How to rule LinkedIn
In a previous article with branding expert Rebecca Vogels, we had a chat about effective personal and branding storytelling techniques. Knowing her expertise in personal branding we wanted to pick her brain on how to step up your personal branding on LinkedIn.
We’re always telling microstories even if they come in tweets, LinkedIn or Instagram posts. These days you have to tell your personal story online. Either you take control of your personal brand or you don’t, and if you choose not to, you’re not influencing how your personal story is being told, Vogels said.
Constructing your online presence is a long-term investment and a great opportunity to build a career aside from your current job. It’s the opportunity to showcase another side of yourself that you don’t necessarily get to live out in your job.
Vogels recommend asking three relevant questions about what you’re working on in your LinkedIn bio. If you’re working in branding, you could be asking, whose stories are brands telling right now? And whose stories do we need to tell in the future? It’s all about getting the reader’s attention and making them want to know more about you.
You also want to make sure you’re answering the question of what are you doing in an interesting way. For example: Instead of just writing “I work in sales”, write: “I’m helping companies get more revenue and I’m asking myself if the strategies we’re currently using are efficient enough.”
If you have a motto, make sure to add that as well to your LinkedIn profile. In general, we want to know why people do what they do and what they believe in and how that relates to their professional background. That is what you should be able to tell from a well-designed LinkedIn profile.
The boundaries between different networks and what is used for what is becoming more and more blurry which shows just how important creating a connection with your future client, colleague or employee is. The bottom line is, people want to do business with people they connect with so make sure you cultivate your online presence to show what makes you unique, Vogels added.
Rebecca Vogels is the founder and CEO of the brand and story-agency All of the Above. She is a Forbes contributor and was named top 50 most powerful women in tech by California Diversity Council. Her next workshops on personal branding take place March 28 and May 9.
