3 Tips for Developing Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

By: Bailey Gerber & Jake Hreha

LinkedIn is the top virtual tool for building professional relationships and establishing your reputation. On your LinkedIn profile, you can engage with past and present colleagues, announce an exciting company update, and even share a recent promotion.

How to Begin Personal Branding on LinkedIn

With every move you make on LinkedIn, it’s important to consider not just how well you’re representing your workplace, but also how you’re representing yourself and your career. Are you connecting with the right people? Are you posting meaningful content? Your actions will communicate your personal brand – and it’s important to choose them wisely.

Whether you are writing LinkedIn articles or joining LinkedIn groups there are specific steps you can take to be successful on this unique social media platform. While your LinkedIn network is important, the content you share with that network is just as valuable. This is how LinkedIn users, potential clients, and your professional network interpret who you are and the work you do. It's important to have a strong professional reputation in all your jobs and a strong online reputation on your LinkedIn profile.

Whether you’re trying to impress recruiters as you pursue new opportunities or simply expressing your enthusiasm for your company, you can take these three steps to ensure successful personal brand development:

Write an Effective Summary

The “About” section of your profile, located below your headshot and above your recent activity, gives you 2,600 characters to write an overview of your experience, strengths, and abilities. But here’s an insider tip: On social media, less is more.

Only the first three lines of your summary are visible to everyone. Beyond that, people who view your profile must click “see more” to read the entire summary. You shouldn’t have to use all 2,600 characters to sell yourself to your audience. Instead, your summary is like a digital elevator pitch – and you should try to keep it around three sentences. The more creative and memorable your summary is, the more likely it is that you’ll stand out in viewers’ minds. For some tips on coming up with a brilliant summary, check out this article.

Sell Your Experience

Don’t settle for just listing the places you’ve worked. Instead, think of your responsibilities in each workplace. What did you manage? What did you accomplish? What are you proud of? You have space to summarize your experience – so take advantage of it.

Remember, less is more. People don’t want to read multiple paragraphs, but they do want to know your strengths. Underneath each workplace on your profile, create a bulleted list of responsibilities and accomplishments. Try to distill each item down to 10 words or less so everything is easy to digest.

Engage with Your Colleagues

Perhaps the most important aspect of building your personal brand is connecting with others – and that doesn’t mean just clicking the “connect” button. Consider what your connections are posting. Are they asking for input, advice, or something else? Take every opportunity to jump in and engage with people.

One of the best ways to stand out and build a network is through interacting with other people's posts. Most LinkedIn users are not active every day so being active in your LinkedIn feed gives you the opportunity to make connections. Consider how you can interact with relevant content and LinkedIn events that relate to your career goals.

Even though LinkedIn is a professional platform, the users are still human. Share your failures and lessons with colleagues, and don’t be afraid to show some vulnerability. By consistently conversing with others, you’ll establish yourself as empathetic and invested – which will go a long way in developing your personal brand with people in your field.

As you gain experience and insight in your career, staying active on LinkedIn is the best way to further relationships and set yourself up for long-term success. If you’re ready to build up your profile even more, consider getting a degree that will set you apart and jump-start a successful career.

Bailey Gerber

Content Creator, IWU National and Global

Bailey Gerber is a vocabulary geek and grammar enthusiast at IWU – National and Global, so she spends most of her time reviewing webpages, video scripts, flyers, and – of course – blog articles. She loves all things involving words, and in her spare time you’ll find her buried in a book (probably with a cup of coffee in hand).

Jake Hreha

SEO Copywriter, IWU

Jake Hreha is a graduate of Ball State University, where he majored in advertising with a concentration in media presentation and design. He is passionate about design, and in his free time he enjoys cycling, traveling, and reading.