired you and you think it could inspire others personal you're working on a personal project sharing details about it is a great way to allow your network to get to know you outside of your job advice you're looking for a specific type of connection do you need someone who has a particular area of expertise to help you achieve a goal by posting about it you prompt your connections to promote themselves or recommend others who would be a good fit right now post and update LinkedIn tip number two be a strategic licker building a strong network is about making and maintain connections connecting with someone after networking event is half the battle you want to stay front of mind and build a lasting relationship to do this you need to engage every time you go to LinkedIn take a few moments to like a few recent posts in your newsfeed be purposeful about this don't just go around liking any and all posts why this is great conversation fodder next time you see them if you liked an article they posted you then can talk about that article next time you see them bingo conversation starter and licker right now like at least three updates from your news feed LinkedIn tip number three make your profile more than your resume a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that their LinkedIn profile is just a virtual place for them to display their resumes which it is in part but it's also so much more than that beyond the summary and job experience sections that most people focus on filling out there's also over half a dozen other sections that showcase your interests and accomplishments in specific areas that are not featured within your job descriptions filling out your profile not only helps people who search for you it also makes LinkedIn more likely to show your profile in search results LinkedIn favors profiles that are complete it's estimated that only fifty point five percent of LinkedIn users take the time to fill out every section this means that half of users are failing to use the platform to its full potential here's an example of an incomplete profile that showcases why it's so important to fill out the sections of your profile with enough details to showcase who you are if you're struggling to come up with additions or details this is your cue to get involved with more activities that can propel your career forward here are a few easy ways to gain accomplishments and experiences that spice up your profile take a course that advances your skill set we have a master communications course called people school if you want to increase your in personal intelligence volunteer with a local organization that supports your professional role or fulfills a personal passion join the board of a non-profit who could use your professional expertise right now complete all sections of your LinkedIn profile LinkedIn tip number four remove all buzz words this tip comes straight from the LinkedIn deity's LinkedIn reveal the ten most overused marketing buzzwords on resumes and profiles to differentiate yourself from the other professionals in your industry here are the top 10 most overused buzzwords and what you can use to replace them buzz word strategic replace it with calculating decisive or judicious buzz word creative replace it with inventive prolific or imaginative buzz word specialized replace it with definitive distinguished or niche buzz word leadership replace it with guidance directorship or prominence buzz word passionate replace it with lively vitalized or zealous buzz word experienced replace it with seasoned sophisticated or savvy buzz word focused replace it with immersed engaged or fixated buzz word enthusiastic replace it with exuberant spirited or animated buzz word expert replace it with virtuoso adroit or practiced buzz words track-record replace it with performance history credentials or documentation protip to the greatest extent possible choose words that you would feel comfortable using to describe yourself verbally your vocabulary reveals a lot about your personality and communication style and you don't want to confuse people by presenting yourself in different ways online versus in person right now replace those 10 buzz words in your profile LinkedIn tip number 5 be a Nadder one of the best ways to showcase your knowledge or expertise is not only to post about it remember LinkedIn tip number one but also to comment on other people's posts I call this being an adder as opposed to being a subtractor adders add to the knowledge of an update with an interesting anecdote idea or example they add gratitude with a thank-you or a supportive response subtractors ignore good posts or take away from them by adding negative unhelpful or unsupportive comments which are you if you want to impress someone make them feel impressive by honoring their great post add more to it thank them give a relevant link or example right now add to someone's post LinkedIn tip number six request smart one of the best parts of LinkedIn is adding connections these can be people you met in real life colleagues or new contacts how you request someone to connect on LinkedIn is incredibly important here are some best practices for adding people adds connections always add a personal message tell the individual how you know them don't send connection requests to people you don't know or don't have a strong reason to want to know you if they decline your request for not knowing you it will get marked as spam after having a few of your requests marked as spam LinkedIn were restrict you from trying to connect with more people tell them why you want to connect with them forgetting to do this may cause some people to decline your request because they don't know what to expect from you if they do accept make sure your reason is specific to the individual general reasons show a lack of effort here's the difference between a vague and specific response vague I'm looking for new work and thought you might have some leads specific I saw that you're recruiting for X company I wanted to reach out to see if you have any opportunities in and then describe your profession give them a reason to want to connect with you some ways to do this include offering help to them following up on something you spoke about in person and or expressing your appreciation don't wait too long I used to have a stack of business cards for events and will connect with everyone at the end of the month but this was too long people didn't always remember and it made me look like a procrastinator add people no more than 24 to 48 hours after you meet them import your email contacts selectively I like adding your address book to LinkedIn but don't add everyone this can be spammy and you might not even remember the people you're connecting with every few months I see if I have any new contacts for my address book to add and then send personal messages right now selectively import contacts from your address book LinkedIn tip number seven join a network greater than your own according to the online marketing consulting and Education firm quick sprout one of the most effective ways to yield a positive return for the time you spend on LinkedIn is to become active in relevant groups when you want to build your reputation as an expert in a specific subject matter or need help from professionals in a particular niche joining groups is often the best way to develop the relationships you're seeking unlike your overall network groups are unified around defined interests which both gives you access to professionals who have qualities you're looking for and allows you to dive into meaningful conversation the initial impression you make when joining a group is critical keep in mind these tips before posting in your group read the group guidelines some groups have restrictions on the types and topics of content Bay allow skim the most popular discussions to gain an understanding of what topics spark the most active conversations observe the dominant communication style our posts and comments formal and full of jargon or do people write casually as if corresponding between friends or is it something in between match that style don't join a group with the sole intention of promoting yourself yes you'll want to yield value from the group but you must offer value first and become a respected member before people want to do you favors don't promote yourself and at least your first five posts online marketing expert Neil Patel recommends that when you first join a group you should begin interacting by answering questions this is a more subtle way of establishing yourself then immediately posting and shows that you're interested in other people and helping them once you've participated in a few conversations then when you start one of your own members will be more willing to engage because you're not a stranger coming in imposing your ideas or requests after you've engaged in a couple of discussions and offered value to the group reach out to the members you've connected with and start building individual relationships right now join a group and answer three questions LinkedIn tip number eight test your LinkedIn profile picture if you're like me you have a really hard time picking the perfect profile picture the thing is this is not a silly worry our profile picture says a lot about us according to research published in Psychological Science slight variations and how an individual face is viewed can lead people to develop significantly different first impressions of that person while no one can change their face we do have control over what the photo represents and how we want it to be perceived I want you to test your profile picture we partner with a website called photo feeler photo feeler is a free profile photo testing tool that helps people choose better profile photos by cooling them in to what their photos are really saying I gave this tool a little spin here are the three photos of me and how they ranked with the current votes the second photo has the highest score in all three areas so that is my current LinkedIn profile picture how to test your LinkedIn profile picture first upload your photo at photo filler calm second vote on other people's photos or by vote credits 3 wait for your results LinkedIn tip number 9 make someone's there's nothing better than crafting the perfect LinkedIn status update and having people like and share it with their audience it's the ultimate show of support when you share other people's posts you get great social capital in addition to showing your interests and increasing your activity level this is a great way to show people that you're thinking about them without having to personally reach out for example RB Kelly is one of our certified signs of people body language trainers and she shared one of her fellow trainers status updates because she knew it would be relevant to her audience as well win win win LinkedIn tip number 10 encourage efficiency people are busy you're busy your followers are busy and the best thing you can do is to help people engage with you in the fastest possible way your VIPs are especially busy on LinkedIn they don't have time to spend hours every week scrolling to the platform looking for insights so they're drawn to posts that deliver the most information while demanding the least amount of their time this fact is supported by LinkedIn zone research they found posts featuring statistics and links to articles for more information receive a 37% higher click-through rate than those that don't feature statistics individuals who crafted posts that were a hundred and fifty characters or less often with an accompanying link received an 18% increase in engagement rate word choice can have a dramatic effect on how your post is perceived their research found vast variations in engagement rates between posts that were identical with the exception of one or two key words while there's no magic formula to choose the right ones you should carefully consider the connotations of your words to make sure they appeal to your target audience the easiest way to do this is to mimic the jargon that your target audience uses to describe themselves and what they do if you write articles tell your audience exactly what they're getting people don't want to waste time by clicking on an article getting a few paragraphs in and realizing it's not relevant to them at all before writing anything ask yourself will what I post directly add value to the people who read it right now punch up your posts make them catchy or delete them LinkedIn tip number 11 optimize for your audience your profile should be geared towards the right people not all people think about your target audience or demographic who are your people your target audience that you need to appeal to is the group of people whom you are dependent on to become more successful here are a couple of examples if you're climbing your industry's ladder you need to prove to your peers and superiors that you are the right fit for advanced opportunities if you're a freelancer your target audience is not other freelancers it's the clients you hope to gain if you're looking to switch industries be on top of everything happening in that industry you want to transition to share what you learn and contribute to online discussions about that industry to prove that you would be an asset to a company in that space also remove jargon from your current career that will confuse recruiters in an industry you're transitioning to and tailor your descriptions to match the needs of your ideal job if you're looking to form connections with a particular type of person address them directly so they know you want them to reach out to you insider tip if you want people to reach out to you make sure your profile includes your preferred contact information by default you likely have your email displayed but if your inbox is consistently overloaded and social media is a more effective way to get in touch with you mention that right now tailor your profile for your people and consider adding contact info LinkedIn tip number 12 focus on your industry according to LinkedIn over 60 percent of users are interested in posts about industry insights whether you set aside time to do search and create original posts or you opt to share the posts of industry experts updating your connections about your industry rather than your career is an effective way to increase your influence doing so proves they are up-to-date in your industry or that your someone is well-informed and would be great to work with it also allows you to provide value to your connections will then associate you with the benefits they gain from the knowledge you share if you opt to write articles here are some tips to get you started search engine optimization and online marketing expert Paul Shapiro analyzed 3,000 articles on LinkedIn and discovered these trends among the most popular posts right how and list posts these types of articles directly convey the value that readers are going to get from them and outperform other types provide in-depth insights about your subject readers on LinkedIn appreciate content that teaches them valuable information for their careers and that requires some length the most successful posts are between 1900 and 2000 words include images articles with 8 images received the most average number of views rein in your passion well you may have strong feelings regarding an industry event that you're analyzing it's best to keep your emotions to yourself content with a neutral tone outperform pieces with a positive or negative one focusing on the facts an objective analysis will build your reputation as a competent professional and prevent you from alienating peers with different opinions right now write one article for your industry LinkedIn tip number 13 don't give don't take match one study found that individuals report gaining the most value from LinkedIn when they focus on sharing professional resources not directly on building themselves up the reason for this stems from the desire that most people have to foster reciprocal relationships organizational psychology researcher Adam grant studied over 30,000 professionals across multiple industries and falen the majority of people have a sharing mentality they're willing to offer value to others with the expectation that other people will offer value in return there are also people on both ends of the extreme givers who constantly go out of their way to help others without asking for anything in return and takers who relentlessly pursue their goals without regard for the people they use along the way grant found that the people in both of those groups tend to be less successful than the people who strive for fairness otherwise known as matchers givers fail because they focus so much on other people they run out of time and energy to improve their own careers if this sounds like you keep in mind that people expect you to occasionally ask for help and do some self-promotion it doesn't make you a burden to others takers fail because matters turn against them they don't like people who constantly ask for help and promote their own self-interest without taking time to also support others on LinkedIn this dislike translates into people refusing to engage with takers both on and off line here are specific ways to give back to your network and prove you're not a taker be the bridge between people if you have two or more connections who are looking for people like each other introduce them indoors the people you've had successful working relationships with do more than click to endorse your connection skills and take a few minutes to write a sincere testimonial about their abilities and character share your insights if you're an expert on a particular topic share information that's relevant to your overall network and respond to questions related to it right now introduce to people who you think should know each other LinkedIn tip number 14 masterful networking you could have a flawless LinkedIn profile with every section filled out with standout accomplishments 500 plus connections and dozens of skill endorsements and it will all mean little if you don't keep in touch with your connect the biggest mistake people make on LinkedIn is you meet someone in real life connect with them on LinkedIn and then a year later expect them to help you get a job at their company when you suddenly find yourself looking for new work so you want to keep in touch with everyone but if you have hundreds of connections trying to keep in touch with you it can seem a little daunting however you only need to keep in touch with professional connections once every month to stay relevant in their minds which you can do in just a few minutes a day here are a few quick ways to stay in touch congratulate people on promotions and when their company is featured in the news for something positive the easiest way to do this is to check your link to notifications to see who has found new work or been promoted recently and set up Google Alerts to hear news about the companies your connections work for when you travel let people know you're in their city and invite them to go out for coffee be a professional matchmaker introduce people to someone new once a month look at your LinkedIn contacts and status updates and see if you can make any new connections pass along helpful information this could be content new job opportunities or networking events want to learn more of my networking strategies I have an entire guide for my 10 steps to being a master networker LinkedIn tip number 15 relevant people want to know if your LinkedIn effort is paying off want to know how you're coming across there's an overlooked section of your LinkedIn profile that most people ignore it's the people also viewed a section on the right-hand side of your profile this updates all the time based on what people who are searching for you are also looking at for example here is mine today I was shocked to see this I never know what kind of profiles people are looking at compared to mine but I was pleasantly surprised to see this list this info is extremely useful if you know how to leverage it who does LinkedIn think is related to you are you being paired with people in your similar industry with your similar title do you like who you're being caryn width you can get an idea of who linkedin thinks you are by who they pair you with and then either leveraging it or changing it for example if you sell software and notice you're being paired with a lot of people in software this might be good or bad would you prefer sales or tech you can change wording in your profile and your contacts to fit more with your goal can you connect if they're coming up in your related search you're likely coming up in theirs too can you connect with them I have reached out to big VIPs who come up in my related search and said I saw you come up in my people also viewed section of LinkedIn I thought we should connect since we seem to be in similar circles it's a great motivation to connect who is looking you might also be able to make some guestimation Zahn who is viewing your profile in a given day for example I do a lot of spokesperson work and had a sneaking suspicion that was changing my people also viewed section sure enough my manager got an email today from a company wanting to do a spokesperson deal my guess is her and her media agency were looking around I also guess that they are also considering Whitney wolf heard marie forleo and melanie chandra for the deal now i know who else is in the running right now see who you are paired with and take action whew well that was a lot of tips if you just do one or two of these you will be better off have a few LinkedIn tips of your own share them below remember no step is too small the baby steps are the ones that get you going oh wait don't go you might also like these videos hmm that one's really good watch it now

Channel: Science of People

Views: 138,732

Keywords: vanessa van edwards, science of people, communication, nonverbal communication, verbal communication, linkedin, linkedin profile tips, linkedin profile picture, linkedin profile tips 2018, linkedin profile optimization, linkedin profile summary, linkedin profile for students, linkedin profile, linkedin tips, linkedin tutorial for beginners, how to use linkedin, linkedin profile tips for job seekers

Id: 067JFQcSvqs

Length: 26min 53sec (1613 seconds)

Published: Fri May 18 2018