What makes a killer LinkedIn profile?
Jon Clayton:I'm joined by Maya Kovacic kra, a former architect turned marketing
Jon Clayton:coach to teach you how to.
Jon Clayton:Optimize your LinkedIn profile so that you can attract more of the clients you
Jon Clayton:deserve and land the projects you love.
Jon Clayton:In this episode of Architecture Business Club, the weekly podcast for
Jon Clayton:small firm founders who want to build their dream business in architecture
Jon Clayton:and enjoy more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment in what they do.
Jon Clayton:I'm John Clayton, your host.
Jon Clayton:Having spent over 20 years working in architecture, I know how hard it can
Jon Clayton:be to explain your services so people truly understand and value what you do.
Jon Clayton:Many firms struggle with this, but by sharing your stories on podcasts,
Jon Clayton:you can become the trusted voice in your market, grow your brand,
Jon Clayton:and attract much better clients.
Jon Clayton:We can help you with everything from podcast strategy and launch
Jon Clayton:production and management, podcast hosting and guesting through to
Jon Clayton:promoting and growing your show.
Jon Clayton:If you'd like to discover how podcasting could benefit your business, click the
Jon Clayton:link in the show notes to book a no obligation chat about working with me.
Jon Clayton:If you're interested in being a guest on this show, emo John, that's
Jon Clayton:JO n@architecturebusinessclub.com.
Jon Clayton:Now let's learn more about LinkedIn profile optimization.
Jon Clayton:Maya Kovacic-Kalra is a former architect turned marketing coach
Jon Clayton:who spent over a decade in practice.
Jon Clayton:Maya knows the pain of doing great work and still feeling invisible,
Jon Clayton:relying on word of mouth taking on.
Jon Clayton:Underpaid uninspiring projects working with difficult clients, but she's
Jon Clayton:also seen the difference when you're working on projects, you actually
Jon Clayton:enjoy getting paid properly and not burning yourself out in the process.
Jon Clayton:Her mission is to help you get more of the right work with clients who
Jon Clayton:respect and value you so you can work on projects you love and earn the money
Jon Clayton:you deserve without working crazy hours.
Jon Clayton:To grab Maya's free PDF guide, your next step to a stronger LinkedIn profile,
Jon Clayton:just click the link in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:Maya, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Thank you very much.
Jon Clayton:Pleasure to be here.
Jon Clayton:Oh, it is great to have you here.
Jon Clayton:It's great to have you here.
Jon Clayton:Before we get stuck into our topic, Maya, I was wondering about what do
Jon Clayton:you, what do you enjoy doing in your free time when you're not at work?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: So, um, my free time now goes.
Jon Clayton:Mainly to our puppy who we got seven months ago.
Jon Clayton:She's now nine months, and since we got her as with a new puppy, you
Jon Clayton:need to go to lots of walks and what I discovered is like new spaces in
Jon Clayton:London, which I have never been before.
Jon Clayton:I walk around like parks in London, which I enjoy, and
Jon Clayton:trying to get to know new parts.
Jon Clayton:That's what I do most in my free time.
Jon Clayton:The other parties, I'm a taxi driver for my kids because, you know, they, they
Jon Clayton:have to go everywhere and I drive them.
Jon Clayton:Mostly me, sometimes my husband.
Jon Clayton:And of course, socializing, meeting my friends.
Jon Clayton:And I love reading books.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, it sounds like you're quite busy for, for a second there.
Jon Clayton:When you mentioned about taxing, I thought you were actually gonna say
Jon Clayton:that you're moonlighting as a taxi
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: I, I don,
Jon Clayton:thinking this, this is a whole other side to
Jon Clayton:Maya that I don't know about.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: I work for free.
Jon Clayton:I'm a free taxi driver.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, me too.
Jon Clayton:Me too.
Jon Clayton:And yeah, the, the whole thing about, um.
Jon Clayton:Having a dog.
Jon Clayton:Uh, we have a dog too.
Jon Clayton:We have a rescue dog.
Jon Clayton:And, uh, yeah, such a fantastic way to get out and to discover some new places that
Jon Clayton:you perhaps didn't know existed before.
Jon Clayton:So yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:So, my, it, we are going to talk about.
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn, specifically LinkedIn profile optimization so that and other
Jon Clayton:professionals that might be listening to the show today can get more clients
Jon Clayton:and opportunities from LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:So to begin, could you please give us a quick rundown of what
Jon Clayton:makes up a LinkedIn profile?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yes.
Jon Clayton:So before I say that, I would just say that LinkedIn profile is one of the
Jon Clayton:parts that you should have done well.
Jon Clayton:Plus other parts, just like posting and commenting.
Jon Clayton:It's not just LinkedIn profile, it's gonna get you new clients.
Jon Clayton:Um, it's like LinkedIn works like an ecosystem and you have to, you know,
Jon Clayton:do all the parts to get good results.
Jon Clayton:But LinkedIn profile, I would call it, it's like a foundation where
Jon Clayton:pe, which works for you 24 7.
Jon Clayton:And if it's a strong one, it's there.
Jon Clayton:You know, it's there.
Jon Clayton:And then you can do the posting, you can do commenting and you
Jon Clayton:can do DMing, but you know your profile's gonna work for your heart.
Jon Clayton:The main part that you should really look at, uh, your headline.
Jon Clayton:Your banner, which is the biggest image, um, on de linking profile.
Jon Clayton:Your profile picture.
Jon Clayton:Then under your name and headline is your blue link.
Jon Clayton:Then if you move down about section.
Jon Clayton:Featured section, which many people probably don't use or don't know about it.
Jon Clayton:Experience section, services section, and recommendations.
Jon Clayton:So these are the main parts I would say you need to really focus on when you are
Jon Clayton:looking through your LinkedIn profile.
Jon Clayton:Okay, so the LinkedIn profile is very important.
Jon Clayton:It's something that can work 24 hours a day for us.
Jon Clayton:But there are other things that we, we need to consider as well.
Jon Clayton:You said that LinkedIn's like a whole ecosystem there of different
Jon Clayton:elements that we should be using.
Jon Clayton:Um, the interest of respecting our listeners time though, we, we decided
Jon Clayton:today that we would focus on the profile
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:if you wanted to do a deep dive in everything,
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn, like we, we could do a whole series on that, couldn't we?
Jon Clayton:Mya all about LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:So, um, maybe that's an opportunity for, um, a follow up episode in the future.
Jon Clayton:But today we're gonna be focusing on that profile and those, those
Jon Clayton:elements that you've, you've given us a run through about.
Jon Clayton:Um, we get stuck into those different parts of the LinkedIn profile,
Jon Clayton:common mistakes have you seen architects and other professionals
Jon Clayton:make on their own LinkedIn profiles?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Okay, so if I, let's say I'm a client
Jon Clayton:that's looking for an architect.
Jon Clayton:I go on LinkedIn, I put, um, the word architect in, in the search bar.
Jon Clayton:Then LinkedIn's gonna give, give me lots of different profile.
Jon Clayton:I'm a homeowner.
Jon Clayton:I need an architect to, let's say, make me a new extension or redo my house.
Jon Clayton:What I see when I see all these profiles, it's in the headlines.
Jon Clayton:Most of architects or other professions just give their
Jon Clayton:positions, so it's architect or internal architect, or sustainability
Jon Clayton:architect, or maybe architect at this company, but none of those.
Jon Clayton:Tell me more about it.
Jon Clayton:Is it for me?
Jon Clayton:Who is it?
Jon Clayton:Who are you helping?
Jon Clayton:How are you gonna help me achieve what I'm looking for?
Jon Clayton:And you know, how are you gonna make my life better?
Jon Clayton:So that's the first part.
Jon Clayton:It's the headline that architects use.
Jon Clayton:The second one, if I go to their profiles, lots of they don't have a banner, which
Jon Clayton:might be a reason they have a switched off visibility in their settings,
Jon Clayton:or they just didn't put it there.
Jon Clayton:Or they have a nice picture of a project or a detail, and that's about it.
Jon Clayton:Lots of that don't use, uh, blue Link, which is a clickable link.
Jon Clayton:About session is usually all about them.
Jon Clayton:It treats like a cv then featured session, the section, they
Jon Clayton:either don't have it or because.
Jon Clayton:They don't know about it mostly, or they use it in a way that,
Jon Clayton:um, it's not very optimized or they could use it much better.
Jon Clayton:And also experience section, it treats also like a CV where it
Jon Clayton:should tell a bit of a story.
Jon Clayton:So these are the main parts, um, that I can see with architects and what that.
Jon Clayton:Means is if you go through different profiles, loads of them
Jon Clayton:are very similar, so they don't distinguish among each other.
Jon Clayton:They don't tell me, you are the right architect for me.
Jon Clayton:I want to work with you.
Jon Clayton:They just tell me you are an architect.
Jon Clayton:Okay, but nothing more.
Jon Clayton:And I know that you did this in these projects, but I want to know more.
Jon Clayton:You know, I want to.
Jon Clayton:Build that trust with the person.
Jon Clayton:And hopefully that, you know, it's gonna make them do, uh, something
Jon Clayton:more and make them want to do, to work with me or work with an architect.
Jon Clayton:So these are the main mistakes I can see on their profiles.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:So it sounds like from what you've seen, that a lot of those profiles
Jon Clayton:sounds similar actually, in terms of the content that they have on there.
Jon Clayton:It's very much about the projects and the individual, less about the clients,
Jon Clayton:and, probably making it quite hard for them to stand out on LinkedIn,
Jon Clayton:maybe to the point where they might be questioning, it really worth it?
Jon Clayton:You know, this LinkedIn thing, just, it's not working for me.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yep.
Jon Clayton:is that the case?
Jon Clayton:You know?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah,
Jon Clayton:but the good news is that there's lots that they can do
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: they can.
Jon Clayton:to improve the presence on LinkedIn,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yes.
Jon Clayton:we are gonna dig into a little bit more now.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Perfect.
Jon Clayton:So let's start with the, the headline.
Jon Clayton:Could you explain.
Jon Clayton:Why the headline is so critical and, and how we can make it stand out.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Okay, so headline is.
Jon Clayton:A little bit more important outside your profile than on your profile.
Jon Clayton:It's also important your profile, but if you go on LinkedIn and if you go through
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn feed and look through the comments or through posts or LinkedIn,
Jon Clayton:you know, recommends a profile or you get a connection request, what you're gonna
Jon Clayton:see there is of course a small profile.
Jon Clayton:Picture a name, and then below there's gonna be a preview of the headline.
Jon Clayton:The preview means if you are looking on your mobile phones, about 45
Jon Clayton:characters on desktops, a little bit more about 60 characters, and
Jon Clayton:in those 45 characters, you should tell people you are the architect.
Jon Clayton:For example, if you are an architect or a person that they need to
Jon Clayton:check out, you need to tell them more than just your job position.
Jon Clayton:So.
Jon Clayton:That's gonna make them then say, okay, I'm interested in this person.
Jon Clayton:I'm gonna click on their profile, and then I'm gonna come to their profile.
Jon Clayton:So that's how you should use your headline.
Jon Clayton:Focus on those four first characters, and then when they come to your
Jon Clayton:profile, your headline, you can add to your headline more keywords.
Jon Clayton:So let's say your headline starts with a. First strong 45 characters, which
Jon Clayton:can, where you can use the simplest template, which is like, for example,
Jon Clayton:I help or I design who, where you put your target audience, do what and how.
Jon Clayton:For example, I help home owners add space to their homes
Jon Clayton:with well design extensions.
Jon Clayton:So you tell them who you're for, what you do, and what.
Jon Clayton:What their benefit's gonna be.
Jon Clayton:That's one version or a second.
Jon Clayton:One you start with your role because lots of architects
Jon Clayton:want to start with their roles.
Jon Clayton:So you can say you are an architect, so architect for home, owner owners
Jon Clayton:specializing in residential architecture.
Jon Clayton:We designed the cuts.
Jon Clayton:If you want to put figures, 40% of your energy bills.
Jon Clayton:So you tell people more.
Jon Clayton:That's why headlines are really important.
Jon Clayton:Don't make them vague.
Jon Clayton:Don't make them clever, make them simple and make them really understandable.
Jon Clayton:And then if you want to add more key words, you can add those after
Jon Clayton:your main part of your headline.
Jon Clayton:Headline.
Jon Clayton:If you want to say you are a founder, add founder.
Jon Clayton:If you want to say, you know, you are Reba Chartered, add that all important bits
Jon Clayton:that you want to add come after that, but.
Jon Clayton:And make your four first 45 character characters really strong.
Jon Clayton:That's, that's great.
Jon Clayton:that's.
Jon Clayton:You've made that really clear for us, Maya.
Jon Clayton:So thank you for
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Okay.
Jon Clayton:Oops.
Jon Clayton:So
Jon Clayton:uh, examples that we can use.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: yeah.
Jon Clayton:the wording there to suit.
Jon Clayton:And something you mentioned there is about the importance of, uh, the
Jon Clayton:headline outside of your profile.
Jon Clayton:That's one of the things, isn't it, that when you are.
Jon Clayton:Commenting on like other people's posts
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:that headline, the first few characters of it
Jon Clayton:that's going to appear, isn't it?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:that if you've got a really rubbish headline, um, that's
Jon Clayton:not gonna capture people's attention,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah,
Jon Clayton:a real missed opportunity, isn't it?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: it is, it is a missed opportunity.
Jon Clayton:And also, for example, when I see like, connection requests, you know, I want to.
Jon Clayton:If I, if I see a person who doesn't have a head, some people don't even have
Jon Clayton:headlines, but if a person just tells me one word, most likely, unless it's an
Jon Clayton:architect, which is smart target audience I probably wouldn't really click on it.
Jon Clayton:And yeah, it's a, it is a missed opportunity, especially when you
Jon Clayton:have like so many, same ones.
Jon Clayton:Um, architect, architect, interior architect.
Jon Clayton:There's no distinguish.
Jon Clayton:Tell people who you are for and what you can do for them.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, interesting that.
Jon Clayton:That point you make there that if that headline isn't compelling enough, then
Jon Clayton:people are not gonna click through to your profile if if it doesn't
Jon Clayton:entice them, that you're not gonna get as many people that are gonna go
Jon Clayton:through to check out your profile.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:the headline doesn't pique their interest.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: True.
Jon Clayton:I mean, you might have a really good comment and that's why people would
Jon Clayton:like to check you out, but you can lose lots of people if you don't have
Jon Clayton:a clear headline that it's strong and you know, tells people more.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:So the headline's definitely important, but that's not everything
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: It's not everything.
Jon Clayton:Let's talk about banner.
Jon Clayton:So what are the key elements of an effective LinkedIn banner on our profiles?
Jon Clayton:I.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: So, as I said before, banner is the biggest image
Jon Clayton:that preview previous on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:And I was listening to this, um, LinkedIn coach and he told me that out of like.
Jon Clayton:Average of 15 seconds that people spent on some that this profile,
Jon Clayton:they spent about seven seconds on the banner, which is almost half of it.
Jon Clayton:So it's really important to make your banner work hard.
Jon Clayton:Um, there are three things, um, banner should have, so a value proposition
Jon Clayton:statement social proof and call to action.
Jon Clayton:So a value proposition statement should be a statement where you.
Jon Clayton:Again, tell people who you are, what you can do for them, how you can serve them.
Jon Clayton:But doesn't copy paste your headline.
Jon Clayton:It needs to add to your headline so you're not, again, just copy pasting, but you add
Jon Clayton:to what you already said in the headline.
Jon Clayton:Then the second part I said is social proof.
Jon Clayton:Social proof builds trust as a social proof.
Jon Clayton:You can use either logos of the companies you work with, you
Jon Clayton:can use like short testimonials.
Jon Clayton:You can use awards if you want any, anything that builds trust.
Jon Clayton:And the third part is call to action.
Jon Clayton:So many people don't use that.
Jon Clayton:Now, call to action in banner is not clickable, but is the first
Jon Clayton:part when you can tell people.
Jon Clayton:What you want them to do next?
Jon Clayton:Where do you want to take them?
Jon Clayton:So use that in a banner, for example.
Jon Clayton:If you want to tell them, I want you to book a consultation, tell them
Jon Clayton:that, say, book a consultation, click link in a blue link, for example.
Jon Clayton:Tell them also with all these three parts, bear in mind that lots of LinkedIn
Jon Clayton:users, they browse on their mobile phones.
Jon Clayton:So you have to make your banner readable.
Jon Clayton:Don't use really small phones that people can't see, and also make
Jon Clayton:colors that, you know, go with each other that people can read.
Jon Clayton:So if you use like white on yellow.
Jon Clayton:That's not gonna be very good.
Jon Clayton:Make it readable.
Jon Clayton:The other thing I would say on a banner, when you design it, like when you
Jon Clayton:preview it on a desktop, your profile photo, it's gonna be more on the left.
Jon Clayton:But when you preview it on the mobile phone, it's gonna take more
Jon Clayton:of the banner space on the right.
Jon Clayton:So if you're not careful, it can cut off your text.
Jon Clayton:And I've seen that many times.
Jon Clayton:So just.
Jon Clayton:You can Google this to see how you should design it, but be careful with that.
Jon Clayton:Um, but yeah, three things.
Jon Clayton:Value proposition statement, call to action, and social proof.
Jon Clayton:These are the most three important things you should have on a banner.
Jon Clayton:I, I'm, I'm just.
Jon Clayton:Chuckling to myself here.
Jon Clayton:Um, thinking of the times that I've tried to update my LinkedIn
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Mm-hmm.
Jon Clayton:and then put it on LinkedIn and then seen it on my mobile phone, and
Jon Clayton:it's like, oh, the text is covered up.
Jon Clayton:It
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:is, it is a little bit, can be a little bit tricky.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:without help to get that right, you do have something that can help
Jon Clayton:with that, but we'll mention that later.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yes.
Jon Clayton:So.
Jon Clayton:What about the photo you mentioned there?
Jon Clayton:The, the photo can appear different sizes over the
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Mm-hmm.
Jon Clayton:what, depending on how it's viewed on what device, but, but what
Jon Clayton:makes a great LinkedIn profile photo?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: So your profile photo should have a good
Jon Clayton:resolution, so you know it's clear.
Jon Clayton:Uh, LinkedIn recommends 400 by 400 pixels.
Jon Clayton:Of course it needs to have your face in it, and your face should cover
Jon Clayton:about 60% of the profile picture.
Jon Clayton:So don't be too zoomed out so people can't see who you are.
Jon Clayton:It, you should look professional, but approachable.
Jon Clayton:And also with the background, you can have a background, but if
Jon Clayton:it's busy background, it's gonna take away from your profile photo.
Jon Clayton:So make it either blurry or make it one color.
Jon Clayton:For example, I have my face and my background color is
Jon Clayton:orange, which is my brand color.
Jon Clayton:So yes.
Jon Clayton:Good resolution, 60% of the um, circle should be covered by your
Jon Clayton:face and make it good, make it approachable and make it professional.
Jon Clayton:That's what I would say.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:That, that's great.
Jon Clayton:Also, you also mentioned, um, when we were talking about the banner, about
Jon Clayton:mentioning that call to action, uh, and one of the things that, that could
Jon Clayton:be was clicking the blue link or like booking a call or whatever that action is.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:we talk a little bit about blue link?
Jon Clayton:So kind of what is the blue link?
Jon Clayton:Where, where can we find it, and how should we be using that link?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Mm-hmm.
Jon Clayton:So Blue Link, I call it Blue Link because it's, it's a blue link.
Jon Clayton:It's the link which comes, you have the name that you have
Jon Clayton:headline and it comes below.
Jon Clayton:And Blue Link is a clickable link, which.
Jon Clayton:Can be really important if you want people to take action.
Jon Clayton:So Blueing should repeat the call to action that you
Jon Clayton:already set in your banner.
Jon Clayton:This is the second time you should mention the same offer, not with copy paste words,
Jon Clayton:but it needs to tell the same offer.
Jon Clayton:Don't put one offer in the banner and then another offer in the blue link
Jon Clayton:because you're just gonna confuse people what you want them to do.
Jon Clayton:So this should be.
Jon Clayton:Your main offer.
Jon Clayton:Where do you want people?
Jon Clayton:Where do you want to take people from your LinkedIn profile, and
Jon Clayton:what do you want them to do next?
Jon Clayton:If you want them to book a consultation with you, tell them that, and then
Jon Clayton:when they click on that link, take them to a landing page where they
Jon Clayton:can book, book a consultation.
Jon Clayton:Don't take them, for example, to your portfolio or to your website where.
Jon Clayton:Suddenly they're gonna see your about section.
Jon Clayton:They're gonna see your, you know, projects.
Jon Clayton:They're gonna see so many different things and you're gonna lose them.
Jon Clayton:Make it very simple.
Jon Clayton:Make it at as least steps as they can take to take an action
Jon Clayton:you are telling them to do.
Jon Clayton:So add that blue link.
Jon Clayton:So it's there.
Jon Clayton:And people, if they decide to take your, you know, you offer what you want them
Jon Clayton:to do, it's there and they can do it.
Jon Clayton:Again, take them exactly to where you tell them you want to take them.
Jon Clayton:Don't confuse them in the middle.
Jon Clayton:Okay, so.
Jon Clayton:Make sure it's the same as the call to action that's on the banner,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah,
Jon Clayton:confusing people and send them somewhere where
Jon Clayton:there's not too many distractions.
Jon Clayton:They're not gonna go off and start browsing the portfolio
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: yeah.
Jon Clayton:want them to, for example, book a call, just send them to a landing
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, I know lots of people have like Calendly where people can book a call, so
Jon Clayton:you know, they take them straight there.
Jon Clayton:You can write a copy there, which explains a bit more if you want to,
Jon Clayton:and I would recommend you do that.
Jon Clayton:But take them there where they can actually do what you ask them to do.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:Yeah,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah,
Jon Clayton:it.
Jon Clayton:Confuse people don't click.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: exactly.
Jon Clayton:we don't want to confuse them,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: No, no.
Jon Clayton:could we talk, uh, about the, about section?
Jon Clayton:How do you recommend we approach writing our about section on our LinkedIn profile?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah, that's an, that's a, I love the about section.
Jon Clayton:It's, um, because like almost a hundred percent of people use about section.
Jon Clayton:To write about themselves and about section doesn't say about you, it
Jon Clayton:just says about and about Section should be not UCV should be a breach
Jon Clayton:from where your potential clients are right now and where you want to
Jon Clayton:take them and how to take them there.
Jon Clayton:So it should tell a story.
Jon Clayton:It, um, it should tell them, you know, how you can help.
Jon Clayton:So.
Jon Clayton:One of the really good ways to approach this is you start with a problem or a
Jon Clayton:pain, po pain point or struggles that your, you know, target audience have.
Jon Clayton:Because remember in about section, it's first few lines that are previewed
Jon Clayton:and then people can click more.
Jon Clayton:It doesn't show the whole about section if you don't click on more.
Jon Clayton:So make sure that first few lines are really, really strong and start with.
Jon Clayton:Target audience.
Jon Clayton:Start with your readers.
Jon Clayton:Talk about their problems, and then you can agitate that problem and also
Jon Clayton:talk about where they could be and show them how their life could look like.
Jon Clayton:And then you offer, then you put yourself in, you offer a solution.
Jon Clayton:So your, for example, your services are.
Jon Clayton:Solution to that problem.
Jon Clayton:And with your services, with your help, you can take them
Jon Clayton:there where they want to be.
Jon Clayton:And then after all that, again, add your call to action.
Jon Clayton:Add your, it's not clickable, but add the same call to action.
Jon Clayton:You already mentioned in the banner you already mentioned in Blue Link.
Jon Clayton:Add it at the end.
Jon Clayton:That's how you can approach the about section.
Jon Clayton:It's not just about you, about your achievement achievements about your
Jon Clayton:life story, it's about people who land on your profile and people who you
Jon Clayton:want to work with, and you tell them, you know, you are the solution for
Jon Clayton:them, but you need to start talking about them first, not about you.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:So yeah, the about section, it, it's not all about you, it's it's about
Jon Clayton:your customers and how, how you can help them get from where they are
Jon Clayton:now to where they want to get to that
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:It's a, yeah, you show, show them.
Jon Clayton:You tell them about transformation.
Jon Clayton:You can help them achieve if they want to, you know, and then tell them, book
Jon Clayton:a consultation so we can talk further.
Jon Clayton:And there's a, a fairly generous character limit.
Jon Clayton:But there is a character limit.
Jon Clayton:I have done that before where I've, I've tried to, to write something
Jon Clayton:and it's, it's got quite long,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah,
Jon Clayton:come to copy and paste it into LinkedIn, I'm like, oh,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: it's too long.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:to cut it down again.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I can't remember exact, uh, character's number, but yeah.
Jon Clayton:If you don't add fluff that people, you know, get bored in middle,
Jon Clayton:middle, you can have a lengthy post.
Jon Clayton:Just keep it engaging, keep it, you know, what you want to say.
Jon Clayton:If it doesn't fit, take it out.
Jon Clayton:But just tell people the story of how, where they are now.
Jon Clayton:And where they could get with your help.
Jon Clayton:I love that
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah,
Jon Clayton:If you do need some help with the writing or, or with the editing.
Jon Clayton:I mean, chat, GPT.
Jon Clayton:It's not a great writer, but it's a pretty good editor I've found.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: yeah,
Jon Clayton:write a piece, then you can, you could always get a little bit of help
Jon Clayton:from an AI tool to help edit it down, which I, I think that's quite a useful
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:too much for your about section.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Exactly, and always check after using chat.
Jon Clayton:GPT.
Jon Clayton:Always check because sometimes yeah, things don't come out
Jon Clayton:very well if you don't check.
Jon Clayton:Oh, absolutely.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:You have to proofread absolutely everything.
Jon Clayton:Maya, we've, we've covered a lot of ground
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Mm-hmm.
Jon Clayton:what would be the main thing that you'd like everyone to
Jon Clayton:take away from our conversation today?
Jon Clayton:I.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: The main thing it would be.
Jon Clayton:So if you are using LinkedIn to help you to grow your business, to help
Jon Clayton:you, you know, attract clients, to help you get leads, focus on your
Jon Clayton:LinkedIn profile and make it strong.
Jon Clayton:Make it, strong.
Jon Clayton:So it tells a story when a person who you want to attract lands on it
Jon Clayton:knows exactly who you are, what you can do for them, how you can help
Jon Clayton:them, and take them through that, through every section of the profile.
Jon Clayton:Don't just say few words or leave the banner empty.
Jon Clayton:Take it seriously.
Jon Clayton:And when you have it optimized and when you have it strong, you know it's there.
Jon Clayton:You can always change it if you, you know, if you change your offers, but
Jon Clayton:make it work for you and tell people what is the next step they need to do.
Jon Clayton:So your call to action.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Maya.
Jon Clayton:Was there anything else about the topic?
Jon Clayton:That you, you wanted to add that we, we haven't covered already?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: There's, uh, one more really important part,
Jon Clayton:which is a featured section.
Jon Clayton:Featured section is where you can also add clickable links with a little like images.
Jon Clayton:Um, what I would quickly say with the featured section, the first
Jon Clayton:link in your featured section, should again, be your main offer.
Jon Clayton:That you already mentioned in the banner, in the blue link.
Jon Clayton:So that's your first one, and then you can add more.
Jon Clayton:I wouldn't add more than four because it get, can get too much for people.
Jon Clayton:Maybe you can have only 1, 2, 3.
Jon Clayton:I have two.
Jon Clayton:And the others, you, if you have a lead, uh, lead magnet, you can add that.
Jon Clayton:If you have, maybe if you want to take people to your portfolio, you
Jon Clayton:can add that, but always the first one should be your main offer.
Jon Clayton:And yeah, add it.
Jon Clayton:If you don't have it, you can just, um, search on Google, see
Jon Clayton:how you add the feature section.
Jon Clayton:But it, it's important one, because again, it comes further down when
Jon Clayton:people already read things about you and they learn more about you.
Jon Clayton:And when you say you know what you want 'em to do again, it's more likely
Jon Clayton:they're gonna click on that link.
Jon Clayton:That is a timely reminder for me to add.
Jon Clayton:A featured section because I've been meaning to do that for a
Jon Clayton:while and I still haven't done it.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I'm going to, uh, bump that up my to-do list
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:sure that gets done.
Jon Clayton:Maya, I wanted to ask another question.
Jon Clayton:It's not about LinkedIn,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Okay.
Jon Clayton:but I, I love to travel and to discover new places,
Jon Clayton:and I wondered if you could tell me about one of your favorite
Jon Clayton:places and what you love about it.
Jon Clayton:It could be anywhere near or far.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: I think now, especially when I live in London, my
Jon Clayton:favorite place always to go back to my hometown, which is in Slovenia.
Jon Clayton:I, when I was living there, of course, you know, you take everything for
Jon Clayton:granted, but when you move away and you live somewhere else, my home
Jon Clayton:country is always the best place to go.
Jon Clayton:I mean, I like, I like traveling, but I need to go back.
Jon Clayton:It's because it's, it's.
Jon Clayton:It's very green, it's very, you know, calm in comparison to London.
Jon Clayton:It's very clean.
Jon Clayton:You can get everywhere very quickly with a car.
Jon Clayton:And that's the place.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, I, I always love going back and I need to, especially during
Jon Clayton:the summer, the summer in Slovenia, that's is where I always want to be.
Jon Clayton:Oh, if, if you haven't had the chance to visit Slovenia,
Jon Clayton:you, you're missing out on a treat.
Jon Clayton:I have been fortunate to visit there maybe two or three times over the years.
Jon Clayton:Not for a little while, but, um, I've visited a few different places in Slovenia
Jon Clayton:and it is just such a beautiful country.
Jon Clayton:It's, it's a really lovely place.
Jon Clayton:Um, yeah, especially if you, if you're into.
Jon Clayton:kind of outdoor stuff,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Oh yeah.
Jon Clayton:outdoor activities like hiking, swimming in lakes,
Jon Clayton:and you know, climbing mountains and kayaking, all of those things.
Jon Clayton:There's, there's so much to do, um, in Slovenia.
Jon Clayton:So yeah, definitely go and check it out for
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yes
Jon Clayton:my thank you again for being a guest on the show
Jon Clayton:and sharing your expertise.
Jon Clayton:It's much appreciated.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: my pleasure.
Jon Clayton:the, yeah, where's the best place for people
Jon Clayton:to connect with you online?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: LinkedIn, I'm on LinkedIn, so just search me up and you
Jon Clayton:can DM me and just connect with me.
Jon Clayton:If, if you connect with me because you watched um, John's show, just let me know.
Jon Clayton:That would be great.
Jon Clayton:It would be great to hear the feedback as well.
Jon Clayton:But yeah, LinkedIn, this is my main platform.
Jon Clayton:Fantastic.
Jon Clayton:And Mike, could you remind everyone about the, um, the three PDF guides
Jon Clayton:that I mentioned in the introduction?
Jon Clayton:Could you
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:bit more about that?
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: So all the things that we talked about today, they're
Jon Clayton:covered in my my free guide more in details and also with examples which I
Jon Clayton:think, you know, it's, it's quite useful.
Jon Clayton:There's a little bit more, uh, things in there, um, that we talked about today.
Jon Clayton:But yeah, if you want to, make your profile.
Jon Clayton:Optimize and stronger that it is now, please go and download my free PDF.
Jon Clayton:It has every section explained there and if you have any questions you can
Jon Clayton:always, send me a D DM on on my LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:That's brilliant.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:and I'll make sure there's a link to that in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:And Maya, I think you're, you're underselling it, it's
Jon Clayton:a bit more than quite useful.
Jon Clayton:I've got a copy of this document and, uh, it is really detailed, so this is not just
Jon Clayton:some that you're gonna be downloading.
Jon Clayton:It's not like a one two page thing.
Jon Clayton:It's, it is a really useful, detailed document that if you are
Jon Clayton:interested in putting into practice.
Jon Clayton:Any of what May has talked about in the episode today, you need to hit that
Jon Clayton:link and go and download that guide.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Thank you, John.
Jon Clayton:You're welcome.
Jon Clayton:Thanks again.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah, I, I wanted to make it, like if I. I wanted to
Jon Clayton:make it that if I would read through that document, I would know what
Jon Clayton:to do and how to make it stronger.
Jon Clayton:So that, that was my focus.
Jon Clayton:I want people, when they read through it, they can actually do it.
Jon Clayton:So yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I hope it helps.
Jon Clayton:Thanks again, Maya.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: My pleasure.
Jon Clayton:Thank you very much for having me and my, I must say this is my first
Jon Clayton:podcast, so I'll al always remember it.
Jon Clayton:Oh,
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Well, I'm, I'm so glad to have, um, been able to, to help
Jon Clayton:you do that, and hopefully it was gonna be the, the first of many.
Jon Clayton:Maja Kovacic-Kalra: Thank you and I, I, I enjoyed it.
Jon Clayton:It was a really, really nice experience.
Jon Clayton:Thanks so much for listening to this episode
Jon Clayton:of architecture business club.
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Jon Clayton:If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media platforms,
Jon Clayton:just search for at Mr. John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:Remember.
Jon Clayton:Running your architecture business.
Jon Clayton:Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.
Jon Clayton:This is architecture business club.