Standard Insurance Company

The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York

Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-StarBuild an effective, compelling LinkedIn profi le to promote your expertise, accomplishments, education and core strengths.

1Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-Star

Your LinkedIn profi le is your online face to the professional world – make it memorable. This guide covers eight basic elements every LinkedIn profi le should include, as well as six advanced tips for increasing your visibility and credibility.

To help illustrate best practices, this guide provides many examples, some taken from actual sales profi les.

Get StartedIf you do not have a LinkedIn profi le:

• Go to www.linkedin.com

• Sign up by entering your name, email and a password in the Join LinkedIn Today box

• Check your email inbox for a confi rmation from LinkedIn

• Follow the steps to activate the account

After signing in to your new or existing account on www.linkedin.com:

• Select Profi le>Edit Profi le from the top menu or click on the large Edit Profi le/Edit button next to your picture in the top overview box

• Take the steps in the following “Brand Yourself” and “Become An All-Star” sections of this guide

Brand YourselfMake sure to include the following eight elements on your LinkedIn profi le.

1. Name: Use your professional name and include relevant designations or certifi cations. If your name has changed, include the original in parentheses.

2. Photo: Choose a current, tasteful and professional photo, free of distracting or inappropriate backgrounds. Your photo should be square, in a JPG, GIF or PNG format and no more than 4MB in size. Select Add a Photo, navigate to where you have stored your photo and upload it.

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3. Headline: This text should capture who you are in a concise, appealing and memorable way. Appearing directly below your name on your profi le, the headline is the fi rst thing someone learns about you from a search, message or connection request. A recommended formula is to include your job title, professional key words, and years of experience in your industry.

Example: Disability Services | Quotes | Consulting | 10 years of focused expertise

4. Public Profi le: The web address for your profi le appears at the bottom of the profi le overview box where your name and photo also appear.

Customize the web address for your LinkedIn profi le:

• Select Profi le>Edit Profi le from the top menu or click on the large Edit Profi le/Edit button next to your picture in the top overview box

• Select the now-visible Edit link to the right of the web address – a new page will appear

• Select Customize Your Public Profi le URL in the Your Public Profi le URL section

• Type in your fi rst and last name in the box

• Select Set Custom URL

5. Summary: Use the fi rst area in the Background section to include your personal elevator pitch: clearly identify your strengths and detail what you have to offer. Keep the summary engaging to encourage people to read the rest of your profi le. Include words that you want people to use when searching for you.

3Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-Star

6. Experience: List salient points about your experience, skills, certifi cations, previous positions and product expertise. Although it might be tempting to cut and paste your resume here, keep it brief as you describe what you do and what your company does. Include only the most relevant information and accompanying dates.

7. Skills and Expertise: This sub-section of the Background section allows you to list specifi c skills and areas of expertise. As connections endorse you, their profi le pictures will appear next to the specifi c skill.

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8. Education: Include both undergraduate and postgraduate schools and fi elds of study as well as any degrees, certifi cates, honors or awards received. Colleges often provide a starting point for connecting with others.

Become An All-StarTo attain LinkedIn all-star status, follow through on six additional steps. To make it easy, LinkedIn features an Improve My Profi le option that may appear in a blue box above your name or as a blue button next to Edit Profi le/Edit. Select the link and follow the steps.

1. Build your connections: Identify people who will add to your credibility and visibility and invite them to connect.

5Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-Star

2. Recommendations: Feedback from colleagues and clients can greatly increase your credibility with connections. After carefully choosing a few connections who can provide brief recommendations related to your professional performance, select Ask To Be Recommended from the drop-down menu next to the Edit Profi le/Edit button in the top overview box, and follow the steps.

3. Join and participate in groups: Pick two to three industry or personal interest groups and take the steps to join. From there, target popular discussions and make thoughtful posts. Thought-provoking questions and well-informed answers contribute to your value as a resource. You can fi nd groups by typing in key words in the Search tool at the top of every LinkedIn page or by selecting Groups from the Interests menu.

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4. Share updates. Stay relevant with your audience by sharing updates that display thought leadership in the disability insurance fi eld. Your update will appear in your connections’ newsfeeds.

• If you discuss The Standard and our products, share our posts and content from The Standard’s corporate LinkedIn profi le

• To share content from The Standard’s LinkedIn profi le:

- Search for “The Standard” from the top of any LinkedIn page

- Click on The Standard (look for our logo)

- Share, like or comment on any of the posts

7Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-Star

5. Add additional information. You can enhance your profi le by listing your honors and awards, publications, organizational affi liations, volunteering and causes, patents, courses, certifi cations and relevant test scores.

• Select Profi le>Edit Profi le from the top menu or click on the large Edit Profi le/Edit button next to your picture in the top overview box

• Click on the items you want to add – a new page will appear

• Click Save

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6. Add links for up to three websites: Include links on your profi le to build awareness for your company and programs.

• Select Profi le>Edit Profi le from the top menu or click on the large Edit Profi le/Edit button next to your picture in the top overview box

• Select Edit Contact Info near the bottom right of the profi le overview section

• Click the Edit icon next to Websites

• Choose the type of website from the dropdown list Note: If you choose Other from the list, you can type in your own website title. Linking to your FaceBook page or Twitter account is not recommended.

• Copy and paste your website address into the URL fi eld

• Click Save

Represent yourself well: build or strengthen your LinkedIn profi le.

9Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-Star

Your LinkedIn Profi le: From Rookie To All-Star IDI Brochure17162 (6/14) SI/SNY

Standard Insurance Company

1100 SW Sixth Avenue

Portland OR 97204

The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York

360 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 210

White Plains NY 10601

The Standard is a marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and subsidiaries. Insurance products are offered by Standard Insurance Company of 1100 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland, Ore., in all states except New York, where insurance products are offered by The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York of 360 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 210, White Plains, N.Y. Product features and availability vary by state and company, and are solely the responsibility of each subsidiary. Each company is solely responsible for its own fi nancial condition. Standard Insurance Company is licensed to solicit insurance business in all states except New York. The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York is licensed to solicit insurance business in only the state of New York.