Remember, an up-to-date and complete profile is far more likely to secure meaningful professional connections for you that can well result in a lucrative business deal. Why not spruce it up and make it appear more contemporary and interesting? Here, we shall consider a few basic yet highly useful and practical tips for the purpose.
Leave a positive image, literally
As we have found out in the previous post, usage of clichéd terms and phrase, which are out of context, invariably make your LinkedIn Profile visitors cringe. Instead of leaving a positive impact, those ambiguous and vague terms end up confusing the people about your identity as a professional.
Apart from inserting appropriate and fresh set of keywords, which are specific and unique to your LinkedIn profile, you may consider featuring a new photo. It’s a different thing altogether if you don’t wish to insert a photo of yours for privacy reasons, but if you are doing to do so, ensure that it’s a good one. You may like it or not, but your well-snapped image works.
It’s your headshot that people first see once they click on your profile. Is it possible to make some improvement? Your image will accompany all of your status updates and other activities like group discussion comments on the site. Obviously, you would want it to leave a positive impact and sophisticated reflection of you. Photos that are of poor quality (blurry or grainy), unprofessional (casual snapshots or screen grabs of a group photos with others cut out) and those that harbor a glum look, leave behind a negative expression.
One trend that has been noticed recently is snapping one’s image in career context. For example, if you are associated with the sports industry, suggestion is to take it in a stadium. If you work in an academic institution, take a snap in front of the library or bookstore. This will immediately place your expertise in context and make you stand out as a professional.
Insert handy practical apps
Another handy idea is to insert a few apps. It’s definitely a smart way of perking up your LinkedIn profile. Adding one of the LinkedIn Applications accentuates the effect and enhances utility factor. Try TripIt in case you happen to travel frequently. It lets you share your itineraries and potentially fix appointments and cultivate deeper relationships with your LinkedIn connections in the places you visit.
Consider Google Presentation or SlideShare, if you are a visual type, so as to let you add presentations to your professional profile. Amazon’s Reading List is worth considering. It invites you to post titles that you are currently reading and share reviews/feedback with your select LinkedIn connections. The ultimate goal of adding such functional apps should be to give other people enough reasons and incentives to discover something unconventional yet practical, in terms of common interests they share with you.
