If you're going to be on LinkedIn,
do it right.
Unfortunately, most people make
five mistakes on LinkedIn that make them look
boring...
unprofessional...
or just make them invisible.
We don't want to be any of those things.
So let's dig into what those five LinkedIn
mistakes are
and how to fix them.
If you're ready, tap the like button.
And let's jump into it.
The first LinkedIn mistake so many people
are making is you're not on there.
Sure you have a profile,
but it's kind of like not much going on.
In fact, you probably don't even remember
the last time that you logged into LinkedIn.
Let me know in the comments if that's you,
or if you are a regular LinkedIn user.
If you're like most people,
you tend not to use LinkedIn too much.
Unless you're actively in a job search,
or you're trying to sell something.
The problem with this is that
LinkedIn is actually a crucial part of
your personal brand strategy.
Whether you want a promotion,
a new job,
either right now, or at some point in the future,
perhaps you just enjoy the flattery of
having recruiters sliding into your DMS.
Or maybe you want to start a side hustle.
This is where you can market yourself easily
and for free.
And I know that you want to do that.
And we're going to come back to
how to do it in just a few minutes.
But first, we need to talk about the second
LinkedIn mistake so many people are making
if you make this mistake, I can assure you,
you will stay invisible.
That LinkedIn mistake is your profile is blank.
Want to know who this person is?
They're a ghost.
Do they even exist?
When your profile is blank,
you are missing out on job opportunities,
low key flexes on your awesomeness,
potential clients if that's your thing,
and much more.
Now there's a few key areas that I really want you
to fix.
First of all, make sure you have a profile
picture.
Just adding a profile picture alone can
drive 14 times more views to your LinkedIn
profile.
Of course, you want to make it a good one.
I do have a short video with some tips,
I'll link in the description bar.
But in short, you want something a little bit
more like this and not so much like this.
Of course your LinkedIn profile is so much
more than your profile picture.
So there's a few more things for us to fill in.
If you're like most people,
you're using the dull default LinkedIn headline of
job title plus company name.
You can easily swap this one out for
something that is intriguing AF and keyword
optimized,
making you more findable by
the people that you want to find you.
Then there is one of the most dreaded sections
which fills so many people with fear
that they leave a blank or it's an awkward tiny
blurb,
often written in third person.
And that's your about section.
Jennifer Brick is a New York City based
learning professional...
At one point that was mine. So awkward.
Use your about section to show who you are,
tell the story of your career
and why you are so awesome.
And while you're added update
your experience section to make sure that
for the jobs that you've had,
that you are flexing on your achievements
and your UAQ. And while you're doing all this
skills are really important on LinkedIn,
because skills equals key words and
having the right ones in your skill section
and sprinkled throughout your profile
is really going to help recruiters find you
and slide into your DMs.
Now I know I just went through a whole bunch of
things.
And it's kind of overwhelming.
And it sounds really complicated.
But I promise you it's not that bad.
If you want me to walk you through it step by
step,
I do have a workshop this weekend
that is going to be live where we're going to do
just that.
And to leave you with an ace LinkedIn strategy,
the link is in the description bar in case
you want to check it out.
However, your LinkedIn presence is more than
just your LinkedIn profile. And this brings us
to the third mistake that so many people are
making.
And it kind of misses the entire point of
LinkedIn.
And that mistake is you're not
using LinkedIn to network.
Especially in the modern world
where so many of us are still living online most
of the time,
it's a great place to meet new people.
Especially for introverts like me,
you have the safety of the screen.
In my opinion, LinkedIn is the best place to
bump elbows with the people that should know you.
You can use LinkedIn to
get on your boss's boss's boss radar.
Meet people who work at your dream company
who could maybe become friends and r
efer you for a job
or just to expand your circle in your industry
so that you can continue to learn
and grow as a professional. The point is
LinkedIn is a professional social network,
use it to build and maintain your network.
How do you do that?
You talk to them!
Comment on their posts.
Get into the DMS of former colleagues
just to see how they're doing. In fact,
if you take two minutes every day
just to send a DM or connect with someone new
on LinkedIn, you are going to see a huge payoff.
Trust me you do that every day for six months
and you are going to have an
unstoppable success squad that is going to
help you achieve your career goals and
avoids the worst mistake that people make
on LinkedIn which is connecting without
connecting.
Each other profile is a real human.
Now when you do that,
you need to be very aware of the fourth LinkedIn
mistake
that I have, unfortunately, see a lot of people
make,
especially in the last few months,
and that LinkedIn mistake is
not keeping it LinkedIn appropriate. N
ow, I'm not really one of those people that's
like,
LinkedIn is not Facebook!
But if you wouldn't, or shouldn't
talk about something in a professional setting, d
o not talk about it on LinkedIn.
Remember, whether it's a post that you make,
or a comment that you make on someone else's post,
your network can see it.
Things like personal matters that you don't
want your coworkers to know about,
or engaging in political conversation.
These are things that can make you look
really unprofessional and catch up to you at work.
I've really seen people crash and
burn their professional reputation by
taking those taboo topics, and integrating it with
our professional brand by talking about it on
LinkedIn.
And the truth is, most people don't even want
to have those conversations in a professional
setting.
Now, this doesn't mean that I don't think
you should ever share anything that is remotely
personal.
In fact, if you follow me on LinkedIn,
you know that I get quite personal in my posts
over there.
Like the time I publicly broadcast my panic attack
while I was having it.
But before you make a post,
or you leave a comment, ask yourself this
question:
Do I want my boss to know this about me?
Or, would I want a recruiter to see this?
Or, my favorite question: Would this help my career
if my CEO saw this?
Ultimately, I'm a mom, but I'm not your mom.
And you are going to make your own decisions.
And I want to acknowledge that there is a
range of what's acceptable based on your industry,
and that ultimately, this needs to be
what you are comfortable with.
If the answer to any or all of those questions are
no,
you probably shouldn't put it on LinkedIn.
And just an FYI, me talking about my anxiety
over there has been super deliberate,
and I don't have a boss to worry about.
So I get to be really spicy in my posts if I want
to be.
Now that said, I don't want you to
take this too far and only have like robotic
and stiff conversations,
like you're having a conversation wearing a suit
or something.
Because the fifth mistake that people make on
LinkedIn is that they're not themselves.
I know LinkedIn is professional network, blah,
blah, blah.
I just told you to keep it LinkedIn appropriate.
But are you boring at work stiff and stuffy?
Or do you have the odd laugh,
crack the odd joke? Ultimately,
your personal brand includes your personality.
And that's one of the most awesome things about you,
and it makes you stand out on LinkedIn.
So while we want to keep things appropriate,
don't be afraid to show the world who you are.
Show off your sparkling personality in your profile
on your newsfeed and in any post that
you choose to make on LinkedIn.
Again, if you need help doing it,
that workshop is coming up.
However, if you're just getting started with
being intentional about your personal brand,
I want you to go and check out this video.
But before you go if you enjoyed this video
if it helped you, give it a thumbs up!
Really helps my channel.
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consider subscribing while you're there.
As always my friend thank you so much for watching.
I will see you in the next video.
Bye for now.