Enterprising Women Fall 2021 Edition

MARKETING by Leslie Atkins A s an entrepreneur, you’re probably inclined to put everything on your LinkedIn page. After all, you spent many years accumulating your credentials and you’re proud of yourself for accomplishing so much. And you should be proud. But it’s vital to understand that the people who look you up on LinkedIn don’t care about all the details. They care about themselves and their needs—that’s just human nature. Focusing on Others On LinkedIn, you want to entice clients and others with a story—your story—with personality and perhaps a cause that appeals to them. Include only the best bits and pieces of your credentials. Don’t inundate your profile with everything you’ve done and accomplished. Instead keep it short, sweet, and relatable. Others will do business with you when they like you. And no one likes a braggart, even if you are impressive. They want to be impressed, but only when your achievements help them be impressive themselves. Your All-Important Title LinkedIn is a social medium. It’s also a search engine. One of the most important tricks to maximizing the number of clicks on your page is to give yourself a searchable title. It doesn’t matter that you’re the owner, CEO, or president. For LinkedIn, it’s vital you incorporate what you do in the title you use. Software engineer, singer-songwriter, cyber security analyst, talent scout, investment advisor—for LinkedIn, titles like these are better than CEO. While it may seem counterintuitive and won’t stroke your ego the same way, try it and you’ll see your search numbers increase. Networking Online Cast a positive shadow and you cast a wide net. After all, that’s what social media is all about. Dale Carnegie famously said, “Personally I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted…. “Why not use the same common sense when fishing for people?” LESLIE ATKINS is an award-winning author and chief storyteller for LA Communications, LLC, a ghostwriting and editing firm in the Washington, DC area specializing in crafting bios, books, speeches, articles, and websites. Leslie is also a tennis fan, art lover, and avid reader of mysteries and thrillers. A member of the Enterprising Women Advisory Board and a past Enterprising Women of the Year Award winner, Leslie can be reached at 202-223-1865, LAtkinsCom@aol.com, and through corporatestorytellers.com . Standing Out On LinkedIn Ellerslie / rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com enterprising Women 87