Hi there.
LinkedIn is an interesting beast, isn’t it? It’s more business-oriented than Facebook, but you’ve got to keep some personality. And sound interesting. And look like someone people would want to do business with.
In a few short paragraphs at most.
Piece of cake, right?
Two good examples of well-done summaries can be found under the LinkedIn profiles of Ali Brown (entrepreneur) and Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero (copywriter). These are very different profiles, so I’m including both of them with my commentary on why they work. Each is followed by a simple template you can follow to achieve a similar effect.
***If you want to skip the commentary, scroll down ’til you get to the parts with a lot of blank lines. Those would be your templates.
Ali’s profile is a great one to model if you have a range of product or service lines.
Here it is, with my commentary:
“Ali Brown is founder and CEO of Ali International, a company devoted to helping people achieve financial freedom through lifestyle entrepreneurship.”
[Rebecca says: Her first sentence lets us know right away her name, title, company, and company's purpose.]
“Named one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing companies in the nation for 2009, Ali International comprises four brands: Ali Magazine, the Millionaire Protégé Club, Ali Boutique and Shine.”
[Rebecca says: See how the bio casually drops an award into an introductory clause? That makes it seem very matter-of-fact and polished. The rest of the sentence lists her offerings.]
“Ali Magazine is the glamorous bi-monthly publication that nourishes the mind, body and soul of female entrepreneurs. The Millionaire Protégé Club is an exclusive members-only club and coaching program for entrepreneurs who want to accomplish more in business and life. Ali Boutique is a chic collection of must-haves from designer flip cameras to lavish jewelry and hot new looks. Shine is a live conference for entrepreneurs that allows them to learn the very best in business and success strategies from Ali Brown in an inspiring and motivating environment.”
[And that last paragraph simply give one sentence elaborating on what each of Ali's four brands offers.]
Here is your template for the Ali profile, which is good for an entrepreneur or business offering multiple service or product lines:
[Your name]______________ is [title]_______________ of [company]__________________, which specializes in [write the driving theme of your business or what you do for people here]__________________________. Her business offers [list your service or product lines here, or summarize what you do] __________________________________________________. [Now add one sentence describing each offering]. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Voila!
(Anybody else thinking of “Mad Libs” right about now?)
Lorrie’s profile, on the other hand, is great for an entrepreneur or business that focuses on providing primarily one service. In Lorrie’s case, that is copywriting:
Here is her summary with commentary:
“Trust Red Hot Copy With Your Business”
[Rebecca says: She starts with a headline that also has a command!]
“Hi there, Glad you stopped by. I literally know hundreds of different copywriting techniques. And I’m a pro at figuring out which ones work best for my clients. Got questions? Let me see if I can anticipate some of them…”
[She's using a conversational tone of voice and addressing the readers directly. See how she's being friendly and showing off her chops? Also the "Got questions? Let me see if I can anticipate them" is borrowed from master copywriter Bob Bly, who uses the same device in his copywriting marketing material. See how great marketers notice what each other are doing?]
“‘What qualifies you to write my copy?’
Good question. Well, I’ve been a professional freelance writer since 1980. I have a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) – one of the top J schools in the country. My work has been published in various newspapers, magazines and all over the Internet.
In 1999, I discovered copywriting is different than other kinds of writing. It all started with a client who wanted me to do his sales letter. . .”
[Rebecca says: Lorrie goes on to include a multi-paragraph story that gives the background of how she became a copywriter. It's a good story because it's likeable, it qualifies her as being successful, and it casts her as very personable.]
“Specialties
go to www.redhotcopy.com and find out
or if you really want to see what I can do, check out www.theshefactor.com”
[Rebecca says: See what she did there? She's directing your eyeballs to her website to encourage you to learn more. Great tactic.]
Here is the template from Lorrie’s profile, in case you like that one:
[Headline. Suggestions: focus on a command like Lorrie, or focus on a benefit, like "Experience less back pain when you visit my chiropractic office.]
_________________________________________________
[Newsy opening. "Hi there" is good and general. "Hello" works too. "Thanks for visiting my LinkedIn page" is folksy and winking.]
____________________________________
[Next, give a statement about your expertise and what you can do for people.]
____________________________________________________
[If you want to use the old "Let's see if I can anticipate some of your questions" route, it's done a lot, but it works, so feel free to include a few of your most commonly asked questions with answers if you like.]
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[And now include a short story about how you discovered your profession, fell in love with it, and discovered you were good at it.]
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[BONUS: Invite people to visit your web page to learn more about you!]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I hope the tips and templates here are helpful for your business!
To your success!!!
Folks are raving about Rebecca!
“I look forward to working with her again soon!”–Tera McHugh, Founder, The Association of Women Entrepreneurs
“Helped us get 500k!”–Matt Sederberg, CEO, T-Splines
“One of my favorite writers!”–Chris Pierson, Managing editor, Action magazine
To learn more about hiring Rebecca for a consultation or to write copy for your business, reply to this email or visit http://rebeccakellogg.com
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