How do you optimize your Summary on your LinkedIn Profile?

One of the most common questions I get about LinkedIn is “how do I optimize my profile?”

People want to know the best way to optimize their profile because their profile is more important than their website.

When you do a Google search for most people's names, you will get LinkedIn to be in the top results of Google.

Make sure that your profile is optimized well with the right Identity, Summary and History.

You can find lots of advice around the type of photo to put up, how to write a great headline and how to do a full on profile makeover.

What I rarely see anyone talk about is the Summary Section of your LinkedIn profile. This is probably the MOST IMPORTANT piece of real estate ONCE someone lands on your profile.

Before they land on your profile, you need a great photo, name and headline to lure them in. Once they are IN, you've got to get them to take some type of action.

The best way to do that is to have a compelling Summary section.

I see some people do this correctly but 99% of people either did not fill it out or they have meaningless information in their summary, wasting lots of valuable space.

I highly recommend creating your summary in a word document and storing it so you can keep improving it and changing your profile as time goes on and things change.

A LinkedIn summary can only be 2000 characters so choose that space wisely.

Realize that the first few sentences will only be seen until someone viewing your profile hits "See more...", and if you have media featured on your profile, the "See more..." button will be under the media.

Personally, I start with a line I want people to use when they introduce me.

“?? Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO of Ajax Union, A B2B Digital Marketing Agency Located in Brooklyn, NY. ??”

I include emojis to stand out from the crowd. Keep in mind that every emoji is worth two characters

Next, I include a line that explains my current business “??Ajax Union’s focus is B2B digital marketing strategy. ?? ."

This way people understand off the bat what we do for a living and if they can be a good client or referral partner, it makes it easy for them to understand.

The third thing we add is a call to action, telling people to click the SHOW MORE button. We also invite people to join our webinar!

Here is what that looks like:

“?? PLEASE NOTE >>Click SHOW MORE BUTTON and GET MOJOVATED!!!! ?? New webinar https://learn.socialsellin.com/webinar - Sign up ?? ?????????? ??”

Go ahead and look at my profile and see what I am talking about.

Keep in mind that when you view my profile from your smartphone, you will see those links in my summary as clickable link. The same is not true for people viewing with their computers.

57% of people are using LinkedIn from their smartphone so I make sure not to miss out on this opportunity.

Once people click SHOW MORE they get the full summary. They are able to ready EVERYTHING that I posted.

Here are a few ideas for the things you can include in your extended summary.

1. Call to action: What do you want people to do? I want people to watch a blueprint webinar.
2. Call to Action 2.:What else do you want people to do? I want people to join our Social Sellin System. It's a course that teaches people how to maximize LinkedIn.
3. Testimonials: I want people to watch a video on Youtube with some great testimonials from clients.
4. Meeting: I want people to schedule a call with me to network and build relationships. I include a link to my calendar.
5. Goal: I write that I am a professional public speaker and I want to do 50 speaking engagements in the next year. When people see that they think of ways to get me paid speaking opportunities.
6. Credibility: Get people to see what networks you are part of, what press you had and what awards you won. Been featured on the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and INC 500 - I also talk about EO, Vistage and YPO.
7. Mission: I tell people that I am on a mission to help hungry entrepreneurs go from Frustration to Mojovation! And I invite people to listen to my podcast. Join my Facebook group with over 600 entrepreneurs.
8. Invitation: I invite people to come to my upcoming meetup and join my meetup group. I am doing one in Miami and one in Brooklyn. Sign up to the meetup group!
9. Accountability: I include the last date that I updated my summary!
10. FUN: Just for fun, I include my RAP that I did last year promoting our Marketing Stack called B2Bx.
11. As a bonus, I tell people to LET ME KNOW they read the entire message by sending me a direct message on LinkedIn. Rarely do I get anyone to send me a message but when I DO GET ONE, it's A GAME CHANGER. I met a few people one who turned out to be a CLIENT! Just because I put that little line there! It's REAL. IT WORKS. 

What else can you include in your summary? Let me know in the comments below.

Joe Apfelbaum

Ajax Union

PS: Please join our upcoming webinar about the 12 ways to direct message on LinkedIn. https://learn.socialsellin.com/webinar BOOM

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