LinkedIn is THE essential site for business professionals, period. If you want to be a successful freelance writer, you need to be on LinkedIn and you must have a complete profile that sells you and your services. LinkedIn is also an excellent place to network with people who can help you, and it can be a very good source of new clients.
The excellent infographic below was just released. It covers everything you need to know, including:
- How to set up your profile the right way, including photos, headlines, and what to say
- What specifically should be in each section of your LinkedIn profile
- How to maximize SEO on your profile
- How to get found in searches by people looking to hire freelancers
- How to get recommendations, and why they are more important than endorsements
- Why you should join groups and how to do it
- And much, much more…
I urge you to bookmark this post and return to it frequently. Thanks to the good folks at Leisure Jobs for creating this.
December 2017 Big Update…
In early 2017 LinkedIn began phasing major changes to the look and operation of the site. Much of what’s in the infographic below is still valid, but some of it is not. Do Google searches to find recent quality articles, and check out this detailed post on Social Media Examiner.
One major change as been the introduction that will benefit many freelancers is LinkedIn Profinder.
The Complete Guide to LinkedIn Success
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Your Take
Thoughts on the info shared here? What do you still need to do to improve your LinkedIn profile? Talk to us in the comments below…
I’ve had a LinkedIn account for several years but I haven’t changed my URL, though I attempted when I first joined. My name forwards and backwards and combo of initials has already been taken. I even tried a few more combinations a few weeks ago and no luck. I suppose I could add another word or letters to my name but then it gets long and is really not much different than the default URL, as shown above, my hyphenated name and numbers. I have my email address on my profile but not my cell phone number as recommended above for the summary. I picked up a cyber stalker a few years and after getting the police involved, to the best of my knowledge, he hasn’t tried to hack into my computer again but I still have to be cautious. And maybe I’m a little more cautious than others do that. Safety first. I don’t need some pervert phoning me at all hours.
My profile is complete but to answer your question on what I need to do to improve, that would be updating my photo.
Cheryl, I don’t have my cell number on my profile, and I don’t plan on putting it there. Potential clients can contact me through email first.
My profile ranks pretty high… and I need to double check everything. LinkedIN annoys me all the time… with requests for connections from anyone… used to be decent, not it’s not. Wonder how long it will be super important?
I’ve also been frustrated with LinkedIn’s switch to basically encouraging everyone to connect with everyone. I lost a lot of respect for them when the did that. Now a connection doesn’t mean much more than following someone on Twitter.
Brilliant infographics and thanks for the 2017 update. I agree that the profile on LinkedIn is highly important and that we need to be crystal clear in terms of the things we write there. At the end of the day, people will look at the profile and say, this person knows how to write. Or there are grammatical mistakes, why should I hire this guy? No mistake is key in our industry and it is an industry that is not forgiving.