The #1 Reason Why Your LinkedIn Profile Fails to Attract More Prospects
By Kristina Jaramillo

Right under your name, does your LinkedIn profile headline look like this…

¨    CEO & Founder at XYZ and Associates?
¨    Business Owner at ABC Consulting?
¨    Speaker at YourName.com?

The following are three reasons why your LinkedIn profile should not be the same as your position.

1.    Think of your headline as your first sales pitch to people who want to connect with you. If I am unfamiliar with you or your company, how does mentioning your company name and your position show me what you do and why I need to connect with you? It doesn’t! These headlines are too general, simple, and straight forward. They are too vague and too broad. In order for your headline to be effective, it needs to grab my attention. It needs to make me want to read the rest of your profile. As a potential client or potential referral source, I need to see right away how you can help me or my clients.

2.    Make your headline enticing so I will want to read your profile and connect with you. When I am invited to connect with someone, I view their profile before I choose to accept. The first thing that I look at is their headline to see if there is any possible synergy between the person who wants to connect with me and my business. By doing this I can see if it is worth my time and energy to view the rest of their profile.
 

3.    If someone is going through people search or through the groups to see who they should connect with, they are looking at hundred to thousands of opportunities.  You need to make your business stand out to entice others to want to click on your name to read your profile and learn more about you.

    Now that you know that you need to drastically improve your LinkedIn profile headline in order to attract more clients, the question is, how do you fix it?
There are four questions you must ask yourself when creating your Linkedin profile headline.

1) What can you say in your headline that will give your instant credibility?

    One of the easiest ways to gain that instant credibility is to use any media attention. For example, I was recently called a “Social Media Expert” by the New York Times. Look how I use this media mention in my new LinkedIn profile headline to give me instant credibility: “Read my profile now and discover LinkedIn secrets from the woman the New York Times called a ‘social media expert’”.

2) Does your LinkedIn profile headline command action?

    The best way to get someone to read your LinkedIn profile further is to tell them to do so. Just look at my example above. Notice I’m giving you a call-to-action. By stating read, view, or learn more by reading my profile, you are instructing the reader to do so. And, guess what — chances are they’ll listen. You just have to tell your prospects what to do — and why they need to take the action.

3) Does your LinkedIn profile headline show why you are different?

    Go to people search on LinkedIn and type in your career description. Look at how many people match your description. For example, when I type in “Internet marketing consultant” into people search, it gives me 139,041 results. The phrase “life coach” gives me 83,847 results. The phrase “business coach returns” 224,274 results. In your headline, if you show how and why you are unique, chances are your prospects will explore your business further than that of your competition.
    For example, Article Marketing Experts Eric Gruber’s profile headline was: “See how we can get you published on websites like About.com — instead of just article directories like our competition.”

4) Does your LinkedIn profile headline show a benefit to the reader?

    By implying there is an advantage to your reader by viewing your profile, you are telling them that there is a benefit of using your products or services. The reader needs a reason to accept a connection with you. By giving them a benefit, you are instilling confidence in your business. For example:

·    Help My Website Sell Founder Adam Hommey’s headline is: “Top Internet  marketing consultant and expert webmaster reveals how to make your website sell more products and services.”
·    The Global Institute of Visionary Executives Founder Carrie Jacobs has this as her headline: “Read my profile and learn from a champion visionary executive coach how you can profit from your own brand of success.”

    Just by fixing your LinkedIn profile headline, you will begin to attract more prospects and referral sources. HBM

In Kristina Jaramillo’s free special report, She reveals 14 mistakes that most Internet  marketers and small business owners make — and the opportunities they are missing. You can get this free report at http://www.GetLinkedInHelp.com.

Previously published in the June 2011 issue of HOME BUSINESS® Magazine, an international publication for the growing and dynamic home-based market. Available on newsstands, in bookstores and chain stores, and via subscriptions ($19.00 for 1 year, six issues). Visit http://www.homebusinessmag.com

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