Are you looking to create your personal brand on LinkedIn without spending a lot?
Do you plan on promoting yourself online, but confused about the feature offered?
Do not let these worries push you back as this post will surely help enhance the brand’s reputation while keeping the costs in check.
LinkedIn in a pretty serious platform which caters to professionals and cuts down on unnecessary clutter. This way it is easier for professionals to build a presence without excessive frills and gestures. To be precise, LinkedIn values your work regardless of your social status or the display picture.
However, building a brand isn’t as easy as it seems without spending money. Free services are elusive on LinkedIn and for availing the existing ones you must be strategic, clear and extremely innovative.
Here are some of the desirable hacks capable of shaping up your brand name— in a great way:
#1: Optimization is the Key
Be it any social platform, it is the profile that sells. Try to create a holistic profile without missing out on vital details. This will make it easier for you to be a part of the LinkedIn ecosystem. While the profile picture isn’t imperative to your cause, having one can boost up your reputation, massively. To be precise, a profile picture can improve your chances of appearing in searches by 700 percent— 7 times to be exact.
Then again, adding recent employment positions can boost the same by 12 times. So the first tip would be to concentrate on the profile as over LinkedIn pictures are considered as virtual handshakes. Make sure, the display snap looks friendly and kind of formal.
Here are the basic guidelines which might help. Look for a square picture, preferably lower than 10MB in size. Featured dimensions are actually somewhere around 400×400 pixels but there isn’t a rulebook for that. Just aim lower than 20,000 pixels on either side and you are good to go.
Follow this step with a distinct headline which by default is the existing employment position. This is actually customizable so try to put up something that represents your vision and hunger for success. If you are a brand, the headline will be the tagline— so make it count.
You must look to describe yourself in fewer words— using the LinkedIn profile and try to refrain from stock photos of nature and skylines. It is the brand which you are trying to build and projecting yourself in an optimized manner will come in handy.
LinkedIn offers a background space which is meant for streaming content and promoting portfolios and publications. Look to put forth content in the background image— showcasing secondary interests. This will selectively flaunt your personal life— offering a humane touch to an otherwise mechanical platform.
The URL is also an important aspect and sharing it on purpose can be beneficial. Customize the same in terms of search rankings— attaching necessary data to your name. LinkedIn brings in the concept of vanity URLs so using something like this— linkedin.com/in/full name— will surely put your name higher on the search list. The reason behind this is high PageRank on Google dedicated to this social platform.
If you are finding it difficult to read on, bad news as we aren’t done with optimization. Next in line is adding a personalized link to the popular social streams— including LinkedIn slide share. This can be your blog or a simple digital signature.
Lastly, get the summary and personify the experiences. Instead of a copy-paste fix try to more creative as people do read it— sometimes only this. Personal anecdotes and futuristic visions are great additions. Other feature sets which might help include key positions, rich media in video and presentations and most importantly, content.
Final Tip: Follow a keyword-rich approach but don’t go on stuffing. Try to avoid words like creative, driven, passionate and motivated as these are overused. Multimedia content is another way of driving popularity right into your profile.
#2: Importance of Meaningful Connections
Once you have optimized the profile, the time is right to build some connections. However, don’t go on adding random people just to show off a number. Strategic brand associations are needed with like-minded individuals. Individuals with great company are valued across the globe and this is where connections can help. However, don’t stop at known people and ask them to refer your name to others in their list. Creating a functional web on LinkedIn is a great idea.
Final Tip: Unknown connections look shady unless a personal note with the reason for interest is attached. Try this for better global acceptance.
#3: Start Publishing
In this feed-driven era, millennials spend a lot of time consuming informative media rather than changing their WhatsApp status. This inclination urges us to post more frequently on LinkedIn as this is the only platform which values information. Millennials own a fair share of published posts— precisely 30 percent of all. Adding and perpetuating good content showcases the leadership qualities. Once you have started with this, move on to the Publisher Platform for a spike in views.
Final Tip: Go for long-form posts for engaging audience better. This way you can build better credibility and finally a great brand name.
#4: Customizing the Feed is actually necessary
Most millennials have a burning desire to learn and if you are good at something, they will end up following you. Therefore, it is necessary to customize the feed using a step-pronged approach.
Start by tapping on the menu— placed at the topmost right on any given update. Next step would be to tap on the option reading ‘Improve Your Experience’.
Finally, select from the list of recommendations and topics to follow— customized as per the LinkedIn profile.
Look to invest time and profile space in individuals you actually want to follow and get rid of unwanted connections.
Final Tip: Use this platform purposefully as LinkedIn adapts to all your moves. Feeds and connections will appear as suggestions, depending upon the people you follow. Keep up with the Pulse app which will help you be in sync with the latest updates.
#5: Create a SlideShare Account
This is a platform which is growing like a rage with over 400,000 posts added each month. Being the largest content-sharing forum in the world, SlideShare enjoys Google’s bias and with more than 4 million visits per day, this can just be your ticket to a better brand name. Every post on SlideShare is indexed by Google and having yours will offer a great SEO advantage— mostly due to the precedence of organic traffic. Create webinars, presentations and content for sharing with others.
Final Tip: Try to leverage the SlideShare clipping tool which comes in handy for highlighting valuable posts created by you. Boast of greater visibility and traction by sharing SlideShare content on the LinkedIn profile.
Bottom Line
These are the essential tactics which can help generate a great brand name regardless of the cash inflow. This platform is meant for swapping ideas, interacting with people and posting engaging content. Therefore, if things are done rightly, LinkedIn can surely trump other platforms, in terms of popularity.
