Be a Pro: Eliminate the Gray Square on Your LinkedIn Profile!

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Be a Pro: Eliminate the Gray Square on Your LinkedIn Profile!

As independent consultants running our own businesses, good marketing is critical. No one is going to hire an unpolished freelancer to help solve their business problem, especially if they’re going to spend tens of thousands of dollars. Clearly, a professional image is vital. A prospective client must see you as credible from the very first impression. We know this, yet most of us are cursed with the dreaded grey square on our LinkedIn profiles – the one that appears next to your current job listing.

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Is Your Email Signature Helping You Stand Out from the Crowd?

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Is Your Email Signature Helping You Stand Out from the Crowd?

As an independent consultant, it’s vital that you convey professionalism at every step if you want to get hired at a great rate. Details matter, particularly when you’re making an initial impression. That’s why having a professional email address is a must, as is an eye-catching, effective email signature.

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10 Minutes and $20 to Fine-Tune Your Image

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10 Minutes and $20 to Fine-Tune Your Image

Consulting is a people business. Clients hire people who are smart, proficient, affable, and trustworthy. You probably perceive yourself this way, but do others? When people see your LinkedIn photo, what do they think of you?

Research from Cornell University shows that a first impression from an online photo usually persists. We make judgments when we see a photo, usually unconsciously, and these perceptions stay with us even after we’ve met the person. This lasting impact is formed in about a tenth of a second. Obviously having a really good, professional photo matters, but other things affect someone’s impression. It’s the background, the hair, the eyes, the smile, the posture—literally dozens of details. So how can you be sure that the photo you are using online conveys the qualities you want?

Thanks to Photofeeler, you no longer have to guess or rely on friends and family for feedback, who by the way will be biased because they know and presumably like you. Use the Photofeeler website to upload your photo(s) and get anonymous feedback on how competent, likable, and influential you appear. It’s easy, affordable, fun, and quite interesting.

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Part 3: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile with Skills, Endorsements & Accomplishments

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Part 3: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile with Skills, Endorsements & Accomplishments

This is the third and final part in a series of articles. You can download the entire series as a reference guide here.

Most independent consultants have no budget for marketing or advertising, yet they all wish they had a bigger client list. Having a well-crafted LinkedIn profile is free and one of the first things potential clients will look at when they hear about you. Make the most of it!

The first article in this series about how to optimize LinkedIn profiles explains how to create an excellent first impression with a photo, background image, and a succinct “tag line” to summarize your brand and expertise. The second article provides tips for how to market yourself as an independent consultant using the Summary and Background sections. This article summarizes the importance of LinkedIn’s Skills and Endorsements, and Recommendations sections, which are misunderstood and underutilized. It also includes practical tips for how to beef up these sections, as well as the Accomplishments section.

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Part 2: Telling Your Story to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

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Part 2: Telling Your Story to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

This is the second in a series of three articles. You can download the entire series as a reference guide here.

With over 133 million users in the U.S. and another 334 million around the world, LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool and reference. If someone is interested in hiring you as a management consultant, it’s a good bet that they’re going to look at your LinkedIn profile, even if you have your own website. It’s critical you put your best self forward.

The first article in this series explained how to have a “top-notch top box” on your profile. If this top section is your storefront window, the mid-section is your main-floor merchandise. This article presents tips for how to market yourself as a professional self-employed consultant using LinkedIn’s Summary and Background sections. (Hint: it’s not by rehashing your résumé.)

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Part 1: How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Independent Consulting

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Part 1: How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Independent Consulting

This is the first in a series of three articles about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. You can download the entire series as a reference guide here.

Whether or not you have a website for your independent consulting business, it’s critical that you have a polished, professional profile on LinkedIn. When someone does an internet search on your name, 90% of the time your LinkedIn profile will be one of the top three search results. It’s also likely to be the one they click on first because the format is familiar and easy to skim. 

As a self-employed professional, think of your LinkedIn profile as your storefront window where you display your most unique and appealing merchandise (services). Your goal: entice viewers to learn enough about you that they want to meet you in person—and ideally hire you to solve their problem.

This article offers tips for creating a “top-notch top box.” This includes your headline, photo, and background image. If you do nothing else to improve your LinkedIn profile, make sure you optimize this section!

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Why and How Personal Branding is Vital for Independent Consultants

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Why and How Personal Branding is Vital for Independent Consultants

Everyone in business recognizes strong brands and understands their importance. Coca-Cola. Nike. Apple. These brands represent certain values. Their branding helps drive sales by keeping their products or services fresh in the consumer’s mind.

Independent consultants need to think the same way. You need to be top-of-mind when the need for your expertise pops up so the client thinks to call you, or their colleague thinks to refer you.

In our field this is called personal branding. It’s not about creating a fancy logo or website; it’s about being known for something and consistently emphasizing your expertise. It’s about your reputation. It’s about your image, how you’re perceived in the workplace and online. It’s how you promote yourself and “go to market.” And it’s an ongoing effort. …

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Your Consulting Niche vs Jack-of-All-Trades Myth

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Your Consulting Niche vs Jack-of-All-Trades Myth

Many people who embark on the independent professional path think they should define their services broadly so they will look like a good fit for many projects. The exact opposite is true.

My company represents self-employed professionals across the country, and over the last ten years I have interviewed, coached, or worked with more than 200 independent management consultants. Thanks to all these interviews and projects, I am convinced that the people who always seem to have work are those who “own” a particular consulting niche or service area.

Let’s look at some examples.

I know a highly talented professional with over 20 years of experience with several Fortune 500 companies. Several years ago, my company agreed to represent her. She believed in the jack-of-all-trades myth: she would get more work if she described her expertise in a variety of ways. Here is a verbatim snippet from her résumé at the time:

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