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COACHES NOTES
As a coach it is important to develop intuition about how “attached” people are to the content they currently have on their LinkedIn profile (especially their Headline and Profile Summary)
Some people you are coaching will be very invested in their current profile content and may be quite change-resistant.
In which case, they may not be ready to make major changes.
That’s OK, just gently encourage them to understand the value of a profile that is aligned with network building (have patience).
One of the best ways of doing this is to send them some links of other builders profiles that you think do work well.
LinkedIn profiles can be a constant work in progress.
Sometimes it is great to give the person you are coaching some sample profiles and ask them to work on their profile so that you can review it in your next coaching session.
Later, when you and the person you are coaching are trying various “tweaks” to get better networking results, you can look at their profile again and see how you can refine it.
Sometimes a small tweak such as changing their profile photo can make a big difference.
Some people have barely used LinkedIn in the past and they may be totally open to set up a profile which is well aligned with network building.
In which case, it’s worthwhile spending the time to help them build their profile.
In the process, you build a great relationship because they can see you are invested in their success. It also helps them quickly align their thinking to network building.
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What is the real value of your Profile?
If you have been using Linkedin for a while, a great question to ask yourself is:
How effective has my Linkedin profile been? In other words, what results have you achieved from people looking at your profile?
Most Linkedin profile summaries attempt to ‘sell’ themselves to potential viewers (yes I can walk on water – just try me)
When you send a ‘Thanks for Connecting, would you like to meet face to face’ message, there is a good chance they will look at your profile and ask themselves:
What’s in it for me (WIFM), why should I meet with this person?
One glance at a 99.9% of Linkedin profiles, would be enough for someone to move on to something else (most people are busy – right?)
So you may want to consider making some minor or major tweaks to your profile to achieve a much higher number of people wanting to meet you face to face.
The great news is that you can continually adjust your profile.
So don’t feel you need to make it perfect upfront (production before perfection!).
Your Ideal Profile Summary
Click the following to view some great profile summaries which are well aligned to network building:
Right at the top of your profile summary, it’s great to get across this message:
Although it is unlikely that we will be able to do business together, it is almost a certainty that I will know someone who will be a good contact for you.
This tells people:
- You are out to help them
- You are probably connected to a large number of Know Like & Trust relationships (and you are through your coach and your coaches coach)
Notes:
- Your profile works best when it is reinforced by the same theme in your LinkedIn messaging conversations.
- Following through on this with people you meet allows you to build Trust with people – you do what you say you will.
You are happy to do this for like-minded collaborators who (like you) are focused on building Know Like & Trust relationships.
You are happy to help people who, like you, believe transactions will automatically be attracted after relationships have been built. Build the relationships first expect transactions to flow later.
You are fortunate to have access to a large number of know like and trust relationships
Note: Even when you are new you can say this because your coach or your coach’s coach will also be connecting with your guests and one way or another they have strong relationships with all the key collaborators in the room.
The benefit of taking this approach is that you are immediately getting across the message:
I can help you by introducing you to the right people.
This contrasts with most profiles which are all about ‘Me’.
The viewer may be thinking ‘This is different – what’s the catch?’
The catch is they will need to first demonstrate that they (like you) are prepared to contribute first (by consistently bringing guests).
Relationships are built over time and once they become trusted collaborators, we will strongly advocate for them.
You cover this by saying something like: ‘happy to help like-minded people’.
We don’t need to go into a lot more detail – they will understand more about the way we roll by looking at the website (which you send before they attend) and by what is said at their first Hub attendance.
Advanced Hint: Refer the viewer to posts (quick-read) and to a lesser extent Articles (long-read) you have re-posted on your profile as to why you may be prepared to help them make the right connections.
Articles and Posts on your Profile
We are constantly developing/gathering some great, highly effective posts and articles which will be ideal for you to share from your LinkedIn profile.
These posts and articles will reinforce the increasing need for everyone to build their networks.
And give some ideas about the most time efficient and effective way to go about it.
This will be especially useful to those people viewing your profile who may be looking (for a career change, more business, better results, more time freedom, increased income, etc – you would think that most people would want to achieve these things – right?)
Filter-In Like-Minded People
Together with your profile, these posts and articles will help you ‘filter in’ like-minded people.
Avoid Linked-In Restrictions
Most importantly, posting or re-posting on LinkedIn can also help prevent LinkedIn from restricting you!
Linkedin’s software is always looking at people who are very active with the goal of identifying members who may be ‘spamming’.
One of the factors that Linkedin’s algorithms look at is ‘Does this person contribute to the Linkedin community’
Writing or re-posting on Linkedin will give you Brownie Points and help keep you out of the ‘sin bin’.
Note: Links to material external to Linkedin do not give you Brownie Points (and may even penalise you). Note that this does not apply to links in messages that you send directly to your contacts – it’s only for posts and articles.
Most Important: Before selecting an article and sharing it on your profile, make sure you read it!
This way you will know what the people viewing your profile may be reading and it will reinforce your own clarity around why network building has become so important.
How about conveying what you do on your profile?
You may have spent a great deal of time getting your profile just the way you want it.
Or have even employed professional help (at great cost) to get great.
If you can verify that’s getting great results for you – great continue on as is!
However, to also get great results with network building, we suggest making some ‘tweaks’ to your profile to encourage people to connect with you not only because of what you do but also because of who you can introduce them to (in other words how you may be able to generate business or employment/career opportunities for them).
2 possibilities for explaining what you do:
- Put a brief paragraph in your profile summary OR
- Say nothing about yourself at all on your profile summary. Instead, use the ‘Experience’ section below the profile summary of your Linkedin profile to tell your story and describe what you do.