Let’s talk about articulating your brand on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn shouldn’t be a cut-and-paste of your resume. Repeat, NOT a cut-and-paste.

Your resume is considered a legal business document and as such, should be written in formal language appropriate for your industry and function.

The correct approach for your resume is first person, but without pronouns. Please don’t refer to yourself in the third person or use personal pronouns.

The correct approach for LinkedIn is first person with personal pronouns. A conversational style that invites the reader in and shows your personality.

While still a business conversation, it should be less formal than your resume.

Here are the FIVE key places in LinkedIn where you can articulate your brand:

1.  In your heading.

You have 120 characters to give not only your job title or, depending on your situation, your aspirational job title, but also your value-add.

Here are some great examples of headings I’ve written for my clients:

B2B Business Development | Managing complex sales cycles, winning significant accounts, & catapulting top-line revenue

Senior Financial Executive | Achieving aggressive corporate goals with financial expertise & strong leadership

Creative Marketing Director | Delivering exceptional quality and innovative concepts within tight deadlines and budgets


2.  In your summary.

You have approximately 1,988 characters to tell your story and your brand. This is the section they will actually read if it is compelling.
Again, write in first person – as if you were sitting across the table from the reader, telling him or her your story.

Here are a few excerpts from summaries I’ve written:

As a seasoned creative director, I have a strong record of delivering exceptional quality and innovative concepts within tight deadlines and budgets. My secret sauce is my ability to bring strong business acumen to the creative process, coupled with the ability to understand how the creative process fits into the organization’s overall business strategy.

One of my greatest strengths lies in my ability to balance organizational development efforts with the company’s strategic growth goals. I’ve been highly successful in designing performance incentives, compiling health benefits, and structuring deferred compensation plans to attract top-notch talent, as well as constructing training and performance management programs to retain that talent.

With every marketing project I tackle, I combine creative thinking and analysis-driven planning. I take an integrated approach to marketing that combines all the elements of traditional, social, event, and customer touch-point marketing.

As an accomplished business developer, I have a record of significant sales achievements across multiple industries including B2B payments, financial services, telecommunications, media, business products, and renewable energy.
I am known as a consummate professional with the tenacity and organizational skills to provide clients with superior service and make sure sales objectives are attained. I incorporate my creativity, entrepreneurial drive, and exceptional people leadership skills into the programs and projects I manage.
With extensive experience presenting to C-suite executives, I possess the poise, professionalism, and business acumen to build and sustain mutually beneficial business relationships.
Each time the bar is raised, I raise my performance to meet the challenge.


3.  In your professional experience.

This section needs to be distinctly different from your summary but should mesh seamlessly with your summary.

For example, if you mention an accomplishment in your summary, the reader should be able to find the specifics about that accomplishment in your professional experience.

Again, first person is the rule here.

As with your resume, separate out your job duties, which are important for SEO purposes, and your achievements, which you can bullet.

I like to begin by telling them a bit of ba