Hey there! Let's talk about your LinkedIn profile, it's time you changed it.
LinkedIn has evolved into a critical platform for professional branding and networking. With the job market and business landscapes constantly evolving, a well-optimized LinkedIn profile can significantly impact your career opportunities and professional growth.
You might wonder, "How can I make my mark and get most out of the platform?" Well, you're in luck because today, I'm going to guide you through creating a LinkedIn profile that's impossible to ignore in 2024. Let's dive into the deep end!
How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Think of your profile as your storefront. This is where you grab attention, spark interest, and, ultimately, win people (like recruiters, hiring managers or likeminded individuals) over. Your profile needs to clearly communicate who you are, what you do, and what you did over the course of your career. But there's a catch - with over 600 million users, you've got to stand out.
Your LinkedIn banner
Your banner is prime real estate. It's the perfect spot to showcase what you're all about - be it your craft, your tech stack, or any other interesting things you care about. Take David Luchi's banner, for instance; it's straightforward, eye-catching, and tells you everything you need to know about David at a glance.
Your profile picture
First impressions count, and your profile photo is your digital handshake. Forget about those blurry selfies or outdated photos. Nowadays, with professional photographers or even nifty AI tools, there's no excuse for a subpar image. Aim for a photo that captures how you want to be seen - trustworthy, friendly, professional? You decide. By the way, your Iphone / Android can take fantastic portrait shoots, too.
Geshan Manandhar's profile photo is a great example; it's welcoming and perfectly captures his approachable vibe.
Your tagline
Ever come across taglines that leave you scratching your head? You're not alone. The key here is clarity over cleverness. Your tagline is precious real estate; make it count. Need inspiration? Think about a value statement or something that piques curiosity about your latest project.
Let me tell you who I am & what I do tagline: Software Engineer at Careersy | Backend, Kotlin, APIs | I ship code that affects 4 million people daily.
I want to know more tagline: AI Specialist at OpenAI's Sora | Driving AI Ethics & Innovation | Join me for a journey into ethical AI development and the groundbreaking projects at Sora.
New Community Top Voice Badges
LinkedIn's Community Top Voice badge is a shiny new way to showcase your expertise. It's straightforward to get one - just dive into discussions on topics that resonate with your brand. Before you know it, you'll have a nifty badge to adorn your profile. Wendy Wong has the Top Cloud Computing Voice badge for example.
Step 1: Begin by navigating to the above site and selecting the topic that best matches your expertise and interests. You can explore topics on the right hand side of the website.
Step 2: Each day or two, choose an article, then share your insights and perspectives on it.
That's all there is to it. In just 3-4 weeks (possibly even sooner), you'll earn a distinctive badge to display on your profile, highlighting your expertise.
Featured section
Your featured section should be your way of saying to the visitor look these posts, pages and offering are important to me and I want you to know about them. Link to your best LinkedIn posts, Github accounts, websites, or social media channels.
About
Here is an example of my current about page.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is fast growing platform for recruiters, creators and entrepreneurs alike. My own journey on the platform (follow me here) has been very encouraging. Apart from finding exceptional talent it has helped me grow my client base to double digits in less than 3 months. I'm on track to reach 10k followers by the end of April. Start implementing these strategies, and you'll not only elevate your profile but also see tangible results in your engagement, inmails and follower count.
And hey, if you're ready to take things up a notch, my professional LinkedIn review & revision service might just be what you need. It will take your LinkedIn profile from average to great, providing tools and insights to help you stand out in the competitive job market.
That's a wrap for today! Stay tuned for more insights next week Sunday.