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© Copyright 2008-2014 Jan B. Wallen. All rights reserved.

Online Networking Experts (203) 545-6104

www.JanWallen.com info@janwallen.com

5 Ways to Rev Up your LinkedIn Profile By Jan Wallen

New 2014 Updated Version!

Your LinkedIn Profile is your presence on LinkedIn. You can’t do anything in LinkedIn until

your Profile is up. It’s like your resume and your own personal Web page in addition to the Web

sites you may have.

People do searches in LinkedIn when they’re looking for products and services, for top talent to

fill positions, for jobs, and for answers to questions they have. You’ll look for these same things

when you search LinkedIn. And search engines search your Profile when it’s completed.

When someone looks at your Profile, they’ll decide whether to connect with you, hire you as an

employee or for your services based on what they see there. Make it a good first impression, and

make it compelling so that they contact you.

Here are some tips for creating your Profile so that you’re found on LinkedIn, and your Profile

shows them that you’re the best person to connect with.

1. Before you go to LinkedIn to create your Profile, think about your Big Picture Vision of your career and life. Write down the answers to these key questions: 1) What is your

expertise and what are you known for? 2) What do you want people to ask you for now?

What do you want to be known as the Expert in? 3) When people think of Tiger Woods, they

immediately think of “golf”. What do you want them to think of when they think of you?

Then be sure your Profile shows these.

2. Have your resume handy as you write your LinkedIn Profile. You want to be complete,

especially about your responsibilities and results you’ve achieved. Be sure your resume is

results-oriented, and update it to include your current position and work.

Remember that your LinkedIn Profile is a sales and marketing piece for you. And your

LinkedIn Profile is like an additional Web site for you. A big mistake people make with their

LinkedIn Profile is making it exactly like their resume – backwards-oriented. That is, only

showing what you’ve done in the past. With your LinkedIn Profile, be sure it also reflects

what you’re doing now and what you want to do. For example, if you’re a start-up business

looking for funding or investors, be sure everything that a potential investor looks for in a

company is in your Profile. It’s the same if you’re looking for a new position. There are

people in LinkedIn who can help you with anything you want to do.

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© Copyright 2008-2014 Jan B. Wallen. All rights reserved.

Online Networking Experts (203) 545-6104

www.JanWallen.com info@janwallen.com

3. Think of keywords that people might search on to find you. For example, if you’re

looking for a job, some relevant key words might be: 1) Your current job title and the title of

the position you’re looking for. For example, if you’re now a Director and you’re looking

for a Vice President position. 2) Your functional responsibilities. This describes what you

do and is more descriptive than your job title. When I sold an accurate database of

executives that companies used for their marketing, the database could be searched by “Job

Function” as well as title. For example, the job title was Vice President, and Job Functions

were Financial, Sales, Marketing and Human Resources. 3) Or if you want to find more

clients, some keywords you’d use to find the person you’re looking for would be their current

job title or industry, or the services they’d be searching for such as “sales training”.

4. Be sure the photo you put up on LinkedIn is a good one, and shows you as the executive

and professional that you are. If you don’t have a photo that’s a good representation of you

as you are now, it’s worth to get a new one. Remember, your Profile is the first impression

people will get of who you are. When you’re networking online, the face-to-face visual clues

are not there, so your photo is even more important. When people see a Profile without a

photo, they skip right by it and go to someone else’s Profile. Remember: If they can’t find

you on LinkedIn, you’re missing opportunities.

5. Add your personality to your LinkedIn Profile. When someone sees your LinkedIn

Profile, make it stand out so you stand out from the crowd. Make your Profile a

representation of you – not simply an electronic resume. Rather than simply listing your job

responsibilities and short descriptions, describe in story form how you solved challenges and

approached the corporate or client situation. Create a picture in the reader’s mind that shows

who you are, how you approach situations, how you stand out from others who do similar

things, and that you’re accessible and personable.

* * * * * *

Jan Wallen “wrote the book” on LinkedIn – literally. She’s the author of Mastering LinkedIn in

7 Days or Less (new 2014 updated version available now at www.JanWallen.com and Amazon.)

Jan’s proven step-by-step system that shows you exactly how to use LinkedIn to find clients and

find a job. Jan has helped thousands of professionals build their business and career: CEO,

executive, salesperson or entrepreneur, her practical approach & strategies give you tools to use

LinkedIn to find clients or find a job in record time. If you found these tips helpful, you’ll find

lots more in my monthly ezine, available at http://www.JanWallen.com.

You've just read 5 of Jan’s LinkedIn Insider Secrets. If you found these tips helpful, you’ll find

lots more in Jan’s monthly ezine. Go to www.JanWallen.com to subscribe to her ezine – chock

full of easy tips you can use right away.