Let me get straight to the point as I usually do:
In today’s post, I’m going to give you some LinkedIn Expert Training on how to UP the visibility and credibility of your LinkedIn Profile.
In more detail, today I’m going to show you how to enhance your LinkedIn profile with video!
Why use video in our LinkedIn profiles?
Why do you fly thousands of miles for a sales meeting or presentation?
We now have the technology to send the data within seconds. And you can save the airfare and hours of travel.
Here’s why:
1. The “human connection” is still vital to our business transactions.
2. A picture (or video) is worth a thousand words. And now that I mentioned picture, I remembered something: make sure you Rock your LinkedIn Profile Picture!
3. You get so much priceless information about a person from seeing them walk, talk, move, present, sell.
How do you use it?
Now, what if you could transmit that “human factor” about yourself without having to fly across continents?
One important way to do this is to present a video of yourself, as an integral part of your LinkedIn Profile. This is your living, breathing, talking expression of yourself.
It’s a powerful way to establish yourself as a brand, to stand out from the pack, to distinguish yourself as an important player in your field. This is your “human factor”, up close and personal.
Hire a professional to make the best of your videos
The fact that you’ve taken the time and invested the money in making a polished, professional video sets you apart. This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.
If you do add a video to your LinkedIn profile, make sure it puts your best foot forward and shows you at your most professional.
To accomplish that, it’s best to hire a videographer, someone who knows what he/she is doing, so we don’t have strange camera angles, lower quality sounds (good) or jumpy shots.
I know technology has evolved very much, but I believe that a professional videographer can help elevate our videos to another level. A level that would be very difficult to reach on our own. After
After all, I am a firmly believe in the saying:
“jack of all trades is master of none”
Everybody has his/her own field of expertise, and we cannot be experts at everything.
This is why we need to leave some things for the experts to handle. Especially if we are looking for above average outcomes.
Give a professional impression
No one wants to see you in your sweats and a t-shirt, in your basement office, with your dogs or kids running in and out. While that might be charming for another kind of video, it doesn’t work for establishing yourself as an expert (or “the” expert) in your field!
Evolve or die
Make sure the video is current; that means nothing older than 3-4 years (its age will show, I guarantee you – the clothes or other background items will give it away).
One way you can recycle old videos is to have them made into audios, so here’s your solution to this.
What is great about a video and how it adds to your personal branding is that it gives you something to mention on other social media.
Ideally, it should be current and can be accompanied by a post on your website, LinkedIn Publisher, or elsewhere, in order to complement your words or story.
Imagine how much more credibility and authority you will project by, instead of just talking about a successful presentation you just made, you also show a 5-minute video of you doing it.
This is exponentially more impactful and most certainly enhances something of crucial importance, your Social Media Image.
Video links you can use
As of this writing, LinkedIn doesn’t currently support “native” video uploads, meaning you have to:
First, upload your video to a third party site like Vimeo or YouTube and then use it on your LinkedIn Profile in the form of a video link. The types of video links you can use are:
- – YouTube Video Link.
- – Vimeo Video Link.
- – Upstream Video Link.
- – Brightcove Video Link.
- – Facebook Video Link.
- – Embed Video by adding the SlideShare application or Google Presentation App to your profile and using a YouTube video as the first slide of the presentation.
What kind of videos should you create?
You’re probably wondering what types of videos you can use in your LinkedIn Profile. Well, let me give you some examples:
- Video testimonials from happy customers.
- Product demos.
- How-to videos.
- Company news and updates.
- Videos of you giving a speech, industry talk or presentation.
- Company intro videos, about us & company explainer videos.
- Marketing videos.
- Book trailers.
- A benefits-driven elevator speech.
- Advice or information or tips videos that would be valuable to your target audience.
- Behind the scenes & team related videos.
- Other content related to your field that would be helpful to LinkedIn users in their professional careers.kkjsjsjs
In which sections of your LinkedIn Profile can you include video?
Currently, there are 3 sections in our LinkedIn Profiles that we can include video. These are:
- The Summary Section
- The Experience Section
- The Education Section
How to add a video to these sections of your LinkedIn Profile?
It is very simple and straightforward. All you have to do is click the pencil icon next to your Summary Section, A job role in your Experience Section or your Education Section and go to the Media section.
Select “Link to Media”. Then in the text box that appears, paste the link to the video and click Add to add it to your profile.
Make sure to include a call to action for your LinkedIn Profile visitors, enticing them to watch the video.
In conclusion
Adding a high-quality video to your profile can be the most powerful aspect of your LinkedIn Profile. As a LinkedIn expert, it’s one of the most important things I recommend to my clients.
The successful ones, the long-term vision ones, the ambitious ones, see this immediately!
Of course, the video has to be relevant to your clients, your industry, your prospects, not just a “brag”. It also needs to be aligned with your professional goals!
So make sure it has significant content, as well as high-production value. You want people to watch it with interest through the end, once they’ve clicked on “play”. This is more important than
This is more important than ever when you consider that LinkedIn has approximately 500 million members and is growing by leaps and bounds every day.
Here’s the deal:
In the crowded social media atmosphere, it is becoming more and more difficult for any person, no matter how accomplished, to stand out.
Adding video is a powerful way to establish yourself as an authority, and a person (employer, collaborator or potential client) viewing your video, if it’s well done, gets to feel like he/she knows you already.
And remember: people do business with those they know, like and trust! How great is that?!! So what are you waiting for?
Support your LinkedIn Expert Status by including video to your LinkedIn Profile!
If the goal of LinkedIn is to get people to know, like and trust you, (and of course, ultimately hire you, collaborate with you or refer you to others) a well-produced video is one important rung on your ladder to Success! The ladder to becoming a LinkedIn All-Star!
What are your thoughts? Are you currently showcasing videos on your LinkedIn Profile? Can you think of any other ways to use video on your LinkedIn Profile? I would love to hear about it in the comments section below!!
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