LinkedIn is quickly emerging as the go-to social media platform for B2B professionals. If you’re not utilizing what is essentially the biggest networking event in the world that people show up to EVERY DAY – you’re missing out.
Which is what most people are doing. Missing out on a huge pool of potential leads.
Luckily for you, if you’re one of the few who use the platform daily to post and engage, you’re ahead of the curve. Most people on LinkedIn are LURKERS; allowing their potential leads to be lured in by louder, more prominent voices on their feeds.
Ready to optimize your LinkedIn profile and up your LinkedIn game?
- Put a face to the company 🙂
Most people don’t take even the most simple step to LinkedIn optimization – uploading a profile photo.
Trust us, LinkedIn is alllll about the human-to-human connection. Instead of reaching out to your target audience through a series of ads promoting your company, promote your company on LinkedIn through the greatest ambassador it has – you! People do business with people they like. Upload that professional profile photo and let people put a face to the company so you can start building some relationships.
- Create a Background Photo 📷
Most people don’t take the time to upload a background photo to their profile either. If you’ve got one, you’re already one step ahead of the competition. A background photo gives you the opportunity to add some personality to your profile and really makes your page stand out. As a bonus, consider creating a banner image with your company logo to cement your brand into profile visitors’ minds! Ideal LinkedIn banner image sizing is 1584 wide by 396 high – an exact 4:1 proportion. Stick to those proportions for the best fit.
- Use keywords with intent! 🎡
Don’t just spam your profile with keywords. Pick your top couple of keywords (AKA the type of work you are looking to do, not just everything that you have experience with) and use those in your headline and profile summary. Do you want to attract leads based on what you’ve done in the past or has your target market evolved since then? If the latter, don’t place keywords on your profile relevant to the former.
- Get creative with your profile URL 🎨
What’s the primary benefit you offer your target market? Let’s say you’re a digital marketer that generates insane leads for your clients. Instead of the generic linkedin.com/in/FIRSTNAME-LASTNAME1234 try something like linkedin.com/in/LeanMeanLeadGeneratingMachine. It’s the little things sometimes!
- Write an article 📝
Articles on LinkedIn are super important because they grant you the opportunity to establish yourself as an authority figure in your industry. Even with just one article written, when leads visit your profile and see that you have that article written up, you’re gaining trust and industry recognition. Hint – you are totally allowed to upload an article you wrote on another social platform or website.
- Repurpose your articles. 🌈
Wrote that amazing long-form article? Great! Now you can repurpose that one long-form article into a million short-form LinkedIn posts.
- Get recommended! 👥
No recommendation? Recommendations are super important for establishing yourself as a priority figure on LinkedIn. Just one recommendation sets you apart from 99% of people on LinkedIn. Even though we all communicate increasingly by email and text, this is an instance where you should pick up the phone and talk about your request. If you do go the written route, delete the generic text and write something personal. Be specific, too. Ask them to recommend you for your recent project or work you did for their company. That being said, here is a template for a written recommendation request:
Hi (Name),
I hope all is well with you! I just read this piece and thought it would be particularly valuable to you as I read it: (PIECE LINK).
Anyway, I’m really proud of the work we’ve done together and look forward to working with you again. Would you be willing to write a bit about our collaboration and what the results were like with a recommendation?
I want to be respectful of your time so I’ve taken the initiative of starting a draft for you based on previous remarks you have made about me so you would just need to touch it up and submit. I am also more than happy to return the favor.
I know a recommendation from you will really elevate my profile but if you are busy, no worries.
Warmly,
(You!)
We hope these tips have you feeling like the LinkedIn pro we know you can be! That’s all from Ajax Union.
See ya next time!
Want to join the Ajax Union LinkedIn Authority Blueprint Webinar to learn how to become an authority on LinkedIn in 3 easy steps? Visit www.ajaxunion.com/blueprintwebinar.
Want to setup a call with Joe to discuss? Pick a time from his calendar www.joeapfelbaum.com/talk
Want the numbers? Check out the stats: www.ajaxunion.com/linkedinstats
