This document summarizes a workshop on creating an effective LinkedIn profile. The workshop covered optimizing different sections of a LinkedIn profile like the headline, summary, experience section, skills, and recommendations. It provided tips on using keywords, telling a story, and using visuals. The workshop also discussed growing one's network on LinkedIn and using LinkedIn for job searching and networking.

1. WORKSHOP: CREATE A STELLAR LINKEDIN PROFILE
!
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
3/9/15
presented by Robin Frank

2. Yours Truly
Social Media
!
I work with
companies large and
small to help them
build and tune-up
an engaging online
presence.
!
I’m known as a
dynamic speaker
and speak regularly
at national
conferences,
companies, and
events.
Personal Branding
!
I help individuals in
many fields create
powerful personal
brands.
!
My personal branding
strategy is featured in
the recent book
“Digital Marketing”
written by Larry Weber
and endorsed by Reid
Hoffman (Chairman,
Founder/LinkedIn) and
John Donahoe (CEO/
eBay).
Reboot Camp
!
Innovative program to
help Moms confidently
re-enter the workforce
after a break.
!
Six inspiring and
pragmatic sessions
cover topics from
networking and
interview skills to social
media and personal
branding, plus two
hours of one-on-one
coaching.
Mom
!
Twin 8 Yr old boys
!
Live in Mill Valley

3. Today’s
Workshop
• LinkedIn - compelling
numbers
• Profile Creating/Updating
• Best practices -
organizating, SEO, & more
• Networking using LinkedIn

4. Let’s Dive In!

5. LinkedIn is Networking Nirvana
5

6. LinkedIn is a Major Traffic Driver
6

7. Just How Important is Your LinkedIn Profile?
7

8. It’s a No-Brainer
• Update your profile
▫ Keeps you top of mind
with your friends and
connections
▫ Particularly if you post
updates as well
▫ Most people have no
idea on what they are
missing out on
8

9. Customize Your Profile URL
• While on your LinkedIn profile page, your URL has some strange
characters and looks funny - this is not the URL you want to share
• Click the Edit icon next to the URL link under your profile photo
• First come/first serve
• Use it below your email signature, blog, business card, etc.
9

10. Use a Good Image
• Your photo sends a strong
message of who you are
• Use a head shot with a clean
background, a smile and a
clear view of your eyes
• Best photo is a smiling face
and a little bit of your
shoulders
• Make sure it isn’t blurry, or
grainy
10

11. Not this
11

12. But This!
12

13. Optimize Your Headline
• Most people only look at your picture and headline
• Craft a compelling headline, even if you are not employed
13

14. Your Headline = Search Keywords
• You have 120 characters to play with – maximize it
▫ Keywords used by ideal clients to search for what you offer
▫ Look at others in your industry
▫ Use Google Adwords Keyword Planner
▫ 3 keywords that represent your job history and ideal job
▫ Use "Show examples”
14

15. "See what others in your industry are using"
15

16. 16

17. Who’s Viewed My Profile?
▫ Watch “Who’s viewed my profile” to see if changes have
an impact on views
17

18. Skills/expertise
• Others endorse you for skills - and it shows up below your
work experience on your profile
• You can add, remove,and reorganize skills
18

19. 19

20. Your LinkedIn Summary
• Similar to an Objective on a
resume
• NEVER be dry and dull
▫ It’s a first impression
▫ Project some personality
• Reflect your professional brand
▫ Why you got into your
industry
▫ What you love about it/why
you do what you do!
▫ What kind of professional
you are
• Beware of buzzwords
▫ Banish the beige word speak
20

21. Beef Up Your Summary Section
• Contact info first (or easy
to find)
• Use first tense - I was….
• 3-5 paragraphs - bullets in
the middle
• Walk through your work
passions, key skills,
unique qualifications, and
industries
21

22. Have a Clear Call to Action
• Tell your reader what to
do once they’ve
finished reading your
summary
!
• Tell them how to reach
you!
22
To learn more about my dog grooming services,!
• Visit http//www.robeensdoggrooming.com!
• Email me at robeen@robeensdoggrooming.com!
• Call me at 1-800-345-DOGS

23. Be Found to Be Hired
23
• Keywords for job search
▫ Used on LinkedIn (by recruiters/
employers
▫ Used to describe job or job
skills
• Develop your keywords – look at
specific words in descriptions of
jobs you want!
• Top categories
• Job titles, skills, tools/software,
certifications, education,
employer categories,
professional/technical acronyms
or industry insider terms, etc.

24. Storytelling For Your Audience
• Write for the desired
audience
▫ Craft the tone/content
accordingly
▫ Communicate job-seeking
interest, if seeking a job
• Tell an ENGAGING story
▫ Lure the reader in/sell
yourself!
▫ Conversational, fun, lively
• Achievements, not tasks
24

25. 25
Content Strategy, Online Community Manager

26. Business Operations I Strategic Planning I
Digital Marketing I HR Program Management
26

27. 27
Computer Software Designer

28. Biotech Clinical Operations
28

29. Lawyer
29

30. Summary Section Template
• What you do - what problem do you solve and
how?
• How you are different?
• Why you do what you do?
• Personal brand, your passion
• How did you get where you are today?
• Explain concisely in a way that makes you look
interesting and motivated.
• What do others say - credibility
• End with a call to action
30

31. Your Experience Section
• Stand out from the crowd
31

32. Complete Experiences, Keyword-Rich
• A POWERFUL profile
includes past
experiences
• Highly sensitive to
SEO
• Include keywords
people are using to
find someone like you
• Ensure YOU WILL BE
FOUND
32

33. Keywords for 2015
OUT
• Results-driven
• Hardworking
• Innovative
• Exceptional
• Good communication skills
• Effective
• Outstanding
• Highly motivated
• Effectual leader
• Has talent for
• Go-to person
• Team player
• Strategic thinker
• Think outside of the box
33
!
IN
• Improved
• Achieved
• Managed
• Trained/mentored
• Resolved
• Created
• Increased/decreased
• Volunteered
• Influenced
• Under budget
• Won
• Ideas
• Launched
• Negotiated
• Revenue/profits

34. Effective Phrases - Suggestions/Ideas
• Acquired five new clients
• Started a new procedure to cut
costs
• Created a new orientation
program for employees
• Ranked number-one in sales in
my department
• Negotiated new contract for
department successfully
• Increased sales productivity by
15 percent
• Was named employee of the year
• Created a new incentive program
for employees
34

35. Don’t Just Say It, Display It
!
• Portfolio feature - you can add photos, videos, documents, linked articles
with images, screenshots, audio recordings, and SlideShare presentations
• Highlight work samples, client work, launches, special projects, press, and
tweets from speaking engagements.
• Not many are using this yet
35

36. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual,
and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain
than text

37. 37

38. Volunteering Can Be Just as Powerful as
Work Experience
• Include organizations support and projects you have worked on
as well
38

39. Organizing & Moving Sections
• DEMO
• Can move larger sections like Experience, Volunteer, Skills,
etc.
• When in edit mode, simply hover your mouse over the
double-sided arrow next to the Edit link for each section.
• Your mouse will turn into a four-arrowed icon, at which
point you can click, then drag and drop to another
position on your profile.
• Within a section - can rearrange current positions - that is
all
39

40. Projects
• Move your cursor over Profile
at the top of your homepage
and select Edit Profile
• If you've never added a
project before, click the Add
Projects beneath your profile
summary
• Note: You can click View More
to expand your selection of
sections
• If you've previously added a
project, scroll down to the
Projects section on your
profile and click Add project
40

41. Character Limits
• Professional Headline
• 120 characters
• Company Name
• 100 characters
• Summary
• 2000 characters
• Public Profile URL
• 30 maximum characters
• Position Title
• 100 characters
• Position Description
• 2000 maximum characters
• Skills
• Up to 25 skills using 60 characters per skill
• LinkedIn Status Update
• You can use up to 700 characters
41

42. recommendations
• 10x increase of your ranking
• Add a personal message
when you ask for a
recommendation
• Be strategic - your recos
should emphasize different
talents and aspects of your
skills
• You can choose to hide/
display any recommendation
42
Recommendations

43. Be Strategic About Recommendations
• Look at jobs you want - map your skills to those required by the job and strategize
• Which of your managers can speak to each skill?
• Ask each person to discuss three skills - and provide those
• Ask them to include: How long they’ve worked with you, background on how they
know you, description of the three skills you asked them to discuss, and at least
one specific success example
• Offer to write it for their review
• Find people similar to you and look for recommendations you find compelling
43

44. Get Noticed By Your Network
• Update your status
• Like, comment and share
your connections’ status
updates
• Make a change in your
profile (add a new skill)
• Write a recommendation
• Get recommended (ask)
• Endorse someone’s skills
• Join a group
• Follow new company
• Follow new thought
leader
• Make a new connection
44

45. SEO Checklist for LinkedIn
• 100% profile completeness
• Target Keywords in Profile
Heading
• Professional and natural in
Summary (with keywords)
• Job descriptions with bullet
points for easy scanning/SEO
• Optimize Skills for keywords
• Vanity URL – also helps
outside LinkedIn
• Connections and Groups also
drive search rankings
45

46. Your Connections Strategy - Go Big!
• The Network Effect – larger
networks are more valuable
(e.g., the telephone)
• Swarm Theory – large numbers
of trends more accurate (basis
for LinkedIn Endorsements)
• Recruiters – search results in
order of connectedness
• Theory of Weakest Link –
biggest leaps don’t happen
with first degree connections
• Fear/downside? – can always
remove connections if spam
46

47. Getting a Job is 60% Networking
• 20% - Applying directly to a job
• 20% - Great resume, online brand, LinkedIn, social
• 60% - Networking

48. How to Get a Meeting with Someone You
Don’t Know
• Networking - forwards and backwards
• Maximizing your use of LinkedIn

49. Networking: Quality not Quantity
• Deepen your connection
▫ People you have just met or may have known your whole life
▫ People in our networks serve a variety of purposes – they can
stimulate our thinking, expand our options, help us make better
decisions, provide insight into our careers
• Be a people hub
▫ One of the most valuable things you can do for someone is
connect them with the right person
▫ Facilitate a mutually beneficial connection

50. Be Strategic: The direction of your network
is in your hands

51. Weak Links are More Powerful
• Account for most of the structure of social networks in society
as well as the transmission of information through these
networks
• More novel information flows to individuals through weak rather
than strong ties
• Our close friends tend to move in the same circles that we do –
and the information they receive overlaps considerably with
what we already know

52. Network is a Verb Not a Noun
• Care and feeding of your network
▫ Give something of value in every interaction
▫ Send a message with an update or article or
interesting event

53. Why Don’t We Follow Up?
• You’re one connection away from getting the job of your dreams
• Sometimes you MEET that one connection. You know it’s right for
you. And you know it’s right for them. But for some reason, you
NEVER follow up. Why?
▫ We forget
▫ Negative thoughts prevent you from taking action
▫ Networking can feel forced, unnatural, and sleazy

54. The Key to the Successful Follow-Up
• Calendar reminder 5-10 days away - email
• How to make sure they read it?
▫ Say: I’ll email you in a week or two
▫ Email content: offer a potential solution, data, research you
think they would be interested in and/or ask a question that
demonstrates some knowledge - Are you going to XYZ event
or do you think competitor ABC's new launch/positioning will
be impactful?

55. Getting Referrals and Introductions
• Increase your chances of being interviewed and getting a
better job by 5-10X over applying directly
• Some connections you make along the way will surprise
you, and put you on a path you never even considered

56. Networking Forwards with LinkedIn
• Target 10 people who can vouch for your past performance and
future potential (goal is 4)
▫ Professors, advisors, or social connections
• Reach out - ask if they would be comfortable recommending you to
connections in companies or industries of interest to you
▫ Get the names of 4 people and an intro
▫ Look at their LinkedIn - have specific people in mind
▫ Track everything in a spreadsheet

57. LinkedIn Introductions - Trusted Connections
• Look at a job/company you are interested in
• Find who you're connected to (1st Degree) who knows someone
in the company (2nd Degree) and ask to be referred/introduced

58. Networking Backwards
– How to Find Your
Ideal Contact

59. InMail – When You Have No Connections
• You can send an inMail to
anyone
• For pay (avoids spam)
• If you don’t receive a reply,
LinkedIn will refund your
credit automatically

60. Talking to Strangers
• Lead with something in common
▫ Contextualize the conversation - mention how you found them
• Get to your point fast
• Reassure the person that you’re not asking for a favor
▫ Be firm that you are just looking for a meeting
• Talk about what makes you qualified - your brand pitch here!
• End with a strong call to action with a time limit
▫ Mention that you need only 15 minutes of their time.
• Be respectful = Show appreciation for their time

61. The (Almost)Perfect Meeting Request
Dear [name],
I found your profile through the [name the common LinkedIn Group or
network] on LinkedIn. I have been working as a [name last position] at
[name last company], and I am in the process of making a career transition.
It would be helpful for me to find out about your experiences as a [name
role] for [target company]. I promise not to take more than 15 minutes of
your time.
!
I am not expecting to discuss a particular job opening, but I would
appreciate being able to talk with you on an informational basis.
!
What is the best way to reach you this week? Do you have any availability
this coming Thursday or Friday? I thank you in advance.
Regards,
[your name]

62. Change the Game
• Offer value before you ask for anything
▫ How can I help this person?
▫ Do not discount yourself just because you’re young. Offer what
you have based on what people need
▫ Add value - Offer to create a website, a video, or?
• Do your research
▫ Know the basics - take time to check Google, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Facebook, etc. so you understand what the person is all about
▫ Find the details - look for common hobbies or a hook - one of my
mentors is someone I connected with because I reached out and
mentioned we both like to dive

64. Brand me …
Please
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