Your marketing message communicates to the world what your business is about. And your LinkedIn profile is the perfect place to develop and highlight your most focused marketing message.
LinkedIn is one of the most important online tools for marketing your professional services. However, only a very small percentage of users post effective summaries of their business on their LinkedIn profile.
Your LinkedIn profile must convey the essential message and value of your business. This article shows you exactly how to do it.
Owner of your business
The first item someone reads on your profile is your business owner. And almost all of them are bad.
These are usually titles (patent attorney, management consultant, personal chef) or labels of what people do (tax preparation specialist, communication skills training). None of these are effective messages because they do not communicate how the professional can help their clients.
Instead, you want something like John Nemo’s:
“I show B2B sales professionals, business advisors and consultants how to generate leads and add clients using LinkedIn”
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The headline for John’s profile tells who he works with and the specific results he helps them achieve. Any reader will know immediately if they are interested in knowing more. Its headline is based on “WIFM” – What’s in it for me?
I use John Nemo as an example because I learned how to create a great LinkedIn profile with him. His business (and book), LinkedIn Riches, specializes in, well, exactly what that headline says.
He is one of the leading experts on how to use LinkedIn to attract new business. Ignore it at your own risk.
He emphasizes that you don’t want people to guess what your benefit is to them, but instead to telegraph it in clear, simple, results-oriented language.
It then goes on to describe what should be in the Summary section of your LinkedIn profile.
First, the Summary has limitations. You cannot use bold, colored, or oversized letters. But you can capitalize the headings of each paragraph which makes your summary sections pop, which increases readability.
For example, the first section should be titled WHAT I DO (or WHAT WE DO) and simply expand its title.
This is what John looks like:
WHAT I DO: Since 2012, I have helped B2B sales professionals, business coaches, consultants, and other professionals around the world take advantage of LinkedIn and webinars to generate leads, add customers, and increase revenue.
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Pretty clear and simple, right? Who I help and how I help them.
Then write about how he does it:
HOW I DO IT: I provide online “do-it-yourself” courses, individual and group coaching, and written materials that help business advisors and advisors discover how to generate more business for themselves using LinkedIn and webinars.
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Note that this section mentions the services you offer and then goes back to the results you help your clients achieve. The value is as clear as day.
The following is about where you have seen John. It’s about credibility or “social proof”:
WHERE HAVE YOU SEEN ME: I blog regularly and have been featured in national publications, podcasts, and organizations, including:
• Business Insider
• Entrepreneur on fire
• Magazine Inc.
• Social media browser
• Business newspapers
• The Huffington Post
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These are all the places where John has published articles. If you don’t have places where it’s been posted yet, don’t worry, you can skip this section or add it later.
This is the fourth of five articles on the 5 Pillars of Marketing, my marketing model that helps guide your marketing. 5 pillar article here.
Write about the people and companies you work with below:
WHO I WORK WITH: I have personally rewritten and optimized the LinkedIn profiles of top-notch entrepreneurs, best-selling authors, business coaches, and consultants, including:
• Chris Brogan
• Bob Burg
• John Lee Dumas
• Husband Smith
• Tom Ziglar
• Dan Miller
• Jairek Robbins
• Ray Edwards
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Now if you are an online savvy freelancer, you’ve probably heard of some of these folks. For your summary, please mention the types of people or organizations you have worked with and also a list of some of your clients.
Then insert a couple of quotes from your satisfied customers:
WHAT OTHERS SAY:
• “When it comes to LinkedIn, I listen to almost three people, but only one has dropped a new business on my lap like John Nemo did. You know me. I don’t recommend people lightly. John Nemo is worth it. your time. Join this! “- Chris Brogan | New York Times bestselling author, consultant and speaker
• “John Nemo took my LinkedIn profile page and turned it on in a way I haven’t seen before. After witnessing John’s experience up close and personal, it’s easy to see why he’s been crushing him on LinkedIn for the past few years. Simply put, when it comes to LinkedIn, John Nemo is the real deal. I can’t wait to share more of his LinkedIn knowledge bombs with the rest of Fire Nation soon! “- John Lee Dumas | Host, Award Winning Podcast “Entrepreneur on Fire”
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With a little work, almost any freelancer should be able to come up with some good testimonial quotes like these. And you only need two!
Finally, a bit about his background:
MY BACKGROUND: Author of 7 books, former Associated Press reporter, award-winning director of public relations and social media consultant, talk radio producer.
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John has helped many freelancers put together a powerful business brief on LinkedIn. You really understand what a clear marketing message is all about.
Note that there is practically nothing about the process of what it does; your article on results. It is concise and focused and it is a quick read which is very important online.
Now you know what your LinkedIn profile summary should look like. It’s time to sit back and emulate John Nemo’s approach for your own LinkedIn profile.
Regards, Robert