Add Punch to Your LinkedIn Profile Using These Examples as Inspiration
Editor's Note: Enjoy this special encore post which was one of our readers' favorites in 2018. Happy New Year!
Eating healthy. Cardiovascular activity. Stopping the next episode from auto-playing. We all have our struggles. We know how we should act, but the actions don’t always follow.
Personal branding is an all-too-perfect candidate for this category. We’ve generally accepted that a strong personal brand is important. But carving out (and protecting) time to actively brand ourselves? That’s a whole other matter. The good news is, even if you don’t consider yourself a social media darling, you can create a professional brand that impresses all who view it, and you can do it in just a few minutes a month.
Previously, we wrote about free ways to build your personal brand on LinkedIn. In this post, we illustrate how to optimize your LinkedIn profile using examples from marketers who made us take notice.
The LinkedIn Profile Headline Is Your Digital Salutation
To make it easy for searchers to pick you out from the pack, we recommend writing a profile headline that’s instantly recognizable. There are several "Jason Falls" with LinkedIn profiles. Here, Jason Falls, the marketer, cleverly uses his headline to clearly distinguish himself.
Just how important is it to distinguish yourself? The LinkedIn community is strong at over 546 million users. By making incremental updates to your profile, you can greatly increase your visibility on LinkedIn, and there’s no better place to start than with your headline.
Shoot for a headline that sums up your specialty or approach succinctly and supports the professional brand you’re cultivating. Take time to review and update your profile regularly, because the search for people like you is a never-ending one. A complete, up-to-date, engaging profile tells the professional world you’re open for business. Use the examples below as inspiration for spiffing up your own LinkedIn profile.
Who nailed their LinkedIn profile headline?
Craft A LinkedIn Profile Summary That Supports Your Objectives
If the headline is your salutation, then the summary is your media-enhanced elevator pitch.
What do you really want readers to know about you, if they read nothing more? Professionally speaking, what’s your purpose? Think along these lines when you craft your profile summary.
Your commitment to incremental improvement and professional growth is as impressive as it is inspiring, so don’t hesitate to let others know about it. Your profile summary could be a perfect spot to convey your career goals. You can highlight your skills as well as developing aspirations to leave a reader feeling good about your interest in self-improvement and growth.
When writing your summary, try to strike a conversational tone that invites the reader in. Because you want to get this just right, consider drafting two options you’re happy with, then ask a trusted peer or mentor for their feedback.
Who nailed their LinkedIn profile summary?
Create A Seamless Discovery Experience for the Person Viewing Your Profile
Linkedin makes it easy to show professional proof benefitting your personal brand right from your profile. Rich media including presentations you’ve authored, videos you’ve helped create, web pages you’ve written, campaigns you’ve designed and more can be added to your profile summary, as well as within each section of your work history.
When adding rich media or links to your profile, take a moment to include a title and description to help set the stage for the viewer.
Who enriched their LinkedIn profile with media?
There’s more than one way to create a unique, polished LinkedIn profile. Thirty minutes per week is all you need – no struggle necessary. Hopefully these examples have inspired you to make incremental strides toward your own standout profile.
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