That LinkedIn’s a Bit of Alright…

Gareth Hancock
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

I’ve realised something over the past two or three weeks… LinkedIn is awesome.

I mean, I’ll always be a Twitter guy, but LinkedIn is up there. I’m loving it.

I’m not new to LinkedIn, I’ve had a profile on there for years, but only since launching That. Content. Shed. have I gotten serious with it.

By serious I don’t mean all corporate and shit. God no. I’m talking hanging out there more often — posting, networking and optimising my profile.

That last one is a biggie. I think that’s the thing that’s brought me the most success. Since tweaking my profile, views have increased by over 800%, connections have skyrocketed (I’m getting two to three invitations a day) and I’ve landed one, possibly two clients.

Not bad short term gains, ey?

Before upping my LinkedIn game, I was Gareth Hancock, Freelance Writer.

Lame.

And before that I was Gareth Hancock, Senior Copywriter for Generic Digital Marketing Agency. That was kind of bullshit, because I was the only copywriter. I made myself senior, just because I could.

Anyway, now I’m Gareth Hancock, Copywriter | Marketing Blogger | Content and Social Media Strategist at That. Content. Shed.

Much better.

I’ve keyworded the hell out of my job title, cramming all my services in there.

I edited the blurb too, to make it more concise.

And in my newly updated position — which received a fair few ‘congrats on the new job’ template messages from caring connections — I’ve kept it to a brief, kind of sales pitch…

I’ve also made an effort to like or comment on posts at least once a day (usually when I’m scrolling through my phone on a morning) and post an update of my own two or three times a week.

Last week that included writing a short post on the LinkedIn Pulse platform, which didn’t do much in terms of numbers but was useful for getting my name noticed. Or, it will be if I do more niche-focused content more often.

That’s because when you publish a post, LinkedIn notifies all of your connections.

Shit, I’ve making this all about me.

What I’m trying to get at is that you should get on LinkedIn and optimise your profile.

Look at how influencers in your niche describe themselves and put your own spin on it. Get keyword heavy too.

I read the other day that 93% of hiring managers search LinkedIn for recruits. NINETY THREE PERCENT. That’s almost every damn hiring manager there is.

With the right keywords in your job title, blurb and job description, they’ll find you like they’ve started finding me.

Cheers!

Oh, one little extra tip before you get on with the rest of your day: get yourself a LinkedIn vanity URL.

By default, LinkedIn URLs are ugly as hell; all full of random numbers and letters. Click on your image in the top menu and select ‘View profile’. From there click on ‘Edit public profile’ and on the next page, ‘Edit public profile URL’. Then it to something pretty like this:

www.linkedin.com/in/gjhancock

Obviously using your name and not mine. You can’t use mine because I have it. You can connect with me by using that very link, though.

Right, that’s it. I’m going.

Bye!

For more little insights like this, all up in your inbox, sign-up to the That. Content. Shed. I’d love it if you did: https://www.thatcontentshed.com/newsletter/

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