Your LinkedIn Profile and Summary

I often get asked for advice about writing good LinkedIn profiles and, specifically, summaries or the About section.

I think LinkedIn is my favourite social media platform, as a business owner, especially one who works B2B. I call it my ‘Hero platform’ and I invite you all to choose one (and the rest we can just cross post stuff too – simple!)

It is worth investing time in your LinkedIn profile from both a search and sales perspective. So, let me offer you some top tips.

Why your LinkedIn profile is important

LinkedIn is still a place for fellow professionals and business owners to ‘check you out’. Whether it is someone you met at a networking event, a meeting, or even, a family party! Even potential clients may check LinkedIn to see what qualifications and experience you have, over and above reading your website’s ‘About page’.

It is worth investing some time in your profile and also ensuring it is up-to-date and regularly updated.

Ensure it is a good reflection of what you currently do, who you work with and what your business offers. Remember it is more about your clients and collaborators and what they need to know. When you are a small business owner, it is no longer just a CV. It is about presenting you in the best light FOR your customers.

There are a number of elements of a good profile, so let’s take each one in turn…

Sort your profile picture

If you don’t have a profile picture on LinkedIn, add one as soon as possible. It doesn’t have to be a professionally-taken headshot, but it should be a professional looking photograph. Think about this  in terms of your expression, your stance and the background. Your photograph should only contain you (no one else…or your pet!). It should only be of your head and shoulders, so viewers of your profile can see your face. Importantly, it should be fairly recent – to be a faithful representation of what you look like now.

Check your job title and headline

Make sure your job title is correct and also consistent. For example, if you have a job title on your email signature and somewhere on your website, make sure these are consistent with what you put on LinkedIn. If your business has a LinkedIn Company Page, make sure you link with this too.

There is some who advise that you should make your job title stand out or unique. I think this is fine if it suits your personality and industry. However, I think most people looking on LinkedIn just want to know what you do and so good ol’ plain English seems the safest bet to me. It is also a powerful key word, if you want to be found easily. So think about what people search for when it comes to jobs and job titles.

As for your headline, the first few words are most important as they show up on any activity you do on LinkedIn, under your name.

Consider what would you answer if someone said ‘what do you do? And you had to answer in no more than 5 words. Be direct. You can also add a call to action towards the end, for those that visit your profile page.

Add your website/contact info

You can also add your company website to the ‘introduction’ section of LinkedIn. And change the wording so it becomes a stand out link.

If you prefer you can link to something other than your homepage, such as a landing page, mailing list sign up page or other lead magnets.

If you don’t have a website, (or in addition), ensure you have up-to-date contact information available too. The default email is what you sign up with …if this is different to the public email you want to share, then change it.

Remember to double check your profile and info based on what others can see. Click the visitors view to check this.

Write a good ‘About’ summary

And now on to the About section. This summary space is a wonderful opportunity to explain what you do and about your business. I love that you have lots of space to do this on LinkedIn.

I recommend an opening headline, i.e. “A content consultant who specialises in copywriting, editing and strategy development” or focus more directly on those you help, i.e., “Helping small business owners to plan with purpose and create content with confidence.”

Then aim to write two to three paragraphs below about who you are and what you do, as well as important experience, projects, roles or jobs you have had. Write in first person and whilst giving an insight in to you, consider what your ideal clients will want to know. Answer how you help them? Consider pain points. Also, show them the value and benefits you offer.

Be concise

I have suggested 2-3 paragraphs, because I think more than this rather goes against the idea of a summary. This is not really the place for your full work history. LinkedIn allows you to include all of your work experience, as well as your education and volunteer experience, and for each ‘entry’ you can include its own description/summary of what you do/did, so there is plenty of space for detail of roles elsewhere.

You can include bullet points if you feel it best reflects you and is suitable for your industry and would meet client expectation.

Remember your activity…i.e. your posts, videos and articles allow you to get more of your personality, services and expertise across, so this doesn’t have to do all these things too.

Be passionate

I say ‘be passionate’, but please try to avoid the word ‘passionate’! Every year LinkedIn releases a list of buzzwords which are essentially the most commonly used (or overused!) words on LinkedIn – ‘passionate’ and ‘specialist’ nearly always rank amongst the highest.

Write about what drives you, what you find most interesting and, even, what you think the future will hold within your industry or for your business.

Be positive and upbeat in your summary and reflect your personality. It is another reason why I think using first person, ‘I’ ‘me’, is the best.  It seems more natural.

Be unique

Unique is probably another buzzword but remember that for most, your job title alone won’t make you stand out. I know there are 100s of ‘consultants’ and ‘copywriters’ and ‘editors’ within my own county in the UK, let alone across the whole world!

Therefore, as well as explaining clearly what you do and what you can offer, think about what makes you a bit different from the rest. What do you see as the most important development in your industry perhaps? What areas do you specialise in? What experience or skills do you have which others may not?

I love it when people say about their vision, philosophy or ethos – so for example:

‘A beautician committed to using organic and natural products.

I grow my own herbs and flowers, which I use in my treatments and to decorate my therapy room.’

Everyone is usually driven my something other than ‘earning money’ or has an interest in some specialist area of their profession, so make sure you share it.

Get some help

When you have written your summary, leave some a time and then go back and proofread it, ensuring it is free from typos and grammatical errors. My best tip is to read it out loud, to check it for clarity and flow.

If you are worried or are not sure what information to share, then do ask for help. You can get AI to enhance it or make recommendations too.

LinkedIn profile updates – Regular updates and reminders

A social media profile page is so often created and just forgotten.

All of the sections discussed above are shown right at the top of your profile, so they are really important. A profile also shows your activity and featured posts so think about what impression this will make on your ideal clients too.

Ensure the content is working hard for your business. And, put a little reminder to check in and do some updates next quarter too!

Want more help with this? Get in touch. It’s what we do as part of our Quarterly Planning in The Content Club.