From: bizjournals.com
Image credits: GETTY IMAGES (ZAKOKOR)
“Think of your LinkedIn Summary as your elevator pitch — how would you spark interest in just 20 seconds?” LinkedIn asked in a recent post talking about the importance of your profile page.
Cat got your tongue?
No worries if you’re at a loss for what to say. LinkedIn has a new “suggested summary” tool which is aimed to help you craft the right keywords and phrases that will help you get noticed by your target audience.
The elements of a killer LinkedIn profile
Why so much emphasis on the summary?
“Having 40 words or more on your summary ensures you show up in search results and people with at least five skills listed on their LinkedIn profile receive up to 17 times more profile views,” LinkedIn noted.
Along with your professional headline and profile photo, your LinkedIn summary is how others will size up who you are and what (if any) interest they should have in your profile, profession and content.
LinkedIn also recently brought back the platform’s popular “all star” profile feature, which shows you what features and content you can add to help your profile stand out.
More summary tips
In my own work teaching others how to use LinkedIn to generate business for themselves, I’ve found it critical to take your profile beyond reading like a boring résumé and instead make it what I call “client-facing.”
Here’s why this matters: Prospects you encounter on LinkedIn must be able to immediately understand what type of products or services you offer and the key audiences you serve.
Remember, your LinkedIn profile should not be about you. Instead, it should be focused on what you can do for your ideal audience and what makes you different or better when compared to your competitors.
For example, here are a couple of simple sentences that you can start your “client-facing” profile off with:
WHAT I DO: I help [MY TARGET AUDIENCE] achieve [THEIR GOAL] by providing [MY PRODUCT OR SERVICE].
WHO I WORK WITH:
– [Audience 1]
– [Audience 2]
– [Audience 3]
With this approach, you are making it immediately clear who you serve, what type of product or service you offer and how it helps that audience achieve their goals.
Second, you are laying out two to three key audiences you serve, so anyone scanning your profile quickly can see if they are someone you specialize in helping.
Remember: LinkedIn = Google for professionals
It’s important to remember that these keywords and phrases you strategically insert to create a killer LinkedIn profile are all indexed into LinkedIn’s massive internal search engine.
Hundreds of millions of professionals worldwide are using LinkedIn’s powerful internal search engine just like you and I use Google.
One of the things we know about prospects when they’re searching online is this: If you make it difficult for people to find you, or if it’s not clear cut who you are and what you do, you’ll be skipped over for someone who does.
Make sure that you don’t make that mistake on LinkedIn, and, if needed, let the platform help you with your summary section.
John Nemo is a bestselling author, speaker and online course creator. Register for his free webinar on generating more business with LinkedIn and his free trainingon how to create, run and make money with webinars.
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