LinkedIn is a powerful tool for meeting and interacting with potential clients. Yet it can be challenging to write the content for your own profile.
The truth is, the majority of people's profiles are not optimised for client attraction.
With just a few minor tweaks, your profile can be much more compelling – which increases your chances of getting potential clients to engage with you.
In this guide, I will break down the six key areas of your LinkedIn profile to focus on for the quickest return on investment.
When you make these changes, it will help to position you as the go-to expert and you’ll be confident that your profile is representing you correctly.
#1 Nail your headline
Your profile headline is probably the most important aspect of your LinkedIn page and something that is often overlooked.
Although people frequently use this space to write their job title, there is an opportunity to do something much more effective.
When it comes to attracting clients using LinkedIn, there are two initial actions you want people in your target audience to take:
- To view your profile
- To connect with / follow you.
Your headline plays an important part in both points but especially the first. As we are trying to encourage people to view our profiles, we need to have a clear and compelling headline to give people a reason to do so.
If you’re familiar with LinkedIn, you will probably know that alongside your name and profile picture, your headline is the only other part of your profile that shows in the main LinkedIn feed.
So each time you post content or engage with other people's content, your headline will be visible to other people. This is why it’s such a key part of your profile. It can help to attract clients who have not previously heard of you.
But how do I go about writing my headline?
The best way to approach your profile headline is to think of it like a newspaper headline. It should grab attention and encourage prospects to click on your name so they can learn more about you.
Additionally, your target audience should instantly recognise your offering is something that would benefit them after reading your headline. It should create intrigue and encourage them to view your profile.
In terms of the actual content for your headline, it should be written in a way that succinctly communicates the value you can provide. To put it simply, your headline should summarise why your ideal client should buy your service and the end benefits they would receive.
So frame your headline around the result your offering enables for clients instead of the types of services you provide. Eg use terms like “attract clients” or “increase sales” instead of “marketing services” or “sales training”.
Here is a template to follow to help you write yours:
I help [description of ideal client] [solve specific problem / get specific result]
#2 Brand your background photo
This part of your profile appears at the top of the page behind your profile photo.
Uploading a branded graphic in this space can work as a great promotional tool because it is a prime area of your page that people see when they first arrive.
When it comes to attracting potential clients, one of the best things to do with your banner area is to promote an offer that will encourage potential clients to get in touch with you or sign up for a piece of content.
This usually works well if it’s a free or low cost introductory offer. The trick is to direct people to a certain link on your website to claim the promotion.
By offering something for free or at low cost, it encourages people to take action. Once you deliver value to them – and trust is built – they will be much more likely to work with you in the future. They will also be more likely to work with you on a larger project at a higher fee.
#3 Flip your about summary
The next aspect of your profile to fix is your about section, AKA your bio. It seems counterintuitive but you should flip the focus of this section to be about your ideal clients instead of yourself.
Potential clients really only care about what you can do for them. So just talking about yourself and experience here is not the best way to spark their interest in your services and encourage them to get in touch.
The objective is to communicate who you are targeting and how you can help them. Similar to how you should approach your website content, talk about your ideal clients’ goals and the challenges that are preventing them from achieving them.
When you can describe your ideal client’s problem better than they can, they will automatically assume you have the solution.
#4 Highlight your key services
You can also showcase the services you offer on your profile in a section called services provided. This appears directly under your profile photo and headline.
The services provided feature is one you should utilise because potential clients will be able to quickly see your areas of expertise when they land on your profile.
However, you want to be careful here – don’t showcase too many services. It’s important to not have a laundry list as it dilutes your expertise in any given area. As a rule of thumb I would limit the number of services you show in this section of your profile to two.
This is especially important for service providers who want to be known as the go-to expert for solving a particular type of problem. And a key benefit of being a go-to expert is that you can charge much higher rates than generalists.
Now when I say select up to two services to showcase on your LinkedIn profile, I’m not saying that you should only provide two types of services to clients. I would just avoid offering too much at the outset.
When it comes to describing your offering, it’s all about giving people context and positioning yourself in a certain way in their minds. So think about the optimum entry point for new clients. In an ideal situation, which service do you wish all clients use first?
The answer to this question is the service you should feature in your services provided section. To give you an example, clients might typically request execution work from you, but you would prefer that they use a strategy service first as this informs the execution work.
#5 Set up featured content
The featured section of your profile provides another opportunity to highlight something to visitors. It takes up a significant amount of space on the page so you want this piece of content to be something impactful.
In terms of what you can show in this section, LinkedIn gives you multiple options including a:
- post
- article
- link
- media.
If you have a mailing list or something you want people in your target audience to sign up for (such as a lead magnet or new client offer), you will want to drive people to this thing. So in this scenario, you should choose the link option.
Alternatively, you might want to use this section to highlight some of your thinking or point of view in relation to your area of expertise. In this case, selecting one of your best articles or posts is a good option.
#6 Ask for recommendations
Although it appears near the bottom of your LinkedIn profile, the recommendations section provides a great opportunity to build trust with potential clients. This is because they are much more likely to believe a positive message when it comes from someone other than you.
Featuring recommendations from your past clients will help to assure potential clients of your credibility and that you can deliver on the results you are promising. If you don’t have any recommendations on your profile, think about reaching out to the past clients you have got great results for and would be happy to provide a testimonial.
Additionally, it’s good to get into the habit of asking your current clients for recommendations as part of your service delivery process. So request that they provide a testimonial at the end of a project. If they are willing, ask them to write it on LinkedIn as a recommendation. That way you can copy it and use the text as a testimonial in other marketing materials such as your website.
Conclusion and action point
LinkedIn is a great tool for building new relationships and generating leads outside of your existing network so it’s important to optimise your profile to make the most out of the platform.
If you work through all of the above sections, you will be well on your way to attracting more clients on LinkedIn.
Your action point for today is to block out some time in your calendar to work through points 1-6 of this guide.
