Personal branding & LinkedIn By Khaled Elahmad

Personal Branding
& LinkedIn
Shusmo.me | Khaled@DigiArabs.com | @Shusmo

It is not about YOU
Personal Branding is not about YOU
It’s about what other people’s
perception of YOU.

If you fit
They will:
Hire you
Partner with you
Invest in You

Give away Value
People don’t care how much you
know, until they know how much
you care.
So you need to give away value.
You are not entitled to a place, you
have to earn it

Anatomy of
Personal Branding
Mind: Know your Strength,
Weakness & values.
Heart: Give Value.
Everything else: Social Platform
(Username, photo, cover,
statement, listening, insights,
engage)

Old generation
Old generation is into:
text, photos, and recorded videos

New generation
New generation is into:
Instant content like stories, selfies
and snaps

Sell Sell Sell
If you post ONLY about your services then
what you are saying is “follow me and
engage with me only when you need my
services.”

But if you are
offering fresh
new valuable
knowledge
everyday
they will follow
and engage daily

Personal Branding
Do’s & Don’t’s

Personal Brand
OR
Too Personal
Source: https://www.piasilva.com/ Shusmo.me | Khaled@DigiArabs.com | @Shusmo

Your Family
Your last trip to Cancun is generally
too personal for your personal
brand.
A vacation shot paired with a
caption about how you can work
from anywhere when that is what
you teach others to do is right on
brand.

You in Action
Anytime you are doing something that
shows that other people are interested in
what you have to say make sure you
document it!
This is authority-building gold and you
can the value out of the event by posting
about it later as it shows 3rd party
validation of you as an authority.

Your Pets
Dogs are easy likes, but unless
they are part of your everyday
business (dog trainer) they are
generally too personal for a
personal brand. Once in awhile is
OK.

Behind the scenes
Social media was practically made
for behind-the-scenes-of-your-
business posts.
These scenes all communicate that
you’re doing Badass things as an
authority, while allowing you to
connect with the audience in a more
personal way

Food
Resist the temptation of taking Instagram
shots of your meal.
Food photos are all over the internet and
it doesn’t add to your brand.
Unless there is a message behind it like “
Dining at Salad Boutique with my partner
celebrating our new family business (with
a photo of you instead of the food)”

Credibilitybuilding
Anytime you are featured
anywhere as the authority on your
topic post it everywhere.
Still do give value if you can. Share
a tidbit from the content so your
followers can walk away with
something.

Value Content
Sharing your expertise in a way that is valuable
to your ideal target audience is THE BEST way
to engage online.
Don’t forget: Nobody cares about you being an
expert, so they aren’t going to pay attention
unless they are getting something from you.
Nothing personal, we just don’t have enough
time! So creating content that is valuable to the
reader is a MUST and therefore, obviously has a
huge place in your personal brand.

Your issues
*Not to be confused with sharing your experiences and
struggles as they relate to your area of expertise.*
Just because you can get a lot of engagement by airing
your dirty laundry doesn’t mean you should; at least,
not in the places where you’re trying to build a
professional reputation.
Some people use very personal stories when promoting
their brands and businesses successfully, but it’s
successful because they can tie it back to their area of
expertise. If you can’t tie it back in some way, it doesn’t
belong on your authority-building personal brand.

Political Rants
No matter how engaged or heated
you are about politics, your personal
brand is not the forum for it.
P.S: Unless it is a national campaign

Score your
Communication Skills
Source: https://personalbrandingproject.co/ Shusmo.me | Khaled@DigiArabs.com | @Shusmo

Which platform
should I start with?

Brand Checklist

Your solution

Opportunity to serve

Communication style

Work on your Bio

Commitment

How To Get LinkedIn
All Star Status

1. Add a high quality
LinkedIn profile
picture
A person only needs a 33 millisecond glance at your
picture to form a first impression that includes
evaluations of “trustworthiness, status, and attractiveness.”
LinkedIn’s profile picture dimensions are 400 x 400 pixels.
The maximum profile picture file size is 8mb
• Headshot
• Square in size
• Dressed as your job culture
• Smile and look dependable
• No distracting background
• No snapchat filters
• No Selfies

2. Use a custom
LinkedIn URL (with
some variation of first
& last name)
Ideally, you want to use some combination of your
full name. Mine is Khaled ElAhmad so any of these
combos would work great:
linkedin.com/in/KhaledElAhmad
linkedin.com/in/KElAhmad
linkedin.com/in/ElAhmadKhaled
linkedin.com/in/KhaledSElAhmad

3. Add an up-to-date
Industry & Location
Settings & Privacy > Site > Account > Name, Location & Industry

4. Customize your
headline with
relevant experience
& keywords

5. Fill out your
LinkedIn “About”
section
• Make your first sentence count, Instead of saying, “I am the Director of Marketing at Digital Marketer,
” Amanda Powell says, “I’m leading the charge to fill Google search results with content that actually matters.”
• Choose the Keywords You Want to be Found For, but Don’t use industry jargon or buzzwords
• Write in a Narrative Format. ( Use "I" not "Khaled ElAhmad" )
• Speak to your industry expertise
• Provide data to back up your results
• Highlight professional interests
• Mention top brands you worked with
• Mention top tools you are expert in
• Include contact information
• Make sure there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes
• Easy on the symbols & emojis, but do use bullet points when needed.
• Add visual files to your About section like presentations or videos.
• End With a Call to Action

6. Add at least
3 positions
(current + 2 previous)
to your Work
Experience section

7. Add your
Education
to your profile

8. Add at least
5 skills to
your profile
How to get endorsements for your skills
Step 1 – Friends & Family
Step 2 – Endorse other people’s skills
Post-Endorsement Message:
Hey [Name],
Hope you’re doing well! I just wanted to recognize you for some of the awesome work we’ve done together so
I endorsed you for some skills on LinkedIn. If there’s anything else I can do to help, just let me know.
Best,
[Your Name]

9. Connect with at
least 50 people

Tip: Keep your
LinkedIn profile
updates to yourself
Settings & Privacy > How LinkedIn uses your data > Share job changes

Tip: Let recruiters
know you’re open for
business
Settings & Privacy > Job Seeking Preferences > Let Recruiters Know
You’re Open for Opportunities

Tip: LinkedIn Cover
Photo ideas To Make
Your Profile Stand
Out
Data shows that humans only remember 20% of what they read,
but they remember 80% of what they see
our brains process visuals up to 60,000x faster than text!
90%+ of LinkedIn profiles use the default LinkedIn Cover photo.
1. Define a purpose for your LinkedIn profile
2. Use a photo that directly relates to your career or industry
3. Show off a personal accomplishment
4. Show your company pride
5. Or your city pride
Text:
Your elevator pitch and goals in two lines or less
A link to your personal website, if you have one
Links to your portfolio, projects you’ve worked on, or your resume

Tip: LinkedIn Stories
20 seconds length.
1. Inform audiences about topics related to your industry.
2. Adapt blog content to a Stories format.
3. Share videos or Q&As featuring thought leaders in your community.
4. Sharing videos of customer testimonials.
5. Creating interactive content related to your content or industry.
6. “Live” Broadcasts from Events
7. Share Brand Announcements and Product Updates
8. A great way to promote content you posted elsewhere

Tip: Follow relevant
influencers for your
industry

Tip: Become an
employee advocate

Tip: LinkedIn
Recommendations
How to get people to give you Recommendations on LinkedIn:
My #1 LinkedIn tip is: Give recommendations to receive recommendations.
LinkedIn Recommendation Template:
[Descriptive Phrase] is the what comes to mind when I think about [Your Name].
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing [Your Name] for [Length of Time], during which
[Description of Working Relationship]. Above all, I was impressed with [Your Name]’s ability
to [Something That Makes You Stand Out]. And, of course, his/her [Personality Trait].
[Your Name] would be a true asset for any positions requiring [1-2 Skills Needed For The Position]
and comes with my heartfelt recommendation.
You can ask for recommendations offline:
- Leaving your job? Ask people in person.
- Finished a project? Send them the above template.
- Had coffee with someone who asked how they can help? You got it!

Tip: The best way to
exponentially
increase your profile
visibility on LinkedIn?
Be an active
contributor.
Step 1: Follow The Views of a thought leader account in your field of work
High views, low comment count means your comment will stand out
Step 2: Leave A Thoughtful Comment
Taking a few minutes to draft up a thoughtful comment that asks a question, shares additional advice, sparks debate,
or adds to the discussion is far more likely to generate likes and replies.
Step 3: Combine For Best Results
The earlier you comment on a post that eventually gains traction, the better. Influencers with big followings on LinkedIn
are pretty much guaranteed to have large view counts on their posts so all you need to do are follow them, figure out their
posts times, and show up early!

Free Tools:
Get your profile
scored by
“Resume Worded”
https://resumeworded.com
a) Open https://resumeworded.com/ and sign up here (no worries, it’s free)
b) Choose LinkedIn Profile Review
c) Go to your LinkedIn Profile, click “More” and “Save to PDF”
d) Save it and upload to Resume Worded
e) Check your Score and if somewhere it’s not 10/10 click on that block to find out what
exactly should you improve

Free Tools:
Get your profile
scored by “Social
Selling Dashboard”
https://www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi

THANK YOU
Khaled@DigiArabs.com
http://www.shusmo.me
http://www.facebook.com/shusmo
http://www.twitter.com/shusmo
Sources:
https://blog.lempod.com/how-to-build-a-personal-brand-on-
linkedin-in-2020/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ultimate-linkedin-cheat-
sheet-michael-quinn/
https://cultivatedculture.com/linkedin-profile-tips/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/linkedin-stories

Personal branding & LinkedIn By Khaled Elahmad

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