When I say “work” in the title, I mean that in two ways…

First, as in a fashion photographer shooting a feisty-looking model shouting, “Yes! Work it! You’re an animal!” Or in my all time favorite singers’ words, “Strike a pose! Vogue!” In honor of the song here is my paraphrase especially for you:

Strike a pose
Strike a pose
Vogue, vogue, vogue
Vogue, vogue, vogue

Look around everywhere you turn is social media
It’s everywhere that you go (look around)
You try everything you can to escape
The pain of life that you know (life that you know)

When all else fails and you long to be
Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It’s called a Linkedin, and here’s what it’s for….

Second, as in, well, work. Like “Go to work,”  “This is hard work,” or even “Work on your LinkedIn profile!”

When you’re trying to get noticed on the internet, there are countless ways people might find you, so you have to give them every opportunity you possibly can. And that means utilizing the “Facebook for professionals” and, well, working it. Here are some LinkedIn profile tips to get you going.

1. See It as Your Personal Professional Website

In many ways, LinkedIn IS your website. In fact, many professionals use it in place of one.

As such, you have to keep it up-to-date, looking clean and finished, and reflective of whom you really are. This should always show the impression that you care about it and put time into it, because if someone does come looking and you haven’t touched the thing in 5 years, they may wonder if you dropped off the face of the professional world.

2. Finish It

Jeez! Because LinkedIn could have very well paid $3M for Post-its throughout the site there is NO reason or excuse for “I didn’t know what else to write.” They tell you that your profile isn’t complete. This gets stressed for literally every social media outlet, and there’s really no way around it (see our social media checklist here for a run-down). You have to finish every last thing on your profile for it to be really effective. People can see right through it if you’re half-butting it.

For clients and our social media conference audiences throughout the world I am constantly preaching “keywords.” In short, everything you add is a keyword. Follow through with your social profiles as if it were a client’s project. You wouldn’t exactly leave a garment half monogrammed or bathroom without a working toilet would you? Well, you may if you’re a Dominican Republic client, therefore ignore this phrase if you’re reading.

3. Make It SEO Friendly

While you’re filling out all the nooks and crannies of your LinkedIn profile, get it search engine optimized. Remember, people can potentially get to LinkedIn via basically any search query, so do some research and make yours findable. Apply keywords people are really searching for with low competition and you just might pop up in the Google search results. Again, keywords! Keywords! Keywords!

4. Advertise on LinkedIn

LinkedIn offers some advertising possibilities, which can definitely be worth it. These will link to your profile, so when people search for someone with a certain type of skillset for a job on LinkedIn (which, as you probably know, happens all the time), they find your name advertised right there in the results. Yep! That’s right…social media really isn’t free if you want real results! Sorry.

5. Advertise Outside of LinkedIn

This is a bit of a shifty move, but it might even help – once your profile is complete and search optimized – to do some CPC advertising for your profile, especially if you use it in lieu of an actual website. Try linking up a Google AdWords campaign to direct to your profile’s URL, pack it with verbiage and keywords specific to your industry, and finish it up with a tasty call to action.

This is also where blogging can come in. If you keep up with industry blogs, try posting links to your Linkedin profile in comments you make on other people’s blogs, and always sign off with the link on your own posts.

Part 2

That’s it for this edition. Subscribe and stay tuned for Part 2 of this little series.

Now go….Strike a pose! Vogue