How to start building the LinkedIn you want: A step-by-step guide by a newbie. A 10 posts series.
Shirley Santana Herrera
??Economist & Entrepreneur | Governance & Development | Chevening Scholar 23/24 | ?? Helping students reach their full academic potential, one opportunity at a time
For outsiders, LinkedIn can appear confusing, too tight, or even boring. Imagine a social media platform dedicated exclusively to posting everything about jobs. For some, it is just useful when they need to get a job. Others see it just as a virtual CV you keep renewing with every new course you take.?
But it can be so much more: a community, a living free encyclopedia, a center of narrators to discover new experiences and stories, a meme factory (not a lot about that) and even a place to spark new and necessary conversations.?
The biggest reason why less than 1% of users share content regularly is the fear of start posting "feeling that what they have to say is not important" or isn't worth sharing.?
As a review, just 3 million of the 738 million accounts share posts here.?
I was one of the 99%, but not anymore.
I opened my LinkedIn account in 2019 at the recommendation of a friend, but I just used it occasionally to post some new certifications I had completed.?
In 2022, I started sharing my story here and wonderful things happened to me during the first 3 months of sharing content consistently.
I felt so inspired by these opportunities that I decided to write down everything I know about how to improve a profile and build a better network platform for newbies, like me.?
How to start building the LinkedIn you want: A step-by-step guide by a newbie is a series of posts dedicated entirely to new users, or users that wanted to start sharing content consistently.?
This article is a recopilation of the 10 posts. I hope you find these tips helpful. LinkedIn for begginers
The first thing that should come to our minds every time we are starting to do something new, different or daring is WHY.?
Why am I doing this?
This is the principal question you should ask yourself.
Your WHY is your purpose and the foundation of every little thing you do.
You see, LinkedIn is a platform that relies on networking, helping, and learning, so you need to understand the platform and what you’re doing here.
One of the differences I’ve noticed when comparing other social media is that LinkedIn isn’t here to entertain you (even though I follow some content creators that only post memes or comedy).
So if you are here, it’s because you want something more. And, for that, you need to know what you’re looking for here.
You want to hire someone?
Do you want to be visible and valuable to potential recruiters?
Do you want to meet more people and form meaningful professional connections?
You want to grow your business?
Or perhaps you just want to share stories about your personal, professional, and academic life?
LinkedIn is for you and can work for your goals once you know what they are.
For example, my WHY I am on LinkedIn is simple: For me, the most important thing are meaningful and impactful connections, those that allow you to get out of your comfort zone and, above all, go beyond your personal limits and labels.
I’m also soooo passionate about stories (#booklover here) and LinkedIn provides me with an infinite ocean of people from whom you can get inspired every day.?
Do you already know your why?
PD: Even if you don’t know yet, don’t worry, this isn’t a test.?
Yesterday we identified our WHYs. The first to get to "understand" LinkedIn. If you don’t know where you’re headed, you’re already there.
A stellar profile sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it’s basic, not fancy.
?LinkedIn, like some other social media platforms, tells you what to do to have a good profile. We just need to listen (read it will be more accurate).
Let’s start from the beginning:
?? Visual part: You NEED a good picture of yourself for your profile, a headshot. Please don’t use a beautiful sunrise or a picture of a group of friends. Remember, we're interested in getting to know you.
If you don’t have any good pictures of your face, take your phone (or borrow one) and take a picture with a clear background and good lighting. Smile, if you want to (even though I’m not smiling in my profile pic, lol)?
Remember, as much as people want to deny it, we all judge books by their covers.
This goes with your banner. You can take a good quality picture that represents yourself. Let’s say you’re a mathematician. It makes sense for you to have some of the most interesting formulas you know.
You can find good quality pictures on the Freepik Company website.
I’ve seen people that create a banner in Canva, adding their contact information; others include a quote that resonates with their hearts; others just let the blue template from LinkedIn (don’t be that person, please?)
If you want to create a banner, there are tons of free videos in YouTube on how to use Canva.
Headline Part: This is where you describe yourself in a few sentences; it appears directly beneath your name.You only have 120 characters to generate genuine interest in your profile.?
What do you need to have? Simple: What do you do? Are you a copywriter, CEO, youth leader, astronaut, or student? Where? At Mars, at Narnia, at Arrakis, you tell me. You tag your company or school using @.
Keywords (more on that in a separate post). This is how people are going to find you. Are you a speaker, a consultant, or an interpreter?
And the ?apa (a word we Dominicans use to describe an extra unexpected gift that’s usually reserved for the end). I saw William Arruda calling it the Zing in an article for Forbes México. This is what makes you interesting. But, remember, at the end of the day, you’re helping someone do or accomplish something, right?
I’ve seen some people put it like this: I help Marvel Studios Cinematic Universe pedestrians suit The Avengers for collateral damage to their cars parked in the streets in the middle of a fight.?
Your headline is how you’re selling your professional profile to the world.??
What’s yours? Let me know in the comments!
And go change the profile picture. Show your beautiful self, here too.
Every time a person looks at your profile, they’re looking for information about you. So it’s up to YOU to take control of the narrative. For this purpose, you have the Summary section.
Just putting what you do isn’t enough to know you or your business.
A good way to fill your summary is to structure it as if you’re telling a short version of your life story.
First of all, you should write it in first person. Imagine you’re introducing yourself to a person in real life. How would you talk to them?
Then you want to guide us through the important things you want us to know. It could go in this order:
A briefing about your education (what, where, why?)
A description of your passions, related or not to your professional life.
A review of past professional experience and your present experience. It can be interesting to include what you imagine yourself doing in the future or your dream role.
You can also share with your audience your hobbies or the things you do to help your community (volunteering).
Some people include their strengths, and you should too. Are you a prolific event planner? A photographer specialized in outdoor weddings?
Remember, this summary isn’t a CV, it’s like your personal pitch. Try to make short paragraphs and include Emojis. They’re your friends if you use them well.
In the experience and education sections, try to be specific about your work/school/college experience, give details, and provide value.
A simple way to do it is by using the Google X-Y-Z Formula. Be mindful about how you describe your responsibilities and accomplishments.
Example: "Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]."
??Managed opportunities for interactions and stimulation of participation with 50+ young members of the Youth Advisory Panel in spaces for socio-political dialogue, as well as in exchange processes and capacity building, increasing participation by more than 80% in one year.
You can also add pictures and links. Use them all. For a good example, visit the profile of Wendy Javier.
Keep in mind that you’re not making a list, you're highlighting your experiences and learning.
This is helpful for jobseekers, students applying to opportunities, and anyone that wants to create a better profile.
There are a hundred things I could say about how bad it is for your mental health to put people on pedestals, but that’s not today’s topic.
If you want to start creating content here, you should read A LOT.
You need to consume content in order to produce content.
These are my top 15 ?inspiring? LinkedIn influencers to follow on your journey navigating this platform:
Stephanie Nuesi is a fellow Dominican with an incredible story about overcoming obstacles and landing your dream job. She is also the CEO of Max Up, a company that helps people find the right opportunities in the right companies.
Pabel Martinez of Plurawl in his quest to redefine professionalism and his podcast "Quién Tú Eres" is the bomb.
Nick Martin if you’re a jobseeker and want to find a meaningful job, he is always posting new opportunities. Also follow his hashtag #nickatnoon
Austin Belcak is always teaching people how to land amazing jobs, in his company Cultivated Culture, you can find useful resources for your job seeking journey.
Salina Yeung teaches you everything you need to know about building a community on LinkedIn.
Jonathan Tesser offers amazing and sometimes controversial career, personal growth, and life advice to young people. He usually posts twice a day. In his posts, you will find topics to generate a conversation on different topics. Engage in the comments and start writing down the advice. You’ll need it.
Mar Domínguez Seda (if you speak Spanish) always shares her experiences in the workplace and in digital marketing.
Aakash Gupta always shares wonderful advice based on his experience as a Product Manager. His way of structuring the posts makes them so easy to understand and challenges you to think outside of the box, even if you’re not a Project or Product Manager.
Elvi Caperonis frequently shares inspirational stories and quotes.
Vedika Bhaia LinkedIn organic growth expert.
Jerry Lee ??and Jonathan Javier?? from Wonsulting, provide tons of free resources to make a perfect resume and find the right opportunities in the workplace.
Amelia Sordell ?? I've followed her advice on developing a personal brand, so I wholeheartedly recommend her.
Florian Decludt for good advices in how to build a community, he also share about personal branding and mindset.
Elizabeth Morgan creates career content, makes beautiful earrings and has that "coolness" that makes you want to grab a cup of coffee and listen to her story.
Vilma Nu?ez expert in digital marketing, shares a lot about strategies for all social media, business models, and content creation.
Let’s stop being just "views" and start being part of a community.
We're halfway there, y'all. I’ll be honest here: LinkedIn can be confusing. There’s a lot of content here, many people, thousands of posts about new cool jobs, and millions of different people to meet, just in the distance of a connection or follow.
Maybe you’re thinking right now that with all of this information, your profile will be lost, and there’s no way you can be visible to potential recruiters, companies, business partners, or maybe your next best friend.
One way to maximize your profile is by using keywords.
We need to understand that, primarily, LinkedIn is a people searcher.
So knowing that, the first action I would recommend is selecting a few words that describe what you do or what you’re trying to do.
How to know your keywords? Easy. Tell me what you do, and then you will have your keywords.
For example, Martina is a Project Manager; her keywords might include project management, team leadership, project life cycle, Critical Path Method, change management, agile, and business planning.
If you don’t know how to select your keywords, a quick Google search will give you words related to your work.
A few tips
??Include the keywords in your headline (remember that we talked about it a few posts ago?)
??Include the same keywords in your summary, education, and job experience (also name the pictures you upload here with a keyword).
??Maybe try using hashtags? It can be useful.
Search. Select. Include. Repeat.??
LinkedIn operates based on connections (likely genuine ones) and celebrates the active members who usually display social behavior.
领英推荐
Imagine you are at a big event. The attendees are exceptional people. Maybe you have already read a little about them. If you’re an introvert like me, just the thought of starting a conversation with them can be scary.
Questions like
How would I introduce myself? What topics can I share with them? What if they find me awkward? What if I stutter?
And a million more.
Good news for us: LinkedIn simplifies networking, making it accessible for you and me to introduce ourselves to people we are eager to meet and learn from.
But you need to be social here. What does that mean?
Well, you should interact with other people, so they can interact with you, and later with your content.
How?
React- Start by just reacting to 5 post a day (try using a different reaction to recommend).
Share- If you find a piece of content or post that inspires you and can be helpful to other people, try to share it. Please add an observation to the post, like: I'm sharing this because I believe in the power of storytelling.
Comment- leave meaningful comments on posts that catch your attention or that are similar to the topics you’re interested in.
What is a meaningful comment? Not just emojis, for sure!
There’s a way I’ve noticed, reading some comments in creators, a structure to separate simple comments from good ones:
?? 1. Include the most interesting idea or sentence from the post, or the lesson from the story that you can identify.
?? 2. Write your own complimentary idea or suggestions. Try to be specific use 3-5 sentences. Look for ways in which you can relate to the post and always try to sparkle a little personality there. It’s always welcome.
?? 3. If necessary, thank the author for sharing the post.
Extra: always tag the author in your comment. That way, it’s possible for you to appear as a "relevant comment" at the top of the comment section.??????
Following that, try to be consistent in your comments for your network, not just influencers, as this shows that you care and genuinely support them.
That’s how here, a person can identify if you're part of her or his community, or just a view.
Remember how it’s impossible for one person to be liked by everyone on planet earth?
Take, for example, my sacred avocado (couldn't find any emoji)
??It’s literally perfect, but even this nature's miracle that provides us with almost everything we need to be happy is disliked by a majority of people.
Shocking, I know.
Knowing that, it's better just to select which person we want to share our thoughts with.
That’s what we call "niche".
Whom are you talking to? What’s your audience? But most importantly, who do you want them to be as you start posting regularly?
The basics for this are to know data like: age, gender, language, culture, hobbies, interests, studies, lifestyle, etc.
Your niche is an important thing here, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones that will support your content and business and are willing to make a meaningful connection with you.
Some helpful tips:
Start with knowing the topics you dominate: how are they related to your experience? Do you have accomplishments on this topic (small victories also count).
Select a few topics that you are aware are interesting to the people that follow you.
If you talk about mental health in the workplace, and the majority of the people that follow you are gen z, it makes sense to start relating your content to your audience.
But if it’s the other way around, you need to start creating the content around your topics in order to attract the followers and connections you are looking for.
Understand the needs of your niche: what bothers them? What makes them smile? What type of content do they relate to the most? You can read online statistics about this or make a Likendin Poll.
This is all about finding the trends, segmenting them and then innovating.
A super specific niche, will sound like this: a bookstore specializing in journalism books for aspiring writers.
If you have extensive knowledge of different topics, try to choose two and add the others as subtopics of your main ones.
I hope this can clarify it a little bit for you.
Creating something is difficult. That’s one of the reasons why I find creative people so interesting.
They think. They try. They do. And then they begin again, until it’s the way they imagine it.
For some, the process of creating is done in private until they're satisfied. Bad news for content creators: you have to get better on the road, in public.
It can be frightening. Just thinking of it makes me stressed.
For those of you that don’t know, my first language isn’t English, it's Spanish. My biggest fear while doing my first post in English was thinking:
What would a native or fluent English speaker say about my grammar?
What would happen if the English Grammar Police closed my account for writing bussiness instead of business?
They haven’t found me yet.
What are the fears that convinced you that you can’t post?
Maybe you’re not smart enough? Don’t know English that well (or any other language)? Fear of being embarrassed? Or perhaps you think you're not interesting enough?
Good news for you, were are all here just trying.
To be able to improve at something, you have to allow yourself to suck at it first. Be really bad at it, identify those improvement areas, and then start getting better, one step at a time.
There isn’t one single post that me or any person could make to force you to write and hit the "post" button.
Behind the cameras, behind the computer, the cellphone, the post, the article, it’s a person, as human as you and me.
Let's do some homework: Write down on a sheet of paper every doubt that you have regarding starting to post and growing your network here.
Maybe there will be a lot. The next step will be to debate a loooooot. Start contradicting those doubts with facts.
The first step? Post something. One idea: introduce yourself and say hi to the network.
Don’t wait to be inspired. That could take a long time.
Do it today, or before going for the Eastern holidays.
If you post, tag me or let me know in the comments, I'll be happy to go and give a meaningful comment and be your cheerleader, or might I say "shirleader".??
See what I did there???
Storytelling is king. It is the art of connecting emotionally with another person through a story.
But please, let’s not get too cliché about it.
We all know stories: Anacaona, Spiderman, Aladdin, the Boy Who Lived... We ARE made of stories.
We remember stories, not data. We are trapped by stories because we, as human beings, are interested in the lives of other human beings. Yeez, we even create whole online platforms dedicated to knowing each other's lives (Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, hi5, Discord).
In a world made by stories, the ones that tell them are building their narrative, modeling the structure and influencing others at the same time.
This fancy term is often used by professionals in marketing, writing, and journalism. But right now, it is being used for innovative financial reports as well.
I didn’t get an A in my technical writing in college (that’s a bummer), but I did learn the power that the phrase "Let me tell you a story" holds.
So let’s use it to start posting our content. Start thinking of storytelling as like drawing a map. The clearer, the better. Your journey can be awesome, but at the end of the day, you need to arrive at the destination.
The point? A question often asked when we’re using an ineffective way of communicating. The point is missing, the words are too much, and you lose the thread.
If you want to avoid that, I recommend the A STAR (E) method:
Answer: Start with one sentence that answers a question. Do you want to know how I passed my driver's license exam without studying? Well, I didn’t.
Situation: Describe the situation. What happened and who was there?
Tension: The conflict. Yes, you must confront a conflict or obstacle in the story. We are waiting for it, believe me.
Action: What did you do? What happened? Just tell me already. It's like the climax of the story.
Result: What was the aftermath? Did you win? You lose?
E: What did you learn from the situation? Let's summarize the learning in a few sentences. Remember the moral of the story in every fable?
Try to engage your audience. But first, start writing the stories you want to share with us. At the end of the day, this whole series began with the story of how I started sharing content here.
Any tips for developing a good storytelling strategy?
If you speak Spanish, I recommend the book Storytelling, la escritura mágica: Técnicas para ordenar las ideas, escribir con facilidad y hacer que te lean, by Carlos Salas.
In the past 9 posts, I've been sharing tips about the things I learned as I started to use LinkedIn frequently and transformed from just a view to an active member of a community that creates, learns, and grows together.
This post will focus on the things we shouldn’t do as newbies. Because we are learning, we will probably make mistakes along the way (I did a ton), so this is my form of "saving" you from those.
Let it be clear that there is more than one way to be right and this advice is just based on my experiences.
?Don’t have a selfie as a profile pic.
Instead, try to take a picture of yourself or ask someone to take it. Please don’t use a picture of a group of people or one that shows your whole body. Remember, we want to know who you are.
?Don’t send connection requests without a note introducing yourself.
Always add a kind note when sending someone an invitation to connect, especially if it's someone you don’t personally know. Try something like this: Hi, name! I’m Shirley, an economist interested in social change projects and financial education. I would be happy to have you as part of my network and follow your journey as a mental health advocate. Thanks in advance.
?Don’t promote your business shamelessly in other people's posts' comment sections.
I know it might appear as a great way to get free advertising, but to the author of the post, it might pass as rude and might cause this person to delete your comment (in the best scenario) or block you (in the worst scenario).
?Don’t have the "give me, give me, me, me, me" mentality.
As we explored recently, this is a community, not a favor factory. It's a good idea to get to know the person behind the tittles. It is all about giving here. What can you do for other people? What value can your content provide for them? What can you teach your audience? Remember that it is always better to give than to receive.
?Don’t copy and paste other people's posts without crediting them.
Do I really have to explain why?
?Don’t jump into a DM just to say hi.
With all the messages and notifications, it's hard to have the typical -hi, how are you, fine, and you, thank you, where do you come from- type of conversation. Use the DM with respect and keep in mind that it isn’t mandatory for a person to answer you. Try to engage with their content with comments and reactions first, that way you'll be more recognizable when you send them a message.
This concludes "How to Begin Building the LinkedIn You Want: A Step-by-Step Guide by a Newbie." I had a blast sharing these tips with all of you and getting to know you better.
I'm humbled that many of you found in these posts the inspiration and guide to start sharing who you are and where you are going with your professional profile.
Let me know in the comments what your biggest discovery was through these posts.
With love, Shirley (still a newbie btw)??
Thanks for reading! Tag me in your post, if any piece of this content inspired you to start posting on LinkedIn.?Feel free to reach me via DM.
??????Follow me on Instagram Shirley Santana Herrera
CFO dedicated to CEO support, builds & leads teams|high growth|multi-cultural|multi-location|operationally hands-on|Strategic|Systems|Reporting|Stakeholder|11 Yrs ICT, 5 Yrs global investment banking Telecoms & Tech team
1 年Shirley Santana Herrera it's taken a year to find this post, and I found it very useful thank-you. What really made an impact was the part where you said "To be able to improve at something, you have to allow yourself to suck at it first. Be really bad at it, identify those improvement areas, and then start getting better, one step at a time." I often get a confidence wobble when I find myself asking does this post suck, does it add value, what about people who know much more than I do on the subject. I have abandoned good posts after investing a lot of time in research and crafting my wording again and again. Why? simply because I imagine some guru reading it and shaking their head in disgust. But you made me realise that we are all the same: so just do it, because the more you do it the better you will get and as you get into a rythem you will stop thinking about who will read my post but rather my post says something of value I hope the right people find it.
Web UI Developer
2 年I finished the same course you mentioned and I hope to launch officially my new personal website and blog next days, so I will have in mind your recommendations, thanks for sharing! ??