Update your LinkedIn profile and get found by your dream clients

Author: Judy Parsons

I tend to bang on a lot about LinkedIn profiles. But I know when it comes to generating leads on LinkedIn, it’s not always the first thing that people are concerned with.

Yet your LinkedIn profile is a key part of your overall LinkedIn strategy, and it’s my first step in getting your dream clients coming to you on LinkedIn.

Most people start their LinkedIn journey because someone told them that they should have a LinkedIn profile. The problem is they don’t know where to start or what to write. As a result, most LinkedIn profiles are cobbled together and forgotten about.

But did you know if you have a LinkedIn profile it can get you found on Google?

Potentially your dream clients could be checking out your LinkedIn profile rather than going to your website. The question then is, what impression are you making?

As a business owner, or someone directly responsible for business development, LinkedIn can’t be overlooked. It’s where professionals and business people hangout, so you want to ensure that your target audience can actually find you when they are searching for solutions in their hour of need.

So here are some tips to ensure that your LinkedIn profile, presents you in your best and brightest light, gets you found by your target audience and engages them enough to get in touch either by connecting or emailing you.

#1 Treat LinkedIn like a website

Just thinking of LinkedIn as a website is often a lightbulb moment for many people, because they then realise how they need to approach LinkedIn.

Think about how websites work. I.e. the messaging and branding, optimising it so it comes up in Google searches, making sure the content is what your audience wants to read and then having a call to action to tell your website visitors what to do next.

Your LinkedIn profile works in exactly the same way.

• It has to be found – either in a Google or LinkedIn search
• It has to engage - so people stay on your profile
• It has to tell people what to do next - a call to action such as connect, message, call or sign up for your free offer

Essentially what you’re aiming for is that it shouldn’t matter if your dream clients go to your website or your LinkedIn profile because both are consistent.

The good news then is, if you have already done a lot of work on your website content, you can take that same content and apply it your LinkedIn profile.

OR, if you don’t have a website, then your LinkedIn profile can work as a website for you, which incidentally mine did for many years until recently.

#2 It’s not about you! Its about your target audience

Sorry to say but no one cares about you. Your audience wants to know what you can do for them. The infamous WIIFM! So, don’t focus your profile on you. Focus it on the problems you help your audience solve.

Know your audience. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself:

• What is keeping them awake at night?
• What words or phrases would they be using to find solutions?

If you don’t know, go ask your top clients. What it is they said to you when you first started talking, what were they looking to achieve?

Once you have this information, you then have all the content you need for your profile. Outline your clients problems so they know that you understand them.

#3 Tell stories and think outcomes

I am sure you have heard of “Facts Tell, Stories Sell”?

Don’t tell people how good you are, let your clients tell them. Tell stories of how you have helped your clients and the results they have achieved.

Use bullets to demonstrate key results (3 -5 bullets work best), for example:

✔ Saved a charity 70% of their telecoms bill and another 43% every year across a 3-year deal
✔ Discovered a manufacturer was paying elevated out of contract rates with their energy supplier
✔ Discovered an organisation’s confidential waste service was not certificated risking a potential £5000 fine

#4 Make your profile easy to read . . . profile writing tips

60% of traffic to LinkedIn currently is via the mobile. That means you need to ensure that your profile is mobile friendly.  Here are some tips to consider when writing your profile.

• Make your profile easy to read and scan by breaking up the text with short paragraphs and bullet points. Write your profile in Word first.
• Always write in first person
• Include a call to action in your About section and current experience. What is the next step you want someone to take after reading your LinkedIn profile? I.e. visit your website, sign up to your mailing list in return for a free offer, email you or connect with you on LinkedIn, etc
• Use the Featured section to beef up your profile. Add a link to your best resources, adding video, images, presentations and documents to your profile.
• Use your profile to start a conversion. Build rapport by demonstrating you understand your ideal clients’ challenges and where possible minimise the number of times you say “I” and use “You” instead
• Does it pass the `SO WHAT?’ Test? Imagine you are someone else reading your profile, every single sentence needs to answer the question “So what?”
• Get Feedback! Ask people you know, clients, colleagues and friends to have a look. Does it resonate with them?

For more tips on how to write your LinkedIn profile and what you really need to be saying check out my ebook “1 Hour To A LinkedIn Profile That Gets You Found & Noticed."

Judy Parsons, The LinkedIn Lady

You may know LinkedIn is where your ideal clients hang out online and that you “should be using it” but have no idea where to start using LinkedIn for marketing and lead generation.

An independent LinkedIn trainer, coach, speaker and profile writer, Judy works with business owners to unlock LinkedIn’s potential, so they Get Found, Get Noticed and Get Clients on LinkedIn.

Passionate about de-mystifying LinkedIn Judy ensures her clients make the most of the time they spend on LinkedIn, closing the gap between ‘just being on LinkedIn’ and making LinkedIn work effectively as a tool for generating inbound enquiries.

LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/judithparsons

Website | www.judithparsons.com

Twitter | @LinkedInLadyUK