LinkedIn is a great tool for real estate professionals. Having said that, what can you do to your LinkedIn profile to generate results that help your bottom line?
As of October 2015, LinkedIn has hosted over 400 million users. There is no question that the platform offers many benefits for real estate professionals and businesses.
11 Reasons to Use LinkedIn for Real Estate:
- Credibility
- Branding
- Inbound marketing
- Outbound marketing
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Building partner networks
- Sourcing vendors
- Recruiting
- Attracting investment
- SEO
While there are paid advertising options and ways to engage in forum-like conversations, it all revolves around your LinkedIn profile. So how can real estate pros build stronger and more effective profile pages?
Photos
LinkedIn users are now able to use a personal photo and a background header. Your header should match your branding. Put some thought into it. When it comes to your photo; scroll through what other users have. Recognize what looks interesting and professional, and who you’d delete in an instant.
Naming
Use the version of your name you are using elsewhere, and which you want people to find in Google. Make sure it is congruent with the rest of your branding, and shows up correctly in your LinkedIn profile page URL.
Taglines
Use this space to sum up what you do with keyword rich text. It will help you stand out, get found, and can add SEO juice for your real estate website.
Jobs and Work History
You don’t have to fill in your complete work history, but it doesn’t hurt to be extensive. If you are in real estate, it is highly unlikely you’ll be seeking another job, or will ever have to explain gaps in your work history. Consider deleting old jobs that don’t help. Working at a pet store, as a bartender or waitress may take away from the strength of your profile.
Background Summary
This is the most prominent description of you, what you do, and how you can help. If you don’t feel strong in writing this, enroll some help from a pro real estate writer. Use keywords, be precise, and consider your brand.
Projects
This is a great bonus section for those that have relevant work to show. Have you worked on real estate deals with any notable companies, in any notable communities or buildings? Do you have a strong track record of experience? Have you helped out with charitable projects? This not only matters for prospective customers, but can impact an investor or lender’s decision to work with you or not too.
Languages
Do you know any other languages? Foreign investors can make up to 50% or more of the real estate transactions in some U.S. cities. Even if you are semi-familiar with a language, it might be a way to stand out.
Who You Follow
This section says a lot about you. Who you associate with can tell people more than you may know. Do you need to clean up this section? Or beef it up? Make sure you are following the right people.
Number of Connections
The number of connections you have is one of the most important features of your profile. It is the single most important indicator in instantly summing you up, and whether others will want to connect or consider doing business with you. If you’ve got less than 50, you may be suspected of having a fake profile. Race to the 500+ mark as soon as you can. However, do note that who you are connected to is important too. You can bulk this number up by spending five minutes a day adding new contacts (at least 5), and by publishing.
What You Publish
What you publish via your LinkedIn feed says a lot about you, and who will stay connected and engaged with you. Are you putting thought into your posts, or just dispensing junk to fill space?
Skills and Endorsements
Make sure to add your skills, and as many relevant ones to the work you want to do. If you want to get endorsed, then endorse others.
Recommendations
Recommendations can be a powerful form of review. Not many people take the time to leave these recommendations as they are more time consuming than on other platforms, but they are valuable. Give others recommendations or use the ‘request recommendation’ feature.
