The Friday Freelancer #007: Why your social profile sucks.

Hey! Huw here.

Happy Friday to the over 1000 new freelancers who have joined us since last week.

Each Friday, I send out one tip to grow your freelance design business. ??

Today's issue takes may take you a couple of minutes to read.

Enjoy

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To build a following online, you have to give people a reason to follow you.

Otherwise, why should they care?

In a sea of content noise and 3-second attention spans, we need to work harder than ever to grab attention.

I’ve spent the last year growing my audience on LinkedIn to over 3000.

While that may seem like a decent number to some of you, it’s only a drop in the ocean to the 830 million members overall.

If you’re not growing your audience, start now!

OK, social media profiles.

While there are many different ways to design your profiles, I’m going to talk about what works for me and my clients.

Here is my 4-step process for optimising your profile on LinkedIn.

1. Impress with your banner image

The banner image at the top of your profile is one of the very first things people see.

Because of its size, it is crucial that you take advantage.

Unfortunately, many people use this area to share random pictures of landscapes, textures, or even the blank grey default image.

None of those things are actionable.

Your image should help with:

• building brand awareness
• articulate what you do and who you help
• driving traffic to your website or portfolio

Whether you are just starting out as a freelancer, designer, or business owner, we want to be as clear as possible with our profile visitors.

One of my clients, Amanda Harbrow does this well. She explains the why behind her brand design business.

2. Your profile pic is your head turner

The second thing people look at is your profile pic.

While this can evoke any emotion you want, it’s best to have it match your brand values.

Are you going for professional, quirky, reliable? powerful, trustworthy?

Whether we like it or not we judge someone on first impressions.

Make it count. Keep it friendly and engaging. It will go a long way to connecting with your audience.

Pro tip: get a talented friend or hire a photographer to capture the perfect profile shot.

3. Make your tagline pop

The purpose of your tagline is to tell people what you do, who you help, and why they should follow you.

This strategy works well if you are a freelancer or business owner. Someone that uses LinkedIn as a lead-generating tool, because it’s important for our profile views to count.

If you are working full time then describing your role as a digital producer or creative director is effective as employers and recruiters use keywords to search for talent.

I let people know what I do and who I serve, whilst also providing a call to action.

Another client, Kon Chatzi, spells out perfectly what he does, who he helps, and what his specialty skill is.?

4. Feature your best self

The featured section is one of the most overlooked areas on your profile.

It’s the place where you should show off your best work, client testimonials, or case studies.

What’s even better is to use it to sell your products and services.

I use the featured section to increase eye-balls on my Friday Freelancer newsletter you are reading right now.

Perhaps this is how you found it!?

I also use links to book a free discovery call with me or to view client testimonials.

Have a think about what you’d like to showcase for your own brand or business.

Remember to think of your LinkedIn profile as a landing page.

As people scan your banner image, profile pic, tagline, and featured sections, they are getting to know, like, and trust you.

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That's all for this Friday. 1 simple tip for your freelance design business.

If you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with others on LinkedIn.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers, Huw

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you...??

1. Build a?better and more predictable freelance design business?here.

2. Need help getting clients? Consider joining my?community 'Level Up!'

3. If you're curious about how to become a Six-Figure Designer. Book your FREE discovery call?here