Beginner’s Guide to LinkedIn: Build Your Brand in 3 Steps

There are more than 1 billion members on LinkedIn.

How can you make your profile stand out and accelerate your network growth when starting on LinkedIn?

We’ll walk you through 3 simple steps to build a strong LinkedIn presence, expand your network, and make a lasting impression within your industry.

Part 1: Set up your profile

Make sure all your personal and professional information is correct.

Everyone who visits your profile, including recruiters, potential employers, or coworkers, forms an opinion about you.

Here’s what you should focus on to make your LinkedIn profile stand out:

1. Profile picture
2. Banner
3. Headline
4. About section
5. Skills and endorsements
6. Recommendations
7. Customized LinkedIn URL

Let’s break them down one by one.

1. Profile picture

Your profile picture is the first thing your audience sees.

You don’t want to miss this opportunity to impress your audience and show them your best appearance.

Here are a few tips on taking the best LinkedIn profile picture

• Use good lighting
• Upload a recent picture
• Smile. It’s your best asset
• Dress for success
• Choose a background that’s not crowded
• Use a high-quality camera (quality matters)
• If preferred, you can use your brand colors as a background

2. Banner

Your banner is your free billboard on your LinkedIn Profile. Use it to reinforce your brand image and tell people about you or your company’s mission.

Similar to your profile picture, there isn’t one perfect answer on which image you should use for your header.

Here are 3 aspects you want to be aware of when picking a header image:

1. Personality: Use your banner to showcase yourself or your brand aesthetically.
2. Quality: Choose a high-quality picture to showcase professionalism.
3. Creative: Use this opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Include your brand colors or logo, mention your business’ media features, add info about your mission, etc.

3. Headline

Your LinkedIn headline should grab people’s attention and create clarity on what you do. When someone visits your profile, their subconscious goes: “Why should I care to follow this person?” or “How can this person help me solve a problem I have?”

You only have 220 characters to catch people’s attention through your headline. Here’s how to make the most out of it:

• Be concise. Clearly communicate your job title, professional, or industry. Avoid industry-specific terms or jargon.
• Mention your expertise. Showcase what sets you apart or what you bring to the industry, company, or clients.
• Showcase professional achievements. Demonstrate your capabilities by including quantifiable achievements.
• Highlight your personality. Whether it’s through humor, creativity, or passion, ensure your LinkedIn headline reflects who you are and what you stand for.
• Add relevant keywords. Improve your profile searchability by adding relevant keywords to your industry, skills, or target job roles.
• Keep it updated. As you gain new skills and experiences, update your headline to reflect the changes.

Three great examples of strong headlines:

4. About section

Something referred to as your summary.

Here’s where you want to highlight anything you want about yourself, your career, your journey, and what your superpower is.

Your summary is your chance to tell your own story – so don’t just use it to list your skills or the job titles you’ve had. It’s also important to address your ideal client or audience. Show them you understand their problem or challenge and don’t only talk about yourself.

Don’t sleep on the About section, as it can become the most effective element of your Linkedin Profile.

5. Skills and endorsements

Make your profile easier to find by recruiter or employers by adding skills and endorsements.

Show recruiters or employers what you’re capable of by using a mix of soft and hard skills.  However, don’t include every skill you’ve ever used. Focus on the most relevant ones for your current career goals and industry.

Create and maintain a solid professional reputation through LinkedIn endorsements. Colleagues, supervisors, or clients can provide social proof of your skills and expertise.

6. Recommendations

Recommendations from partners, coworkers, or clients add an extra layer of credibility that you can do what you say you can.

Recommendations from partners, coworkers, or clients add an extra layer of credibility that you can’t fake. LinkedIn recommendations offer a sneak peek into your work style, reliability, and impact from people who have directly collaborated with you

Keep in mind. The best recommendations are specific and detailed. When asking for a LinkedIn recommendation, encourage them to mention a particular project you worked on together, a skill you demonstrated, or a positive outcome.

7. Customized LinkedIn Profile URL

Make your LinkedIn profile easy to remember, share, and find by customizing your profile URL.

Instead of random letters and numbers, use the URL to improve your profile searchability by adding your name or a keyword relevant to your industry.

This adjustment improves your brand, making it easier for other LinkedIn members to find and connect with you.

Part 2: Find and connect with the right people

If you don’t know who you’re looking for, it’s nearly impossible to find them.

First and foremost, LinkedIn is a search engine. A powerful one as it not only allows you to search for people’s names but it also allows you to search for job titles, companies, and “headlines.”

Type in what you’re looking for and click on “all filters” to see all the options to narrow down your search.

Once you understand how to find interesting people to connect with, you can be even more strategic about it.

If you’re serious about growing on LinkedIn, you don’t want to add just about everyone to your network. To build up a relevant and diverse network, you want to look at adding the following 5 types of accounts:

1. Top Creators
2. Same industry/size
3. Ideal clients
4. Promising creators
5. Friends/content you like

Finally, once you’ve had an interaction with another creator in the comment section of a post, it’s always a great idea to take the connection to the next level:

Send that person a personalized connection request and open the conversation.

This way, you build engaged and real relationships, one step at a time.

Part 3: Create the right content

Content is the magnet you can use to attract like-minded people.

So, similar to the connecting part, you want to be strategic about this element.

In general, great content can do two things:

1. It helps your audience to solve a problem they face.
2. It positions you as the expert to help them solve the problem they face.

First, content that solves the problem for your audience can be

1. “Behind-The-Scenes”
2. “Here’s how I did X”
3. “How-to do X” (make sure you have the expertise to talk about it)

Secondly, content to position you as the expert can look like:

1. “Here’s a result I booked for XX”
2. “Here’s how we solved problem XX”
3. A case study.

Don’t forget to properly format the content of every post you publish.

Wrapping It Up!

Getting started on LinkedIn can be challenging if you don’t know what to do.

Optimize your LinkedIn profile, be strategic about growing your audience, and engage with your network through high-quality content.

Monitor your posts’ performance and adjust your strategy until you determine what works best for your audience.

Remember, building a strong LinkedIn presence takes time and dedication. But by consistently following these steps, you’ll create a LinkedIn brand that attracts the right connections and career opportunities.