1. 14 MNCPA Footnote April 2016
Look great, be found. Learn how LinkedIn can do
both with this expert advice for CPAs
By Anne Pryor, online brand strategist, Meaningful Connections
I consider LinkedIn to be a flashing digital billboard that I
change every Sunday at 3:30 p.m. I call this changing my oil.
LinkedIn is not a résumé, which is an historical document
highlighting past jobs, achievements, education and
community involvement.
As a futurist and strategist, career coach and LinkedIn
specialist, I teach my clients how to leverage LinkedIn to get
what they want going forward, not to get what they have
always had.
Having written more than 7,000 successful LinkedIn profiles
for CPAs, attorneys, C-level executives, business development
clients and job seekers, I offer these 10 ways for making your
LinkedIn profile look great and be found for success, not only
with potential employers, but as a way to bring in new clients.
Know your goals. The first and most important tip is
to understand the purpose of your LinkedIn profile,
and the goals for being on this tool. My clients must
complete my workbook, answering many questions
that help them discern their goals, such as:
 What three things do you want to be known for?
 What happens because of you?
 Who do you want to connect with?
 Who do you want to find you?
 Who do you want to find on LinkedIn?
 What are your keywords (industries, titles of people you
want to serve, specialties)?
Look great. On LinkedIn, a great photograph is the
key. People want to know that the LinkedIn profile
owner is real, authentic and genuine. Be sure to get a
professional headshot for your profile. (I do not even
click on profiles without photos).
ANNE’S EXPERTTIP: Do not use a selfie for the LinkedIn profile.
Know your brand. Take time to unearth and
understand your brand and communicate that in the
Professional Headline area on LinkedIn, under your
name. This area allows for only 120 characters, and
because it’s high in search engine optimization, you’ll want to
get it right. Start with your title, your brand statement and
your specialties.
Headline example: Accountant, CPA | Advising Small Business
Owners, Manufacturing and Professional Services Clients for
Success.
ANNE’S EXPERT TIP: I change my headline based on what I
desire, adding and removing keywords, titles and industries
that I am targeting. My branding remains consistent but the
keywords may change based on the jobs or industries I’m
targeting, i.e., LinkedIn Trainer, Sales Coach | Accountant
- Look Great, Be Found, Get Known and Make Meaningful
Business Connections. By adding the word Accountant, I
recently added two more CPA firms to my client list. They
found me on LinkedIn.
Target your audience. In your Summary area,
which has a 2,000-character limit, make sure there
are at least 50 keywords. If you are seeking to grow
your business, start the first two lines (50 characters)
with the people, titles, industries or types of companies that
you want to work with. This way your profile will come up
when people search for the services (keywords) you’ve listed. In
the Summary, let people know:
 what you desire
 what your goals are
 what you have accomplished
 why you do what you do
 how you can help them
 how to contact you
Summarize achievements. In the Experience
section, provide a list of businesses that you’ve
worked for and what you helped them
accomplish. I coach my clients to rank these
accomplishments based on what they want to do in the future.
I also coach clients to use my “frosting and cupcake” format,
which means creating a headline (frosting) for each key
accomplishment (cupcake) that quickly tells the story with
keywords. This is important, because when you apply for a job
through LinkedIn or download your LinkedIn profile into an
online résumé format, the frosting and cupcake format is very
easy to read and the keywords stand out. Example:
SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION REDUCES COSTS:
 Designed systems integration structure to ensure executive
line of sight to $100M in annual costs.
 Created logistics productivity and measurement tools with
financial reporting.
ANNE’S EXPERT TIP: Never use the words ‘Responsible for’
in the Experience section. Clients want to know what you’ve
achieved, not what the responsibilities were. Always put past
job accomplishments in past tense.

2. MNCPA Footnote April 2016 15
People want to hire winners! There are many new areas on
LinkedIn where you can display your experience.
Highlight successes. People want to hire winners!
There are many new areas on LinkedIn where you can
display your experience. Begin adding the Volunteer,
Honors and Awards, Publications, Organizations,
Certifications, Courses and other sections to the profile.
ANNE’S EXPERT TIP: Each Sunday when I “change my oil,” I
add a new keyword to the Interest area on LinkedIn. This area
is high in search engine optimization and I use it as my ‘secret
sauce’ to help get picked up in searches. I have hundreds of
client success stories about clients who added a new keyword
and were quickly found for a great new business lead.
Show your stuff. In the new media-rich formatting
area in the LinkedIn Summary, Experience, and
Education sections, you can add links to articles
you’ve authored, videos of your instruction, PPT,
PDFs or photos. If you don’t have any of these visuals, then
create some.
ANNE’S EXPERT TIP: Visit www.linkedin.com/in/annepryor
to view many media-rich format suggestions. With one client,
we created a PPT slide showing how he has been successful in
creating business analytics. This visual got him noticed by a
potential employer.
Flaunt your skills. The Skills and Endorsements
area is important on LinkedIn. You can add up to 50
skills, but make certain the top 10 skills get at least
20 endorsements. You can move the skills around
now by clicking ‘Manage skills’ and then clicking on the skill
and dragging it to a new position.
Recommend others first. Give recommendations
to clients. Give three recommendations per week and
watch how many you receive back. Recommendations
are an important way for new clients to see
your character.
ANNE’S EXPERT TIP: Always highlight the client’s brand
attributes and accomplishments in the first six words of a
recommendation. This is all people can see on a LinkedIn
profile, and it’s all they notice.
Invite top influencers. Once you have your
profile looking great, it’s time to identify the
top influencers you want in your network and
start inviting them. Make a list of five
industries and 40 companies you wish to target. Then list the
top 33 people that refer business to you and to whom you do
the same. Make certain people from these industries,
companies and top contacts are in your network.
ANNE’S EXPERT TIP: Always add a personal message when
inviting people to LinkedIn. Here’s my 5-step process for
creating effective invitations: 1) say how you know them 2)
give them a compliment or a connection point, 3) invite them
to connect, 4) ask how you can support or help them, 5) sign
off with your brand statement, name, phone, and Twitter
handle (LinkedIn does not allow you to add a URL on the
Invitation message prior to connecting).
Now go be found
Now, armed with this information, you can leverage your
LinkedIn profile to go to work for you. Just try a few of these
tips and let me know how it works for you! 
Anne Pryor is recognized as a Top 10 LinkedIn
Trainer in the World, Certified Online Brand
Specialist, Future Mapper and cofounder of
Meaningful Connections, a national leader in
personal branding, online visibility using
LinkedIn, and career and new world of work
strategies. See her blog posts at
www.linkedin.com/in/annepryor,
www.MeaningfulConnections.com or contact her at
anne@meaningfulconnections.net or on Twitter @annepryor.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/pryorchecklist for
a free Best LinkedIn Profile Checklist