March 13, 2018 / in LinkedIn / by Mic Johnson
Post Author: Mic Johnson, talking about tips to spring clean your LinkedIn Profile
Spring is one of my favorite times of the year!
The air is full of optimism. Buds are starting to appear on the trees. Flowers are starting to pop up around the neighborhood. Yards are starting to green up. More and more people are out taking walks, riding bikes, and enjoying the sunshine. And everyone is getting ready for the annual tradition of spring cleaning their homes, offices, cars and more.
Spring is also the perfect time to clean up your LinkedIn profile. If it’s been awhile since you took a good, honest look at your LinkedIn profile, here are five easy ways to spruce it up this Spring:
1. Add/Update Your Cover PhotoOne of the first things people see when they look at your LinkedIn profile is the cover photo.
If you’ve never uploaded or created a cover photo (LinkedIn recommends a photo that is 1584 x 396 pixels), there’s no time like the present!
Take a photo of your own, find a free photo on a site like Pixabay, or if you’re feeling adventurous, create a free cover photo like I did using a tool like Canva. (Once you created an account and sign in, you click “Use custom dimensions” in the upper right-hand corner, and start creating!)
If your LinkedIn photo was taken 10 years ago…or 30 pounds ago…I’m sorry, but it’s time to update it.
The point of the photo is to help humanize your profile and to also make it easy for people to identify you when they’re looking you up on LinkedIn before that first coffee meeting, that first sales appointment, that first conference you’re both attending, etc.
If your LinkedIn profile photo doesn’t look like you anymore, set your vanity aside and get a SMILING and current picture uploaded today!
Your professional headline (which appears right below your name) should give people a snapshot of who you are professionally and personally. You’re so much more than just an Accountant, or Sales Rep, or Attorney, or CEO, or Professional Hand Model.
What are your passions? What do you do outside of work? Share those with people by a few simple items to your professional headline. Take a look at mine in the attached photo for some inspiration.
I’m disappointed when I see a profile on LinkedIn where the person never took the time to write a Summary. A well-written Summary is your opportunity to “welcome” people to your LinkedIn profile and share your professional story with them.
It’s also completely fine (and encouraged) to include a little bit about your passions and interests outside of work. Again, it’s about humanizing your profile and making sure it educates visitors to your profile about your personal and professional journey.
One of my #1 pet peeves is when I see LinkedIn profiles that have several job titles/dates listed and NOTHING ELSE. What you’re telling the reader is “Hey, I worked at this company for 10 years and did nothing!”
Your Experience section should include what your job responsibilities were, what your accomplishments were, what you learned in that position, etc. And use “I” language when you write it…do that throughout your profile…it feels more natural to the reader.
I hope this information was helpful. If you take a few minutes to do these five things, I guarantee you’ll feel better about your LinkedIn profile…and even more optimistic about Spring!
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