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Jill Konrath and Wayne Breitbarth on How to Update Your LinkedIn Profile
Blog / All About CRM / Dec 22, 2014 / Posted by Jill Konrath / 8762

Jill Konrath and Wayne Breitbarth on How to Update Your LinkedIn Profile

I have a confession to make. I haven’t updated my LinkedIn profile much for 18 months. I know. Shame on me. I’m supposed be a leader on things like that, but I’m human too.

If you looked at my profile, you’d probably think it’s fine. It doesn’t read like a boring resume or make me look like a hungry, job-hunting sales vulture. It doesn’t sound like a self-serving company brochure.

It’s customer focused, showcases my expertise and establishes my credibility. It’s my professional presence online. Even LinkedIn says it’s well done.

But here’s the truth. My LinkedIn profile doesn’t reflect changes I’ve made in the past year and a half. Worse yet, it’s no longer meeting my objectives.

(FYI: It still says that I have a new book coming out in May, 2014 when it’s already a bestseller. I didn’t change anything because I want you to see what’s wrong with it.)

Time to get some help! So I called in Wayne Breitbarth, author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success to scour through it with a fine-tooth comb. He recommended the following 5 actions to help me leverage LinkedIn more effectively. Some really surprised me!

Before we dig in, here’s a quick look at the top section of my profile:

Jill Konrath profile on LinkedIn

5 Steps to a More Powerful LinkedIn Profile

1. Get clear on what you want to achieve

The first step is always to figure out your core objectives, since they serve as the basis for all the messaging on your LinkedIn profile. When Wayne asked about mine, I told him this:

  • I want to get “found” by VPs of Sales who are searching (via Google or LinkedIn) for someone to speak/train at their annual meeting, conference or sales kick-off.
  • When these VPs come to my profile, I want them to think, “Wow. She gets our issues, challenges and objectives. I want to learn more!”

Although my current profile states that I am a sales speaker, I honestly don’t think it’s strong enough to get that type of reaction. (Check out this video if you need help improving your messaging.)

2. Upgrade your headline

According to Wayne, these 120 characters are the most important part of your profile. Unfortunately, most people waste it with their job title. Instead, your headline needs to clearly define your business outcomes and include some keywords. As you can see, my current headline says:

Sales Speaker, author of AGILE SELLING, SNAP Selling & Selling to Big Companies

Note that I totally missed the outcomes. So, based on my evolving business direction AND to include more keywords, Wayne suggests this:

Sales Acceleration Specialist | Sales Keynote Speaker | Author of 3 Bestselling Books | Sales Blog with 130k Followers

I like it. It stresses my new focus on sales acceleration (a desirable business outcome) and keynoting. And, Wayne says that having 130,000+ people reading my newsletter is impressive. Okay. I’ll go with it.

3. Enhance your summary

Most people sell themselves short on the Summary section – probably because it’s the hardest part of the whole LinkedIn profile! According to Wayne, mine needs some work. You can check it out here: www.linkedin.com/in/jillkonrath

This is what he told me to do:

  • In the first paragraph, make my purpose for being on LinkedIn very clear. Don’t make people guess why I’m the best choice. I need to put the speaking (keynotes & breakouts) upfront, but in a way that clearly states the value that my clients get from working with me.
  • Talk about what I do in a conversational tone, just like I’m sharing this information with someone over a cup of coffee.
  • Highlight my awards and special accomplishments. I have some, but they’re buried way down. They’re differentiators and establish my credibility – making them worthy of being near the top of my profile.
  • Keep the specialties section (which most people don’t have in the summary, but should!), but add a few more key words that prospects might use to search for someone like me.
  • Include more supporting content. If you look right under the specialties area of my profile, you’ll see three graphics which are links to content on my website or slideshare. I have more. Your company probably has some ebooks, white papers and videos too. If you have them, use them.

As I look at this list, I realize that I have a lot of rewriting to do! Hopefully you’re thinking the same thing. Most LinkedIn profiles could use a serious face lift. With everyone checking you out online these days, it makes a huge difference.

The most important thing to remember is to keep it customer focused. This can be a real challenge, but as I talked about in I Hate LinkedIn Profiles Like This …, sounding like a hungry salesperson or a company brochure kills credibility.

4. Share contact info

If you want people to connect with you, share your contact information. It’s amazing how many people skip this step. I did. While there is a specific “Contact info” section that you can – should – use, Wayne also recommends including it directly in the Summary area. That way it’s much easier for people to get a hold of you.

5. Take control of your endorsements

Endorsements are one section that often gets ignored. In fact, I always thought they were pretty darn worthless since I’ve been endorsed by people I don’t know for things that I suck at.

But that’s a huge mistake! According to Wayne, they’re critically important for LinkedIn’s search ranking algorithm – meaning they actually determine the order that people show up in searches. Plus, they’re also a way for people to compare others to you, like “Yelping” of people.

Wayne suggested that I take charge of this and determine which endorsements show up on my profile. I’ve been instructed to:

  • Delete the words that don’t describe my expertise or objectives – like CRM.
  • Add words that I want to be endorsed for – like Sales Keynote Speaker.
  • Put the most important words on top – because that way I’ll get even more endorsements for them.

With the right endorsements, I’ll have a greater chance of getting found by people searching for those skills. And, that’s really what we all want.

Hopefully you’ll join me in taking your own profile to the next level too.

About Author

Jill Konrath is a Sales leader and speaker -- as well as the bestselling author of two award-winning books: SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies, a Fortune magazine “must read.” Her newest sales book, AGILE SELLING, shows salespeople how to succeed in a constantly changing sales world.

Author's Publications on Amazon

Being an agile seller virtually guarantees a prosperous career. When salespeople are promoted, switch jobs, or face new business conditions, they need to learn lots of new information and skills quickly. It's a daunting task, compounded by the fact that they're under intense pressure to…
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Jill Konrath is a globally recognized sales strategist, author and keynote speaker. With over 1/4 million LinkedIn followers and 140,000+ blog readers, her fresh strategies help sellers win more business in an ever-evolving sales world. The most recent challenge Jill has tackled is overwhelm. Every…
Buy on Amazon
"I felt like time was taunting me: 'Behind again? You'll never get it all done.' I worked harder and longer hours, sacrificing my limited personal time to stay ahead of the game. Still, it wasn't sufficient. My work just kept expanding, demanding more of me.…
Buy on Amazon
Setting up meetings with corporate decision-makers has never been harder. It's almost impossible to get them to pick up the phone. They never return your calls. And if you do happen to catch them, they blow you off right away.
Buy on Amazon
Internationally recognized sales strategist Jill Konrath shows how to overcome customer hesitation to get more appointments, speed up decisions, and win sales. Drawing on her years of selling experience, as well as the stories of other successful sellers, she offers four SNAP rules Keep It…
Buy on Amazon
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