LinkedIn is the platform for professionals. At least currently.
That means your profile represents how you are presenting yourself to potential employers, those you want to network with, clients, and customers.
In essence, that constitutes a "sales pitch."
Sure, your can read those many articles on how to make your profile more of a magnet. That investment of time can produce results.
But you often won't know if you're succeeding unless you find out that others have been visiting your profile. Or ignoring you.
One of the various ways you find that out is through the LinkedIn feature known as "Search Appearances." Weekly, LinkedIn notifies you about the number of those checking your profile and identifies some of them. That report clues you in on how you're doing.
What "pulls" those eyeballs in is primarily how effectively you use keywords in your profile. "Keywords" are the terms which get you noticed on search engines such as Google. It's the search engine such as Google which is your new homepage, not your official website.
The formal term for making yourself attractive to search engines is "keyword optimization." For instance, if your field is law or social media you must embed in your profile the right terms describing that special niche expertise, especially your track record.
Okay, what are the "right" terms?
How you figure out those right terms is by retrieving and analyzing the profiles of your colleagues and competitors. What you focus on are both the header for the profiles and the content of the profiles themselves. You select models based on the level of activity on their site. How many followers do they have? How often do they post on Updates? How much do they like and leave comments on other sites?
If the weekly numbers of your Search Appearances are high and growing, you know you're okay. At least for now.
If not, then it's back to the drawing board. Yes, keep experimenting with keywords, especially in the title for your profile. That title is a workhorse. It should signal what results you can get for employers, clients, and/or customers. No, it shouldn't be generic such as "Divorce Lawyer" or "Social Media Expert."
Also, as you know, everything changes. Frequently you will modify your profile to align with what's going on in the macro economy, your field, and your own professional life. Before doing those updates you should be reviewing other profiles to check keyword additions or deletions.
LinkedIn rewards all activity on your site. Your target markets also notice all that. It tells them you're involved.
In addition to continually bringing up to date your profile, you will be posting on LinkedIn Updates, liking, and commenting on others' posts. Those comments should indicate you have given careful thought to the issue. In all fields, professionals have reported that jobs and new business had come through their comments on others' Updates' posts.
To boost your LinkedIn know-how, go to search engines and input phrase such as "LinkedIn Profiles." It will turn out guides such as this one.
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“Over-50: Outsmarting Your Comfort Zone” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/05/outsmarting-your-comfort-zone-free-book.html
“Over-50: The Four Monsters in the Mind” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/04/ageism-bites-.html
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