LinkedIn Workshop: Create and Optimize Your LInkedIn Profile

GUIDE: CREATE AND OPTIMIZE YOUR
LINKEDIN PROFILE
June 2016
by Robeen Frank

Copyright 2016 Robeen Frank robeenf@gmail.com
Yours Truly
Social Media
!
I work with companies
large and small to help
them build and tune-up
an engaging online
presence.
!
I’m known as a dynamic
speaker and speak
regularly at national
conferences, companies,
and events.
2
Personal Branding
!
I help individuals in many
fields create powerful
personal brands.
!
My personal branding
strategy is featured in the
recent book “Digital
Marketing” written by
Larry Weber and endorsed
by Reid Hoffman
(Chairman, Founder/
LinkedIn) and John
Donahoe (CEO/eBay).
Reboot Camp
!
Innovative program to help
Moms confidently re-enter
the workforce after a
break.
!
Six inspiring and pragmatic
sessions cover topics from
networking and interview
skills to social media and
personal branding, plus two
hours of one-on-one
coaching.

Want More Help?
Sometimes its easier with the assistance of an expert!
robeenf@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/robinfrank!
robeenf.com
slideshare.net/robeen
pinterest.com/robeen
I provide personalized LinkedIn profile services to individuals and organizations.
Contact me at robeenf@gmail.com to work with me. I’ll get back to you quickly.
Enjoy the presentation and good luck
with your profile!
3

Today’s Workshop
• LinkedIn - compelling
numbers
• Profile - creating,
updating and
optimizing
• Best practices for
organizing, SEO, &
more
• Networking best
practices using
LinkedIn
4

The Importance of LinkedIn
6

LinkedIn is Networking Nirvana
7

LinkedIn is a Major Traffic Driver
8

Just How Important is Your LinkedIn Profile?
9

LinkedIn as a Personal Branding
Platform
• Tell your story
• What you include/don’t
include
• What you emphasize is
informed by the next job you
are looking to get
• Integrate visual aspects to bring
your personal brand to life and
tell your story
• Photo/background image
• Summary
• Graphics/Presos/Documents
• Projects
• Volunteer sections
10

Key Components of Your Profile:
Best Practices
11

It’s a No-Brainer
• Update your profile
▫ Keeps you top of mind
with your friends and
connections
▫ Particularly if you post
updates as well
▫ Most people have no
idea on what they are
missing out on
12

created by Robeen Frank robeenf@gmail.com
Before You Edit - Turn Off Notifications
• Hover over your profile on
the upper right
• Select “Manage” on the
line for Privacy & Settings
• Choose “Turn on/off your
activity broadcasts”
13

Customize Your Profile URL
• While on your LinkedIn profile page, your URL has some strange characters and looks
funny - this is not the URL you want to share
• Click the Edit icon next to the URL link under your profile photo
• First come/first serve - aim for using your first/last name
• Use it below your email signature, blog, business card, etc.
• If you are from another country, your URL will begin with a 2 letter code based on
the country you listed on your profile. You can still edit the final field to the name
you have chosen.
14

Use a Good Image
• Your photo sends a strong
message of who you are
• Use a head shot with a clean
background, a smile and a
clear view of your eyes
• Best photo is a smiling face
and a little bit of your
shoulders
• Make sure it isn’t blurry, or
grainy
15

Use Canva to Crop Your Image
• Sometimes LinkedIn’s
editor does not work
• www.canva.com will
allow you to resize, crop
and save your images
• No need to use a
complex image editor
like photoshop
• Select custom image:
200x200
• Upload - drag and drop
edges until your photo
fits the space
• Download as image for
web
16

Not This
17

But This!
18

Optimize Your Headline
• Most people only look at your picture and headline
• Craft a compelling headline, even if you are not employed
• Your headline is strongly weighted in LinkedIn search
19

Your Headline = Search Keywords
• Your headline is strongly weighted in LinkedIn search
• You have 120 characters to play with – maximize it
• Most people only look at your picture and headline
• Think about the keywords used by ideal employers to search for what you
offer
• 3 keywords that represent your job history and ideal job
• Focus on transferrable skills needed for your next job if you are switching
careers
• Emphasize important titles
• Look at others in your industry: “Show examples”
20

"See what others in your industry are using"
21

22

Who’s Viewed My Profile?
• Watch “Who’s viewed my profile” to see if
changes have an impact on views
23

Skills Section
• Others endorse you for skills - and it shows up below your work
experience on your profile
• You can add, remove,and reorganize skills
• I recommend moving this to last
24

25

Your LinkedIn Summary
• Similar to an Objective on a resume
but more personal
• NEVER be dry and dull
▫ This is a first impression
▫ Project some personality
• Reflect and emphasize your personal
brand
▫ What you do, and your unique skills
and abilities
▫ What you are known for
▫ Big accomplishments
▫ Why you got into your industry
▫ Why you do what you do!
▫ (Simon Sinek Ted talk: How
Great Leaders Inspire Action)
• Beware of too many buzzwords
▫ Banish the beige word speak
26

Beef Up Your Summary Section
• Contact info easy to
find
• Use first tense - I
was….
• 3-5 paragraphs -
bullets in the middle
• Walk through your
work passions, key
skills, unique
qualifications, and
industries
27

Have a Clear Call to Action
• Tell your reader what to
do once they’ve
finished reading your
summary
!
• Tell them how to reach
you!
28
I am open to new consulting opportunities. If you would like to learn more about
my social media services!
• Visit http//www.robeenf.com!
• Email me at robeenf@gmail.com!
• Call me at…. (your decision here)

Integrate Job Description Keywords
29

Be Found to Be Hired
30
• Keywords for job search
▫ Used on LinkedIn (by
recruiters/employers
▫ Used to describe job or job
skills
• Develop your keywords – look at
specific words in descriptions of
jobs you want!
• Top categories
• Job titles, skills, tools/
software, certifications,
education, employer
categories, professional/
technical acronyms or industry
insider terms, etc.

Storytelling For Your Audience
• Write for the desired audience
▫ Craft the tone/content
accordingly
▫ Communicate job-seeking
interest, if seeking a job
• Tell an ENGAGING story
▫ Lure the reader in/sell
yourself!
▫ Conversational, fun, lively
• Think achievements, not tasks
▫ Hiring manager are familiar
with responsibilities, what
sets you apart are
accomplishments
31

32
Content Strategy, Online Community Manager

Business Operations I Strategic Planning I
Digital Marketing I HR Program Management
33

34
Computer Software Designer

Biotech Clinical Operations
35

Financial/Investor Relations
36

Lawyer
37

Summary Section Template
• What do you do - what problem
do you solve and how?
• How you are different?
• Why you do what you do?
• Personal brand, your passion
• How did you get where you are
today?
• Explain concisely in a way that
makes you look interesting
and motivated
• Be prepared to have many
revisions just like your resume
• Might see someone that has a
job you want and emulate
38

Your Experience Section
• Your objective is to stand out from the crowd and
the way to do this is with qualitative statements
39

Be Quantitative in Your Experience
• Responsibilities of your previous jobs
are not as important - because
everyone usually has these
• INSTEAD - demonstrate the
outcomes of what you did
• Numbers and symbols translate to
recognition with employers, so use
them whenever you can
• Always show all numbers as digits ~
they will catch the eye better
• Percentages protect sensitive
company information and show the
impact of your efforts - they make
your statements LEAP off the page
• Examples
• “Increased sales $1 million over
2014 fiscal year”
• “Increased sales 43% over prior
year.”
40

Complete Experiences, Keyword-Rich
• A POWERFUL profile
includes past
experiences
• Highly sensitive to SEO
• Include keywords people
are using to find
someone like you
• Your goal is to optimize
the likelihood that you
will be discovered
(suggested by LinkedIn
search)
41

Keywords for 2016
OUT
• Results-driven
• Hardworking
• Innovative
• Exceptional
• Good communication skills
• Effective
• Outstanding
• Highly motivated
• Effectual leader
• Has talent for
• Go-to person
• Team player
• Strategic thinker
• Think outside of the box
42
!
IN
• Improved
• Achieved
• Managed
• Trained/mentored
• Resolved
• Created
• Increased/decreased
• Volunteered
• Influenced
• Under budget
• Won
• Ideas
• Launched
• Negotiated
• Revenue/profits

Effective Phrases - Suggestions/Ideas
• Shaped 2 new business acquisition strategies
targeting …
• Pioneered executive briefing on market
intelligence
• Ranked number-one in sales in my department
• Negotiated new contract for department
successfully
• Increased sales productivity by 15 percent
• Was named employee of the year
• Created a new incentive program for
employees
• Launched and directed frameworks to ensure
consistency and efficiency across business
processes and deliverables
• Delivered final release of 4 company websites
• Developed and executed 6 separate marketing
campaigns generating over 250 sales leads
43

Don’t Just Say It, Display It
!
• Portfolio feature - you can add photos, videos, documents, linked articles
with images, screenshots, audio recordings, and SlideShare presentations
• Highlight work samples, client work, launches, special projects, press, and
tweets from speaking engagements.
• Not many are using this yet
44

90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual,
and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain
than text

46

Volunteering Can Be Just as Powerful as
Work Experience
47

Volunteer Positions Demonstrate Highly
Valued Traits - Important to Employers
48
• Proves you have transferrable skills and can deliver results
• Communicates your ability and desire to make the people around you
better
• Showcases how you can act as a team player to support key initiatives

Focus on Demonstrable Results and Facts
49
• Explain the need of the organization and how your skills were
important to its mission
• Highlight the initiative you took
• Provide relevant data points of how you made an impact
• Articulate how you also spent time developing the skills of the
people you were volunteering with
• Show growth in the role and leadership where possible

Showcase in Volunteer Section
50
• Highlight specific
projects and smaller
volunteer tasks that
aren’t as relevant to
your skills
• Add in specific
accomplishments

Projects
• Move your cursor over Profile
at the top of your homepage
and select Edit Profile
• If you've never added a
project before, click the Add
a Section beneath your profile
summary
• Note: You can click View More
to expand your selection of
options
• If you've previously added a
project, scroll down to the
Projects section on your
profile and click Add Project
51

Organizing & Moving Sections
• Can move larger sections like Experience, Volunteer, Skills, etc.
• When in edit mode, simply hover your mouse over the
double-sided arrow next to the Edit link for each section.
• Your mouse will turn into a four-arrowed icon, at which
point you can click, then drag and drop to another position
on your profile.
• Within a section - LinkedIn only allows you to rearrange current
positions - that is all
• But you choose what to display - and it all should tell a story
about how you have the skills and experience to succeed at the
job you are looking to get
52

Character Limits
• Professional Headline
• 120 characters
• Company Name
• 100 characters
• Summary
• 2000 characters
• Public Profile URL
• 30 maximum characters
• Position Title
• 100 characters
• Position Description
• 2000 maximum characters
• Skills
• Up to 25 skills using 60 characters per skill
• LinkedIn Status Update
• You can use up to 700 characters
53

• Increase your ranking 10X
• Add a personal message
when you ask for a
recommendation
• Be strategic - your reco’s
should emphasize different
talents and aspects of your
skills
• You can choose to hide/
display any recommendation
54
Recommendations

Be Strategic About Recommendations
• Look at jobs you want - map your skills to those required by the job and strategize
• Which of your managers can speak to each skill?
• Ask each person to discuss 2-3 skills - and provide those
• Ask them to include: how long they’ve worked with you, background on how they
know you, description of the 2-3 skills you asked them to discuss, and at least one
specific success example
• As a last resort, and if you have a good relationship - you could consider offering to
write it for their review
• Find people similar to you and look for recommendations you find compelling
55

Get Noticed By Your Network
• Update your status
• Like, comment and share
your connections’ status
updates
• Make a change in your
profile (add a new skill)
• Write a recommendation
• Get recommended (ask)
• Endorse someone’s skills
• Join a group
• Follow new company
• Follow new thought leader
• Make a new connection
56

SEO Checklist for LinkedIn
• 100% profile completeness
• Target keywords in profile
heading
• Professional and natural in
summary (with keywords)
• Job descriptions with bullet
points for easy scanning/SEO
• Optimize skills for keywords
• Vanity URL – also helps
outside LinkedIn
• Connections and groups also
drive search rankings
57

Your Connections Strategy - Go to
500+, But Review Each Request!
• The Network Effect – larger
networks are more valuable
• Swarm Theory – large
numbers of trends more
accurate (basis for LinkedIn
endorsements)
• Recruiters – search results in
order of connectedness
• Theory of Weakest Link –
biggest leaps don’t happen
with first degree connections
• Fear/downside? – can always
remove connections if spam
58

Getting a Job is 60% Networking
• 20% - Applying
directly to a job
• 20% - Great
resume, online
brand, LinkedIn,
social
• 60% - Networking
59

How to Get a Meeting with Someone You
Don’t Know
• Networking - forwards and backwards
• Maximizing your use of LinkedIn
60

Networking: Quality not Quantity
• Deepen your connection
▫ People you have just met or may have known your whole life
▫ People in our networks serve a variety of purposes – they can stimulate
our thinking, expand our options, help us make better decisions,
provide insight into our careers
• Be a people hub
▫ One of the most valuable things you can do for someone is connect
them with the right person
▫ Facilitate a mutually beneficial connection
61

Be Strategic: The Direction of Your Network
Is In Your Hands
62

Weak Links Are More Powerful
63
• Account for most of the structure of social networks in society as
well as the transmission of information through these networks
• More novel information flows to individuals through weak rather
than strong ties
• Our close friends tend to move in the same circles that we do –
and the information they receive overlaps considerably with what
we already know

Network Is a Verb Not a Noun
• Care and feeding of your network
▫ Give something of value in every interaction
▫ Send a message with an update or article or
interesting event
64

Why Don’t We Follow Up?
• You’re one connection away
from getting the job of your
dreams
• Sometimes you MEET that
one connection - you know
it’s right for you, and you
know it’s right for them, but
for some reason, you NEVER
follow up
• We forget
▫ Negative thoughts prevent
you from taking action
▫ Networking can feel forced,
unnatural, and contrived
65

The Key to The Successful Follow-Up
• Create a calendar reminder for
yourself that is 2-10 days away
• How to make sure they read it?
▫ Say: I’ll email you in a week or
two
▫ Email content: offer a potential
solution, data, research you
think they would be interested
in and/or ask a question that
demonstrates some knowledge
▫ Are you going to XYZ event?
▫ Do you think competitor
ABC's new launch/positioning
will be impactful?
66

Getting Referrals and Introductions
• Increase your chances of being interviewed and getting a
better job by 5-10X over applying directly
• Some connections you make along the way will surprise you,
and put you on a path you never even considered
67

Networking Forwards with LinkedIn
• Target 10 people who can vouch
for your past performance and
future potential (goal is 4)
▫ Professors, advisors, or social
connections
• Reach out - ask if they would be
comfortable recommending you
to connections in companies or
industries of interest to you
▫ Get the names of 4 people and
an intro
▫ Look at their LinkedIn - have
specific people in mind
▫ Track everything in a
spreadsheet
68

LinkedIn Introductions - Trusted Connections
• Look at a job/company you are interested in
• Find who you're connected to (1st Degree) who knows someone
in the company (2nd Degree) and ask to be referred/introduced
69

Networking Backwards – How to Find Your
Ideal Contact
70

InMail – When You Have No Connections
• You can send an inMail to anyone
• For pay (avoids spam)
• If you don’t receive a reply, LinkedIn will refund your credit
automatically
71

Talking to Strangers
• Lead with something in common
▫ Contextualize the conversation -
mention how you found them
• Get to your point fast
• Reassure the person that you’re not
asking for a favor
▫ Be firm that you are just looking
for a meeting
• Talk about what makes you
qualified - your personal brand
pitch here!
• End with a strong call to action
with a time limit
▫ Mention that you need only 15
minutes of their time
• Be respectful - show appreciation
for their time
72

The (Almost)Perfect Meeting Request
Dear [name],
I found your profile through the [name the common LinkedIn Group or
network] on LinkedIn. I have been working as a [name last position] at [name last
company], and I am in the process of making a career transition.
It would be helpful for me to find out about your experiences as a [name role]
for [target company]. I promise not to take more than 15 minutes of your time.
!
I am not expecting to discuss a particular job opening, but I would appreciate
being able to talk with you on an informational basis.
!
What is the best way to reach you this week? Do you have any availability this
coming Thursday or Friday? I thank you in advance.
Regards,
[your name]
73

Change the Game
• Offer value before you ask for anything
▫ How can I help this person?
▫ Do not discount yourself - offer what you have based on what people
need
▫ Add value - Offer to create a website, a video, or?
!
• Do your research
▫ Know the basics - take time to check Google, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Facebook, etc. so you understand what the person is all about
▫ Find the details - look for common hobbies or a hook
▫ One of my mentors is someone I connected with because I reached
out and mentioned we both like to scuba dive
74

75

Your Turn!
• Create your LinkedIn profile
• Use this presentation + your personal brand + your resume
• Look at the examples provided
• Search for others who have jobs you want and are in your
industry - find 5 profiles you would like to emulate
• Turn off notifications to your network while editing
76

slideshare.net/robeen
robeenf@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/robinfrank!
robeenf.com
I work with companies and individuals to help
them navigate the online world. If you need
help with websites, social media, or online
marketing please get in touch.
!
Contact me at robeenf@gmail.com - I’ll get
back to you quickly.
Check out my other Social Media and
Digital Strategy Guides on Slideshare
Brand me …
77

LinkedIn Workshop: Create and Optimize Your LInkedIn Profile

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (13)

Ähnlich wie LinkedIn Workshop: Create and Optimize Your LInkedIn Profile

Ähnlich wie LinkedIn Workshop: Create and Optimize Your LInkedIn Profile (20)

Mehr von Social Media and Digital Strategy Consulting

Mehr von Social Media and Digital Strategy Consulting (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

LinkedIn Workshop: Create and Optimize Your LInkedIn Profile