With over 690 million users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional business networking platform. For brokers, however, it is more than a place to share your resume and connect with people. It is also a powerful digital marketing tool. Due to LinkedIn’s visibility in search engine results, it is very likely that a client’s first impression of you will be made through your LinkedIn profile.
By effectively harnessing the power of LinkedIn, you can build your personal brand and differentiate yourself from the competition. Here are five quick ways to polish up your profile:
- Get Active: Create and contribute to content by joining groups, and writing or commenting on articles. Writing articles is an opportunity to boost your credibility while adding personality. Aim to educate and entertain profile visitors by covering a range of topics, anything from insurance trends to local news. When interacting with existing content, try to offer a fresh take on an industry-specific problem and insert your personal opinion. This shows your potential clients your expertise and insight.
- Say Cheese: Take an up-to-date, clear, professional photo for your LinkedIn profile. This simple but effective tip can immediately enhance the appearance of your LinkedIn profile. A messy picture, such as a selfie or family photo, shows clients that you are unprofessional. And who wants that?
- Recommendations and Endorsements: A frequently forgotten feature, recommendations can strengthen your profile by highlighting how clients or colleagues feel about you. Try reaching out to former coworkers or clients that you have had positive interactions with, and ask them to write about their experience with you. Alternatively, leave a review on someone else’s profile and it is likely that they will reciprocate. Third-party insight instills a sense of trustworthiness in prospective clients.
- Craft a Catchy Headlines: Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing a prospect will see about you. Generally, people’s headlines are a dull description of their job, such as “Insurance Agent at X.” Instead, write something compelling and memorable that will make you stand out and get more clicks than the crowd.
- Showcase Your Skills With a Succinct Summary: Your summary is your chance to convince potential customers why you are more qualified to help them than anyone else. In about four paragraphs, you need to sell your skills. While it is important to reference specific past experiences, the focus should be on why you stand out and what clients can expect to get from you.
LinkedIn is an incredible, not to mention free, tool for boosting sales, building relationships, and strengthening your brand identity. As is true with many resources, the more effort you put into LinkedIn, the more you will get out of it.
