Whether you are an entrepreneur or not, you might be familiar with the value that a solid Linkedin profile can bring. A well crafted profile can be the very gateway to several extra leads and opportunities per week. A poorly optimized profile can, on the other hand, get you “LinkedOut”. In other words, it may lead to missed projects and opportunities that otherwise could have taken your entrepreneurship to the next level. In this short article we’ll feed you with a few quick tips on how to boost your LinkedIn profile as an entrepreneur.
Choose the right picture
Some of you may think “Who really cares about my picture?”. If that’s the case, may I gently ask you to hold your horses. We all know a picture says more than a thousand words, and yes this cliché is true. By looking at your profile picture, the visitor may be able to get hunches about who you are as a person. Some people are naturally better at this than others. In any case it is wise to choose a picture that reflects the type of entrepreneur you truly are, or want to become.
Appearing friendly and approachable is usually a safe bet, but authenticity is always the winner in the long run. Most people can see through bullshit, so avoid fake smiles and forced facial expressions. Stay true to yourself and more people will respect you and your inspiring level of integrity.
Avoid stiff titles
We’ve all seen them, soulless titles saying “Looking for new and exciting projects” or “Business owner at Company X”. These statements of pure stiffness will not attract attention. After all, you are an entrepreneur and entrepreneurs cannot afford to ride the rollercoaster of boredom.
When writing your LinkedIn title, you should at least experiment with adding some creative flavour to the soup. Try to communicate your grand vision or add a few adjectives that describe you as business owner. Here is an example: “Helping people become masters of productivity”. All in all, the point here is to capture attention instantly and make the right people click on your profile without hesitation.
Highlight the future in your bio
Babbling about your previous achievements is fine, but that information belongs to your job descriptions section. The bio however, should be the place where you talk about what you want to or can achieve in the future. This could include your vision, your goals and the type of clients you are most eager to work with.
You could and should of course talk about other things in your bio as well, such as your personal qualities and skills (even though skills have its own section). But make sure the visitor of your profile get a clear picture of your ambitions and what you can do for them in the future. It simply shows them that you are a moving force who does not dwell in the past or put too much emphasis on your present situation.
Describe the value your bring
Every section in your profile has its own purpose. As for the job descriptions, you should focus on the value you did bring in previous roles and projects. The visitor, and potential client or stakeholder, should quickly be able to tell if this person is someone he or she wants to reach out to.
Perhaps you are a business owner now, but that doesn’t mean you should take the lazy way out and NOT write about your pre-entrepreneurial stuff. Furthermore, SEO and ranking plays an important role when it comes to descriptions. Always remember that content rich profiles tend to rank higher in the search results. But make sure not to stuff your profile with nonsense either, as this will only leave you punished.
Clean up your profile
This one is super important. A clean and focused profile does not only increase trust. It also allows the visitor to know what your niche is and in which direction you are heading by just scanning your profile.
Make sure to remove every aspect of your profile that is irrelevant to the type of leads, contacts or opportunities you are interested in. A red thread is crucial to prevent the visitor from escaping your profile in total confusion. Therefore, make sure all your job descriptions, education, awards, skills and everything else work together to help your prospects recognize the value your can ultimately provide them.
A few last words
At Dreamify, we believe these tips can get you quite far. However, to truly make the most out of the world’s greatest business network platform, we advise you to turn to an expert. If you are looking to generate many more leads and go deeper into LinkedIn, we are here to help make your vision become a reality.