If you followed the advice we shared over here about how to craft a killer LinkedIn profile for advisory client attraction, chances are you’ve got a great profile already working to bring clients in.
But here at Advisorist we’re not about “good enough” or “okay”.
In the spirit of constant improvement, here are some subtle, easy tweaks that can further optimize your profile by refining your messaging and cashing in on some key psychological hacks we’re all susceptible to.
1. Choose the right punctuation
Back when we critiqued a stellar profile from one of our Advisorist members, there wasn’t much that needed to be done in the way of writing or expanding.
But one thing we did recommend was to remove the exclamation points from his professional headline.
Why?
It’s a bit of a hype trick, is sorely over-used, and makes you sound a little less professional in the context of your service.
By removing them, you actually gain little extra impact by adding some more solidity and confidence to your message, and removing a little desperation.
It’s that much more refined and powerful.
This:
“I Help CPA’s and EA’s Increase Revenues and Profits! Maximize Your Wealth By Working Less!”
Becomes this:
“I Help CPA’s and EA’s Increase Revenues and Profits. Maximize Your Wealth By Working Less.
Notice that it’s lost some of the hype-y sales aspect and feels more solid and reliable.
2. Be Specific, Simple, Succinct With Your Headline
When writing your professional headline, the fewer, more powerful words you can use, the better.
This isn’t to say you need to use words from one specific list, but that your words need to cut to the heart of your ideal client’s problems by matching how they would talk to themselves and others about their goals and desires.
This is a powerful psychological trick called “mirroring” that you should be aiming to use in all your marketing efforts.
For the example profile we critiqued we would transform the headline from this:
“I Help CPA’s and EA’s Increase Revenues and Profits! Maximize Your Wealth By Working Less!”
To this:
“I Help CPA’s and EA’s Increase Revenues and Profits, Guaranteed and Absolutely Free.”
If you’ve got a guarantee or an insane offer (like doing something for free), you want to find a way to include that in your headline because it will separate you from the crowd.
In this case, our example profile owner gets paid on the backend through strategic partnerships, so the upfront work is at no charge – which is a key selling point and unique selling position he can capitalize on.
The reader may not know this yet, but the idea that he’ll work for free is intriguing and he’s going to get the click to “Show more”.
If you want to maintain the family and time focused emotional quality to ensure you aren’t attracting freebie seekers, you could try:
“I Help CPA’s and EA’s Increase Revenues and Profits to Maximize Your Wealth Without Losing Time With Your Family.”
That’s going to attract a different sort of client, and separate you from the crowd in a different way.
[Related Reading: How To Make More Positive Associations With Prospects]
3. Avoid Overused and Weak Words When Describing Your Ideal Client or Services
Words lose their power and their appeal when they are overused.
That happens a lot in our industry.
Try to avoid ambiguous words that are common like “quality”.
“Quality” is just an expectation now. It’s not going to set you apart from the crowd.
Instead try words that carry more oomph and are more specific and buzz-worthy in smaller, more focused circles where they haven’t been overused.
In this case, our example profile qualifies his ideal client by writing:
“I help quality CPA’s and EA’s deliver advance tax and wealth planning solutions to their highly successful business owners and individuals. Which means…”
Instead of “quality”, try something like “elite” CPA’s and EA’s and “insider” tax and wealth planning solutions.
4. Clarify Your Service Area
This is a small tweak, but it helps to include clearly if you work locally, nationally, or globally within your summary and even within your summary preview.
That way, any readers will know whether or not they qualify for your services based on their location in the world.
If you don’t include “nationally” in your service description, you may lose people who believe you only work within a specific city or state. Likewise, if you work with clients all over the world, be sure to mention that.
It gives peace of mind to your audience and adds extra authority.
5. Use Bullet Points to Grab Attention
If you want to ensure a reader doesn’t miss the benefits or features of your service, put them in bullet point format.
This draws the eye and gets your prospects to pay more attention to this critical aspect of your summary, where they can identify if you’re offering something they want quickly and easily.
Especially if you’re including a lot of information, this tactic ensures the value of your services isn’t overlooked by a tech-induced lazy or distracted mind.
6. Use Numbers, Percentage Signs, and Dollar Signs
Just like the bullet points, these grab our attention when included in a wall or page of text and help direct your prospect to important information (see the image above).
It also helps them read the information faster and more easily, which is a win in the digital age of distraction and short attention spans.
Especially when describing past projects and their results, utilize numbers and percentage points to grab their attention and focus them in on the potential wins they could achieve with your services.
7. Make Contacting You Easy
If you can and you’re comfortable with it, include your cell phone and let prospects call or text you, because that will increase trust and peace of mind for your audience.
If you’re not, include a link that takes them to a simple scheduling page where they can choose a time that works for them without the exhausting back and forth.
The harder it is to connect with you, the less likely your prospect is to reach out.
As with the rest of your profile, simplify this process as much as you can.
[Related Reading: Lead Generation For Financial Advisors Via Photo Hacking]
The 7 Easy Tweaks for Elite LinkedIn Profile Optimization
- Choose the right punctuation – avoid hype-y exclamation marks and communicate confidence.
- Be specific, simple, and succinct with your professional headline, to get the most impact and attention.
- Avoid overused and weak words when describing your ideal client or services.
- Clarify your geographical service area. If you work nationally or globally, be sure to point that out to ensure someone doesn’t mistakenly believe they must be local to benefit from your services.
- Use bullet points to grab your prospect’s attention and point them to the benefits of your services.
- Use numbers, percentages, and dollar signs to draw the prospect’s eyes to the results of projects you completed for previous, happy clients to ensure they don’t miss your social proof and demonstration of expertise.
- Simplify the connecting process for prospects who want to talk. If possible, include your cell-phone for ease of connecting, and if not, set up a simple scheduling tool your prospects can use to self-schedule a time for discovery.
Now get out there and start converting even more dream clients!
You’ve got this.
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