5 quick ways to freshen up your LinkedIn profile

If you don’t have a website and LinkedIn is your shop window, you need to have a tip top LinkedIn profile.

Do you still need it if you have a website? Absolutely! I’m guessing you have links to your social profiles on your website (if you don’t, you should), in which case your LinkedIn profile needs to make a good impression with visitors.

There’s no point posting brilliant content on LinkedIn if your profile isn’t up to scratch. You need to represent yourself consistently to potential clients across all marketing channels. When they land on your LinkedIn profile, people need to be enthused and intrigued, not disappointed by a lacklustre attempt to sell your products or services.

Like any self-promotional content, writing your LinkedIn profile can be a tricky ask. I’ve been helping several people to refresh their profiles this year. If you need help to update yours, see how I can help.

In the meantime, here are five quick and easy tips to kick-start that refresh...

1. Is it up to date?

A nice simple one to start with. You’d be amazed how many people haven’t reviewed their profile information within the last 12 months!

• Do you have any recent experience that would be worth adding?

• Does your current role describe what you do, and is it written in way that’s easy for others to understand?

• Are your contact details up to date?

• Do you have any figures to demonstrate recent success? Numbers can have a powerful impact, but you must be able to back them up with evidence. Here’s and example, ‘I trained a team of 55 call centre staff to take on a new project, which brought in revenue of £120,000’.

• Make it easy for people to find you by showcasing your services at the top of your profile. If you’re not already doing this LinkedIn should prompt you when you're in edit mode.

2. Are you using it as a CV?

This is fine if you’re applying for a new role as you’ll want to showcase your achievements and experience. However, if you’re using LinkedIn to identify and generate new business, you need to take a different tack. Your profile should explain how you can help people, what it’s like working with you and the results you can achieve.

3. Fill in the gaps

Potential clients want to work with people who are reliable and consistent. So don’t leave anything open to questioning. If you had a significant gap between roles, think about how you might explain this on your profile. Perhaps you were studying for a qualification, doing voluntary work or work experience. Add this to the relevant section to show people you were still active.

4. Sprinkle it with personality

Read your LinkedIn profile out loud. Does it sound like you? Does it read like like a conversation you would have with a potential client? Do the style of writing and words you’ve chosen reflect how you might introduce yourself to someone?

If your profile doesn’t feel like you, edit it to feel and sound like you. Potential clients want to get to know you and see your human side.

A note about swearing on social

Personally, I draw the line at swearing, especially in a professional context, and I don’t really enjoy being around sweary people. They’re not my ideal customer. It all comes down to your audience. If you want to attract clients that don’t mind the odd expletive and you openly use them in conversation, you might choose to include them.

5. Ask for recommendations

If your recommendations date back to years ago, it’s time to add some more recent ones. Use the + button in the Recommendations section and invite connections to leave a review. Make sure you personalise the message for each person. Never use the stock email provided.

Another tip is to spread out your requests. Recommendations are dated, so don’t ask for all your recommendations at the same time as they just might all appear at once, which can look a bit spammy. Try to get into the habit of asking for a testimonial when a project ends. This is good practice and makes the whole process of asking for testimonials a little less daunting!

If you’re struggling with confidence in this area, read How to get over the fear of asking for testimonials.

So there you have five quick ways to refresh your LinkedIn profile. Now it’s time to get to work! If you get stuck, help is only an email away - contact me here.