What a great LinkedIn Profile Looks Like

A great LinkedIn Profile reflects your voice and your personality and builds rapport. It should replicate speaking in person and draw people into your world.

Let me introduce you to @Kate Bell, inventor of the Universal Panel Expander; a windproof and water-resistant soft-shell panel that expands to your favourite coat so you can keep your baby or baby bump snug throughout the winter.

Kate approached me a few weeks back because she recognised, as Barclay’s Entrepreneur of the Year, her LinkedIn Profile will now play a vital role in building her reputation as a business personality and support her drive for new investors.

And she couldn’t be more right!

Working together I gave her profile a complete overhaul, and there were some vital considerations to be made:

• Appearing on Dragon’s Den was a big moment for the company but the edit didn’t go in Kate’s favour. Of course, we wanted to include the video, but we also needed to be upfront about the Dragon’s comments without being negative towards them. See Experience entry for Zip Us In, second to the last paragraph)

A big moment in the company’s story was appearing on Dragon’s Den – a daunting and exhilarating experience that I’ll never forget! One the day, the Dragon’s chose not to invest because of our debt position. But I wasn’t worried as our debt was 90% inventory which we sold, on target, within six months leaving us in a cash positive position.

• Babies have an incredible way of bonding parents, and we wanted to create a warm feel for the profile that welcomed people. We didn’t want to be all about business, so we opened the profile with ‘Hello, I am Kate’. We immediately set context by explaining what the product did

Hello, I am Kate, the inventor of the Universal Panel Expander; a windproof and water-resistant soft-shell panel that expands your favourite coat so you can keep your baby or baby bump snug and warm throughout the winter.

• Kate’s first company was called Fate Promotions, because of how the company came about and her story of creating the Universal Panel Expander also lent itself to Kate’s core belief that everything happens for a reason. As Business Entrepreneur and Mentor, Kate wanted to build rapport with her audience and share her journey. But she couldn’t lead with it, as her story involves having four miscarriages and we couldn’t lead with that. Because Kate isn’t pitching her services like most other business entrepreneurs, we had space to share more of Kate’s journey:

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Getting pregnant wasn’t easy for my husband and me. For years I put off buying a new coat because I kept saying “I’ll have a baby bump this winter and then it won’t fit”. But after four miscarriages, I finally gave in and brought the coat. That winter my pregnancy went full term and Niyah was born!

 

As painful as that journey was, I can’t help but think, if my journey hadn’t been so difficult and I hadn’t put off buying the coat, I wouldn’t have been so attached to wearing my new one – and I wouldn’t have invented the expander panel. I guess that is the beautiful tapestry that life is!

• We developed authority by showing listing the shops the Universal Expander Panel is available in.

Getting into action, I created a prototype and as the saying goes, the rest is history. Our range of products are now sold in Outdoor GB, The Range, Go Outdoors, Amazon and have been featured in press including Dragon’s Den.

• We pitched to investors the potential of the company to grow with other products by sharing a compelling vision/belief system, writing it in such a way that will also engage the average reader. We didn’t want the profile to pitch to only one type of person, as LinkedIn networks are made up of a full variety of people.

Since getting started, Zip Us In has gone on to represent so much more.

Our goal is now to become the leading innovator in multi-function and adaptable clothing – because baby bumps aren’t the only things that expand or change size.

Our bodies are always transforming, and I believe our clothes should adapt with us, not be thrown out or packed away until we can fit back into them.

So, as you might expect, I have many exciting and innovative products in the pipeline designed with the aim of reducing fabric waste, that I can’t wait to share with you.

• We attached the Dragon’s Den recording to the Experience section so people can hear Kate pitch the product and get to know her, and also because it is an incredible authority piece. But we didn’t put it in the Featured Content section because it isn’t the lead or what she wants to be known for.
• We removed various items from her featured content that weren’t visually appealing and re-ordered them so good pieces stood out.
• We changed the banner image to match the website, showing off the logo for brand recognition, and working with an image that did the most to show the panel in action (working with what we had).
• We changed Kate’s profile picture to a professional one that absolutely shows her to be a credible business owner and the type of person you want to feature as a Keynote Speaker at an event or exhibition.
• We changed her headline to feature the product in the first 60 characters (the amount usually visible when a person comments on a post or as they appear in suggested connections). We included a leading award that pitches the direction she wanted to go in (excluding the Barclay’s Entrepreneur of the Year one).

Founder of Zip Us In | Inventor of the Universal Panel Expander | Innovator of the Year for Multi-Functional & Adaptable Clothing

• We wrote her experience entries in a way that told her story and drew people in. For investors, they will see that Kate is innovative, entrepreneurial, thinks outside the box, gets things done and has the grit it takes to succeed. For mentees, they will get inspiration and realise what is possible even if you are made a single mum at 21!
• Her story is appealing and relatable for her audience so we made sure we showed it on her profile.

Her feedback:

I couldn’t be happy with the quality of work. Naomi was an absolute pleasure to connect with and really took the time to understand me, my business and my goals. The content provided is superb and will be used across a number of channels; great value for money! I would highly recommend Naomi and hope to work with her again in the future.

View Full Profile Here

There is so much more to a profile than simply filling in the available space. It truly is about finding the value in your story, your reason for what you do, and carefully pitching it to grab the attention of our LinkedIn network – which, when it comes to getting people’s attention, is the equivalent of the London Underground (pre-Covid).

You have seconds to capture someone’s attention and seconds to make an impression.

If you would like to speak to me about your LinkedIn Profile, I invite you to book a LinkedIn Profile and Strategy Session please click here.

Kate accepted the first draft of her profile I provided with only one minor tweak required following a 90-minute interview. I pride myself on writing accurate profiles that pitch your solution directly to your prospects and a wider audience.

If you cannot perform either of these options because you are not the admin and cannot reach the existing admin, create a support ticket with LinkedIn.