How to Create a Powerful LinkedIn Bio:Attract Opportunities and Build Your BrandTHE LET’S TALK TECH SHOW INTERVIEW WITH KIRSTEN VERNON: AIRED 4/19/16

Takeaways from Kirsten’s Show NotesYour bio is the cornerstone of your online ID. Every social media site has a place to put some version of your bio, and getting this right can lead to so much business. LinkedIn is the number one networking site for business.

The first step in getting business through LinkedIn is to make sure your profile sells your brand:1. Take a step back and consider what your brand is and what you want it to be. This involves

a process of self-evaluation to identify your differentiators, as well as an audit of how you are known to others today.

2. Discover concise and compelling language to express your unique value in a way that will be easily understood by your target audience.

3. Stamp your brand communications/ID on every part of your LinkedIn profile—your headline, headshot, summary, experience, skills, recommendations, interests, education, the updates and posts you publish, the proof of performance content you add, the groups in which you participate, the people with whom you connect, the companies and influencers you follow, the banner you can add to the top of your page, your call to action for how people should engage with you.

Branding Your Bio• Incorporate the intangibles of who you are in a way that creates an emotional connection with

your audience. • Tell the story of how you found your niche, why you are called to serve the people you serve,

or how you were inspired to develop a particular solution to a problem. • Take a stand and convey your beliefs. • Include your true passions and creatively connect them to your work.• Make sure it doesn’t read like a resume—stay away from chronology.• Write it so it can be read aloud if you were introduced from it.

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A branded bio™ that is written to genuinely reflect who you are accomplishes two things:1. Attracts the right people to work with you2. Positions you for the future you wish to have

Avoid these bio mistakes:• Being “me too” instead of memorable. Your bio should not read like your competitors.• Writing laundry lists of credentials and skills. These can be elsewhere in your profile.• Not including your emotional attributes—the qualities people love about you and the

experiences you consistently create that keep people coming back.

Use your bio to build virtual rapport before people meet you in person by being genuinely YOU:• Write your bio in your authentic voice—the way you speak.• Have the guts to put relevant information in your bio that may not appeal to everyone, but will

attract those who are just right for you.• Consider sharing a philosophy or operating principle that underpins and connects everything

you do. Many respect those who have heightened self-awareness and the courage of their convictions.

• Have a branded professional headshot that fits with your bio and is similar to what you look like now.

Branded Bio™ Writing Steps1. Get clear on your brand.2. Distill the elements of your brand down in to one sentence that can be turned into the first

sentence of your bio.3. Plan your paragraphs (see Anatomy of an Effective Branded Bio on page 3), and use

subheads (with juicy, unexpected language or very short quotes from you or people who know you) to make your reader want to dive into each paragraph to learn more.

4. Bullet point the content that should fall into each paragraph and flow it together. Just get something down because editing is a lot easier than creating it in the first place.

5. Step away from your first draft for at least 24 hours before coming back to edit. It’s a process.

6. Step away again, and look at it through the lens of your target audience.

How to Get to a 2000-character LinkedIn Bio1. Write a one-page, third-person bio (typically about 3/4 of a page) because it’s easier to tell

the whole story and then edit it down.2. Paste this into charcounter.com

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3. Change the third-person to first person. Changing all the instances of your name to “I” eliminates quite a few characters. This will also be cohesive with the Experience section of LinkedIn that is written like your resume and is in the first person (without writing I). It also helps to connect in a more casual style.

4. Remove some of the details around career achievements if they are also in the Experience section that appears right below the LinkedIn Summary.

5. Try to communicate what’s left in fewer words. Having to do this will make you see a better way to write something that you can change in the full version of your bio too.

The Anatomy of an Effective Branded Bio™

OPENING PARAGRAPHSummarize your unique selling proposition—WHO benefits from what you UNIQUELY offer and WHY? The first sentence is the most important and should be able to stand alone.

MIDDLE PARAGRAPHSWrite the body of your bio to support your opening summary. Use subheads to give paragraphs a focus and tell a mini story within one of them. Or, make your entire bio tell a story. Explain the HOW AND THE WHAT.

CLOSING PARAGRAPHWrite a CALL TO ACTION that tells your readers how they should connect with you and that also qualifies them.

Next Steps

Do you feel confident when someone views your LinkedIn profile? Is your bio helping you connect with the right people and opportunities?

If you are ready to invest in branding your bio, email me at kirsten@brandedbio.com to schedule a complimentary discovery session.

Mention The Let’s Talk Tech Show, or Winnie Anderson, and get $100 off your project when you contract for it in the month of April 2016. Learn more about my Branded Bio Writing Services

Kirsten Vernon (formerly Dixson) is the personal brand biographer for enterprising leaders who are ready to get clear on their brand messaging to get the work that makes them happiest. One of personal branding’s pioneers, Kirsten is the co-author of the seminal book on personal branding, Career Distinction (Wiley) and is on the list of the world’s top 30 global brand gurus. Her clients view her as their insightful interpreter—synthesizing their vision and value and giving them the words they don’t yet have.

©Copyright 2016 Kirsten Vernonwww.brandedbio.com �3