Four Hacks Straight From The LinkedIn Cheat Sheet

The Profile Picture

”It is absolutely imperative that you have a profile photo on?LinkedIn. Don’t be a ‘grey-man,’ someone who just keeps the default image. And not only that, you have to have a good profile photo. By that, I mean that the profile photo shows the entirety of your face, isn’t blurry, or to the side. Just a front-on shot. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, so make sure your picture is close up enough for people to see your eyes.

If you don’t have a good picture to use, get one. Hiring a photographer might cost a few dollars, but a well-shot profile photo is a must. Your profile photo is the first thing people see, so you want to leave a good impression.”

The About Section

”Your profile photo might be the first thing people see, but the about section is what people look at the most. According to Online Credibility Unmasked for the Legal Profession, when looking at a profile your eyes first go to the profile picture, then the about section, and then ,the headline. The attention levels are as follows: Profile Photo - 30.3%, Headline - 18.1%, and About Section - 51.6%.

Yet what’s funny is that the summary is what’s most often missing, or, most likely, just consists of one or two lines. I find a three part format to be most successful in the summary game:

Introductory section - try and stick to two or three sentences here, you want it to be a quick and snappy way for people to know who you are. The more specific about what you do and who you help, the better.

3 to 4 bullet points highlighting your achievements - bullet points are often what stand out the most in the summary, so you want these to be especially powerful.

Final closing paragraph - you’ve talked about what you do, what you’ve done, now it’s time to talk about what you can do for them.”

Contact Information

”I always get folks who are a bit trepidatious about putting their contact info on?LinkedIn. Here’s the deal,?LinkedIn?is by far the safest social media site, Keep in mind, if you add you phone number, only your?LinkedIn?connections can contact you. And if people who know you and are connected to you can’t easily find your phone number and call you to hire you, than why are you even on?LinkedIn? Add your phone number in the “contact info,” section.”

Recommendations

”You wouldn’t buy something off of Amazon that doesn’t have reviews, so why would you work with someone who doesn’t have recommendations? It might feel a bit embarrassing to ask for a recommendation on?LinkedIn, but if you’re working with a client and they give you a compliment, just ask them if they wouldn’t mind typing it up really quick to put in?LinkedIn.

An alternative is to “request a recommendation” in the Recommendations section after receiving a compliment, and then simply asking them to copy-and-paste your typed out recommendation based on what you remember them telling you. Make it easy for them and you will get far more recommendations.

Another great way to receive recommendations is to write them for others. What goes around, comes around, amiright?”