10 Tips for Freelancers to Create A Winning Profile on LinkedIn

linkedin profile

Freelancers know the importance of networking. The better and bigger the network is, the greater the chances of securing good work assignments. While there are many places from where you can start networking, LinkedIn is one of the most credible platforms in existence today.

LinkedIn is presently one of the biggest networks of professionals online. It offers a customized platform that lets its users maintain contacts with professionals from across the world. However, as great as it may sound, one needs to tap the full potential of this platform in order to secure a strong network.

If you wish to use LinkedIn to expand your professional circle, you will have to create a profile. You cannot underestimate the value of a good profile, and hence, it is best if you read this article carefully because we will touch upon this matter in detail.

Here are ten things which can help freelancers create a good profile on LinkedIn:

1.     First Thing First: Profile Picture

Before you do anything with your profile, you need to get a good, professional-looking profile picture. Trust us; a good profile picture can actually get you brownie points.

A few tips will help you go about this: put your own picture; ensure quality in the form of good lighting, posture, camera, and composition; and get it clicked against a clear background. Putting up a profile picture of you enjoying scenes in an amusement park will be good for Instagram, but not LinkedIn.

2.     All About Your Education

The first thing clients look at is your education details. While you may have a decent-enough resume to hand over to clients, many times clients prefer going through LinkedIn profile first. In fact, such clients require a link to your LinkedIn profile to conduct a preliminary evaluation.

Updating education details will help clients in identifying whether your profile matches with the one they are looking for. Also, you will benefit immensely from referrals by fellow batchmates of your alma mater and current or previous workplaces which get reflected on LinkedIn.

3.     An Amazing Introduction

Nothing can compare the impact which a great introduction can create in the minds of recruiters. It is your big chance to give a strong, capable and brilliant picture of yours through the words you use in the introduction.

You need to be assertive and clear in your introduction: highlight your background briefly, focus more on your professional life, highlight the skills which define you and have helped you gain an edge, and ensure grammar is on-point.

4.     Oh, Yes, The Headline!

You have to be absolutely careful with the headline of your profile. Always keep in mind that whatever headline you write it will show up in the LinkedIn search results. So, you need to ensure that the headline, effectively, summarises who you are.

Tips include sticking to 4-5 words, avoid using extravagant language which only a few could understand, and use keywords associated with your expertise. Ensure that your headline speaks for you and presents a good picture.

5.     Now, the Experience Section

Experience sells like hotcakes in the professional world. You need to highlight your previous and current projects in a way that show that you have what it takes to be where you are.

Tips to enhance your experience section: list your skills right such as Content Writing, SEO, Copywriter; list clients you have been involved with and ensure you offer sufficient detail; and showcase yourself as a businessperson who is selling his/her skills.

6.     Better Disclose Your Location

Unless clients know where you are based, they cannot fully understand whether you are who they are looking for. For example, there is a firm looking for graphic designers based in Paris and you are based in Paris, disclosing your location will make it convenient for them to find you, as you will show up in search results.

7.     Sell Your Accomplishments

Always remember: when you have achieved something worthy, you tell the world. Clients appreciate it when freelancers enumerate their achievements on their profile so that they can undertake a better assessment. However, while selling your accomplishments, ensure that your tone is not arrogant.

8.     Get Recommendations

One of the most brilliant features of LinkedIn is its recommendation feature. Every time you add a skill to your profile, you can ask anyone you know to recommend you in that area of expertise.

Doing this is simple enough: all you need to do is open the profile of the person you want a recommendation from, click on the arrow found next to the “View Profile as” option, and then click on the “Ask to be recommended” option. Select the area of work for which you want to be recommended and select the connections from which you wish to seek a recommendation.

9.     Engage Yourself

Having a brilliant profile will not help you face competition unless you let people feel your presence. So, what do you do? You engage in conversations.

The benefit of engaging in public conversations is that people notice you and might consider checking your profile. You should go beyond liking comments and write your views on the posts. Add value to the post, and you will notice an increase in profile views.

10.Keep Updating Your Profile

Your job is not done once you prepare a profile. You need to ensure that this newly-crafted profile of yours stays fresh as long as you are here on LinkedIn.

With time, you will achieve more and/or change workplaces and clients would not know unless you write them down in your profile. Also, if you do not upgrade your profile, clients might get an impression that you do not take your work professionally.

There is a gigantic network of freelancers on LinkedIn because it is that powerful and effective. If you wish to ensure that you tap the full potential of your professional network, you need to choose the constituting members of your network wisely and engage with people regularly. A good profile can offer you great leads to start with, but you need to take the design of your profile very seriously.

The objective of this article is to help the freelance community grow bigger and stronger by reaching out to as many people as we can. Since we want that more and more people know the relevance of having a good LinkedIn profile, we would like to have our readers share this article. Also, they can contribute their viewpoints on this topic to help us improve its quality.