The first 5 to 7 seconds of someone visiting your profile is the most important. Think of someone coming to your LinkedIn profile for the very first time.

What do you want them to know about you?

What do you excel at?

What do you do for a job?

What are some of those high-level skills you possess?

We need to make an impact - it’s almost like meeting somebody for the very first time in person or maybe on zoom - so the very first thing we need to discuss is your LinkedIn banner.

Now let’s say you work at Amazon as a project manager. Having the Amazon logo on your LinkedIn profile really only brands the company – it really doesn’t say what it is you do.

So, what I want to share with you - is we need to tell people again what we do.

Let’s say you are a Project Manager at Amazon.

Visit Google and type Project Manager in the search.

Then I want you to click on the images tab.

Here you’re going to find size appropriate banners that you will be able to put up on your LinkedIn profile.

Now somebody visiting your profile for the very first time will be able to understand what you do.

You can use companies like Canva or one of my favorites PosterMyWall to create your own LinkedIn banner. Your banner is very valuable real estate – but I will share the most valuable real estate on your LinkedIn profile in an upcoming module.

Say Cheese….

You don’t go to a networking event with a bag over your head, right?

So, we need to make sure we have a professional photo.

Now you don’t need to pay for a professional headshot.

Pro Tip: Have someone take your photo of you.

· Use the portrait mode feature on your cell phone.

· The background will be blurred out and that will make your face stand out.

· Outdoor lighting is the best.

· Make sure you are faced looking at the camera or looking slightly to your left (right if looking at your profile photo on your profile).

· You don’t want to be facing the other way. If you’re looking to the right (or to the left if looking at your profile photo) you will be taking the persons eyes off your page.

Make sure to use your legal name unless you go by your middle name or a shortened version of your first name etc. (Maidan name in ( ________) if needed)

It is ok to add Dr. at the beginning or PMP at the end but stay away from adding emojis and or too many certifications etc.It does go against LinkedIn’s terms of service to add emojis to your name.

Ready to deliver that mini elevator pitch?

You notice this icon that looks like a speaker?

On the LinkedIn mobile app, you can record a 10 second audio of yourself.

You can play it back on any device but you must record it on the LinkedIn mobile app.

Think of it like your mini elevator pitch. Share what you’re passionate about.

Because hardly anyone adds this audio message you are just making yourself more unique.

You can also add a 30 second video to your LinkedIn photo – I will be discussing this in an upcoming module when we discuss Creator Mode.

Now let’s discuss the most valuable real estate on your LinkedIn profile and that’s your Headline.

Here is what not to do:

Let’s say you’re a Project Manager at Amazon – I see people writing Project Manager at Amazon on their Headline or something similar all of the time. This is not a good strategy and let me share why.

When recruiters are searching for people on LinkedIn, they use some advanced search tools to search for people based on Industry – Jot Title and High-Level Hard Skills.

If you want to show up in better recruiter searches you should add something like this:

Project Manager excelling at Customer Success | Program Management | Workforce Planning | Strategic Planning | Change Management | Scheduling

I want you to share those High-Level skills that you have on your resume here in the Headline.

Use those vertical lines “ | “ to break up those Hard Skills.

You don’t need to write your Headline like a sentence.
I want you to take advantage of every character you can use.