What do you do with your LinkedIn Profile when you’ve set out to run your own business? Do you quit your old corporate profile & start over from scratch? Do you need a new LinkedIn Profile? Find out in this post
So you’ve finally quit Corporate America and launched your own business, as a Virtual Assistant (or any other Freelance job). You’ve created your website, your Facebook Page & now you’re wondering ‘What about my LinkedIn Profile’. What do I do with that?
I quit my corporate job. Do I need a new LinkedIn Profile?
I’m glad you’re actually asking yourself that question! It seems that you’ve realized that your potential clients are on LinkedIn (if you haven’t yet, read this post), which is why it makes sense to update your profile. Indeed, LinkedIn is not just for job seekers. Your prospects often check out your LinkedIn Profile before they get to your website. So, back to the question ‘Do you need a new LinkedIn Profile?’ No you don’t! But you need to update it!
Your LinkedIn Profile needs to sell you!
The biggest mistake I see on Virtual Assistant’s (or any Freelancer’s ) profiles is that it’s written for recruiters, instead of being written for prospects. Your LinkedIn Profile needs to tell your clients what you do and how you can help them. Most LinkedIn Profiles I see talk about the past more than they talk about the present. If I’m your client I don’t really care much what you did at your last Corporate Job, I want to know if you can help me solve the problems I have!
But what about my connections, they are no longer relevant
Of course, over the years you’ve probably created a little network of connections from your corporate environment: colleagues, customers, suppliers etc. These are all somehow related to your previous life as an employee. So are they all useless now? Not necessarily. While it’s true that most of them might not become your clients, they might have people in their networks that might need your Virtual Assistance services. And just having those connections to build your network on will help you. It’s really hard to start your network from 0 connections. And of course, once you have updated your profile your next objective is to grow your network with more strategic connections.
What about my skills?
Those need updating too in order to reflect your new skill set as a Virtual Assistant. LinkedIn has it’s own internal search engine and people use it to search for service providers like yourself. They might type in ‘Virtual Assistant’ if they are looking for Admin help, but if they are looking for someone to help them with WordPress for example, they probably would type that in to the search bar. So make sure your skills are updated and reflect your current offering and not your last job as an employee.
What else do I need to pay attention to?
Your updated LinkedIn Profile should really be a sales tool. I often compare it to a mini-website that drives traffic to your maxi-website. It needs to visually stand out from others (header visual, your profile picture, rich media files) & include links to lead people to your website to find out more about your services. It also needs to include Social Proof (endorsements & recommendations) from previous clients or, if you’re just starting out previous employers will work too.
Need help building a LinkedIn Profile that sells you & gets you clients?
I created the LinkedIn Profile Quick Fix because I see so many LinkedIn Profiles that read like a boring resume instead of being an effective Sales Tool. I started out myself as a Virtual Assistant in 2007, so in a way I’m giving back to the community that helped me grow. You can create your own Facebook Page, but this is different. You need to know where to place your keywords, what tone to use, what to say and where to say it. On top of that LinkedIn is not very user friendly or intuitive. My course shows you not only what to do but how to do it. Check out the LinkedIn Profile Quick Fix now.