Too many CRE professionals I know aren’t doing LinkedIn correctly. So I want to ask a question: What’s the purpose of LinkedIn? Is it:
- To stay in touch with past clients.
- To help future clients find you and determine if you are worth a call.
- To stay in touch with colleagues.
- To identify possible relationships that can help you win business.
If you think it is any or all of the above and you do any of the following with your profile you are probably doing LinkedIn wrong.
- Have a generic headshot that looks like everyone elses.
- Talk about yourself in the third person.
- Don’t actually list accomplishments.
- Only log in every 3 months when you want to add some new connections.
The great thing is, if you are doing it wrong you can quickly go back in and do it right. Always remember to differentiate. Your LinkedIn profile shouldn’t be some corporate sanitized biography that doesn’t say anything. Your profile should be you. It should reflect your personality, what you can do for a client and how you can help others. It’s more personal than a resume and much less formal than anything your company would ever put together.