5 things Singaporeans must do for their LinkedIn profile today

With 238 million members globally and a more than 2 people joining every second, LinkedIn is the world’s biggest social network when it comes to online business networking. There’s no doubt that the ones who are investing a little more time and effort into LinkedIn are the ones that are gaining exceptional value from it.

LinkedIn reported that in Singapore, 70% of the professional population including students and graduates has a membership on their social network. The uptake of LinkedIn is significant, however very few people are gaining any real business opportunities from it.

The first thing that I’d always recommend to my clients is that they must have a great LinkedIn profile. If you are going out there networking, meeting new people, connecting or accepting connection requests on LinkedIn, or any other business/career activity that you do – it would most likely come back to your personal brand online, which would also most likely be your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn reported that you are 40 times more likely to have opportunities presented to you if you have a complete profile and this makes perfect logical sense. With a complete profile, you are more likely to appear in search results and it enables you to present more clearly what it is that you do and what opportunities you’re after. This in turn makes it easier for the other party to approach you and present you with opportunities if required.

If you proclaim you don’t have a lot of time (which I believe everyone should put time aside to invest in LinkedIn) here are 5 must-do’s that you could at least do for your LinkedIn profile. Of course this is the absolute minimum - but we all must start somewhere.

1.       Put up a profile photo

Profile photos are absolutely crucial for LinkedIn – if you are concerned with privacy and so forth, then perhaps you should consider not being on LinkedIn because one way or another, your details will get out there in the big worldwide web.

That aside, LinkedIn reports that having a photo will make your profile 7 times more likely to get clicked on. It does however also show that you are a ‘real’ person and doesn’t raise ‘spam’ alarms when you’re being active on LinkedIn or connecting with people.

A photo also helps out your networks to put a face to a name and remember you better – especially if you’ve only had the one encounter. Remember that LinkedIn is a professional network – so make sure you keep the photo that way too.

2.       Have a catchy headline

Your headline (the sentence that goes under your name on your profile) is equivalent to the ‘80%’ of your profile. It’s what captures people’s attention and most people would make judgments as to whether they’d click on your name or read further on your profile based on this headline.

Some things to consider are not to use acronyms, or be boring – for example everybody else is a ‘consultant’, or a ‘coach’ or a ‘director’ and so forth – so how do you stand out from the crowd?

Two formats I would recommend for writing a headline is using key words is one. E.g. (Group Marketing Manager | Marketing Consultant | Communications Advisor | Online | Direct | Brand Marketing)

Or if you wish to be a little creative – a value statement that states: 1. Who you are, 2. Who you help, 3. What you help with, and 4. The value you provide. E.g. (Social Media Ghost | Helping Business Owners and Professionals to Master LinkedIn to Drive Business or Career Growth)

You have 120 characters, so have a play with it and do something that stands out!

3.       Write a summary about yourself

Your LinkedIn summary is your personal branding. It’s your opportunity to humanise your personal brand and connect with people on a more personal level than just an online ‘profile’. Take some time to craft a personal summary for yourself and write it in the first person context (I, me, my) – this makes it more personable.

Some things you could include in your summary is a little bit about who you are, briefly what you do, who you help, your story for how you got here or why you’re doing what you’re doing, they type of opportunities you are seeking, some clear contact details, a few dot points about what your key specialties are and even a call to action – what do you want people to do after reading your profile.

This could be to follow your blog, to get in touch, or even simply say ‘hi’ (if that’s your style). You have 2000 characters to work with here; everything gets tracked, picked up by LinkedIn and search engines, so why not make the most of it?

4.       Include at least one work experience

Your personal summary is more about you as a person; however the work experience section is the part where you could talk more about your work, business, company, internship and so forth. Fill in at least one of these on your profile – which is of course, your most current work experience.

Some things you could include here are, briefly your role in this company, some of your achievements there, a bit about the company, quantifying it with numbers of employees, turnover, or locations where the company operates, what problems the company solves or how it helps others, key points about the products/services, and a call to action.

If your company has a company page on LinkedIn, connect it to the experience section so that the logo appears on your profile. When writing this section put yourself in the other person’s shoes and write about what your or the company brings to the table and what value it provides to others. If you wish to invest a little more time, go ahead and fill in your previous work experiences.

5.       Get recommended

There are numerous things you could do for your LinkedIn profile, however I’m going to close off with a final point – is to get recommendations for your work. In the days before LinkedIn and social media existed, recommendations came in the form of ‘references’ on a resume or mostly, ‘word-of-mouth’.

With the strength of online media, third party reviews are becoming more relevant in the way people are making their purchasing/business decisions. Search Engine Journal reports that 72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, hence recommendations on your LinkedIn profile can do wonders for your business or career.

Take some time going through your LinkedIn network and request recommendations from those who you know have had experience in working with you or your business. Don’t send blanket recommendation requests to anyone and everyone in your network – spend a little time to pinpoint key people and ask to be recommended personally.

Get into the habit of requesting these as soon as you can while it’s warm or while they still remember otherwise when requesting the recommendation; give them a reminder as to what you’re looking to be recommended for.

LinkedIn is a powerful and fundamental business development tool of today and these are just a few points for you to creating a great profile. Having a great profile is only a stepping stone for more opportunities; however it is a start in putting you ahead of your peers, your competitors in an increasingly competitive and connected world.

Millions of dollars of business deals and career opportunities are exchanging as a result of LinkedIn every day. Invest some time on there and start getting your LinkedIn profile working for you.