Being an expert and being seen as an authority on LinkedIn are two different things. What helps you to stand out is rarely the list of credentials you were taught to lead with.
You have spent many years becoming genuinely good at what you do. Unfortunately, your LinkedIn profile probably reads like every other profile in your industry.
Let me encourage you that a profile that helps you stand out is possible to build once you understand what you are there to do.
Write for Clients, Not Recruiters
First, you must realize that your profile has a different job when you are an entrepreneur using LinkedIn to attract clients, referral partners, and PR opportunities. A job seeker builds a profile to pass a filter: job titles, responsibilities, and accomplishments for a role that someone else already defined.
Your profile works differently as an entrepreneur building your own business. Instead of asking to be selected over a field of candidates, you are inviting the right clients to recognize themselves in your work. Speaking to a person, rather than a hiring committee, helps you stand out as an expert in your field.
The Heart of Your Brand is Your About Section
Most people treat their about section as a formal bio. Avoid opening with your resume, and start your about section by naming the specific pain point your ideal client is living with so they feel you understand exactly where they are in the first few lines.
Next, you can move into what makes your approach different and what shapes your point of view that solves their problem. Your ideal client wants to know the way you think as well as your skill set.
Now comes the part that many miss: your story. Somewhere in your years of experience is the real reason you do the work you do. What moment or season of your life shaped how you see your field? Sharing your story turns you from a competent stranger into someone your reader can relate to.
People hire experts they trust. Trust grows faster through your story than through a list of credentials.
Don’t despair; you still can include your experience and results; they simply come after your reader feels like they know you a little.
Your Content Has A Foundation
Your profile and your content start working together to prove your authority. A strong profile tells your reader who you are and who you help, and your content backs it up week after week by showing how you think and guide people through the problem you solve in your About section.
When your profile and your content match, someone reads a post that resonates and clicks to a profile that confirms the feeling. They begin to trust you are the person they have been looking to find.
When your profile and content do not match, you lose people in the space between. That gap is what keeps so many capable experts from being seen, even when their expertise is the real thing.
Is Your Profile Stuck in Job Seeker Mode?
While you have moved on to bigger and more interesting work, has your profile remained more corporate? I love helping experts stand out as authorities on LinkedIn with a profile and content presence that sounds like them and reaches their ideal clients.
Book a free consultation to see how I can help you.