How To Boost Your Personal Brand On LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best places online to build up and project your personal brand, whether you’re job hunting, an entrepreneur, or happily working your dream job.

• LinkedIn has more than 400 million users in more than 200 countries.
• B2B marketers say LinkedIn is the top social media channel for B2B content and most effective for generating leads.
• Many LinkedIn members check in daily.

These stats alone cement LinkedIn as a platform most business people cannot ignore. Even if you enjoy spending time on other channels more, you owe it to your business and career to be visible on LinkedIn.

Polish your profile

First and foremost, your profile must be not just an accurate representation of you, but a compelling one.

• Make the most of your headline. Just below your photo is a 120-character field where you can craft a catchy, compelling professional headline to describe yourself. Don’t just list your job title here; you want to spend some time creating a tagline that shows off your strengths and includes relevant keywords people might be searching.
• Upload a quality photo. Your profile is 11 times more likely to be viewed if you have a photo. And don’t just make it your latest selfie off your phone. If you’re serious about doing business on LinkedIn, get a serious photo.
• Upload a “background” photo. You can also upload a background photo to use as your header image. Choose something that reflects your brand.
• Fill out the contact info. The whole point of a LinkedIn profile is for people to contact you, so fill out this section completely. Be aware that you can put your blog or website in the links section.
• Summary. Craft your summary the way you would an “about” page on a website. Lead with how you help people, rather than just talking about your strengths or qualifications. Try to be warm, personal, and engaging to encourage people to keep reading.
• Create a portfolio. LinkedIn’s association with SlideShare makes it easy to upload images of your work to a SlideShare deck, and then click, “Add to LinkedIn profile” to associate it with your profile. A great way to add a portfolio or recent projects to your profile.
• Use multimedia. In the Experience and Education sections, you can upload documents, photos, links or videos. Using multimedia (especially videos) here will help you stand out.
• List skills. Be sure to take advantage of the skills and endorsements section. Listing your skills gives you a 1300% boost in views.
• Utilize the optional sections to stand out. There are quite a few optional sections you can include on your profile including groups, professional associations, certifications, and more. Use the ones you feel will help you stand out and be conversation starters.

Once you have a robust profile, you have to use it.  Just filling out the profile isn’t enough.

Using LinkedIn proactively to build your brand

The biggest value of LinkedIn is in your network, so you want to actively look to grow it.

• Start by sending personal invitations to people you know. Don’t just rely on the canned language LinkedIn provides; write one or two sentences to each person, especially high-value contacts, and send them out.
• Run the “people you may know” section often to grow your network.
• Request introductions to people you want to know through your own contacts.

Next, join a few groups.  One of the network’s most valuable functions is its groups. Anyone can start a group, but it’s good to join a few and engage before you start your own.

Use keyword searches to find relevant groups to join; you can join up to 50 with a free account. That should be plenty, because the key here is to get involved and meaningfully engage in the groups you join.  Ask questions, answer questions, and generally be helpful.

Creating your own group is easy, but remember that managing it well will take time and effort.

Finally, be useful. Start by sharing your thoughts.  Update your activity status the way you would on any social network. You can talk about the projects you’re working on, books you’re reading, etc. (Be aware, LinkedIn is less a place for sharing cat videos and food photos than other platforms.)

Start discussions in groups. Ask questions or answer them to engage with other members. You can even link to blog posts or articles that support the discussion. Stay tuned in, because your questions or discussion may lead to follow-ups.

You can also publish content on LinkedIn.  The platform has its own, easy-to-use blogging platform, and integrates with SlideShare to make sharing your presentations easy. Great content can get picked up by Pulse, LinkedIn’s personalized online magazine, where it can be seen by tens of thousands of readers.   

Adopt some of these strategies as regular habits, and I can practically guarantee you’ll see results. Some of my articles published to LinkedIn have garnered millions of views, and hundreds of comments, not to mention connecting me with the kinds of customers and associates I love to work with.  

What other bits of advice would you add? Any tips I should add to my list? Any thoughts on the topic? Let me know in the comments below.  

Thank you for reading my post. Here at LinkedIn and at Forbes I regularly write about management, technology and Big Data. If you would like to read my future posts then please click 'Follow' and feel free to also connect via Twitter, Facebook, Slideshare, and The Advanced Performance Institute.

Here are some other recent posts I have written:

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You might also be interested in my brand new book :

• Key Business Analytics: The 60+ Business Analysis Tools Every Manager Needs To Know A book outlining the most important analytics tools and approaches and how to apply them across all business functions.

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