What is Your LinkedIn Profile Saying About You?

What is Your LinkedIn Profile Saying About You?
26
Sep

Why should I be using LinkedIn?

LinkedIn isn’t as much a social network as it is a professional network. It’s a worldwide community of professionals networking and sharing knowledge. Maintaining a personal LinkedIn profile helps you develop more meaningful connections with your contacts/colleagues and keep up with what’s going on in the promotional products industry. It is also a great source of information on developing your career skills. Follow the eight steps below to ensure you’re not giving the wrong impression with your profile.

Eight steps to a professional LinkedIn profile:

1. Use a professional headshot. Your headshot is the first impression people will get when they view your profile, make sure it represents you well.

2. Add a background image. This adds a personal touch to your profile.

3. Write a creative summary. Keep it professional and authentic, but it’s okay to have a little fun here to express who you are. This is where you can explain what your passions and career goals are and highlight your key accomplishments.

4. Add your work experience and education. Add detailed information about your education, your current position and any past positions you would like to include. Your profile is essentially your virtual resume, so you’ll want to make sure it’s easy to read and doesn’t contain any errors.

5. Follow groups and companies. Following groups and companies helps you keep up with topics that interest you.

6. Connect with clients and colleagues. The more connections you have, the more you will benefit from LinkedIn. Connecting with your clients also helps you develop and maintain more significant relationships and makes it easier to keep in touch in an informal way.

7. Create a custom profile URL. LinkedIn automatically assigns you a user URL, but you can create a custom URL so the link is www.linkedin.com/in/yourname versus random letters and numbers. This makes it easy to include on business cards and email signatures.

8. Publish content. Now that you’ve joined groups and connected with colleagues, you’re ready to start using LinkedIn to share content with your connections!

At the end of the day, your LinkedIn profile is your personal brand and you can use it however you choose to make your mark on the World Wide Web. What have you seen on LinkedIn that has really made someone’s profile stand out? Or what LinkedIn practices do you wish people would stop? Share your opinions in the comments below!

Originally published on the SAGE Blog

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