5 Ways To Increase Your Credibility on LinkedIn and Attract Potential Leads
"To maximize your presence on LinkedIn and attract prospective clients, focus on showcasing your expertise naturally and informatively. Start by creating a personalized LinkedIn URL and using a professional photo, then brand your profile with a custom banner image. Publish regular, informative content to establish your credibility and stay top-of-mind. Be active in relevant groups to connect with prospects and understand their needs. By paying attention to these details, you’ll enhance your credibility and increase your chances of forming valuable business relationships."
1. Create a personal LinkedIn URL. Don’t settle for a generic profile number that’s impossible to remember; leave those for less savvy, detail-oriented people. Create a personalized URL that represents your brand and is easy to remember. Put it on your business cards and in your email signatures.
2. Splurge on a professional photo shoot. Make your profile page work for you. At a minimum, get a professional headshot taken, preferably in a few different styles or poses, so you can use it on multiple platforms. If you can afford a full-on photo shoot, choose the best shots and use them in all your branded graphics, including your social media headers. Only less experienced and more frugal DIY types will use a blurry selfie for their LinkedIn headshot.
3. Brand your profile with a custom banner image. It’s the little details that count when it comes to optimizing your LinkedIn profile. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” so hire a graphic designer to design your branded LinkedIn banner to clearly relay your message. No more DIY graphics; invest in your business.
4. Publish regular content. You need to be active on LinkedIn for people to recognize you and you need to publish informative content for people to remember you. It doesn’t need to be a 1,000-word manifesto; social media users have extremely short attention spans. Simply publish a Top 10 list or throw out some helpful daily tips. Record a 1-2 minute video series with these tips, and you’ll get noticed faster, simply because few people use video on LinkedIn. Forget about the funny cat pictures or silly memes; this is a professional space so save those posts for less formal Facebook. The key points here are to post daily and to be informative in your content.
5. Be active in groups. Joining groups has a two-fold benefit: you will meet prospects and learn about their needs, and your prospects will see that you’re an active participant in your industry when they see your group listings on your profile. Being active doesn’t mean blasting your sales message on a daily basis; no doubt that will get you kicked out and banned from most groups. Instead, show a real interest in the other members, answer questions, take a poll to learn about their needs, or simply post the information they need. Let the conversations flow naturally in your groups instead of worrying about sales or getting this prospect into your sales funnel. The more active you are, the more people will recognize your name.
Paying attention to small details on your profile can help build your credibility, as can participating in groups and publishing content on a regular basis. When people recognize your name as a regular, they will check out your profile, and a possible business relationship can blossom from there.