I'm going to talk to you about your headline on your profile and what makes it the most important aspect of your LinkedIn profile.
Then, the second most important thing, your profile photo.
To some people, this may seem meaningless. But, I'm going to explain what makes it meaningful and why.
When you have a profile and find yourself unsure about what kind of headline you should have, think of a few things first.
What are some keywords the viewer would like to see rather than what you want to see? Which words would you use to describe to a viewer what you do?
Once you figure out those words, then you've solved your headline problem.
For me, my headline typically changes between...
"Are you getting the online exposure that you deserve?"
Or...
"Are your marketing efforts paying off in the long run?".
You're probably thinking, why is that important? Well, it makes the person reflect on themself. They might think, "Is that the case for me?"
And as you ask yourself that you may follow with, "Are my marketing efforts paying off?"
Or, "Am I getting the online exposure that I deserve?"
A lot of people pay large amounts of money for online marketing. Because of that, I need to make sure people think about it themselves.
I make sure they ask, "Hey, am I getting the right exposure for my online marketing?"
Maybe you are, but then again, maybe you aren't.
And if you aren't, that's perfectly fine. Because after you recognize it, you'll begin to come up with thought-provoking things yourself.
Telling people what you do is not the worst thing in the world. I've seen many great headlines on different profiles.
Everything such as,
"I've helped over 441 people do this..."
"This is what I do..."
"I'm a senior executive at XYZ company..."
Those are all well and good. But if you say, "Hey, I'm a CFO of a company," people just write you off as a CFO.
They don't understand exactly what you do.
If you craft CFO into something else, something catchy, such as...
"I help companies grow tremendous amounts of wealth by organizing their financial data."
Now, that's super catchy and interesting. That defines something people are going to remember.
When they ask themselves, "Hey, does my company have tremendous amounts of wealth? Or is my company organizing the money to grow?" Now they're going to think of you.
And when they think of you, you will be in the perfect position to make wiser decisions and begin creating profitable sales.
Now that you're inviting that conversation in, you're not simply selling. You're giving a thought-provoking question to entice the viewer.
Many news sources offer thought-provoking hooks in their headlines. The reason being, they want to fire you up. This is what your headline is going to do.
It's going to start making people have questions about what it is you do.
Now you might be wondering... "Well, Harrison, I don't have a good little headline, nor am I sure how to make one."
If that's true for you, then don't worry a second longer. I'm going to give you a solution right now.
The solution for creating a great headline, especially if you can't figure out what kind of headline to make, starts with asking a question. A simple thought-provoking question.
If you arent sure what I mean by a "thought-provoking question," then let me explain.
When you are out with friends, either new or old, a typical question arises, "What do you do?"
I'm sure you don't reply with, "I'm a senior executive at XYZ company."
No, you would probably reply with, " I'm a CFO, and I help manage the money of this company XYZ." You could take that term and spruce it up to make it way sexier than it normally would be.
CFO might not be the sexiest title in the game.
But if you say, "the ultimate money manager at XYZ company controlling their wealth," that would definitely grab someone's attention.
Of course, I'm not saying you need to be that over the top, but the truth is there are so many ways you could take that headline and make it thought-provoking.
Don't forget, as well that, you are limited to a certain amount of characters, so create multiple options for your headline.
So if one isn'tt working after a couple of weeks, then change it. Tt's not a big deal nor is it very difficult.
Every headline is going to point back to you and what you're doing.
This is super important because when you get a new job, you can't tell people what you're doing for that company since you haven't done much yet.
Having these headlines of your recent past gives you credibility and catches their attention, all by actively talking about something you've done or just did.
Ultimately, at the end of the day, you're bringing something to the table they wouldn't have thought of before.
The other benefit of this is most people aren't doing this themselves yet. This allows you to gain that higher ground.
When you gain that higher ground and work differently than your competition, you begin to exceed anything that anyone else is doing.
Now you have a true advantage.
And who wouldn't want a true advantage in today's market?
So now you probably want to ask Harrison...
"Well, I understand the headline now, but why is the number two most important thing your profile picture?"
I see far too many people with pictures that are 5, 10, even 15 years old.
Heck, I saw a picture of me the other day from when I still had hair and was noticeably lighter.
Because of those key descriptions I need to keep an up-to-date profile picture at all times.
I do this now in fact. I have my company shirt on, I have my less than desirable amount of hair. No matter what I may like or dislike, the fact that it's a recent picture of me makes it perfect.
This is important because, a while back I was in a bar and somebody came up to me saying," Hey, are you so and so?"
And I go, "Yeah, how'd you know?"
He explained, "I saw you on LinkedIn, and you look exactly like you do on your profile. You're wearing the same shirt and everything."
This is how and why it works. People you may not know yet can recognize you with your profile if you keep it up to date. That's how he communicated with me.
Today, we're great friends all because of that encounter.
So, if you think that's ridiculous or something along the lines of, "I don't need a recently taken profile picture."
I promise you that you do need one.
A quick recap, take some time out of your day to get a good up-to-date profile pictur, and a good headline.
It doesn't have to be anything crazy, just something catchy.
Put some time, energy, and effort into it. I highly recommend it.
It's going to take your LinkedIn profile to the next level immediately.
It's going to take you above the competition and give you some more options to make sales online.
Who wouldn't want that?
Imagine making a sale while you're asleep all because you hooked someone with your headliner and profile picture.
That's the profitable reality for many, and could be yours as well. It all starts with those first steps.
And if you want more LinkedIn hacks, checkout the Ultimate LinkedIn Checklist here.