LinkedIn is a highly useful social media platform that can help you find a lot of success for your personal brand or business. There are many different tools provided on LinkedIn to help you succeed, and they’re all very manageable and easy to use. One of the most difficult parts of LinkedIn is getting your personal or business profile noticed, but don’t be afraid or intimidated by the mass sea of profiles. While it may seem impossible, there is a way for you to stand out amongst the others and be noticed. By following these five tips and utilizing them on your own LinkedIn profile, you will have a better chance of standing out and getting noticed by recruiters, clients, and customers alike.
1) Complete Every Section
The various sections for you to enter in information about yourself or your business are there for a reason, so use them! LinkedIn offers you a place to tell everyone a lot about yourself and your business. The more information you add to these sections—and the more complete each section is on your page—the easier it will be for recruiters, clients, or customers to find you and get to know you or your business. If you leave information out or leave sections incomplete, you make it seem like you don’t care about putting in the effort on your own page. You don’t want to leave others guessing about you or your business, because they will pass you over for someone else. Tell them what they need and want to know, and in doing this you will draw them in. Make their job easy by making it easier to find you and like you, right off the bat.
Action Step: Add as much relevant information as possible to every section including the summary.
2) Join Groups
Groups may be the most useful tools that LinkedIn offers you for success. By providing many different groups for you to join in a variety of areas, there’s no reason you should have a hard time connecting with other people. The more LinkedIn groups you join, the better chance you have of being found by other people. This will help you exponentially in attracting recruiters, clients, or customers. Additionally, recruiters are known to look for people by hanging out in groups, so you have a good chance of being found by a recruiter if you belong to the right group based on your interests and skills. Everyone knows that networking is the best way to succeed, and the groups on LinkedIn are the virtual version of networking—the more you use them, the more success you will find. So get out there and connect, share, and communicate your way to success.
Action Step: Join a lot of groups related to your industry on LinkedIn to get yourself noticed.
3) Make a Great First Impression with Your Headline
First impressions are key in any setting, and LinkedIn is no different. A good profile photo is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your page. Your photo doesn’t need to be a glamor shot, and you don’t need to look like a supermodel – but a professional-looking photograph will do wonders for your profile. Remember: this isn’t Facebook. For business pages, a clean looking, professional logo will draw lots of attention. People are visual creatures by nature, so play into that and you will definitely find success. Another way to make a great first impression is to make your headline catchy and interesting. As an employee, don’t just use a job title, and as a business make something memorable. Your headline is the first thing people will see, so make it stand out and make them remember it in the process.
Action Step: Create a catchy, memorable headline, and use a photograph that looks professional.
4) Keywords
As with any social media platform, keywords are (no pun intended) key to your success. Keywords used on your page help keep your profile easy to find. And the easier you are to find, the more you will stand out to others. People search for things by using keywords, so using keywords that are important and relevant to your page or business will help people find you more easily. Keywords also keep your profile informational, but concise. Bear in mind that no one is coming to LinkedIn to read a novel, so don’t make the information on your profile too long or wordy. If the keywords on your profile are clear and concise, then clients, customers, and recruiters will take the time to read it.
Action Step: Insert important, relevant search-worthy keywords into your LinkedIn profile.
5) Be Active
The best way (and the easiest) for you to have success on social media sites like LinkedIn is to be active. Don’t abandon your page for long periods of time, and make sure to keep your information current and up-to-date. Treat your LinkedIn page like you would any other social media platform and keep a regular schedule for using it. Keeping a schedule to communicate with others on LinkedIn will help you stay on track and be successful. Recruiters want to know that you’re active on your page and that your information is current, and clients and customers want to know the latest about your business and what you have to offer them. Keep them informed about it all! LinkedIn is a tool to help you find success, so take advantage of it and use it.
Action Step: Log in to LinkedIn regularly and share updates from blogs and videos in your field.
Do you have questions about LinkedIn? Leave them here!
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: 5 Ways to Attract Recruiters, Clients, and Customers on LinkedIn
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