As a real estate agent, you probably want more leads from LinkedIn, right? It’s a plethora of business profiles on this social site and a good many of them are attractive prospects for you. In 2022, it’s estimated that there will be around 66 million monthly US users on LinkedIn. That’s a lot of potential clients! So it’s important to begin by getting your LinkedIn profile right. If you haven’t touched your profile in years, it might be time for a refresh.
Your LinkedIn Headline is Your Real Estate Elevator Speech
You only have 220 characters here for your headline, so let’s make it count. People can see this in search results, so it really is one of the shortest, but most important parts of your profile. Make sure to be as specific as possible with who you help and what you do specifically for them.
DO: Keep your LinkedIn headline brief
DO: Break up text with lines and emojis.
DON’T: Use desperate or sales-y sounding words like “seeking” “looking for my next client” “searching.”
DO: Brag a bit. If you’re the biggest in your area, say so. If you won that big agency award, list it here.
Don’t Overlook the Power of the Photo
Your LinkedIn photo is probably the part of your profile that will be looked at more than anything else. You know the old, tired saying about how many words a picture can tell. It’s stuck around because of how true it is. We all make many assumptions, some good, some bad, based on a profile picture. So use that first impression bias to your advantage.
The first thing to realize is a LinkedIn profile thumbnail is SMALL. You can’t fit too much into it, so instead, keep it simple. Don’t over-clutter this small space trying to squeeze in all facets of your personality. Instead, make sure your face is clearly visible. That means a photo of your face, from shoulders up, is probably a good bet. Consider using a photo taken by your photographer of choice for your home listings. Avoid those inside the car photos, selfies or other pics that look amateurish.
Keep Contact Information Current
It might seem obvious but you would be surprised how often this information is incorrect. LinkedIn tucks this information away, so you don’t generally see it. That’s why this is your reminder to review it for accuracy. You can find it by clicking on the “Pen” edit icon across from your profile photo in the mobile app. Here you’ll need to scroll deep down until you reach “Edit Contact Info.”
Update the LinkedIn About Blurb
This section might not get read as often as the headline but it’s still a powerful spot that deserves your attention and updating. These 2000 characters give you the space to tell a quick story about yourself and how you help. Although there’s a variety of ways to approach this piece, one easy way is to begin by covering the 4 W’s: WHAT you do to help, Where you help, who you help, and why you do it. Keep focused on your target audience. If you have room add a bit of personal touch with your family life and hobbies or interests. These might seem extraneous, but particularly in a business like real estate, personality does make a difference.
Featured Items
Here’s where you get to show off your best posts. Consider adding closings, home photos and milestone moments (like hitting a certain benchmark in sales for a month or year). This is a relatively new addition to LinkedIn and it’s beneficial to not ignore this option.
Personalize Your URL
Your LinkedIn profile comes with a default URL that’s probably a jumble of numbers and your name. But did you know you can make this URL into whatever you’d like it to be (provided that URL isn’t already taken). To cover all of your SEO bases, be sure to include the name you use most often along with a nod to your profession, whether that is “agent” or REALTOR. This can make it easier to share your profile and give you a more polished look to your personal brand.
As you might have noticed, we didn’t discuss the “Employment History” section here. Although it’s certainly worth having this completed, your self-promotion efforts should focus more on the “before the scroll” parts. Although IT techs and business execs will want to show off their resume, your work history isn’t as essential to your brand. Instead, focus on posting about your community and your sales activities, making connections and staying active on your account. After you have your profile polished up, it’s time to nurture your LinkedIn presence with regular posts, videos and content that is more helpful and informative rather than self-promoting.