Business Owners: Why the First Link to Your Personal Branding is Your LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn is a beautiful beast, but does your LinkedIn profile have what it takes to tell a branding story that will become as old as time?
If you are a business owner or you are self-employed and you know your network is what will drive your business and resonate with the crowd, then you will also know the sheer importance of self-image.
This is where putting a personal branding spin on your LinkedIn profile comes in and how it can help you get the title of a LinkedIn top voice. A LinkedIn personal profile provides all your visitors with an explanation of what you do and your experience, but a strong personal branded profile tells the story behind what you do and connects with those who read it to create a feeling — and people remember feelings, so make sure your profile content creates a really, really good one.
But before I jump into telling you how a ghostwriter and strategist like me can make this first link of yours become a reflection of what makes you unique, let’s answer a few of those questions that are sure to have come up so far.
Why do you need an attractive LinkedIn profile?
Whether you are selling a service or a product to your target audience, people have to trust you before they commit, and the way you trust begins with who you really are. I am sure you all know that we don’t have a lot of time, and as LinkedIn has ‘about 1 billion members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide’, time is spread very thin on the platform. You will only have a few seconds to impress and make a genuine connection before someone decides to leave your profile, so it has to attract attention and hold that attention for a few seconds more so you can really showcase your personal brand in all its glory. Only then will you be able to stand out from the competition, and we all know that is the name of the LinkedIn game.
What difference will personal branding make?
The supply of people on the professional social media platform is enormous, and the demand? Well, it all depends on your industry and your unique selling point, which just happens to be tightly aligned with your personal brand. Get your personal brand right in the digital world, align it with a strategy, and show you are one in a billion, and the scale on the demand side will get even heavier once your profile generates leads.
Why do you need someone else to write my LinkedIn profile for you?
You don’t, not if you are good with words, know about branding, and know how to write an effective profile. If you know all this you don’t need a ghostwriter, and you can stop reading — it’s great that you stuck around thus far. If you are still here, it means you are interested in letting a professional take on the task of creating brand content to tailor your impactful profile to set you apart and build your personal brand. Just keep in mind that this brand will be the same online and offline, so what I will help build will mirror what people will get when they meet you in real life.
Now those three questions are out of the way let’s get down to the business of how we can create your personal brand and tell your story through your LinkedIn profile.
Background Photo — Banner
Don’t think of this as just another chance to put your company logo out there or a great profile picture of you with your arms crossed and to the side (why these are so popular on LinkedIn I will never know). Rather, think of it as a chance to put your personal slogan out there and heighten your online presence. This is free advertisement right at the top of your profile. It is the first visual impression, so we better make it a good one.
Tip: If you want a really impressive background photo layout, head on over to Canva. It is my left hand, my right hand I keep for writing.
Funny story: I have the exact same tagline from my background photo layout on my business card, but the word ‘heart’ is a shape rather than the word. I gave it to a content manager once in an interview, he looked at it, smiled, and said ‘that’s really good.’ My point? I created an emotion, people remember emotions remember.
LinkedIn Headline
Sure, you can now get AI suggestions to do this for you if you have the Premium package, but do you want to leave your personal story up to a robot? Yes? Think about that as you read on.
Personal Pause.
I do start my About section with ‘ChatGPT called me a Master Wordsmith and Brand Whisperer,’ but I do it to prove a point. I turn to ChatGPT to give me ideas and get my inspirational juices flowing at times when I need to turn up the pace.
Unpause.
This section of your profile is the first thing after your name that someone sees when LinkedIn gives them suggestions of people they may know, or in any other kind of list of professionals.
Most people just put their job title, it is a professional platform after all, and in the business world, it is all about titles, but if you want, you can use this space to be your once upon a time.
How?
Give the reader an experience, an image, a wow factor to want to actually enter your profile or go further. You could be the CEO of a company, but that is not all you are, so give them that little bit extra.
Example time.
- CEO (but a really cool one)
- Teacher trainer taking on your classroom worries so you don’t have to
- Journalist without an alternative motive, just getting to the truth
- Life Coach. I train your thoughts to bring you happiness.
There is a maximum of 220 characters, so you also have to be sure to add value by being precise and to the point — just enough to resonate a really powerful punch if you know how to do it.
Your LinkedIn About
This bio is the meat of the matter and readers will take out their knives and folks to dissect what is there to decide if you are really worth a connection request, a follow, or even a DM.
(Oh that DM starting with ‘Hi Maria, can we chat about you writing something for me’ which becomes another notch on my list of LinkedIn catches always gives me chills in a good way.)
I have given you my opening line in a previous section above. It uses a very trending keyword right now, ChatGPT. It tells the reader I use it, and it gives them some creative titles to explain what I do. I could have just said, ‘I write content to help with your personal branding,’ but instead, I say I am a Master Wordsmith and Brand Whisperer — or rather Chat GPT said it, so I am not so egotistical, the machine said it!
From there on in, you — or I if given the chance — will build and make your brand resonate with your audience.
So………………………
Wanna make yourself the hero of your personal branding story through your personal brand on LinkedIn?
Wanna bring all those beautiful people you could work with to your LinkedIn yard when you communicate your personal brand?
Wanna get asked some personal questions so we can get your personal (to a point) and professional to be perfectly aligned to create trust, experience, and connections to your unique value?
Yes? Then give me those good chills, send me a DM, and let’s get your once upon a time stand the test of business time, let’s illustrate your personal brand with bold and trustworthy colours.
Website: https://mariagregoriouwrites.com/
Email: maria@mariagregoriouwrites.com
