Does your LinkedIn profile read like a resume? If you're looking for a job, that's great. But, if you're not, I believe you're doing it wrong. Here's a quick read on how to make your LinkedIn profile increase your business.

1. F E AT U R E S
How Franchise
Professionals Should Use
Put out the welcome mat through a clearly communicated
LinkedIn profile.
By Todd Leiser, CFE
For the l ast sever al years, an ongoing conversation
in the franchise community has centered on how best to
leverage LinkedIn for our various needs. Whether franchisor,
franchisee or supplier, we all see an opportunity with
LinkedIn, but arguably, no one has completely cracked the
code.
There are prospective franchisees and customers in
LinkedIn’s database of more than 238 million individuals, but
there is no magic bullet or one specific strategy that works
best. As much as we’d like, there is no simple answer. Many
of us have tried various strategies and tactics, some have
worked and others have failed.
Now, let’s work on one relatively simple step that everyone
in the franchise community can deploy. It starts with you and
your profile page.
And let’s make this interactive, so go ahead and pull up
your LinkedIn profile, read it and leave it open as you read the
rest of this article. Go ahead, I’ll be right here.
Now, does your profile read like a resume? If you’re
actively looking for a job, I guess that’s okay. But if you
aren’t, you should immediately rewrite the profile to be
targeted to whichever prospect or customer or prospective
employee you would like to engage.
Each day more and more prospective customers who are
considering doing business with you, buying a franchise or
going to work for you − are using LinkedIn as a resource to
better know you. If you are trying to sell franchises and your
LinkedIn profile reads like a resume, it could communicate
that you are not necessarily committed to your company. So
why should they?
Buying a franchise, changing jobs or doing business
with a stranger can be big step and you must establish trust
and credibility to increase the odds of success. If you are a
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franchisor in a leadership position, you want to communicate
the same commitment and integrity whether it’s a prospective
employee, an industry peer, a supplier or a future or current
franchisee.
As you read through your LinkedIn profile, ask yourself
whether your profile answers these questions that the reader
may have:
•
•
•
•
•
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Should I pay this person money?
Can I trust this person?
Can this person help me with my objectives (franchise
ownership, employment, doing business)?
What benefits do this person and his company
provide?
Does this person have the ability to help me make a
significant decision?
Does this person look trustworthy and credible?
Let’s go through the LinkedIn profile checklist:
1. Does it have a picture? LinkedIn says you are
seven times more likely to have your profile viewed if you
have a picture. If you don’t, upload one right now from your
computer, but make sure it’s professional.
2. Do you have a strong compelling headline that
clearly communicates what you do now?
3. Summary. Typically this is the first paragraph of
content read on your profile page. Make sure that you have
completed this section with succinct keyword-laden text,
in the first person. Again, unless you are looking for a job,
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2. (Continued from page 20)
For example, franchise development professionals should
have three to four recommendations from recent franchise
candidates they brought into the system. Personally, I like
when the recommendations take some of the fear out of the
franchise award process and give prospective franchisees
a sense of comfort that they will get the transparency and
information they need to evaluate the opportunity.
A few other items you should check for freshness:
•
Contact Information. Besides your email and phone,
include your Twitter handle, company website and blog if
applicable.
run this through the filter of the prospective business partner,
franchisee or employee.
As an example, if you are in franchise sales, rather
than tell the world you are yet another “seasoned sales
professional with 15 years of experience, a self-starter and
highly motivated,” why not communicate that you are “an
ambassador for your brand, helping individuals explore your
franchise concept with transparency and attention.”
If you are a franchisee, you may want to write your
summary to communicate that you have “been a (add
brand name) franchisee for 15 years serving hundreds of
homeowners with integrity, honesty and focus on quality.”
LinkedIn recommends at least 40 words.
The rest of your profile should list your accomplishments
and work history so if the prospect wants to really dig into
your past it’s there. Many viewers will likely not go past the
summary, unless it’s compelling, so make every word count.
4. The next section is your experience. Certainly expand
on your current position, again using keywords to accomplish
the goal of trust and integrity. If your past positions are
relevant to your current position, you should include details
that add credibility to your experience and reinforce keywords
you’ve put in your summary. LinkedIn also now gives you the
ability to add rich media to each section. You can add a video
or presentation, if applicable. More than 2.5 million pieces of
rich media have been added by others to their profiles.
5. Organizations and certifications are another good way
to show more of your professionalism.
6. Recommendations and endorsements are, in my
opinion, the third most important part of your profile (after a
picture and a well-written summary). Here’s where a reader
can get a perspective about you from others’ viewpoints. If
you display current recommendations from individuals to
confirm the messaging you’ve placed in your summary and
profile, this is where your credibility can solidify.
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FRANCHISING WORLD NOVEMBER 2013
•
Activity. This is the first visible section on a typical
LinkedIn profile. You can post relevant Internet content or a
personal message that is helpful to the audience you are trying
to communicate with.
•
Groups. While I personally don’t find these to be
much value (too much self-promotion and noise), being a
member of groups relevant to your role at least creates an
impression of engagement within your profession.
•
Set your custom LinkedIn vanity URL.
•
Make sure your company LinkedIn profile is updated
and has all relevant sections completed so it reinforces what
you’ve done with your own profile.
Finally, as you are constructing or updating your profile,
LinkedIn gives you a completeness score, called “Profile
Strength” that is visible on the right side of your profile edit
page.
A couple of good resources are a “how-to” book titled
“LinkedIn for Business: How Advertisers, Marketers and
Salespeople Get Leads, Sales and Profits from LinkedIn” by
Brian Carter. I also find the LinkedIn blog at blog.linkedin.com
to be a helpful source for tips and tricks.
There are more than 238 million people using LinkedIn and
it’s becoming more common for prospects to “check you out”
(see your LinkedIn’s “Who’s viewed Your Profile” page). If
you want prospective franchisees, customers and employees
to feel comfortable with the prospect of doing business or
working for or with you, why not put out the welcome mat
through a clearly communicated LinkedIn profile.
People want to do business with people they like and feel
at ease with. Having a proper LinkedIn profile won’t get the
job done alone, but it will help the process get off to a better
start. n
Todd Leiser, CFE, is the director of franchise sales for
Valpak Direct Marketing Systems and vice chairman
of IFA’s Marketing and Technology Committee. View
his LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/
toddleiser (LinkedIn member #113,225) and Find him
at fransocial.franchise.org via the directory.