Build your Linked In profile: Or, would you go to a networking meeting with a bag on your head?

Tuesday, 02 February 2010 09:36 |

Written by Vanessa Lanham |

I’ve introduced loads of connection to LinkedIn and they all think it’s a great idea – but when I check up to see how they are doing I’m met with incomplete profiles and no photographs. So why would anyone want to get to know them better?

And Linked In is a hugely powerful search tool – the words in your profile are what it will use to help people find you and the services you provide.

Quick tips for building a better profile...

Always remember the purpose of social networking. It’s NOT about selling (you’ll lose more contacts than you gain!) – it’s about having conversations with your connections and that means finding common ground.

Keep it real. Just be yourself – don’t try to be like anyone else or how write what you think you ought to say.
Add a photograph. Come on, none of that nonsense about not liking your own photo – remember people buy from people not faceless entities. Get a friend to take one of you – or pop into a high street photo shop. Head and shoulders only or you’ll not be seen.
Your top level ‘headline’ – don’t limit it to ‘Owner’ – what does that say about you? Come up with no more than 120 characters that sums you up. For example, mine says ‘Let me help build your business. User friendly marketing planning & implementation mastermind. Website specialist.’ Notice how many of my search keywords appear.
Add in your current and past positions – past ones are just as important as it will be a good way to link up with past colleagues. Likewise, your education. You can ‘add contacts’ by adding colleagues and classmates, which is a great starting point.
You can add more than one ‘current job’ – useful if your role breaks down into identifiable sections. Get your keywords in there.
And when you add your past jobs, it’s not a CV you are writing – it’s a snapshot of what you’ve done that will inform others about what you have in common – the basis of networking after all.
Add in your website – and you can change the title from ‘mywebsite’ to the real name – again, personalise it. Do you run a blog? If so, add it as a separate website.
Add your interests - it's the bit that makes you human.
And finally – update your status - the space just under your photo. You can do this every week, every day, or five times a day if you want! Use it to tell us about what you are working on at the moment. For example, ‘enjoying helping my connections improve their LinkedIn profiles today ...’