LinkedIn Profile Tips - a Mini-Audit of Michelle Gilbert by Brenda Meller Ep 125

Are you a solopreneur, business professional, or solopreneur looking to get a bigger slice of the LinkedIn Pie? Listen to this LinkedIn profile mini-audit of Michelle Gilbert. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellebgilbert/

LinkedIn Profile Tips from Brenda Meller

• Headshot and Banner:
  • Update your headshot regularly.
  • Incorporate your logo into the banner for branding.
  • Keep the banner visually appealing and relevant to your target audience.
  • Consider changing the banner periodically to keep it fresh.
• Headline:
  • Experiment with different wording to make your headline more engaging and optimized for search.
  • Use keywords that your target audience would search for.
• About and Experience Sections:
  • Highlight your expertise and how you can help your clients.
  • Don't be afraid to repeat key information in both sections.
  • Include a call to action in your Experience section to encourage engagement.
• Skills:
  • Use skills strategically in both sections to improve your profile's visibility.
  • Focus on the top five skills that are most relevant to your work.
  • Consider using fewer skills in your Experience section to avoid truncation.
• Additional Tips:
  • Post regularly to maintain a strong online presence.
  • Consider adding a downloadable resource or email signup option to your profile.
  • Use a consistent tone and style throughout your profile.

Want a LinkedIn profile mini-audit? If you're a coach / consultant / solopreneur, download these 15 LinkedIn Profile tips, and follow the instructions in the final email: https://www.mellermarketing.com/list

Watch this on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gJ1_-X-KuO8

Transcript

LinkedIn Profile Audit Tips and Feedback

Speaker 1 0:00

one . Hey , it's Brenda Meller . Back again for another LinkedIn profile mini audit , and I'm joined today by Michelle Gilbert . Hey , michelle , how are you doing today ? I'm doing great . Thanks for having me . Absolutely , I'm looking forward to it . And Michelle and I in the pre-show , we were just talking about how we , as women , you know , sometimes we are , you know , getting ourselves ready for the camera , and other times we were a little bit more fresh-faced because , honestly , we're just rolling up our sleeves and getting to work , and that's one of those days for both of us . But we're going to jump right in here and give you some great tips on your profile here today , michelle , and I'm going to pull your profile up on screen . As I am doing that , I want to ask you if you could tell us your name . Who do you help and what do you help them with ?

Speaker 2 0:47

could tell us your name . Who do you help and what do you help them with ? Sure , so my name is Michelle Gilbert . I am the Chief Engine Officer for Purple Engine Coaching and Consulting , and I empower young professionals and emerging leaders to navigate business challenges with strong communication and confidence so that they can achieve their professional aspirations .

Speaker 1 1:08

Wonderful . Well , it sounds like you've got a great introduction there . As we lead into the profile mini audit here Now , do you have any specific questions you'd like me to cover , Michelle , or are you just open to some general feedback ?

Speaker 2 1:19

Let's go with the general feedback , brenda , okay , wonderful .

Speaker 1 1:23

All right , let's start with . We've got two areas at the top of your profile . We've got your headshot photo and we've got your header image in the back . Now I know the name of your company is Purple Engine Coaching and Consulting . You've got a very vibrant purple banner in the background and then you've got a quote which currently reads confident is your birthright . I'm not going to try pronouncing the name , but in there , so I'm guessing the confidence is a part of what you help your clients with . Is that fair to say ? It is yes , Okay , good .

Speaker 1 1:51

So I always like to make sure that we're using the banner image very similar to like a billboard on the side of a highway , and we want to make sure that the message on there is intentional for our ideal target audience , both in the imagery , brand colors , brand fonts , things like that . Everything should be intentional for your ideal target audience , and what I always encourage my clients to do is think about changing out that banner periodically with different messages about your business , Because , similar to a billboard on the highway where you've got cars that are driving by and they're driving by every day the first day they might read the billboard . The second day they might kind of notice it the third day . They ignore it because they know what it says already . So periodically swapping that out with different messages , whether it is your business name and logo , or maybe a tagline about what it is that you do . You know the statement you just shared as a part of it , or something from a brand tagline , or these inspirational quotes on there . But what I do like about your banner , Michelle , is , in addition to using your brand color and using a quote , that's intentional .

Speaker 1 2:51

If I were to pull this up on the LinkedIn mobile app , I would be able to read that , so I think that's an important distinction there . One suggestion I might have , if you keep the current quote on there , is make the person's name who said that quote . Is it Jellabakai Jones ? Am I mispronouncing or how do you ? How do you say that name ? Do you know ?

Speaker 2 3:11

I actually don't know . It was a meditation that I listened to and she said that and it really stuck with me , and so , of course , I wanted to give her credit for the quote , but I wanted to share the quote with other people because I found it so meaningful .

Speaker 1 3:28

So what I might do is take the person's name , jalaba Kai Jones , make that smaller and maybe make the point size of confidence is your birth rate . It could even be just a couple of like two to points larger and make the Jalaba Kai Jones . Maybe make that like 10 points smaller , because you really want the emphasis to be on the quote and I think your viewers will appreciate that you're giving credit to that person . You didn't say it , they said it . She said it instead , but let's make that the focal point . Does that make sense ? It ?

Speaker 2 3:59

absolutely makes sense , and should I be incorporating my logo also into my banner ?

Speaker 1 4:05

You know , I think you could add some branding to the banner in the background . And what I might do is , you know , take that quote and do it like a right align inside the box and the person's name who said it underneath it and then , above your headshot photo , on the left , you could put your logo . Just make sure that obviously it's reversed out so that we can see it against the purple there , I'm sorry . Okay , reversed out . So meaning your logo right now is purple text on a white background , if I look lower . So if you're going to put it on a purple background , it would probably be white text instead , and you can do that within Canva . There's a way that you can adjust your PNG settings to do a reverse out version of your logo . So even if you created it yourself , there's a way that you can modify it inside Canva to get that reverse out logo .

Speaker 1 4:51

Easiest thing , michelle , is just Google it . How do I do ? How do I create a reverse logo in Canva ? And we'll give you the step-by-step instructions to do that . Got it , thank you , all right . Next thing is your headshot photo , and I know that we met recently at an event , and I'm not sure if I remember the answer to this question , but is this a recent headshot photo or is this a photo that was taken during your corporate employees ?

Speaker 2 5:15

Well it is .

Speaker 1 5:16

It was taken during corporate , but it was only about a year ago , so it is a recent photo Okay , good , and I always look for has it been taken in the past five years and you're right within that and it looks like you and I wanted to make sure that that was the case of it . But just some reminders and some things to think about . As you shift from moving from a corporate role into being self-employed , we just shed some of our corporate skin , if you will . I remember for me , I was wearing a lot of dark suits and darker colors and things that were more like appropriate within my corporate role , and when I became an entrepreneur , I started wearing more bright colors and pinks and yellows and and I have I think I have one black suit that's left inside my closet for funerals and the rest I kind of gave away . So we start to come into our own when we become self-employed and even you know we might wear blouses or sweaters or things like that that are more comfortable in the new , the new phase of life that we're in . So think about that moving forward

Professional Headshot and Profile Optimization

Speaker 1 6:16

.

Speaker 1 6:16

Sometimes that new , a newer headshot photo in your your being self-employed phase of your business indicates that you're shifting direction and it's also something that , as you're evolving your business you know , launching or relaunching a website . You'll use that photo not just here , but you're going to be using in your website , your marketing materials , probably your social media posts , your campaigns , et cetera . I go to a photographer locally here in Metro Detroit , scott Lawrence , and when he does my headshot photo , we also get some I don't want to call them lifestyle photos , but just like casual photos me holding my phone , me holding a coffee mug , me holding my book or just posing in different ways that I can use . So that might be something to think about for the future down the line . What you have right now is a good looking photo on there , but just to touch on that , any questions there .

Speaker 2 7:07

No , actually I recently went through a photo shoot so I have some coming in the next couple of weeks , so I'll I'll look at swapping it out to make it a little less corporate-y . I guess my only question is because I do work with so many people in business , I wouldn't go with too casual of a shot , but part of the reason I kept that photo is because of who part of my audience is .

Speaker 1 7:35

Understood and you have to think about your audience . What's going to appeal to your audience and how it fits within your personality and even your persona as well . If you're trying to demonstrate knowledge , prestige , professionalism , you can certainly keep a more professional image with you , and there's no one size fits right with this approach . I guess my goal is just to make sure , when we work as corporate employees , we're in this framework of . This is how we need to look and feel and act and all of these . We can't show up on a Zoom call with a small phone , but now we're in the phase of life where we have , we give ourselves some grace and flexibility . We're real people , and that can spill over to what we're doing . Come end of the day , michelle , you have to be comfortable with your headshot photo and it has to appeal with your target audience there .

Speaker 2 8:26

Okay .

Speaker 1 8:26

All right , cool , all right . So let's see what else on here . You've got a great looking headline . What I always look at in the headline and I'll do a quick demonstration of this is I go down to your activity section and I want to make sure that the headline is written to appeal to your ideal target audience . It's not just job title , it accompanies something a little different . The other thing I look for is what appears in the first line in the previewable area . So the reason I just went down to your activity section is I can see when I click on posts , I can see your headshot photo , I can see your name and I see a portion of your headline . So I want to make sure that what's ever in that previewable area is interesting and compelling and it's going to get your ideal , your profile , where they can read more about you . And what I like is that you've got the first capitalizations , referred to as camel case or headline case young is capitalized , professionals is capitalized , et cetera , emerging leaders , et cetera . You go on from there If you were to make any modifications .

Speaker 1 9:25

Sometimes we can get creative with how we write things out , for example , using an ampersand instead of the word and will help us to get more characters in there . Another technique and this might be a little bit too casual for you , but I'll throw it out there anyways Instead of saying young professionals , you can say young pros and emerging leaders , and that might get a couple more characters in that previewable area . I'm not saying you need to change it , I'm just giving you some considerations if you were to want to try to get more of those important words in there , because right now I'm not saying you need to change it , I'm just giving you some considerations if you were to want to try to get more of those important words in there , because right now I'm reading young professionals and emerging leaders hire me to help them NA . And I don't know what the NA is . I can guess , because young professionals and emerging leaders are probably on a path to continue to move up , so I'm guessing what that is . Does that make sense ?

Speaker 2 10:12

Yes , it does , thank , so I'm guessing what that is . Does that make sense ? Yes , it does .

Speaker 1 10:14

Thank you , I'll play around with that , yeah , and something kind of play around . After you modify your headline , go into your post section . Look at your comment section too . Sometimes we see a couple more characters , sometimes we see fewer characters , as we're seeing here in the comments as well . So just play with that a little bit . But you've got a solid headline . I'm going to read it out loud it says young professionals and emerging leaders hire me to help them navigate business challenges with confidence and influence .

Speaker 1 10:40

Certified coach , speaker , consultant , relationship builder , communications expert , dog lover and the dog lover . You just pulled at my heart right there because I'm a dog lover while we're going at home . But you've got a lot of really great keywords in there that are going to help you to come up in search . I just want you to very carefully think about what are the first words and phrases , because the goal is to get them to click to come back to your profile with that headline Okay , yeah , all right .

Speaker 1 11:09

Next thing I want to look at and you had asked some questions prior to and I want to just quickly address the difference between describing your company in your about statement versus describing your company in your experience section , and I'm going to expand both as I'm going through here . So what I like to do is I want you to think about some people are only going to read the about statement and they're not going to go to the experience section , and some people are only going to read experience and they're not going to go to the about section . So it is perfectly okay if we repeat some items in both places . What I like to think about is the about section . It's not really about you . It's about you as it relates to how you can help your ideal target audience . So I always like to start the about with what do you do , who do you help , and then ending the first four lines with how people can get a hold of you . So what I love about your about statement is you've started the statement with I empower young professionals and emerging leaders to navigate business challenges , et cetera . So right away you're speaking to who it is that you help and how you help them . You have how I'm different . I love the format that you've used on here and then you end with website and email address before the scene will break . So you've done everything I would recommend

Optimizing LinkedIn Profile and Skills

Speaker 1 12:25

in there .

Speaker 1 12:25

So the first paragraph is really about you . Who do you help ? What do you help them with ? How can people get ahold of you ? Second paragraph is about your company , and then you can go on from there and add information , which you've really done a nice job Purple bullets in there as well . You got some good branding , whereas in the experience section I like to start with describing the company . So , whereas about it's about you , first paragraph , company is second . In the experience section I like to reverse it First paragraph is about your company and then second paragraph is about you . You know as the chief engine officer and consultant I work with , so maybe it's the same statement as you have in your about statement .

Speaker 1 13:03

And it's okay to be repetitive , keeping in mind that the previewable area in both blocks is only going to be a few lines . So they may only read the previewable area in the about . They may only read the previewable area in the experience . If they expand and there's information that's repeated , that's a good thing because it's creating some brand consistency with your message . Does that make sense ? Yes , it does .

Speaker 1 13:28

Yeah , so in your experience , I wouldn't change anything . The only thing I might suggest , rather , in your about , I wouldn't change anything . The only thing I might suggest , rather , in your about . I wouldn't change anything . The only thing I would suggest in your experience that you do different is add in a call to action . So let's assume somebody who's visiting your profile is not yet connected to you so they can't see your contact info , they haven't read the about and they're only reading the experience section . So I would include your website address and your email in here and you might feel well , gosh , brenda , that feels repetitive . That's okay , cause this is like marketing on a silver platter . We don't want to have people searching around , we want to make it super easy for them to find that information .

Speaker 2 14:04

Okay , okay , yes , and then I do that in the first paragraph .

Speaker 1 14:09

You could do that in the first paragraph . I you know , typically in the experience I usually put it at the end of the first paragraph or if you're doing the second paragraph with a statement about , you put it in there as well . I'm not as concerned about it trying to fit in the previewable space in the experience section as I am in the about at the top Got it Okay , that's super helpful , thank you .

Speaker 1 14:31

Yeah , you're welcome . All right , a couple more things and then we'll wrap up here . So one thing that LinkedIn did recently is they used to allow us to have 50 total skills and now recently they've expanded . They allow us to have more than 50 . We can have , I think , up to 100 skills on your profile , and they've also started sprinkling skills throughout our profile in different places . One place is in the About section at the top , and the Experience section has been here for a while , but they've expanded how many skills we can show in here as well , and this was a question that you said .

Speaker 1 15:02

You know how many skills can I have and can we change the order around Now ? My recommendation is that you do use all 50 skills in the Skills section . I'm not recommending people go up to 100 , because I've not heard any data yet that says it's helping with SEO . If you want , you certainly can go more than 50 . But in your about section , you really want to focus on what are the top five skills that are relevant to the work that I do . That's going to be appealing to my ideal target audience , and think about putting those five skills in here Now . Once you add them , you can't move the order around , but you can delete and re-add and I think the way that it works is first in is the first one listed is the way that it would go in there . So right now , your top skills are executive coaching , career development coaching , leadership development , presentation and public speaking training , communication training . Based on what we've described so far , I think those are great top skills for you to have . In your about statement . Did you have any question on that area ?

Speaker 2 16:02

um , no , I feel good . I feel good about them . I I think , because young professionals are executives too , so , and , and emerging leaders are executives , so it's more . It's more about that . Professional coaching yes , I feel good about it .

Speaker 1 16:19

And I also feel like even like now that you said that I'm like young professionals who have aspirations to move into executive roles will be seeking leadership coaching , leadership development or executive coaching as well . So I that didn't stick out to me until you just mentioned it I'm like , oh , it doesn't bother me . Even then , I think it's an aspirational skill and it's something that you have to offer your audience . So I look at this as the top skill section in your about , as both an SEO element as well as a human element . The SEO meaning the more of these fields that we fill out on our LinkedIn profile , the more searches we will come up in for executive coaching , for leadership development , et cetera . And the human element is as a human being . As I'm scanning through your profile , I'm getting right away what it is that you're good at , what are the skills and expertise that you can offer to me for a client . So you've done a nice job there .

Speaker 1 17:13

Now the difference within the experience section is , whereas in the about , you can only have a maximum of five I don't know that LinkedIn has a cap for the number of skills that you put in your experience section . I personally am recommending no more than five be listed there . Because you see what happens here , michelle . It says professional mentoring , mock training and 10 other skills .

Speaker 1 17:35

Now most people are not going to click on and read through the list because and I'll say this with kindness people are lazy , they're not going to do it , they're not going to click on it . But if you were to have just a few skills listed , they might all appear in that list . It's like LinkedIn starts to truncate it when the list gets a little bit too long on there . So I want you to think about maybe shortening that list up and not listing all . If I come across any data that tells me differently , like meaning , if you put 15 skills in each experience , it helps with SEO I'll let you know . But I'm looking at this more from the human perspective . Like people just aren't gonna read it .

Speaker 2 18:11

Yeah , that makes sense , and I guess my follow-up question for you , brenda , would be definitely for Purple Engine . I need to shorten those . The other experience that I have with the other companies . Should I only choose five for those also Because people may actually go deeper down ?

Speaker 1 18:36

And through ? Yeah , and I like to think about focusing on the skills that maybe weren't the top skill for that position , but the skills that you gained that are most relevant to the work that you're doing now . So in my example , I use this . In my previous corporate career , public relations and media relations was a part of my job and a part of my role . Could I do it ? Yes . Do I enjoy doing it ? No , do I want to do it in my job at all now ? No , absolutely not . So I'm not going to list that as one of my top skills . So I'm going to focus on the skills that I gained in that role that I'm using to help my clients today . Using to help my clients today . Does that make sense ? Yes , perfect sense .

Speaker 1 19:10

Okay , and I'm going to do one final scan , from top to bottom . I just want to see if anything else is jumping out at me , since this is a high level profile mini audit . Just want to see if there's anything else in your top header card . I see that you have communicate with confidence . When I click , it looks like it's taking me to your website . Do you have any downloadable checklists , resources , ways to opt in , to get on an email list . Do you have an email list yet ?

Speaker 2 19:35

No , so that is coming next . I have to work on creating something downloadable and I have to work on putting together that email list . We kind of talked about that on your last coaching call and I am motivated . It's just a matter of coming up with the idea and moving it forward down the field .

Speaker 1 19:57

Totally get it , and I think what you have in here is great right now because it doesn't just say Purple Engine Coaching . It's not just the name of your business . You're speaking to your audience . If you're looking to communicate with confidence , that might intrigue you . Like , what is that ? Is that a webinar ? Is it a workshop ? Oh , it's her website , and now I'm there and I can start to navigate through . So what you have is a great starting point right now . If , in the future , you do have a downloadable resource or even a way for them to opt in and subscribe to your list , you might want to consider changing that . But what you have in there , I don't want you to feel like it's not a good thing . It is a good thing , you're using it . It was intriguing to me to click on it , so that's a good thing , but over time you might think about changing that up . Okay , all right and .

Speaker 1 20:37

I'm just scanning through to see you've added items into your featured section . You're posting regularly with a good cadence in there . In your education section you have the IPEC coaching at the top over Michigan State University and just so you know , because of that that's what's appearing at the top in your header card as well . I think it makes sense because the coaching is the direction your business is going . I think that's good in there . You could certainly change it , put the order of Michigan State and that Michigan State would be at the top of your profile . But I think what you have in there is fine . It's just something I observed .

Speaker 2 21:18

I , yeah . So I thought that I recalled in when I was when I watched that video , that it talked about using the education that was most relevant to what you were doing now , versus my degree at Michigan State , which I'm very proud of . It's a journalism degree . It certainly shows what I do , but it really has less to do with coaching .

Speaker 1 21:42

Agree , and I think you know you could argue either way . You could say well , michigan State University is a well-known , credentialed institution and it's kind of like what we have in our headshot photo where we're in corporate attire . It shows that we've been a part of this , the educational system , and earned our bachelor's degree . The other side is you could argue and say well , the coaching thing is more relevant to your business today . I think what you have at the top showing iPad coaching . It's a very reputable organization and it's a credential not many coaches hold , so I think it's something you should definitely be proud of .

Speaker 2 22:18

I think it's perfect to put it up in there .

Speaker 1 22:19

I think it's okay , and then you've also listed it in license and certifications , which I like in there . Other than that , you've got some good recommendations . Your profile is looking like it's in pretty good shape here , michelle , so I'll I'll just end and say , um , this is a great audit to work on , because you've already got a really great looking profile to start with . My goal is just to give you some , some tips to dial it up a little bit , and I hope you're walking away with a couple of those , those , those uh tips for you .

Speaker 2 22:44

I am . So thank you so much . I did all the heavy lifting on the front end and then did the mini audit , thinking , okay , I'm not going to be able to give her much to give me , but I am walking away with some great tips to just finesse it even more . So thank you so much , brenda .

Speaker 1 23:01

Oh well , it was my pleasure , and thank you again , michelle , for allowing us to spend the time to look through your profile today . All right , and with that said , I want to thank our audience , whether you're watching this on YouTube or listening to this in the podcast later . I actually forgot to mention your profile . So , michelle , are you open to accepting connection requests from people who are listening or viewing this ?

Speaker 2 23:22

I would love to , absolutely . I would love to connect with anybody . Absolutely I would love to connect with anybody , and you can reach me at Michelle at purpleenginecoachingcom , or just visit my website and there's a form there as well .

LinkedIn Profile Audit Checklist Download

Speaker 1 23:38

All right , wonderful . And if you're going on LinkedIn , you can go to linkedincom slash in slash . Michelle B Gilbert it's M-I-C-H-E-L-L-E , the letter B-G-I-L-B-E-R-T , and mentioned that . You heard her on the interview with Brenda Meller and she'll know where you came across us . And , with that said , if you're interested in getting a LinkedIn profile mini audit , go to my website mellermarketingcom slash list where you can download my checklist of 15 LinkedIn profile tips for coaches and consultants . You'll get a couple of emails from me and pay attention to the final email you get in that series because there'll be instructions on booking your call . With that said , thank you all so much for watching and for listening and have a great day .