I see hundreds of LinkedIn profiles every day, some good, most horrible.

What makes a good LinkedIn profile?

I consider a LinkedIn profile good when it catches my attention and stands out from the thousands of other professionals who do what you do in a professional way.

Catching my attention doesn't mean using a seductive profile picture or adding lots of symbols throughout your profile.

Adding your skills to your last name field to fool the LinkedIn algorithm doesn't count.

USING ALL CAPS IN YOUR PROFILE CATCHES MY ATTENTION BUT LOWERS MY OPINION OF YOU INSTANTLY.

Creating a loud background banner full of self-promotion catches my eye but makes me think you're desperate for business or you're more focused on yourself than your clients.

You shouldn't have to trick people into viewing your LinkedIn profile.

Does Nordstrom, Hermes, Mercedes or BMW use tricks to grab your attention?

My father used to own a restaurant and he hated seeing restaurants with flashing OPEN signs. “If you serve good food and provide good service, people will know when you're open.”

Have ever eaten in a restaurant with a flashing OPEN sign or the ugly roadside message board?

The food and service usually suck!

According to Amy Cuddy, author of the New York Times Best Seller, Presence, people subconsciously determine if they trust you within two seconds of meeting you (or viewing your LinkedIn profile).

Let me repeat that.

They subconsciously determine if they trust you so they do not get to choose if they trust you.

What makes people trust you?

According to Cuddy, there are three factors that make people subconsciously trust you.

  1. Confidence
  2. Enthusiasm
  3. Passion

Does confidence come to mind when you look at this picture of George Clooney?

Confidence

Who is more enthusiastic than Ellen DeGeneres?

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Who is more passionate than Steve Jobs?

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Remove the blatant self-promotion from your LinkedIn profile. Remove the boring buzzwords like self-motivated, team player, results driven, goal oriented, proactive, and strategic thinker.

No one cares about you.

Make your LinkedIn profile all about your potential clients.

Let them know who you help and how you help them. Tell them why you do what you do and how you got started in your business or career.

Let them know you are confident, enthusiastic and passionate about what you do and project a professional image that would make Nordstrom proud.

Ted Prodromou is a social selling expert and the best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business Third Edition and Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business.

Get your copies at https://tedprodromou.com/books/

About the author 

Ted Prodromou

Would you like me to help you?

I'm the #1 best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business and Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business. People call me America's Leading LinkedIn Coach.

I'm the founder of Search Marketing Simplified, LLC, a full service online marketing agency. The SMS team designs and implements advanced LinkedIn and social media lead-generation strategies for small to medium-sized businesses. SMS will set up and manage your marketing funnels using organic, social and paid traffic.

Did you know I've been working with the internet since 1991, long before Al Gore invented it?

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