Sue Carr, marketing and communications consultant at V Formation Ltd
With 8 million users in the UK alone and a growth rate of around one new member per minute, Linkedin has become the world’s largest professional online network. Given this rate of growth, it makes good business sense to be involved and, whether you are a fan of social media or not, many of your potential customers will be using Linkedin to find out more about you and your credentials.
Through our Linkedin workshops we regularly have conversations with business people who have fledgling or unpopulated Linkedin profiles and are consequently struggling to realise any benefits from it. Maximising the benefits of Linkedin needs to be neither daunting nor time-consuming once you’ve made the small investment of building a compelling profile.
In this blog, V Formation’s Sue Carr sets out some top tips for building a Linkedin profile that can work for you and your business:
- Think carefully about who will be looking at your profile and make it relevant to your audience. Ensure your profile addresses their needs and what you can do for them
- Add your job title but make sure it is understandable to your audience. For example, if you are an Associate in a law firm, add your specialist legal area as well.
- Include an appropriate photo so visitors know it is you!
- Keep your summary concise and meaningful, with a punchy paragraph stating clearly who you are and what you do – and how you can help.
- List your specialities in keyword format – eg: ‘commercial contracts’ ‘trade mark advice’ copyright law’ as this improves your findability when people are searching for specific skills.
- Ask for (and give) recommendations. These provide valued character reference and add to your credibility.
- Add links to your company website(s) and your blog site.
- If you want potential customers to get in touch with you, make sure you have your email address and/or phone number on your profile and consider including it in the “Headline” or in the summary section.
- Join groups where your customers and prospects are active and get involved with the discussions – both by starting topics and commenting.
- Use the ‘add sections’ facility to highlight language skills and published works.
- Stay visible through regular updates to your status and taking an active role in discussions and groups.
I like to view Linkedin as a virtual and ongoing networking event, with different discussions taking place with different groups of people. But, as with ‘real life’ networking, to get anything out of it, you need to participate.
V Formation offers in-house, tailored Linkedin workshops from £20+VAT per participant. To find out more email Sue or Hilary.
