Now that you've thought about how you want to strategically position yourself, let's take a step back and think about the final result of what your new and improved LinkedIn profile will look like. Let's take a moment to visualize.
Imagine you are on your LinkedIn profile. We want to concentrate on the area that's known as "above the fold." That is, when someone lands on your profile page, "above the fold" is the area of content that people can see without scrolling. This is the user's first impression. And since people tend to browse web pages very quickly, you want to make sure they don't have to work too hard to get to the heart of who you are and what you're about.
In this class, we are going to focus a lot on the headline and summary sections on LinkedIn. You may ask: Why are the summary and headline features on LinkedIn so important? Glad you asked. They're important for two reasons.
As I mentioned before, your headline and summary are the first things potential employers and recruiters see when they land on your profile page. First impressions last forever, and you want to make sure the impression you are projecting out into the world is value-driven and to the point.
Second, this area is keyword optimized, so when a recruiter searches for core competencies on LinkedIn, it is drawing heavily from this section. You want to make sure this area is packed with descriptive keywords that position you for the kind of job you want.
The goal of this lesson is to craft a headline that immediately demonstrates your value. The headline is located right under your name at the top of the page. If you were to hand a prospective client a business card, think of the headline like you would your title.
Ask yourself, How do you want colleagues, clients, or potential employers to see you?
It's time to take a deep dive. What do you love to do? What are you passionate about? What would you like to do more of? Think back to the lesson before. At what times did you really feel like you were killing it?
Here are some examples of headlines that have come out of my other classes:
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Design & Digital Communication Strategist.
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Branding Consultant.
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Customer Care Advocate.
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Educational Instructional Design Engineer.
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Creative Legal Strategist & Writer.
If you're wondering, my headline is: digital strategist & creative project manager. I am happiest doing what I'm doing right now, which is helping people see their unique value and how they can strategically position themselves online. I also love making really neat digital products through a collaborative effort, like the one you're hearing right now through Listenable. See what I did there?
So, here's how we are going to create your headline. I want you to think of your industry and how you want others to see you.
I want you to break your headline down into two pieces: Your industry descriptor and your personal descriptor.
Examples of industry descriptors include:
Creative, Design, Digital, Virtual, Educational, Engineering, Technical, Corporate, Finance, Healthcare, Marketing, Sales, Hospitality.
Examples of personal descriptors include:
Advisor, Advocate, Consultant, Counsel, Entrepreneur, Expert, Innovator, Manager, Owner, Producer, Pioneer, Professional, Specialist, Strategist.
You may want to take a minute at the end of this lesson to write down a couple of headline ideas down on paper. We are just brainstorming at this phase. You don't have to feel committed to the words yet, just the idea. And it's okay if this term is a little broad. Because you will dive into further detail about yourself in the summary paragraph.
In the next lesson, we are going to take this idea of who you want to be and expand on it in your summary paragraph, which is sort of like your professional manifesto. I'll see you there.
