Three easy ways to get your LinkedIn profile noticed

By Danny Bermant

A few months before COVID, my business partner and I decided to launch a new podcast targeting successful aesthetic clinic owners. (You’ve probably heard of Botox? These are the people who do it!).

The podcast not only positions us as industry experts, but also attracts aspiring clinic owners are only too happy to have some free publicity! The problem is, we needed to make it clear to our guests that we were not just podcast producers, but also marketers that could help them get more sales.

This is where the top half of our LinkedIn profile helped us. This is the only part of your profile that you can view on your screen without scrolling, and comprises your profile photo, your name and your professional headline. Like a job interview, employers will look at it and decide within a few seconds whether they want to read any further so it’s really important you pay attention to this before you update any other part of your profile.

Get a good headshot

The number one mistake I see again and again is poor headshots. Think of your profile photo and ask yourself whether you’d you turn up like that to an interview? One client I worked with looked like she had just walked out of a nightclub. Another had a picture with his pets!

Make sure your profile picture is professional, not just a quick selfie. Too many profile photos look like they were taken in a police line-up. It’s worth investing in a professional photographer. They will help you to choose the right clothing and background as well as a pose where you look both professional and most importantly, approachable. Put yourselves in the shoes of an employer. They will be looking at your photo and thinking, “do I feel comfortable talking to this person?”.

If it’s relevant, choose a profile background image that is relevant to the industry or niche you are looking to target. As you can see from the profile below, I have chosen a picture that relates to aesthetic medicine.

Professional headline

Then there is your professional headline. These are the 2-3 lines that sit directly under your name that allow you to explain to employers where you add value. The number 1 mistake that people make is to treat this as a job title. This is not helped by LinkedIn who encourage you to do precisely this when you set up your profile.

Again, put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer. They are thinking, “how can this candidate make a difference to us?”. The professional headline gives you up to 200 characters, ample space to describe how you can add value. Take a look at my profile below. I have spelt out (1) exactly who I help (2) what outcome I can help them achieve.

No one cares that I manage a marketing consultancy, they want to know one thing only “what’s in it for me?”

The third way to ensure your LinkedIn profile sells you is to stop treating it like a CV. Your LinkedIn profile is not a 2-3 page static document. Unlike a CV, you can attach images, documents, videos, links to publications and other examples of your work. You can list skills you have which other users can rate you for. You can even include testimonials from employers or work colleagues you have previously worked for. You can post status updates that highlight your knowledge of the industry you work in.

Make sure you make use of these. Once an employer has gone below the top of your profile they will be intrigued to see how else you can make a difference. It’s disappointing to read an exciting professional headline, only to find there is nothing underneath.

At the very least, ensure your professional summary (not dissimilar to the summary at the top of the CV) and relevant experience are filled in.

In part II, I will be looking in more detail at how you can showcase your experience in a way that you never could on your CV, so watch out for that!

Danny Bermant is The Career Coach’s LinkedIn expert. If you would like to explore receiving one to one LinkedIn coaching to improve your profile or using LinkedIn to raise your profile or help you move job, email us for more information.