5 Things You Need to Do to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

With the new year upon us, it’s time to take a fresh look at your social media profiles — especially LinkedIn.

Why LinkedIn? LinkedIn is your professional resume — it’s the one social network that is 100 percent professional and reflects your experience and your expertise.

It’s also one of the sites that appears at the top of search results if anyone does an online search for you. However, for many real estate professionals, LinkedIn became the 'set it and forget it' network. The problem with this is that an outdated LinkedIn profile may give the perception that you are out of business.

Here are 5 simple tips to improve and update your LinkedIn profile today:

1. Update your photo. Make sure you have an updated professional photo. This is not the place to have a photo of you and your kids or you and your pets. LinkedIn is a professional network, so have a photo that is updated, professional and clear. This is not the place for a #selfie!
2. Update your expertise and experience. Make sure you have the last 5-10 years listed as a minimum. You don’t need descriptions for everything, but make sure your timeline of employment or self-employment is filled out. For your current brokerage make sure you state how long you’ve been there, what specific cities you specialize in (i.e., don’t just say “Northern California” — specify the exact cities) and your expertise in real estate.
3. Update your keywords. Make sure you have 5-10 keywords that reflect your expertise. These are the keywords in which you will be endorsed for, so make sure they are relevant to your brand!
4. Make sure you include links. You are allowed three links and they can be to anything. Make sure you have at least one to your website or blog and if you have a Facebook business page, that is a great link to add as well.
5. Write a recommendation for someone. Remember the old adage you need to give to get? Same here. Make it a point to give one recommendation a month – to your stager, another agent your worked with, your preferred mortgage professional or anyone else who you worked with that went above and beyond. Surprise them with a genuine recommendation on LinkedIn — you will make their day, and more often then not, they will return the favor!

Bonus tip: Every time you meet someone and you receive their business card, search them out on LinkedIn and then send them a personal request to connect:

“Hi, Joe — It was great meeting you at the Zillow Summit last week. I’d love to connect with you here on LinkedIn!” — Katie

I’d love to hear your tips on how you use LinkedIn to grow your business. Leave me a comment below!