Your LinkedIn profile is more than a living and breathing resume.

LinkedIn is the one place you want to go to get found, it’s where the money is. It is the biggest business to business social network in the world with over 610 million members and 303 million active monthly users, 40% of which visit the site daily. If you want to get ranked to the top of the page and be successful on LinkedIn then it is important that you have a good LinkedIn profile.

Complete your Profile

1. It might seem obvious, but did you know that more than 50% of profiles on LinkedIn are not complete
2. It’s essential that your resume matches your LinkedIn profile. Your potential employers may check for consistency.
3. Ensure you add your Work Experience and Education

Upload a High Quality or High Resolution Photograph

1. A good profile photograph is one of the first things that a recruiter and hiring manager look at as soon as they look you up on LinkedIn
2. A LinkedIn photograph can get you 15 times more views and 8 times more connection requests.
3. The picture should be recent, a close up, you should be looking into the camera, ideally smiling, it should have a neutral background and you should be dressed appropriately. There should also be good lighting.
4. Wear minimal jewellery and accessories. No headwear such as hats and caps are allowed.
5. Definitely no pic of you looking cool with shades on, no beer or wine glass in your hand and no bikinis or swimsuits!
6. Selfies, a photograph of you at a family wedding or on a night out on the town are all unacceptable.
7. If you are uncertain about which photograph looks professional, use https://www.photofeeler.com/
8. It is the world’s number 1 photo testing tool.
9. All you have to do is upload the image you wish to use for your LinkedIn profile; it will then give you a percentage on your Likeability, Influence and Competency.
10. You can also use Photo Feeler for social and dating photos!

Customise your LinkedIn URL

1. Customising your LinkedIn URL makes it easier for people to find you and helps you to brand yourself
2. Click on the ME icon on the top of your page
3. Click on Edit Public Profile & URL
4. Keep your URL simple, it can be your name, your last name or your business name

Change the blue boring background image

1. Change the background blue background photo/image easily
2. Add your company logo and a short value pitch with a photo that could represent your brand

Write a consistent summary in the About Section

1. Write a strong summary which is consistent with your CV on LinkedIn.
2. The summary is found below your title. There are 2000 characters available for you to create your summary. Your summary can sum up your qualifications
3. Your summary should address who you are, who you help and who you collaborate with or provide services to. You can also use this space to talk about you skillset, your strengths and your passion. Your summary can sum up your professional history, qualifications and personality
4. People want to see what you have achieved, not what you are responsible for. People want to know what your scale, magnitude and impact was.
5. For example, if you are a Sales Assistant, you can talk about how you managed to increase sales in your company by 16% 
6. Do not write a whole paragraph about your responsibilities. Talk about your impact
7. Add your email address to your summary as people who are not in your network will not be able to see it unless you are their connection
8. Don’t forget to add your Social Proof (multi-media content). You can add pictures from past jobs, videos so that people can see and hear your voice and products so that people learn a bit more about you and what you do

Participate and Add Value to your Community

1. Grow your connections daily. Spend 10-15 minutes clicking on profiles of people who interest you or who would like to work with. Send them a personalised message. Share posts, add and like others comments and add valuable content.

Use a Proper Headline. This must include your Job Title + Company Name +Keywords + ”Snazzy Saying”

1. Your headline is the title of your advert. Think of your headline as a business card. It must be clear and it must draw people into your profile and make them want to read more about you.
2. By default LinkedIn will place your most recent job title as your headline which can be a bit boring such as Administration Assistant or Receptionist, so make sure that you can customise it. Avoid generic or common headlines
3. You have 120 characters available to make your headline stand out.
4. Ensure that you add your company name
5. Think of keywords that are important when people search for profiles. Think of the keywords that people would use in a search to find you.
6. Add a Snazzy Saying– ‘’Helping all business owners save time and money’’

Ask for recommendations

1. Many people seem to hesitate to ask for recommendations from their current or previous managers about past positions and projects.
2. Your profile shows people who you are about what you have done.
3. Recommendations give you the opportunity to ask others to reinforce your claims.
4. Don’t hesitate to ask for a quick recommendation’s this looks extremely good when recruiters are looking to hire you.
5. You don’t need to ask for 10 recommendations at once. Keep gradually adding recommendation’s as you go.

Add Endorsements and Skills

1. Getting tons of endorsements are very important, it allows you to add all your skillset on LinkedIn and people can actually go onto your profile to confirm that you have those skills.
2. So you might see for example that:  30 people can confirm that Lucy has speaking skills, 12 people can confirm that Lucy has accounting skills, 20 people can confirm that Lucy has consulting skills.

Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn is not just a networking website – it has grown to become a comprehensive personal branding resource. In today’s highly competitive world, professional growth requires both networking and promoting yourself as a brand; the better you sell yourself, the more opportunities you will get for professional development.

Having a strong LinkedIn presence is the first step for personal branding. It’s no wonder why more and more people are now using LinkedIn. We can help set up your LinkedIn Personal or Business pages call us on +267 73242740.