How to Level Up your LinkedIn to be happier in your work
If you are trying to get ahead in work, in your career, in your job search, or building your small business, and you’re not active on LinkedIn (but you are feeling frustrated and at a dead end) then it might be time to give it a go.
I began to lean into LinkedIn when I became a coach. As a journalist, I didn’t need it (or so I thought), but as a Coach, I kept getting asked if she was on LI. Both by people in other online groups, and also at networking events.
London Jenny did her networking in person and looked for cases studies or connections on what was then Twitter. Sometimes Facebook, too. But LinkedIn? That was for the suits, and I wasn’t a suit. And my inbox was full of PRs who wanted to meet me or share news.
Only, as a coach, the tables were turned. I needed to make new connections. And then, as a freelance writer who moved out of London (and post-pandemic) I realised I wasn’t getting the attention I had done previously.
And, as a coach, I did have something to say that didn’t fit anywhere else.
The thing that I wasn’t expecting was for me to lean into LinkedIn as a journalist, too.
In fact, as I juggle coaching and journalism, I have found several contract roles as a writer on LinkedIn. I see more and more jobs posted there.
But it still feels cringe, right? I call it the LinkedIn ick. And often people will ask how they ‘get over it’. But it’s not about beating it, or getting over it. The best way to get past the cringe isn’t to try and beat it, or ‘get over it’, but to keep it with you and post anyway.
There are five key ways you can level up your LinkedIn TODAY.
Before you delve into these, I want you to think about something: Your LinkedIn ‘why’. What’s your purpose for being more active on LinkedIn? What do you want to achieve? What is the reason behind your wanting to level up? This is important because when you’re posting (or holding off from posting) you can think about the ‘why’ and focus in on why it matters to you. It’s a good way of cutting out all the noise.
Your ‘why’ might be new clients, or a new job. It might be standing out in your niche. It might be future-proofing your career by getting active before redundancy or quitting. As a freelancer it might be about visibility and new clients. As a journalist it might be about landing new commissions and finding case studies and experts. It could be a combination of all these things.
Once you have your ‘why’, give these actions a go:
New banner and bio (the words under your name). Ask yourself honestly if these are working hard enough for you? could they be clearer? Stronger? More detailed?
Make your ‘about’ really shine - yeah you’ve got a few paragraphs there, but it’s time to add MORE. Name drop brands. Speak about your qualities. SHOW OFF!
Ask for recommendations - ask for at least TEN today. Yep, ten. These are your trip advisor. They say ‘I’m great, but don’t take my word for it, these people say I’m great, too’. You can also re-purpose them into other content (eg make slides of them on Canva for your Instagram).
Stop liking and lurking. It’s not enough. Begin to post about you, and what you know.
Connect with relevant people - you can begin to find them using keywords in the search box. Don’t just rely on what your feed shows you - fill it with people who will want to work with you. Use keywords to search, deep dive into your industry and who is in it on the platform.
If you’re ready to level up your LinkedIn, you can book a one on one coaching session where we deep dive into your LinkedIn page, updating your about section, talking about everything from connections to recommendations so you can move forward confidently with a LinkedIn profile that stands out.
