“You don’t look anything like that!” says Kate*
I think to myself “That’s my favourite photo of me…..”
Then some one else says “I can remember when Ingrid used to look like that.”
Holy Moly! Time for a photo change. To be completely honest, I had been looking at the photo thinking “maybe time for an update” so nothing like the bluntness of “You don’t look anything like that” to prompt me.
We’re talking about LinkedIn. After all this is a professional platform and therefore everything on LinkedIn needs to be completely consistent and on Brand and an old photo of me, even the best quality professional photo is not consistent if it has stopped representing who I am right now.
I thought I’d share six LinkedIn tips and comments from me about your LinkedIn profile and this is especially for people just setting up their profile:
What’s with Birthdays? LinkedIn is not Facebook. I know it asks for your birthday when you set up your profile and you cannot get past that page without adding your birthday. You can choose not to have that pop up on the LinkedIn updates. Our contacts on LinkedIn do not need to know it’s your birthday. Here is the link with the steps to hide your birthday information. This also applies to marital status.
Asking to connect: Best idea is to let people know why you want to connect with them on LinkedIn. If you meet some one at an event it’s easy to use the LinkedIn app on your phone and use the “Connect” button. This sends one of those standard “Connect with me” invites to the person. You are both looking at the app and you can connect.
In every other instance, it is polite to let the other person know that there is a reason for connecting. It only takes a moment to type out a short inviting note to the person.
The photo: “You don’t look anything like that” was a good reminder for me. Take a good look at your photo. Is it the best representation of yourself? I work a lot with Pilates instructors and it’s a profession that spends a lot of tie in Active wear. I have a yoga client who’s profile photo is holding a plank. Some of my dental clients have profile photos looking like dentists in their surgery or beside a dental chair. Chiropractors holding a spine. Think about what message you want to send to your Ideal Client.
Turn off notifications: While you are updating and/ or tinkering about with your profile it is a good idea to turn off the notifications. What this mans is that other users are not notified of every update that you make to your profile. Here is the link with instructions.
BTW: this can be especially handy if you are modifying your profile because you are looking for a new job and don’t need all your colleagues to know you are working on your profile.
On the other hand you might want people to look at your profile so you might want to turn it on occasionally.
Tell the truth: no exaggerating and definitely no telling fabrications**. You will be found out.
Proofread: Look at your profile on your phone, on an iPad, on a computer. When you look at it in a slightly different format you are more likely to pick up any errors. Ask some one else to read it. When looked at with fresh eyes, obvious errors stand out.
Overall remember LinkedIn is a professional platform. There is plenty of space on Facebook and Instagram the other platforms for having fun.
There are many ways to interact on LinkedIn. Let’s start by getting the basics right with your profile.
Personally I find LinkedIn a great platform for connecting, for following trends and sharing information.
I’m Ingrid Thompson and thank you for reading this post.
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Happy reading!
* not her real name….. I would however like to say a huge Thank You to “Kate” for her comment. Kate* you know who you are!
** fabrications is code for lies!