According to a report by the publishing team at Statista, LinkedIn features more than 756 million total members. The vast majority of users on the LinkedIn platform are millennials, showing clearly the importance of technology among our rising entrepreneurial class. For individuals looking to make the most out of their online business profile, LinkedIn offers a wealth of tools and features to make the job easy. You can check out this profile for an example of what we mean.
Today, we are going to highlight a handful of ways that you can visibly improve your LinkedIn profile while encouraging traffic, growth, and business success.
1) Start With Your Graphics – Before doing anything else, it is absolutely vital that up-and-coming professionals invest in professional graphics. While the internet is a socially driven place, imagery rules all and there is no better way to garner attention.
Outfit your professional LinkedIn profile with a host of images captured by a local professional photographer. Entrepreneurs should have a warm and welcoming headshot that represents themselves and their personalities to the world. Have a friend or trusted colleague look at your headshots to provide their opinion. The right headshot can go a long way toward creating positive opportunities.
The first impression is EVERYTHING, so make yours a good one.
2) Build Your Network – LinkedIn isn’t solely a resource to offer interested clients or potential partners. LinkedIn is also a social media platform and it should be engaged with as such.
After establishing your LinkedIn profile, begin building your network by adding connections and granting skill endorsements to professionals that you have worked with before. Passing out these endorsements can help to foster communication, activity, growth, and even reciprocal endorsements.
3) Nail Your Summary – There are few places in your profile that matter more than your profile summary. The summary of your profile is like the first chapter of the book you are writing, it must hook your audience and inform them of what you are about.
Take some time to compile key information that you feel is important to incorporate into your summary. Business experience, educational opportunities, even philanthropic endeavors are all welcome.
Use a professional tone and write with confidence. You are selling yourself to the world, let them know how valuable you are.
4) Create Engaging Content – On LinkedIn (and other social media platforms you’ve chosen), you should try to get into the habit of creating and sharing engaging content through your profile stream. Creating engaging content will allow for your profile to become more shareable on the platform, leading to new connections and potential opportunities.
Try to incorporate a blend of topics and conversations that are relevant to your business and aspirations. Create a dialogue and build your reputation through these conversations. You are creating content that will last long after the conversation ends, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to your company for as long as the information is available online.