7 Steps to Spring Clean your LinkedIn Profile - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

7 Steps to Spring Clean your LinkedIn Profile - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Have you ever wanted to reach out to someone that is already in your LinkedIn contact list, but when you went to their profile their contact information was nowhere to be found? Or, perhaps worse… out of date? You may not be able to fix the profiles of others, but you can take the time to insure your profile is the best it can be. Take the time to make sure that your profile shows your most current, accurate and professional view. It’s easy and can be done in  7 steps. The time to do this is NOW! Please take five minutes (after you read this post) to check your LinkedIn profile. Seven steps to Spring Clean your LinkedIn profile Step 1  â€" Open LinkedIn in the browser of your choice. Step 2  â€" Just below the LinkedIn logo is the “Home” section. To the right of this is the “Profile” section. Hover over “Profile” and click “Edit Profile” Note: you may need to click on Edit Profile again once on this section. Step 3  â€" Is this you? Does  the section in the top box accurately describe you? Is your name (first line), title (line 2), region and industry (line 3) correct? If not, select the pencil icon to the left of each line to edit, make the changes and save your changes. Do this for each line. Click Save. Step 4  â€" Is your picture current? Does it reflect the image you want to project? If not, click on the camera icon and change it. Step 5  â€" THIS ONE IS THE MOST CRITICAL  â€" The Contact Info. This is how people can find you. If you are in business or if you want to be in business (students, job searchers, etc.) YOU WANT TO BE FOUND! Look below the dotted line in the main Edit Profile box. On the right side there is a section called “Edit Contact Info”  â€" Click on this. LinkedIn gives you a lot of options for what you want to share. At a minimum make sure your best email is listed. For my profile I also have my phone number, my Skype alias, my Twitter handle, my company website and my personal blog. I WANT people to know how to contact me. You should too. Note: Linkedin’s naming conventions are a bit limited for websites.  Choose the one that makes the most sense for you. Step 6  â€" Your LinkedIn URL. Don’t ignore the other side of the area below the dotted line. There should be a URL shown next to the tiny LinkedIn logo. Mine is www.linkedin.com/in/jeffshuey/  and yours should be something similar. You can customize these URL’s as long as the one you want isn’t already taken. My name is fairly unique so I was able to get my whole name. If you have an alias people know you by… see if you can get it for your LinkedIn alias. Pro Tip: Include your LinkedIn URL on your email signature file If you don’t have an email signature… you need one.  Make one today. And include your LinkedIn URL. . Step 7 What Does The World See? When you click on the Edit option you will be brought to a page that says “Your First Name, take control of how you appear in public search results.” This is where you can select what  your connections see and what the public sees. Review and select the options that make sense for how you want to be seen by others. There are no wrong options. Just choose what you are comfortable with showing and sharing. . That’s it!   Just make sure you Save your updates and/or click the Done Editing box. Why do this? It should be obvious why you would want to do some Spring Cleaning of your LinkedIn profile. The main reason is to make sure you are representing yourself accurately. Not that you aren’t representing yourself accurately today,  but things may have changed since the last time you made any updates. For example, did you receive a promotion at work? Have you added any volunteer work? Did you join any trade associations? By keeping your LinkedIn profile up to date you will stand out in your career, you will be able to more effectively manage your personal and professional brand, and you’ll be able to  represent and highlight your most authentic self. LinkedIn is the Place for Business If you are anything like me you use LinkedIn to stay connected with your peers, your industry and to find out who is moving and shaking in the industry.  LinkedIn is a great tool for business users and when used effectively it’s a great way for people to find you and for you to find them. There you have it. 7 easy steps to do some Spring Cleaning  on your LinkedIn profile. Take the time to review your profile today. The five minutes you spend today could lead to your next deal, your next project or even to your next job. You can find me on LinkedIn here www.linkedin.com/in/jeffshuey/ Ingvar Bjork / Shutterstock.com