I received a call yesterday from a friend asking if I knew anyone who could help wholesalers build out their LinkedIn presence and it got me thinking about my recent experience of updating my profile.
If you’ve never had a LinkedIn coach, or spent a lot of time researching the basics, it can be intimidating and you end up doing nothing! This is what happened to me until I started working with Laura Virili. She broke the process down into simple actionable steps that I was able to complete and then cross off my list. If you don’t have a strong framework then the rest of your LinkedIn experience will not go the way you want it to. While we are only at the beginning of the process, my LinkedIn profile is now in much better shape and I feel more confident networking and connecting with people.
So to my friend, all the wholesalers and financial professionals out there, here are the first 5 tips that Laura taught me (the next 5 will come in part 2).
1) Start with a Professional Photo
Don’t’ skimp on this. Spend the money and get it professionally done. Here are a few tips that she gave me.
• Business casual
• Engaging & friendly
• From waist, chest or shoulders up
• Cropped & sized correctly
• Great background, outdoor shots are fabulous!
• Check out the cheat sheet for more info and/or watch the video
2) Name and Headline/Title
You have 120 characters to capture someone’s interest and along with your photo this is the first thing your clients will see. You can go in 1 of 2 directions. I went with the power statement.
• Keyword Headline – professional keywords with personal interests/activities.
EXAMPLE: Influential Marketing Professional | Google Analytics Guru | World Traveler | Yoga Enthusiast
• Power Statement Headline – tells your story, compels people to want to read more!
EXAMPLE: Tech Specialist Devoted to Creating Stable, Scalable Solutions for Businesses | Vice President Technology Manager XYZ Corp.
3) Contact Info:
I thought this was a great tip. Because ‘Contact Info’ is only visible to your 1st degree connections, you want to make sure you add the “Additional Info/Advice” for anyone visiting your profile to see that info.
4) Customized Linked URL:
Here was another tip I had never thought about. LinkedIn will assign you a random URL. To make your profile more easily searchable on Google and for others looking for you, change the URL to something that better matches your name. In edit mode, click on the gear icon next to your name. If available, use just your first and last name. Be sure to ‘Save’ once complete.
5) Summary
This one was the hardest of the 5 for me and probably will be for you also. Your very 1st sentence or two should be more or less your value proposition. Furthermore, you want to close off your summary and jam pack it with keywords for SEO. Below are a few key points from Laura.
• Personal feel
• Humanize yourself
• Written in the first person
• This is what I do
• This is why I do it
• This is how I do it
• “I welcome a connection if…”
• Contact Info
• Common misspellings (your name, company, etc.)
• Check out the cheat sheet for more info and/or watch the video.
Once you have these 5 elements in place you will then be ready to focus on your experiences. Joining groups, getting your skills endorsed and ultimately attracting your ideal clients.