Is your profile optimised?

LinkedIn was originally a platform set up to provide employers and job hunters with a means of getting connected and, through their intermediate connections, to create a ‘warm’ referral.  Then, with the advent of Facebook, the LinkedIn managers stepped things up to compete on the social spectrum.

Even though LinkedIn was bought by Microsoft a couple of years ago and has had a facelift, the personal profile still resembles a CV.  If you’re aiming to get a job or get head-hunted, that’s great, but if you’re an employee or a business owner, it’s less helpful.

Each of these groups of people will have a different viewpoint on what they want from their LinkedIn profile.  That means that optimising your profile will require different strategies.  There are a few common issues though:

1. Don’t add anything to your name.  If you’re Robert Smith, but everyone calls you Rob, then put Rob Smith.  If you have a PhD (of which you should definitely be proud), you don’t need to put that on the end of your name (or in front of it).  Dr is a title, like Mr or Ms and you wouldn’t put Mr Rob Smith.  Use the name people would introduce you by in a face-to-face meeting. DO put your own name – not your business name or anything that isn’t your name.  That’s what the professional headline is all about.
2. Your professional headline is that line of text that comes under your name.  You have 120 characters to get people’s attention – use them wisely!
3. Your photograph should be a headshot – not a full length or even a head and chest shot.  Remember that when it becomes avatar size it will become unrecognisable if your face is any smaller than the full frame size. Aim for ‘friendly and approachable’ (that means smile) and look directly at the camera.  If you want to be seen as professional, invest in a decent photograph.  Don’t crop a party shot or a photo with other people in – it just looks amateurish and, if you want to use LinkedIn properly you don’t want that image.
4. Write something in your summary.  It’s an opportunity to make even more of an impact.  You’ve got 2000 characters to play with – use them!
5. Write in the first person (I), not in the third person (Rob).  If you use the 3rd person it sounds a little pompous – or as though someone else has written your profile!

Job hunters

If you’re looking for a job decide what kind of role you are aiming for and optimise your profile with that in mind.
Clearly if your current employer doesn’t yet know you’re looking to move, you will need to be circumspect about what you say.  That doesn’t mean you can’t ensure your summary and the text under your current and previous roles focuses on the skills you have under your belt that are relevant to your perfect job.

Employees

If you’re an employee and not actively job-hunting you have a balancing act to achieve.  As it is a personal profile your profile needs to be about you, but it will win you lots of brownie points if you include some positive information about your employer’s business too.  Clearly if you’re the marketing manager or director you might want to read the next bit.

Business owners

If you own your own business your LinkedIn profile is a marketing tool.  However, remember that people are not interested in what you DO, they’re interested in what they GET, so make sure you write about benefits, rather than products or services.
Use your key words (no need for keyword stuffing though) and remember that, with millions of people on LinkedIn every day, your LinkedIn profile is likely to rank higher than your own website in searches.

Make your website work harder

Here’s one way to make your website more current and engaging – schedule new seasonal copy each month.  This may sound onerous, but it doesn’t have to be.

The secret is a little planning – have a monthly schedule set up so you know what the subject of your fresh content will be.  In some cases you can even write this material ahead of time and give it to your web people or someone in-house to upload on a specified date each month.

You’ll need to identify a small amount of copy to change.  Most websites have an introductory paragraph or two somewhere near the top of their home page – this is ideal.

Corporate v. personal

It doesn’t matter how big your organisation is, your reader is an individual.  The more you can speak directly to them, the better they’ll engage with your website – that means they’ll stay around longer, explore further, take more on board.

Here’s an example:

Corporate

We offer highly professional accounting services to businesses of all sizes.  Ask us about Tax, Payroll services, auditing and anything to do with business finance.

Personal

When you need help with your business finances you’ll want someone who understands what you’re up against.  You’ll find our team are friendly, helpful and live in the real world.  Don’t be afraid to ask any question (even if you think it’s a silly one – we don’t expect you to be an expert in accounting stuff – that’s our job!)

That’s longer, but much more accessible and personal.

Now to change it up for different months:

January

The last thing you want to think about over the festive season is business finance – but now it’s January and time to look forwards.  If you’re planning to grow your business, let our friendly team help you to get your financial planning sorted out so you can get the year off to a great start.

Imagine how much better your connection to the reader will be with something tailored and focused on them.

Just changing a little piece of text once a month will make a huge difference to your website – and will put you ahead of your competitors.

And a small P.S.  When your website is due for an update – take a look at the copy throughout – is it reader-focused or all about you and your company?

What makes a good newsletter?

Quite a few of my clients question whether a newsletter is worth doing.  There’s no hard and fast answer to this, it depends!

I don’t recommend a newsletter should be sent, just because everyone else is doing that.  There are very few really good newsletters these days – and to keep subscribers, your newsletter needs to deliver value in EVERY issue.

There are plenty of blogs about what NOT to write in a newsletter (tip: hit the Newsletters category on the right to read some of them), but what ensures your readership stays connected and actually reads them?

Lead with value

What is value?  For most readers it’s something that will help them in some way.

This might be a free download that provides a checklist or some tips around your area of expertise.  It might be sharing your knowledge to make life easier or recommending contacts that have given you great service – with details of how.

It might also be on opportunity to join a free webinar, watch a ‘how to …’ video or attend an event of value (obviously geography may influence this).  It doesn’t have to be your material, but might be from someone you really rate.

3 tips

1. Spend some time on creating a compelling headline (and use this for your newsletter subject line too).
2. Don’t make your lead item too long – everyone is time poor and they need to ‘get it’ quickly.  The longer it is, the fewer people will read it.
3. Make sure there is real value for your reader.

Add an offer or promotion

The second item can be a special offer, just for your newsletter readers or promotion of a product or service that you want people to know about.

If you make an offer – make it a real one.  Don’t be tempted to boost the ‘actual price’ and then discount it to what you usually charge – someone will catch you out!

This is a good way to promote products and services that fewer people are aware of, even if you don’t want to offer a discount.

3 tips

1. Keep this item short, 2-3 paragraphs at the most.
2. Include a short testimonial from a client who loved whatever you’re promoting.  Third party testimonials are very powerful.
3. Don’t forget to include a call to action – and a link to where they can take action.

Something personal

Make your newsletter readers feel like you’re talking directly to them.

3 tips

1. Use a program that allows you to personalise the salutation.  If you can start off with ‘Dear Jo’ or ‘Hi Alan’ rather than a global ‘Hello everyone’ or no salutation at all, you’ll get more engagement up front where it matters.
2. Tell a story – if you want to add something about what’s happening in your company, tell it as a story (and it comes last, not first).
3. Always address your comments to ‘you’, not’ ‘you all’ or ‘everyone’.  Make your tone friendly and personal.

And one final tip: plan ahead.  The more planning you do the less likely it is you’ll keep putting off this month’s newsletter!  Get your offers and promotions planned for the year and have the lead item subject in mind.

Good luck with creating great newsletters that build your reputation as an expert.

Talking to or talking at?

When social media really got going with Facebook and Twitter (and eventually LinkedIn), everyone was excited about these new tools that allowed them to connect with and talk to anybody.

It was more than just messaging people, it was enabling conversation between anyone who was interested in joining in.  But things have changed.

Today most people are less interested in getting into a conversation – they’re more interested in telling people about themselves and their lives.  There’s much less in the way of conversation, more people ‘like’ posts or ‘retweet’ than actually respond.  We’re becoming a broadcast world.

Typical posts include:

Sales pitches from business people

Some are more subtle than others ranging from promotion to outright ‘buy this now’ posts – and I admit to having bought from sponsored posts (with varied results from ‘Wow’ to ‘disappointing’)!  There are advantages to this for the reader as it opens you to information and offers you may otherwise not have seen.

‘This is my life’

I’ve seen people who are in a bad place getting amazing support from their online friends, and some very funny images and comments from quirky individuals – but also some tedious posts that would be better not shared in a public forum.  If you share the micro-detail of your life, consider whether it’s something you would want to read on someone else’s profile – especially someone you may not know very well.

Rants

It’s always good to let off steam and online forums are good places to find like-minded people.  Unfortunately, not everyone thinks and rereads what they’ve written before hitting the ‘publish’ button.  Some people forget that their boss/partner/children/parent/best friend may read their comments.  While that may not be an issue, it could impact on your reputation and relationships if you haven’t held back – and those nearest and dearest (or that pay your salary) are in the firing line.

Sharing of other people’s posts

There are lots of thoughtful, funny, interesting posts that appear on various social media – these include everything from cat videos to amazing feats of artistry.  The popular ones keep popping up again and again as everyone likes and shares.  Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with sharing something you think others will appreciate, but be selective.  If you share 20 posts a day, some of your connections may get frustrated if their phone alert pings every few minutes with another non-urgent post.

Requests for help

This is one place social media really comes into its own.  If you’re looking for information or advice, social media is an excellent forum to consult.  You’ll get a wide range of responses, from really useful to somewhat flippant, but almost always there will be a few nuggets of gold in there.

If you do ask for help – remember to thank those who offer it and be willing to return the favour for others by making the effort to help a few people as part of your social media strategy.

I’m not suggesting that NOBODY has conversations on social media – but they are in the minority.  So take a look at your social media activity – are you a broadcaster, a lurker or a conversationalist?

Multipurpose writing

When you write an article there are many applications for your carefully constructed article.  Don’t miss out on getting the last drop of value from everything you write.

Let’s blow some misconceptions away first.

An article has to be quite long

You don’t need to write 1000 words for a piece to be considered an article or a blog.  I’ve seen blogs as short as 70 words!  Aim at around 300 words for starters.  If you find you have more things to say then carry on until you’ve said what you have to say.

You need to be a great writer

You should write correct English and use good grammar and punctuation – but that’s what the spell, grammar, punctuation checkers are for!  If you can talk about your subject, you can write about it.
 

You need to use formal language

The more formal your language the less energy your article will have.  Correct grammar doesn’t mean boring!  Aim to write more like you speak than the way your English teacher dictated.  Read your work aloud – you’ll soon find what works and what doesn’t.

OK so you’ve got 300 words – now what?

• Post it on your blog
• Add it as an article on any social media profiles where you’re active (LinkedIn is the obvious one, but it could be a long post on your Facebook Page).
• Take quotes out of it and use them as social media posts – linked to your blog post.
• Save it up and maybe put it with other articles you’ll write to create an ebook.  You can give this away as an addition to any written proposals that go to clients or as a thank-you for new clients or you could use it as a lead magnet. 
• Look at the journals and industry publications that your clients read, would they be interested in it as an article?  (You will need to edit it a bit and rewrite it so it’s not a carbon copy of your blog, but that shouldn’t take too long.)
• Break it up and use it as an email campaign.
• Use it as the lead item in your newsletter.

One small article can go a long, long way.  So that time you spent writing your 300 or so words will keep on marketing your business in all kinds of ways!