EP #017: 5 changes to make to your profile today

Hey there - the buyer's journey has changed: consumers are doing their own due diligence long before they reach out to your company. Part of that due diligence includes learning more about what your company has to offer.

Here are the highest ROI changes you can make to your LinkedIn profile to serve as a sales funnel for your company, establish your credibility in your industry, and showcase your expertise.

I've provided these in order of importance. You can accomplish all five changes in under an hour.

#1: Your cover image

Your profile page's cover image is a massive amount of real estate and always displays at the top of your profile. Mos executives take one of these ill advised approaches:

• leave blank (the default grey background)

• put an image of their hometown

• use an image of themself doing a presentation

What these executives fail to do is give an elevator pitch on why someone should bother reaching out to them (or continuing to view their profile). The key elements I recommend all executives include are:

1. Your elevator pitch (10 words or less)

2. Your company logo

3. A background image that is not too distracting

4. Optional: any signs of credibility (key client logos, recognizable awards, etc)

Here is an example of how I've approached this as well as several executives doing it right:

Fortunately, Canva makes this incredibly simple. If you're a leader in your company, take the charge in getting your team consistently using this image across all employee profiles - it presents a united front, and will set you apart from 90% of your competition.

#2: Your title

I covered this in a previous newsletter, so won't spend more time here on this.

#3: Featured section

For some reason, this is rarely used by executives. It's a shame, since it is such a large portion of real estate and extremely visual in nature.

Here are some ways you can use this section:

1. Pin a post - use a LinkedIn post that did well and is related to your expertise (this is what I do for most of my section).

2. Article - if you've been featured in a recognizable publication, this is a great way to demonstrate authority.

3. Video - if you have a YouTube video of yourself speaking or presenting, this is a quick win.

4. Powerpoint screenshot - if you don't have any of the above, you can use Powerpoint to create a visual and screenshot it. This is what I did when I first started EP and didn't yet have any other visuals to use.

Looking for some inspiration? Here are a few Featured Sections I like:

#4: Your current experience

Most executives aren't spoon-feeding a viewer enough information about their company. For me, doing this right entails:

• A good description of what your company does. Unless you're a F100 brand, people likely don't know your company - so explain who you are and what you do.

• Credibility for your company (or yourself within the company). Use numbers wherever possible to show your company's scale, or your own contribution.

• Information about your role. Describe what you do at the company.

The most overlooked aspect of your current company is the visuals you can add. Similar to #3, you can add screenshots, articles, videos, etc. Because so few executives utilize these visuals, your company will stand out.

Here’s how I’ve used my Experience section:

#5: About section

Most “About” sections are (1) two text-dense paragraphs, and (2) written in third person.

If someone is viewing your About section, they want to understand who you are. Here are a few tips we use when writing our client's About section:

• Break up the text. Make it skimmable. This is especially vital for people viewing your profile on their mobile device. Avoid dense paragraphs at all costs

• Focus on your current role. Assuming this position matters most to your career right now, talk about what you do and why people should give you any time or interest.

• Bullets are great for showing credibility or explaining what you do and who you serve.

• Stories always work great.

• Use first person. It creates a stronger emotional connection with the reader.

Here are a few About sections to check out (too long to post a screenshot):

1. Tim Best (short, but packs a punch)

2. Mine (longer and more sales oriented)

3. Timothy Yeager (gives a great personal view that humanizes him)

4. Ryan Hogan (great storytelling aspect to his About section)

Bringing it together

The great thing about your LinkedIn profile is that you only need to make these changes once a year. Yes, there are other optimizations that will help, but these changes cover the most important bases.

Other questions? Hit “reply” and I’ll get back to you within a week.

Until next week,
Justin

Justin M. Nassiri | Founder & CEO
M: 650.353.1138 | E: [email protected]
250 Fillmore St Suite 150, Denver, CO 80206
www.ExecutivePresence.io

Executive Presence specializes in helping top-tier executives boost their visibility, activate their network, and position themselves as thought leaders via our premium, fully-managed LinkedIn service.

Our unique process involves ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants conducting monthly hour-long interviews with our clients, and turning them into impactful daily LinkedIn posts to establish their unique voice and authority. On average, our clients see a 500% bump in engagement in their first 30 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve engagement and identify impactful messaging that you can use for conferences, podcasts, and internal communications.