Imagine if you were able to get thousands of Qualified Leads to your funnel every single week for FREE, without any software, monthly subscriptions or skills? I’m talking about leads who you already know would benefit from your product or service, not just random people that you “think” would be interested, or some look-alike audience.
That’s exactly what is happening on LinkedIn, practically the Wild West the ONLY professional social platform. Ever since Microsoft purchased the platform for 26.2 Billion dollars, they have been adding new functionality to make it more appealing, and attract “professional” people to LinkedIn.
Your own “Profile Page” is now one of the sexiest funnels out there, and completely free. Hold on tight, because I’m going to show you how to turn your profile into a lead generation funnel following these stupid simple 6 steps from top-to-bottom!
6 Steps to Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile:
Step 1: The “HERO” Cover Photo & Profile Picture
It’s pretty sad how much people waste the biggest and first-viewed part of their profile the cover photo. Make sure it conveys expertise, authority, and likability. Work your company logo or brand colors along with it, higher-resolution the better. For me, I’m using a “Look, Mom, I’m on TV” photo – you don’t need to have one, but if you do, it establishes instant authority. If you don’t have one, use the likability shot, to make people feel like you’re approachable. Make sure you have the answer to their problems in your cover photo.
Your “Profile Picture” should be your head-shot. Make sure it’s bright and clear, and people can recognize you easily from the photo, so don’t use one that doesn’t look like your everyday appearance. Ensure that it’s smiling, and appealing, remember – people need to feel a warm feeling when they look at it!
Step 2: Secure Your Profile Link:
You can edit your profile link (URL) to match your name. If you have a standard name (like I do) then use your middle. For example, I use: https://linkedin.com/in/JeffJHunter – notice I use the “J” in my middle name since there are hundreds of Jeff Hunters? Seriously) This is important, it’s claiming your stake, it’s your own domain, and getting your own real estate on LinkedIn.
Step 3: Your Headline
OK, let’s not forget the #1 thing care about… themselves. So what do you offer them, why should people use you or your product? What problem do you solve for them? Here’s your time to shine, the “Headline”. The simple formula that works over and over is “I do X for that results in Z” – example: “I Help Entrepreneurs Automate Their Sales Prospecting with Virtual Teams” Now there’s plenty of ways to say this using the same formula. I also like to throw in some personality, something provocative as a conversation starter, and of course HINT: you can just copy and paste from Facebook, and they work on LinkedIn)
Here’s my current status:
⚒️ Automate Your Sales & Business with Virtual Teams
Step 4: Calls-To-Action EVERYWHERE
There are three main areas you can put a Call-to-Action on your profile:
1. Below your headline is a “Summary” in which you can add “Media” in the form of a link. Put your lead magnet, your calendar, or your website. That’s the top of the funnel offer!
2. In your “Articles” – you can hyperlink the content to your website, or anything else. You can also embed videos there to get people familiar with your message.
3 Your “Experience” which is where you list your positions – we’ll get into more of that in the next section.
Make sure to click the “Link” button on the media sections of each, and drop them there!
PRO TIP: Click the “Share with network” toggle to share your job with EVERYONE in your network. EVERYONE will be notified that you started a new position (a great way to build visibility with your network AFTER you’ve updated your profile – so do this last!)
(Hint: You can change the words on the link, so adjust to fit your copy)
Step 5: The BEST Social Proof on ANY Platform
Could you imagine if on your personal Facebook profile people could leave reviews? Yeah, that’s pretty much what “Recommendations” are on LinkedIn. What’s the best way to get recommendations you say? Simple, by giving them, and as an added an INCREDIBLE way to get traffic to your OWN LinkedIn profile because your headline will stand out when they read recommendations you leave on other LinkedIn Profiles.
(EXAMPLE: Here’s a couple left by my clients and colleagues to show the power it has!)
Step 6: Get Them OFF LinkedIn
The best advice I can give anyone about converting leads from LinkedIn is simple, get them off of LinkedIn. Get them to your calendar, get on a call – or maybe even ask them for a cup of coffee if they’re local! The faster you get someone to talk to you, the faster you get results.
If you want to download my more in-depth step-by-step it here: