How to make a Linkedin profile that leaves its mark in six hours
A Linkedin profile that reflects your personal and professional value can open the door to new opportunities. David Díaz Robisco, an expert in the field, tells you how to make a profile that leaves a mark.
Diario Gestión
David Díaz Robisco began taking this Linkedin seriously in June 2015 and in just one year he managed to be recognized by Talentier magazine as one of the most influential people in Human Resources. Before he had suffered a resounding business failure. He set up with several partners another company that in six years went from billing zero euros to 12 million. “A year and a half later, we broke-account-not because of the crisis. For not doing things right,” according to Emprendedores.
Now it is presented in the market as a “facilitator” that helps “through training to improve results for medium and small businesses”. Also interested in personal branding, he is the author of the book "LinkedIn Course": 10 days to have a profile with a footprint. It is a kind of guide that tells you, step by step, how to make your profile on this network that allows you to transmit your value as a professional, that of your companies and personal brand. We summarize below what these steps are and how long each one will take you up to a total of 6 hours spread over 10 days.
DAY 1. WHO I AM. GETTING THE BEST OF ME
Estimated work time: 40 minutes. The first task, according to this expert, is to name your values. This is: to emphasize in what we are different from the rest and, in coherence, to find out what our value proposition is, although the author calls it “of love”. When considering what those values are, he proposes that you consider everything that makes you happy when you practice it and on the contrary. Here comes both professional and personal. Surely you get an immense list, but it is convenient to focus and stay alone with 3 or 4, those that you think best fit the brand you want to project. Although you do this reflection on the first day, the values are not incorporated until you reach the profile statement, on day 7.
DAY 2. MY OBJECTIVES
Estimated work time: 30 minutes. Here it refers to what you pursue in Linkedin without forgetting that your goals must be aligned to your values. More important than quantity is quality. Among your goals may be to attract talent, attract new customers, look for synergies, find a professional opportunity... But Linkedin does not come to ask, you have to enter with the intention of giving and adding value to the community. For that you have to become a reference in a specific area or subject in line with the content or comments you publish and without forgetting the alignment of the objectives with the values. To underline that alignment, it is recommended that everyone look for their own motto. Theirs is "make simple what seems complex", other slogans can be, for example, "transforming people", "helping to separate the straw from the grain", or any other that summarizes in a line what you offer to the community.
DAY 3: MY PROFESSIONAL HOLDER. MY ELEVATOR PITCH
Estimated working time 30 minutes. At this point, Robisco reminds you that you are more than just a job, “you are a clickable product” and, consequently, you have to know ‘sell yourself’. Your photo, your name and your professional headline will always be visible.
Regarding the headline, he says: "You have 120 characters to pitch so that it is clear to anyone what you do and offer." The author also includes a series of tips to make the professional headline more effective, such as the use of action verbs in infinitive or gerund, such as “helping”, “solving”, “contributing”, “leading”... Then you can add how you make and decide the terms with which you would like to appear in the search. Make sure anyone could understand what you offer, from a child to an old man.
If you still have doubts, suggest a series of questions that you could ask yourself to decide the type title: what do I do, how do I do it or who do it for? Do not forget to include the keywords you have decided for searches.
As for the name, it is recommended to add the two last names since it is easier to differentiate ourselves. In this section, false identities, commercial names or using a personal profile as a company page are prohibited. Also forget about emoticons.
DAY 4: MY PROFILE PHOTO
Estimated time. Go to the photographer plus 10 minutes. The photo has to reflect you as you are. He advises to go to a professional and not publish a careless photo. Other guidelines indicated in this section are: look straight ahead, smile, make sure your head and shoulders are full. If you see much more than your elbows you are too far away. As for the background of the photo he opts for neutral or a flat color. Dress, comb and make up for success. Technical aspects: up to 8Mb and between 400x400 and 20,000x20,000 pixels. It is also recommended to try the filters proposed by Linkedin for photos
DAY 5. MY BACKGROUND IMAGE. COMMUNICATE 20% MORE
Estimated working time 30 minutes. It refers to the blue background of the stars that comes out at the top of your profile. It is what is known as a banner, a space that, in most cases, is wasted. What can you include in the fund? Something for what you want to be identified. You can put a neutral background with a phrase. An image of a bank of images with a phrase or phrase coming out of you. You can put there the company logo, contact information or the web. What it advises is to avoid images of sites that you like, family or personal hobbies
DAY 6. MY FIRST LINE OF THE EXTRACT
Estimated work time: 30 minutes. Robisco points out that we are all a little gossip and that we like to know what the people we deal with and what they like do. These first lines are going to be decisive for you to continue reading or abandon your profile and that is why you have to conceive it as the first approach you have with another person. Obviously, if you start selling, you start very badly, and if you start talking about yourself and your professional career you run the risk of getting bored at the third word. According to this, we must flee from presentations of the type: "professional with XX years of experience", "MBA by the University of...", "market leaders".
“Nobody is interested in who you are or what you have studied or if you are in the best company in the world. I just want to know what you can offer me,” says the author.
DAY 7 THE EXTRACT. I don't care who you are. Can we do something together?
Estimated work time: 60 minutes. "Your statement should not be a summary of your past professional experience, what matters to people is what you can give them," not forgetting the objective and what you want to become a reference that you have decided on the second day. If what you are looking for, for example, is a better job than presenting yourself as “a professional with a great capacity for work, responsible, accustomed to working under pressure, with x years of experience, with x studies...” you have to prove what you are able to contribute. What have you contributed, what issues have you solved and what are your values as a professional, which may also have to do with your hobbies. All this you have to tell in 2000 characters so you have to try to get attention. It can be a good site to comment on what you are looking for. Not in the title or the first line. You can put your profile in several languages as long as the translation is accurate.
DAY 8. TUNING YOUR PROFILE. SAY GOODBYE TO BORED EXTRACTS
Estimated work time: 30 minutes more search multimedia. To avoid weighing the presentation, recommend short and well spaced paragraphs. Use capital letters at the beginning of the paragraphs as if it were a title and structure the text well by listing with hyphens or other resources, such as emojis, that lighten the reading.
But, in addition to the text, you can incorporate multimedia elements: photos, powerpoint, pdfs, videos... here you can include your company's website, an image of you giving a lecture, an article you have written...
DAY 9 MY EXPERIENCE. TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE GOT.
Estimated work time: 45 minutes. This part is like your CV but quite summarized. As aspects to take into account in this section it recommends: keep in mind which company you put the last one, “because that is the one that will appear in your profile”. If you enter the name of the companies for which you have worked, check whether or not you are registered in Linkedin. If so, click on your logo so that next to the company logo the logo appears on your profile ”. He also advises completing the experience "always thinking about the achievements you have accomplished".
Training, skills, volunteering, achievements and interests are sections that should also be filled out.
DAY 10. OTHER ASPECTS
Estimated time: 30 minutes. If you want to interact with the people who consult your profile, it is interesting that you make clear all the ways they have to contact you: mail, web, social networks, physical address...
Another aspect that you should keep in mind is the URL of your profile that is used for search engines to index it. By default, Linkedin assigns you a URL with your first and last name and letters and numbers. However, you can accept the one assigned to you or customize it by entering the name of your company or your specialty.
Completed the tasks and with your Linkedin profile already optimized, start now work to gain contacts and grow your network.