Our LinkedIn Profile Tips to Optimize Your Profile for Maximum Exposure
LinkedIn is no longer known only for their résumé and job searching capabilities. It’s evolving into a thriving network of incredible content, influencers amassing over 500 million users, creating networking opportunities unmatched by other social media platforms.
From a fitness business perspective, wouldn’t you want an additional (and unique) opportunity to show up for clients when they are searching keywords online looking for a service you provide? Below are a few ways to work your way up that queue and get the right information in front of the right audience.
1. A STAND OUT PERSONAL PROFILE
First things first, you have to have a stand out personal profile.
Everything leads back here. Don’t be bashful about your experience. If it has contributed in some way, even philosophically, to who you are and what your business is now, then include it and explain the connection, you are IN control.
Big picture – you want a profile that accurately reflects who you are and what you are about. You already have a résumé, don’t duplicate it here where you have opportunities for so much more.
PRO TIP: Connecting that experience to an actual, established company page is a huge bar raiser. Failure to establish these connections is a missed opportunity that is the WHOLE reason LinkedIn is in existence, connecting YOU to BUSINESSES.
I happen to KNOW that Wolf Fitness Systems is amazing because I have attended the classes there (Salinas baby!). HOWEVER, which company seems like a more well put together business based solely on the established company page logo?
Before you ask, MOST reputable business will have Company Page to link back to…..right?
2. ESTABLISH YOUR COMPANY ON LINKEDIN
Did you know that Company Pages with complete profiles receive up to 2X more visitors than those with incomplete page profiles?
Similarly to Facebook, use your Personal Profile | In the top right corner press Work > + Create a Company Page.
Make sure your page has the following seven items checked off completely:
Logo
Banner
Company description
Website URL
Company size (OK if it’s 1!)
Industry
Company type
Location
In addition to creating YOUR company profile, go back to past experience and make sure it is attached to a company profile as well.
PRO TIP: Go to the Specialties section and add your keywords. This will make your company page a little easier to find.
3. COMPETITOR RESEARCH
Competitive intelligence should shape your business strategy. If you don’t know much about your customers’ other options, you can’t develop an edge and keep gaining market share.
You can use LinkedIn to unearth answers to many of your questions about competitors. Here’s some basic information that a LinkedIn search will reveal.
Where they are housing their independent practice?
What kind of amenities do they offer?
What kind of education/certifications do they have?
How many employees do they have?
How many did they have six months ago – in other words,
how fast are they growing?
The Business Movement founder, Billy Polson, consistently stands by the statement, “The most successful plans always start with thorough research.” The better you understand your competitive market, the more intelligent your decisions will be for future business develop. If competitor research is a brand new idea for you, I highly recommend checking out Fitness Entrepreneur 101 coursework, Chapter 6: Know Your Competition through Industry Research.
4. ADVERTISING
LinkedIn Ads enable excellent targeting for any kind of outreach. They provide roughly the same media options as a Facebook Ad, with an audience of purely professionals.
You can narrow down that audience by using criteria like industry, company size and job title. The fine-grained targeting means that none of your ad spend is wasted on people you don’t see as a fit for your business.
Let’s say you’re looking to grow your corporate fitness opportunities. Target every applicable company in whichever geography you want, and then drill down to specific job titles so you’re reaching the people who make purchasing decisions. LinkedIn Ads are the quickest way to contact this audience without doing hundreds of hours of laborious legwork.
5. GROW YOUR NETWORK
I know, I know “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” is probably one of the reasons you’re NOT using LinkedIn. BUT, when someones searches on LinkedIn, the results vary based on their network. Generally, they see first-degree connections, then second-degree connections, and so on. Therefore, a great way to expand your reach is to simply add more connections.
A great place to start is peers, employers, teachers, mentors, colleagues, and current/previous clients.
The more traffic incurred, content added and connections made will help Google see you as a more credible and popular profile. As a result, your LinkedIn profile will appear higher in the search results.
PROTIP: Maybe leave your close friends, distant aunties and former crushes on Facebook this time around.
BONUS TIPS
ENDORSEMENTS
The Skills & Endorsements area of your profile is a keyword haven. Think about all of your skills and order them so the most important terms are endorsed first. When selecting your skills, make sure you use high-volume search phrases.
As an example, “Back Pain Specialist” is more likely to appear in search than “Posture Guru”.
To add a skill, click the ‘Me’ icon and select View Profile. Scroll to the Skills & Endorsements section of your profile and click Add a New Skill. After you type the name of a skill in the text box, click Add. To reorder your skills, hover your cursor over the three-line icon on the right, and when the cursor changes to a Move icon, click and drag a skill to reorder it.
CONTINUED EDUCATION
LinkedIn has a special section for accomplishments where you can add certifications, awards, publications, and other details important to your professional qualifications and experience. Add these to your profile whether they’re from your company or related to your personal interests.
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