Donna Serdula - LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies

LinkedIn® Profile Optimization For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020904246

ISBN 978-1-119-65142-0 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-65145-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-65146-8 (ebk)

1 Cover

2 Introduction Introduction LinkedIn is the professional network for business people. Whether you are a job seeker, a corporate executive, a small-business owner, an entrepreneur, or a professional with the desire for more, LinkedIn is the place to build and nurture your network. It’s so easy to get caught up in your day-to-day life and job. People flow in and out. But by using LinkedIn to build a network of the people you meet and then keeping in touch with them, you are creating an engine for opportunities. American businessman and author Robert Kiyosaki has said, “The richest people in the world look for and build networks; everyone else looks for work.” Beyond the network and networking capabilities, LinkedIn is also the place to forge a strong professional brand. As you move through your professional life, people will want to learn more about you. Who are you? What do you do? How do you help others? What do you represent? What is your mission? These are all questions on top of people’s minds. The answers to these questions help people decide if they like you and want to spend more time with you. Remember, people do business with people! Not everyone has a personal website or websites devoted to them (well, unless you are a celebrity); however, the LinkedIn profile has become the de facto website for everyday professionals. A simple name search for most people returns their LinkedIn profile on the first page of search results. How does your LinkedIn profile portray you? Your LinkedIn profile is your online reputation, digital introduction, and first impression. The good news is that you have complete control over your profile and can shape how your reader perceives you. Most people simply copy and paste their resume into their profile because it’s easy, but a profile consisting of a copied-and-pasted resume impresses no one. Consider the recruiter who has your resume in his hot hands and wants to learn more about you, so he looks you up on LinkedIn, only to find the exact same information that is in your resume. He would be disappointed, to say the least. To have a strong and optimized LinkedIn profile, you need to move beyond just your resume that details your past and aligns you to a job. An optimized LinkedIn profile tells your professional story, is geared strategically toward your goals, and contains what your target audience needs to know about you. When you are done with this book, your LinkedIn profile is going to be a true compendium of who you are and what you stand for. It’s going to authentically tell your professional story, and people will see you as someone who inspires confidence and ability. About This Book About This Book This book is a how-to manual that shows you the steps to craft a strategic and compelling LinkedIn profile that captures your unique brand and professional story. I show you how to take your profile from nothing more than a simple outline to a robust, full-featured profile of you as a professional that commands attention and evokes action. Although you can pick up this book at any point, I highly suggest, at the very least, reading Chapter 1 and then Part 2 . In Chapter 1 , I discuss the importance of determining your LinkedIn goal and target audience. If you don’t identify your goal, your profile cannot be written strategically and it will not perform adequately. Likewise, you need to understand your target audience and write to what they need to know about you. Part 2 is all about the intro card of your LinkedIn profile. This is the very first part people see when they open your LinkedIn profile and you want to make sure you capture their attention immediately, or else they’ll surf off to another profile. Regardless of your LinkedIn goal, you will benefit from the information in this book. Although LinkedIn isn’t rocket science, it isn’t the most intuitive social network either. Plus, writing about yourself is hard! In this book, I break everything down to its core to make it easy for you to use LinkedIn and create an impressive profile that helps you achieve your professional goals.