You Can Write a LinkedIn Summary That Gets You Noticed by the Right People

When it comes to business social networks LinkedIn rules.  When it comes to your LinkedIn profile, your summary rules.  This article provides some excellent common sense advice on how to write a LinkedIn summary that really rocks…

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-write-perfect-linkedin-summary-william-arruda

I like all of William’s V’s for creating the content for your summary.

I like his advice on testing your summary even more.

Take another look…

  1. Does the opening sentence, phrase or heading make you want to read more?
  2. Is it authentic – consistent with who you really are?
  3. Does it differentiate you from your peers or competitors?
  4. Is it relevant, addressing the needs of the people you are trying to attract (decision-makers and influencers)?
  5. Is it compelling? Does it provide interesting facts and statements that make the reader want to get to know you?
  6. Does it contain at least 20 – 30% personal information (your interests, passions, values, philanthropic interests, point of view and life experiences)?
  7. Does it explain how you add value, telling the reader what happens when you do what you do?
  8. Does the writing style and content you included convey your personality?
  9. Is it formatted beautifully? Did you create enough white space to break up the paragraphs? Did you write powerful headlines for different content blocks?
  10. Does it include external validation (things like “People say I’m…” or a favorite quote or “The Association of Finance Executives awarded me…”)?
  11. Is it grammatically correct and perfectly proofed?
  12. Does it include all the keywords for which you want to be known multiple times? (This is vital for being found in online searches.)
  13. Did you get the reader to want to learn more or take action?

William (he is a friend of mine) suggests that you score yourself on a 1 — 3 scale on these questions.  I’m more of a binary guy, so I suggest you answer a simple yes or no for each of these 13 questions.  Regardless, the important point here is to reread what you’ve written to see if communicates the you that you want other people to see.

My LinkedIn summary begins with this statement…

“I’ve been fortunate in my life and career.  My grandfather never went to school.  He went into the coal mines in Central PA when he was eight.  My dad worked in a steel mill for 37 years.  Because of their hard work, encouragement and example, I ended up with a Harvard PhD and have run a successful management consulting and executive coaching business for the past 25 years.”

I can honestly answer “yes” to William’s first question — “Does the opening sentence, phrase or heading make you want to read more?”  I’m sure I’m not alone, but I have not met any Harvard alums who had a grandfather who never went to school.  If I read this statement about someone else I’d want to read more.

You may agree or disagree with the previous point.  If you disagree, please leave a comment telling me why.  I am always open to feedback.  Who knows, I may end up changing my opening statement based on your feedback.

This is an important post.  It’s important because you need to be on LinkedIn.  You also need to have a dynamite summary that gets people interested in you.  Do yourself a favor.  Take a hard look at your LinkedIn summary and use William’s ideas to make some changes.  I’ll be making some changes to my summary based on William’s ideas.

Your career mentor,

Bud

PS: I write this blog to help people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  Now I’m going one step further.  I’ve created a membership site in which I’ve pulled together my best thoughts on success.  And, as a reader of this blog, you can become a member for free.  Just go to  www.BudBilanich.com/join to claim your free membership. You’ll be joining a vibrant and growing community of success minded professionals.  I hope to see you there.

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