Why My LinkedIn Profile Isn’t Good Enough

• I want to get “found” by VPs of Sales who are searching (via Google or LinkedIn) for someone to speak/train at their annual meeting, conference or sales kick-off.
• When these VPs come to my profile, I want them to think, “Wow. She gets our issues, challenges and objectives. I want to learn more!”

• • In the first paragraph, make my purpose for being on LinkedIn very clear. Don’t make people guess why I’m the best choice. I need to put the speaking (keynotes & breakouts) upfront, but in a way that clearly states the value that my clients get from working with me.
  • Talk about what I do in a conversational tone, just like I’m sharing this information with someone over a cup of coffee.
  • Highlight my awards and special accomplishments. I have some, but they’re buried way down. They’re differentiators and establish my credibility – making them worthy of being near the top of my profile.
  •  Keep the specialties section (which most people don’t have in the summary, but should!), but add a few more key words that prospects might use to search for someone like me.
  • Include more supporting content. If you look right under the specialties area of my profile, you’ll see three graphics which are links to content on my website or slideshare. I have more. Your company probably has some ebooks, white papers and videos too. If you have them, use them.

As I look at this list, I realize that I have a lot of rewriting to do! Hopefully you’re thinking the same thing. Most LinkedIn profiles could use a serious face lift. With everyone checking you out online these days, it makes a huge difference.

The most important thing to remember is to keep it customer focused. This can be a real challenge, but as I talked about in I Hate LinkedIn Profiles Like This …, sounding like a hungry salesperson or a company brochure kills credibility.

Share contact info
If you want people to connect with you, share your contact information. It’s amazing how many people skip this step. I did. While there is a specific “Contact info” section that you can – should – use, Wayne also recommends including it directly in the Summary area. That way it’s much easier for people to get a hold of you.

Take control of your endorsements

Endorsements are one section that often gets ignored. In fact, I always thought they were pretty darn worthless since I’ve been endorsed by people I don’t know for things that I suck at.

But that’s a huge mistake! According to Wayne, they’re critically important for LinkedIn’s search ranking algorithm – meaning they actually determine the order that people show up in searches. Plus, they’re also a way for people to compare others to you, like “Yelping” of people.

Wayne suggested that I take charge of this and determine which endorsements show up on my profile. I’ve been instructed to:

With the right endorsements, I’ll have a greater chance of getting found by people searching for those skills. And, that’s really what we all want.

Okay. Enough for today’s LinkedIn lesson. Hopefully you’ll join me in taking your own profile to the next level too.

© 2014 by Jill Konrath. Jill Konrath is the author of AGILE SELLING, Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling. As a sales accelerator, she helps salespeople close deals faster. She’s a frequent speaker at sales kick-off meetings and conferences. Her expertise has by featured by ABC News, Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, Entrepreneur and Inc. magazine. Click here to get her free Prospecting Toolkit.