LinkedIn Profile Mini-Audit Featuring Leah Goldman Ep 130

Are you a solopreneur, business professional, or solopreneur looking to get a bigger slice of the LinkedIn Pie? Watch this LinkedIn profile mini-audit of Leah Goldman https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahgoldman/

TIPS we covered include:
▪️ Creating a company page

▪️ Considering using a professional Headshot Photo to create credibility and trust

▪️ Ensuring your headline contains keywords appealing to your ideal target audience and describing your services

▪️ And more!

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

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My name is Brenda Meller. I'm a LinkedIn coach, consultant, speaker, and author. My company is Meller Marketing and I help business professionals get a bigger slice of the LinkedIn pie.

Visit mellermarketing.com

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intuition Strategist Mini LinkedIn Audit
• 10:37 LinkedIn Profile Optimization Tips

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:41

It's Brenda Meller. Back for another LinkedIn Profile mini audit, and I'm joined today by Leah Goldman. Hey, leah, how are you doing today? I'm great, brenda. How are you Great? I'm delighted to have the chance to chat with you. We know each other from Innovation Women, and today I get to learn a little bit more about you, as well as our listeners and viewers as well. So why don't you first tell us your name? What do you do? So why don't you first tell us your name? What do you do? Who do you help and, as a speaker, what are the topics that you speak?

Speaker 2: 1:10

about Absolutely. Thank you for having me. So my name is Leah Goldman and I am an intuition strategist. I help people access their intuition, trust it to make decisions and then take action to get results that they didn't even think were possible. And I'm doing this, and you may not have ever met an intuition strategist.

Speaker 2: 1:34

I believe I'm one of few, if not the only one, because I created this practice after 20 years leading corporate strategy in corporate America and having a passion for intuition and for tarot card reading. So I've created a tool called Corporate Tarot Cards and I'm now using them to help people access intuition. I also use many other tools that are fitting for the person that I work with, and then I use business strategy and operational strategy tools like OKRs and lessons of being in the corporate world for 20 years, to help leaders act and do and make change in the world that they're in. And I'm speaking on this topic, as you asked, through Innovation. Women and I speak about our actionable intuition, our innate human AI. I speak about confidence and building trust, both for yourself and with team members and other people in your world.

Speaker 1: 2:41

Okay, great. So I was going to ask who is your intended target audience within the corporate world and as you went on with your description, you touched on it corporate leaders and team members as well. Is that fair to say, that's?

Speaker 2: 2:53

right and specifically, I'm really interested in the middle layer of the corporate pyramid. I think that the top leaders, the executives in the organization, get a lot of attention. New joiners and organizations also get a lot of attention, but that middle leadership layers, where there is everything happening at once. We're deep in life, deep in work and finding our way forward. That's really the focus of the work that I'm doing.

Speaker 1: 3:21

Okay, great. So I'm going to pull your LinkedIn profile up on screen and I have to tell our audience in the pre-show I always do a little bit of a prep and I had a different Leah Goldman profile pulled up, so I want to make sure we've got the right one up on screen here and it looks like we do, because I'm seeing a lot of things that are consistent with the description that you've just added. Okay, so, leah, are you looking for feedback on any specific items or would you just like some general feedback today?

Speaker 2: 3:47

I'd like feedback based on the fact that I have exited my corporate world and I believe there's still some remnants of that here. I'd like to highlight my experience and my credentials, but I'd also like to make sure that this pivot is really clear, that I'm now doing. I have my own practice and I'm open for business.

Speaker 1: 4:08

I'm open for business? Okay, awesome. So, related to that, if you're open to business, you've got your own practice. I wanna make sure, first and foremost, that we've got a company page set up for you, and it looks like you do have an LLC, a Leah Goldman LLC. I see it noted at the top of your profile, but there's this gray avatar next to it where I would expect to see a logo instead. And the way that we get your logo to appear here is by setting up a company page. It's free to do so on LinkedIn. Have you set up a company page yet for your business? I have not, so that's what you do. Okay, so that's what to do. And I always ask the question because sometimes we have set up a company page but we haven't linked it to our profile, so that's why the logo is not appearing. I'm going to show you quickly how to access the area to set up a company page, and in the playback video I'll include a blog and video with instructions on how to do so later. So what you'll do, leah, is from your view of LinkedIn. You'll do this in the desktop view, in the top menu bar, where it says home, my network, jobs, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 5:05

Go over to the for business. It looks like a little waffle icon. When you click on that, you're going to scroll all the way down to the bottom and you'll see a link that says create a company page. They've got it buried in the background there, so you need to dig for it. Once you get here, you're going to click on company, and then you're going to simply follow the instructions to set up your business page.

Speaker 1: 5:25

Only focus right now on the fields that are required. If you have a website, you'll put that in there. If not, you can skip that for now. If you have a tagline, you can add that. If not, you can put a high level description, or skip that for now. Most important thing in here, though, is that you're choosing the logo for your company, and I usually recommend that you use the avatar there, because it's a very small version of your logo.

Speaker 1: 5:47

You'll also want to double check that there isn't another business page called Leah Goldman on LinkedIn, because there's some other Leah Goldmans out there. Linkedin will tell you if the page URL is not available, and then, if that's the case, you might want to call it Leah Goldman Intuition, even if it doesn't match the URL or the name of your LLC in there, just to give it some distinction. Once you have that company page set up, then, leah, what you're going to need to do is you're going to need to go to your experience section. In your view, there'll be a gray pencil icon at the top. You'll get into that section and then click on the gray pencil icon next to your company name and you'll just edit the company name field and then it'll appear in the dropdown. You save it. Once you've saved it, then your avatar or company logo would appear next to there and then it's linked to your company page. Okay, does that make sense? I know I went through that quickly, but does that make sense in terms of the process?

Speaker 1: 6:39

Yes it does. Absolutely, thank you. And the great thing is that once that gets done, then at the top of your profile we're not going to see that gray avatar anymore. And that gray avatar is almost like a page not found. It doesn't exist and it makes me think is she just doing this out of her basement? Is this like a new business? Is this like a fully fledged operation? As opposed to when we look at University of Florida, which is your education, at the top of your profile we see that UF logo and it legitimizes that organization on there. So that's one thing to help out, okay.

Speaker 1: 7:08

Next thing that's jumping out at me, and I know you said you're leaving corporate, starting your own business, and you're in this softer space of intuition. So we have some, we can use some creative freedoms and you have a little bit more flexibility than the average stuffy corporate LinkedIn profile. But I'm just wondering if your headshot photo right now it's a colorized, it's almost like a neon version. Your face is looking pink in there. I wonder if it might be better just to use a well-lit headshot photo where there's not the colorized version of it inside there. And I don't want to sway you one way or the other.

Speaker 1: 7:43

I will say, generally speaking, linkedin is a professional networking site. If I ever see somebody that's using like a cartoony avatar instead, I say you need to get rid of that. Even if you're doing cartoon illustrations for your business, people want to see your face when they connect with you. So your version it's a real photo. It's just a colorized version of it and I feel like it's a nod to what you're doing in terms of the more creative work and the creative side of you.

Speaker 1: 8:06

But I'm leaning more towards giving you the recommendation to make it a more traditional looking headshot photo. Now you can wear whatever you want colorful blouses, things like that in there. But I just wonder if that might help you to get more invitations accepted, because when we see things that are different than what we expect, and especially if you're trying to do business with the corporate world, it's like going to a networking event and everybody's wearing corporate attire and you show up in a pink cowboy hat and a feather boa and you're wearing sunglasses and there's some people that are going to come up to you and other people are going to be like whoa, who's this crazy lady Does that?

Speaker 2: 8:43

make sense? It does, I understand. I changed it recently because this is what I'm using for my branding and my website, but what I'm hearing is maybe go back to what I had before, at least for the interim. I can keep this for my website and my branding, but at least for this calling card of LinkedIn having something that might be more familiar.

Speaker 1: 9:05

Yes, I think, and if familiar or like expected within the platform, because the hurdle you're having to, you're going to have to work through is like building trust with people and getting them to accept your invitation. Now, once you've built that trust, they've come into your world. Then you can be Leah in all your glory. And, by the way, I have a pink cowboy hat and I have a pink feather bow and I wear them on stage, but I don't use them for my LinkedIn headshot photo, because I'm trying to create that trusted professional image to bring people in. Now what you could do is you could do a post using that same photo and then you can put that inside your featured section. So that way, if you're using that image, that lightened, colorful photography image of yourself, and you're using it in your featured section, you're using it on your website and your other social media. It helps to start to create some of that brand continuity, but at this point they've already come into your door. Does that make sense? Yes, it does.

Speaker 1: 9:58

Okay, very good, all right, let's see if there's anything else that's jumping out at me from here. So your headline reads actionable intuition democratizing results. Writer, speaker, strategist, tarot reader. I want to say completely political free on LinkedIn, even though I know you're not talking about democracy and Democrats versus Republican. I know you're not referring to that, but my immediate reaction I go there and I think she's a Democrat and whether you're a.

Speaker 1: 10:33

Democrat or Republican, we all have our points of view, or not, on there. But you could be losing some audience members, even if that's not how you intended to use democratizing results. But they see that and they might go. Oh, she's a Democrat, does that make sense?

Speaker 2: 10:49

Yeah, it's interesting nuance for the times that we're in and I understand what you're saying.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Yeah, so I might just do a thesaurus. What's another word that I can use for democratizing results, optimizing results or something else that's inside there? And also I'd love to see something in here that's really saying who do you help and what do you help them with? So you're helping them with actionable intuition. So is it actionable intuition for corporate teams, for example? So I want it to speak to me as your intended target audience. Does that make sense? Yes, it does Okay.

Speaker 1: 11:26

And one thing I always tell people is to keep in mind that your headline follows you around on LinkedIn as you post, as you comment, as you reply back to comments, and to illustrate that you can go to your activity feed, like I've just done here. We see your headshot photo, we see your name and underneath that we see about the first line of your headline. So really be intentional about what appears first in your headline, keeping in mind that the goal is to those first 40 to 60 characters, to try to use something that's going to be interesting and enticing for your ideal target audience, to get them to click to come back to your profile and then, when they come back to your profile, now they're more open and receptive to reading more about you and the programs and the offerings and the services that you have. All right, yes, thank you. And one other thing you mentioned is you said I think you said you have corporate tarot cards. Is that right? That's right. That is really intriguing.

Speaker 2: 12:18

So if I were you, I would probably where it says tarot card reader, say corporate tarot reader, or tarot cards for corporate teams or something that's again speaking to.

Speaker 1: 12:39

It's not just tarot cards where you walk into the little shop off the street, but it's created specifically for organizations on there. I'm just taking notes as you're speaking. So thank you, I know and I want to give you a couple of nuggets and things to walk away with and then we'll wrap up. Let me give you one more thing, and that is your header image that's in the background. I always like to think about. Your header image is like a billboard on the side of a highway. We've got to have one kind of key focus visual element in there that's catching people's attention, and it should all line up with your goals of how you're using LinkedIn, who you're looking to attract to your profile to bring back to learn more about your services. Right now I'm seeing the squiggly lines and Leah Goldman is what my eye is drawn to.

Speaker 1: 13:12

Intuition strategist is small and because the blue tone is similar to the purple tone, it's not hard to read, but it blends in a little bit more. If I were you, I would take Leah Goldman out of your header, because Leah Goldman already appears below your headshot photo, and I would make intuition strategist. Either put that in the yellow letters or possibly in the white letters, but make it the same size as Leah Goldman. Be careful of fonts, because sometimes when we use fonts, I always forget sans serif and serif whatever One is easier to read, or one that's a little lines and things on it.

Speaker 1: 13:46

Think about readability of that. So the good way, the easiest way to check this, leah, is, once you have that header locked in place, look at it on your phone, because from your phone it's going to be smaller, it's going to be a little bit harder to read. Now my eyes are getting older so I'll admit I have a little bit of a harder time reading than when I was younger in my career. But just keep in mind, 50 to 70% of profile views may be occurring from that mobile app. So whatever you have in your headline, you want to make sure that it's easily able to be read both from the desktop and the mobile version. You're using a lot of the space on the purple background with the white squiggly lines. Does that match imagery that you're using on your website or in other places?

Speaker 2: 14:27

That's actually the back of my corporate tarot cards, so this is something that I'm trying to use as branding. It's the topographic map.

Speaker 1: 14:36

Yeah, okay. So right now you've got probably 75% of the background that is using that element and maybe 25%. That's Leah Goldman, intuition strategist. What I might do is make it about 50, 50, and then you can say intuition strategist, maybe in bigger bold letters at the top, underneath that specializing in corporate teams, and I'm just making that up. You might be using a different phrasing or something on there, but then I get what it is that you do and who you work with, and that's a very unique offering. I've never seen anyone do the work that you do, and it's very appealing too because it's a non-traditional way of helping organizations. What do you think about that type of an approach for your header?

Speaker 2: 15:20

I love it. I actually created this the other day and I'm all about experimentations. Yeah, this is new for me, so I'm open to changing it and I think your suggestions, the points about my name already being there is now that I see it, I absolutely agree.

Speaker 1: 15:38

You can't not see it right.

Speaker 1: 15:38

Yeah, it reminds me I can't remember what TV show or movie it was, but it's like the department of redundancy department. We don't need to have it in both places because we already have your name on the door, so we don't need to have your name in front of us again, like in two places. And really the focus here is we want to capture their attention with what's that main focal point in there. So if we remove something that's not essential and we put something else in there instead, I think you might get some better results on there. So, leah, in closing, are you open to accepting connection requests from people, whether they're watching the YouTube video or listening to the podcast later?

Speaker 2: 16:12

Absolutely. I would love to meet your listeners and your viewers and I'm open to connecting and maybe assisting with some intuition strategy.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Awesome. And for those that are listening on the podcast, you can go to linkedincom. Slash in slash, leah Goldman. That's L-E-A-H-G-O-L-D-M-A-N. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'll have her link in the show notes below, and thank you again, leah, for the opportunity to chat with you here today.

Speaker 2: 16:38

You're so welcome, Brenda. Thank you for having me today.

Speaker 1: 16:41

You're welcome and for our listeners and viewers. If you're interested in getting a 15-minute LinkedIn profile mini audit with me, go to mellormarketingcom. Slash the list where you can download my tips 15 tips for coaches and consultants. Pay attention to the emails. The last email you get from me will include instructions on booking this session. With that said, thank you so much for watching and we'll see you all on LinkedIn.