What we’re going to talk about is another important factor to getting found on LinkedIn and making a great impression when folks find you: The LinkedIn Profile Summary.
*Just so you know, this post comes with a free worksheet to help you go from Setup to Sales Call with LinkedIn. Get the accompanying worksheet here
Quickly, let’s do a little recap. In our last post we talked about keyword research. Now, why is that important? Because you’re going to be sticking those keywords into different spots of your profile. This includes your summary.
Let’s look at our LinkedIn perfect profile formula to make sure we’re on track.
PH + KRD + KRL + MI =Perfect Profile
As we’ve previously discussed:
The “PH” part right stands for your professional headshot, “KRD” is going to be your keyword rich descriptions. “KRL” is going to be your keyword rich lists and “MI” is going to be your media inserts-
Talking summaries, why do they matter?
First off, a good friend, who often works with me, told me he was able to build his current six figure business through the strength of his LinkedIn profile alone. He never did any marketing. That convinced me my LinkedIn pursuits were worth while.
To follow that, they’re going to be the first impressions your talent trio has of you. Let’s look into how that summary is built. LinkedIn summaries are going to have three general parts:
- Our lead (the beginning of our profile)
- Why I’m awesome
- Our kicker (the end of our profile)
Writing Your LinkedIn Profile Summary Lead
When we’re writing our lead there are a few things it’s good to mention:
- What you do
- How long you have done it
- Accomplishments
- Awards
The top of your profile summary is, essentially, a condensed cover letter or one of those resume objectives you used to write. With most recruiters using LinkedIn to source quality talent, LinkedIn has become a modern resume of sorts.
That said, consider what The Balance Careers shares on why a resume profile matters:
A resume profile offers applicants a way to stand out among the hundreds of resumes that companies receive. Most employers spend only a few seconds looking at a resume, and much of this time is spent looking at the top half of a resume. Therefore, even if employers only read your profile (located directly beneath your heading and contact information), they will still have a clear idea of your unique qualifications.
In addition, your profile can include resume keywords that will help your application get picked up by the applicant tracking system that many companies use to screen applications for job openings.
An example profile summary may start like:
“Accomplished sales director with success in developing strategies that have generated 6- and 7-figure revenue growth.”
The opener here offers the reader a chance to see what this person, in this case, as sales director, can accomplish in the future.
Writing Your LinkedIn Profile Summary And Kicker
After writing my two sentences on why folks should care about who I am, I add in the ‘why I’m awesome part,’ which is a couple of bullet points. I like lists here because they allow us to take up a whole lot of space and show off the long list of things we rock at. I talk about what I’ve accomplished recently.
An example might read:
In the last 8 years, my recent accomplishments include:
• Building a network of sites helping telecommuters find jobs in 6 U.S cities.
• Growing readership of online magazines to 10K quarterly through social media and mobile web-focused content.
• Interviewing TV Hosts, White House Insiders and NYT Bestsellers for MSNBC.
• And refining marketing strategies for internet-based businesses using Google Analytics customized reports with a focus on leveraging organic search using relevant KPIs.
And the kicker needn’t be any different, just another list with the relevant keywords and phrases you found working through the last post.
The idea struck me after the 5th person expressed confusion as to what I’d accomplished at previous roles. These days, I’ll have it listed out, as it’s easier to rattle off…
An example:
SKILLS:
-Digital Marketing Strategy
-Wordpress
-Adobe Photoshop
-Marketing CTAs
-Brand Journalism
-Brand Storytelling
-Facebook App Set-up
-Twitter App Set-up
-Front End Design with Visual Composer
-Google Adsense
-Mobile Forms
-Google Analytics
-Raven SEO
-Wordstream Keywords
-Google Keyword Planner
-Long Tail Pro Training
-Copywriting
-Browser Notifications Set-up
-Mobile optimization
-PR/promotion
To get a handle on your own profile summary, go ahead and complete the worksheet that comes with this module because it’s going to help you dive deeper into understanding how to do that.
I guarantee the effort spent on crafting a profile worthy of you will pay off when it’s clear that it stands out.
In our next post, we’re going to talk about writing on jobs and accomplishments so you can develop your work story, so you can rise to your desired level of success.. See you soon.
*Just so you know, this post comes with a free worksheet to help you go from Setup to Sales Call with LinkedIn. Get the accompanying worksheet here
