Are you attracting prospects or repelling them because your profile is simply indifferent?
Ask yourself (or someone else) what are the messages that your LinkedIn profile is sending the viewer?
We’ve compiled 6 reasons why your LinkedIn profile isn’t attracting prospects and the ways in which you can make changes to become a brand worth following and connecting with.
1. No One Knows What You Do Beyond Your Title
Using LinkedIn as a resume where you add your title, dates of work experience and a broad description of your role isn’t enough to get people who don’t know you to pay attention. People simply become indifferent to your invitations to connect.
What successful business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders all have in common is that they stand out beyond their job title and are recognized for their unique abilities.
Let’s say you are a realtor and in your title field in LinkedIn you put realtor and the name of company you hang your license with. With over 1.3 million licensed realtors, most people would say ‘so what?” People make the mistake of not highlighting their unique abilities in the market they serve.
We are so much more than our title and using a realtor as a keyword in your title works, I encourage you to follow that with a brand statement that tells more specifically why you are unique and the one to talk to. In the example below, the brand statement by Jim Jaeckels is specific to the area he serves and the year he’s started in the market adds credibility and trust.
2. You Don’t Think of Yourself as Personal Brand
A personal brand is the face, the person that get’s exposure for the brand. When someone has a compelling personal brand they become the person that people say “Oh I love their ideas or their messaging and style.”
Elon Musk is a great example of a personal brand versus Nike which we only know as a brand. People follow Elon Musk because of his ideas and the things he comments on and stands for.
Your personal brand should help you stand out and not fit in.
Start by getting crystal clear on the #1 problem you solve.
To what question are you the answer? (you can solve many problems but for this exercise, focus on one)
You want to be the ambassador of the problem so you can position yourself as the solution. Once you know the #1 problem you solve, then you can find the exact audience you want to target Then you have a core target audience – you will reach other people but you must have the core audience.
Download our workbook with steps to building a strong personal brand.
3. No Differentiating Factors
As in the example above with the realtor, if you sounds like every other realtor then you have given no reason to connect with and learn more about you. I see the same issue with people in financial services, marketing, business consultants and more.
You want your LinkedIn profile at a glance show why your product or how you deliver service is different than your competitors. Every business and individual has characteristics and ways of doing business that makes them unique. If you don’t know what makes you different or why people have done business with you then take the time to speak to your last 10 clients and ask them specifically why they did business with you versus a competitor. What made you stand out? What about your product or service has made them a happy customer? Ask if they would refer you and if so, what would they say?
There are many ways to flush out and discover what makes you stand out. Another tip is to gain recommendations for your profile, this social proof is invaluable in discovering what you are doing well and why the person would recommend you.
4. You’ve Left the Header Image Blank
At the top of your profile lies a giant billboard ready to display anything you most want people to know about you. If you are a business owner, personalizing the image with a logo, brand statement and contact info is a great way to draw eyes to your brand.
If you are employed by a company, you could display the company logo, add a business tagline, show a picture of your product or a favorite quote that tells your story.
But the biggest mistake that shows unprofessionalism is leaving this space with the default graphic.
The image size of this space is 1584 x 396. You want to leave space around the profile picture image so bear that in mind when designing or uploading a picture.
5. Haven’t leverage the Featured Section
Another large attention-grabbing image is available to you in the Featured section which rolled out in 2020.
This area was designed to highlight your work. You can do this in the form of images, documents, slides and links to your website or a landing page. If you do add a link to a webpage, you will want to pay attention to what graphic is pulled in from your website as you will find there is a problem with the image size.
There are many clever ways to use this section, for example if you were looking for a job you could upload your resume and a video introduction.
For businesses, you could upload a product video, an interview, a slide show or a white paper report or marketing brochure.
As I stated above the header image is a giant billboard, well so is the featured section and it is underutilized. People love visuals, we gravitate toward interesting images so this is an ideal place to showcase your work. As new work becomes available, update the images so your profile is always fresh. You will find colleagues and referral partners will send people t your profile so keeping it fresh says a lot about how you do business.
6. You Have No Contact Information in Your Profile
Are you easy to get ahold of? Not if you don’t have contact information in your profile. Seems obvious right? But many profiles are lacking a phone number as well as a business email.
As my colleague, Scott Plum from the Minnesota Sales Institute says, no phone number and a Gmail or Yahoo email address shows a lack of commitment and sends a negative message to a buyer. So if you are selling something, having a professional email address and putting your phone number in your profile shows commitment.
Buyers want to be assured that you are responsive and easy to get ahold of me. The contact information should be completed under the ‘Contact Info’ link as shown in the image below.
I would also add your email and phone at the bottom of your ‘About’ section. Do not add it in your headline or title field which I have seen people do. This is not professional and hiders finding you in search results.
Conclusion
To attract prospects your LinkedIn profile needs to stand out with clarity, be interesting and clear about who you serve and the problems you solve. A great profile results in more profile views, connection requests and people who want to have a conversation with you.