Optimize Your Profile

An attractive profile ensures your presence appears professional and compliant to visitors who may be potential clients or partners.

This guide offers tips for making edits and enhancements that will optimize your profile summary, helping build awareness and trust for your business and for our brand. In addition, we've outlined all compliance requirements for you so that it's a breeze to draft your profile for approval.

If you have a LinkedIn profile, you may already be off to a great start ─ use this guide to review your profile for any opportunities for improvement.


Making Edits

Editing Your Intro

Click the pencil icon (highlighted in the green box) at the top of your profile to make changes to details such as your name and headline in the intro card.

screenshot of a profile edit section on LinkedIn
another screenshot of a profile edit section on LinkedIn

Adding Profile Sections

Not all sections covered here will exist on your profile by default. If you don’t have a section listed here, you can add it easily by clicking “Add profile section” in your intro.

To edit any section of your profile, click the edit pencil icon. (highlighted in the green box here)

screenshot of a profile add a section on LinkedIn

Choosing Your Headline

screenshot of a profile Headline on LinkedIn

Your name… well, that's self-explanatory. Your headline, however, should be more than just a job title.

In addition to your role, you should try to creatively highlight your value proposition in these 120 characters. Across LinkedIn, it’s one of the first things people will see next to your name and can help catch someone’s attention.

Feel free to draw inspiration from the format of these headlines, but it’s best to craft something unique to you. Remember, you only have 120 characters, so keep it succinct!

Here’s an easy framework to follow to craft your headline. You can separate each section with a vertical bar character “|” to keep things clean:

Job Title - Employer | Certifications (if applicable, for example: CLU, ChFC) | Value statement OR list 2-3 key skills.

When you are suggested to others on LinkedIn, this is how your headline will show up next to your name. (highlighted in a green boxes below.)

screenshot of people you may know on LinkedIn

Editing your Contact Info

Just like you would with a business card, make sure your contact information, including a link to your website, is current. LinkedIn allows for up to three websites in the contact section.

To edit your contact info, first click “contact info” under your profile image. (highlighted in a green box here)

screenshot of contact info on LinkedIn

The contact info currently on your page will populate. To edit anything, click the pencil icon at top right. (highlighted in a green box here)

screenshot of contact info edit box on LinkedIn

Setting Your Profile URL

LinkedIn generates a URL for you by default. You'll want to create a custom LinkedIn URL that is succinct and easy to recall-- something you'll be able to share. Choose something you will not likely need to change in the future so that you may always use the same page link to promote your profile.

Keep it short and clean. Use a combination of your name and numbers as necessary if your name alone isn’t available.

DEFAULT: linkedin.com/in/johhn-smith-69917280/ ❌

PROPOSED: Linkedin.com/in/johnpaul89 ✔

Changing Your Profile URL

First, access the “Contact Info” settings from your profile intro. Then click the pencil icon.

screenshot of contact info edit box on LinkedIn

The edit contact info will appear. Click the Profile URL link, highlighted here in a green box.

screenshot of URL change edit box on LinkedIn

You will be brought to the public profile settings page. From here, click the "Edit Your Custom URL" section to change your URL. (highlighted here in a green box)

screenshot of custom URL edit box on LinkedIn

Choosing a Profile Image

Both your profile image and cover photo should be business professional - these images are what people will see first on your profile and should make a good impression.

For your profile image, use a recent business headshot. You want something flattering, inviting, well-lit, and without a busy background. You will also want to make sure that you crop properly─ tighter framing is better to stand out since your profile image will show up small. Here are a few examples:

screenshot of 3 nice profile images on LinkedIn

What Should I Avoid?

  • Wide crop / full body images
  • Group photos – keep the focus on you
  • Pictures without a smile – be sure to look inviting to your visitors
  • Distracting backgrounds – tight crops to your face will help avoid this

Choosing a Cover Image

A cover image is also important to stand out—it’s something that many people overlook but can help personalize your profile. For your cover image, the focus doesn’t need to be on you, but you’ll want to stick to attractive imagery that helps set a good mood for your profile. Whatever you do, make sure to use an image that you have the rights to use. Below are some ideas for cover images unique to you.

  • city skyline / main street of your town
  • a professional image of you in your office or of your office
  • a professional image of you and your team
  • professionally designed graphics representing your agency

Proper Resolution

Pixelated images do not look professional–so be sure to use a resolution of at least 1500x396px. This size is optimal for LinkedIn. Anything larger is OK but will be cropped down to size when you upload the file.

Setting Your Profile & Cover Image

  1. Click the pencil icon in your page intro.
  2. In the edit intro section that appears, click the pencil icon on the cover image or profile picture
  3. screenshot of profile and cover images on LinkedIn
  4. For both profile and cover images, you will see the option to crop, filter, or adjust your image. You can do so as necessary to make your image look its best. Be sure to hit apply to save your changes.
  5. screenshot of cover filter options on LinkedIn

Writing Your Summary

Writing Your Profile Summary

Think of this as your digital elevator pitch to quickly help you establish your background, build credibility, and inform prospects. You’ll want to frame it around the how and why of serving your clients. Be personal and enthusiastic to show your unique passion for what you do. Your summary should offer an easy overview of who you are and how you can add value to the clients you serve—keep in mind, this summary is reflective of your brand.

Writing about yourself takes some reflection, but it’s easier with some guidance and inspiration; there’s no need to overthink it!

To get yourself primed for branding yourself, reflect on your business persona by asking yourself:

  • If you run into someone at a coffee shop and try to initiate a conversation, what do I say about myself and my work?
  • Why should someone do business with you?
  • What is my mission?
  • What makes me different from other Agents/Financial Planners?
  • What’s personal that I should know about you?
screenshot of about section on LinkedIn

Throughout this section, draw inspiration from the questions you asked yourself and include some of those reflections.

Value Statement

Your first 1-2 sentences will be the first that anyone sees–it’s the elevator pitch of your role.

Summarize your core objective while detailing your passion and reasons to believe in you.

EXAMPLE: I take pride in helping my clients prepare for the next step in their financial future. I believe that my combined experience, professionalism and knowledge of financial products and services will help you as you work to reach your financial goals.

Personal Summary

This can be 3-4 sentences on the why and how behind your work. Make it personal, informative, and enthusiastic, tying back to the brand when possible.

Be sure to shed light on some personal strengths. Feel free to include a personal conversation-starter such as a relatable hobby, volunteer cause, or show you’re a fan of something others may connect with.

EXAMPLE: Serving my clients and helping them navigate their financial futures is rewarding for me–I truly enjoy helping families and business owners navigate the road towards financial freedom. It’s my goal to establish lasting relationships with my clients and become a lifelong resource for each one of them. I have a tenacity for being a helping hand. If we work together, I’ll take care to consider every piece of your financial puzzle, starting with a careful review of your needs and level of knowledge, and putting them all together for a life-long plan. When I'm not serving my clients, you can find me working on my photography. Anyone up for joining me?

Key Solutions/Services Your Offer

Listing these keywords not only helps your profile be discovered but can help potential clients learn more about what you do. Write once sentence leading into the solutions summary that gives detail as to how you can help.

EXAMPLE: Below are some of financial goals I help my clients to navigate, including but not limited to:

  • Overall Financial Strategies
  • Estate Planning Strategies
  • Retirement Planning and Strategies – 401(k)s, IRAs, Pension Plans, Indexed or Fixed Annuities
  • Business Needs Analysis
  • Empty summaries or summaries with disclosures only- The worst thing you can do is say nothing at all. Be sure to take the time to leverage this valuable real estate.
  • Disclosures before your summary -While you can place your disclosure at the end of your summary, we recommend you place it at the end of your experience section for your role.
  • Outdated job information or irrelevant info - Are you still telling visitors to reach out to an old email? Still passionately promoting your college rec association? Make sure things are current.
  • Being too focused on selling - Your immediate goal is not making a sale; you're trying to share your expertise and build trust which builds connections and ultimately can lead to sales or new clients. Focus on making an impression!
  • The "big block" - Don't just write one massive block of text. It's hard to read and identify the things you do. Remember to break up text with spaces, indentation, or bullet points to emphasize things.
  • The first sentence or two should really hit home. On mobile screens, only the first 170 characters (with spaces) will show up without expanding your summary. On desktops, only the first 2-3 lines will show. Enthusiasm and key context should hook your visitors here.
  • Writing in first person is advised, but third person is also acceptable. Just be consistent.
  • Speak the language of your clients and prospects - if your primary purpose is networking with potential clients, don’t lean too heavy on industry lingo.
  • Remember to use indentation and spacing to break up text and use bullet points when emphasizing a list.
  • Always ensure proper spelling and grammar. Read your summary out loud to ensure it has no mistakes and sounds true to you.

Experience Best Practices

Showcasing your professional journey is essential on LinkedIn. Your most relevant and accomplished roles are what matters. According to LinkedIn, profiles with more than one position listed are viewed up to 29 times more than those with only one position listed.

Filling Out an Experience

screenshot of Edit Experience section on LinkedIn

Title - List the title for your position.

Company - Tag your agency. We have seen representatives in the past accidentally tag other companies─with over 30 million companies on LinkedIn, it’s an easy mistake. If your agency does not have a LinkedIn Company page, please make sure to talk with your office manager about creating one. Without a LinkedIn Business Page, you and your agency peers will be unable to tag your agency as your employer and accordingly your profile will not display a brand logo or allow visitors to click through to learn more about your agency. Think about it─how much would you trust someone at a company that appears to have no logo or that doesn't have a LinkedIn presence when it's so commonplace for businesses?

Location - It's important to keep this current so that you can be discovered in your area.

Start Date - For old positions, please ensure dates are correct.

"Update my headline" - Do not check this box as this will delete the customized headline you've already established.

Writing Experience Descriptions

While this section is important to inform connections on your current and past roles, you can keep it short and sweet─ focus on high-impact information and on ensuring that you provide background on both the company and job functions of the position being described. Focus on how you provide results for your clients. Note: in this section, there's a 200 to 2000-character requirement. You’ll want to make sure that the first 1-2 sentences are impactful as they may be the only thing to display on your profile unless a visitor expands the text.

Past Roles Ensure that previous roles or employers are not written in present tense or actively promoting competitor products or services. If a past role contains a description of a competitor's performance, ratings, or a competitor disclosure, we ask that you remove this information. While descriptions for all past roles aren’t necessary, you can use the guidelines below to craft a recap of your most relevant past experiences.

Current Roles

  • Start with 1-2 sentences about your agency to give a brief intro.
  • Following the agency intro, you can write 3-4 sentences on your role—how you serve your clients, who you serve primarily if you have a focus, and any other relevant job functions.
  • After this, you may want to reiterate specific service or product focuses that you listed in your summary. You can do so with bullets after an intro, i.e., "I provide a broad range of solutions for my clients, including:” followed by a list of a few of your most important solutions.
screenshot of an example Experience section on LinkedIn

Writing Volunteer Experience Descriptions

Like the job experience section, you can showcase your volunteering experience here. Just like a job, be sure to properly tag each organization you're associated with, including your title, if applicable, and the dates of your involvement. For the description, feel free to write about the work the organization does, why you're passionate about it, and list any core responsibilities of your volunteer role.

Add any undergraduate or graduate experience as applicable, and be sure to properly tag your university or college if possible and list your degree, field of study, start dates, etc. If you were involved in societies or activities which you'd like to list, bullet them in this section.

Please note that our policy does not allow college courses to be listed on your profile, either in this section or as coursework under the accomplishments section.

screenshot of Education section on LinkedIn

Here, you can further establish trust by listing relevant industry licenses and certifications.

Do you hold LOMA certifications? Any Securities Licenses?

Be sure to include relevant details such as an expiration date if applicable and a link to the credential if possible. It’s important to only list valid and current credentials.

screenshot of Licenses & Certifications section on LinkedIn

Awards

Have you been recognized by National Life? Former employers? Your community? Be sure to showcase accomplishments that you're proud of. Like certifications and licenses, these can help you establish trust and credibility. Prioritize anything that is relevant to our shared business.

screenshot of Honor & Award section on LinkedIn

Depending on which skills are most important to you, you can feature up to three skills. Pick those most relevant to your role and client focus─what skills are your target markets most likely to be wanting to see? From the edit view, you can drag skills around.

While you may list approved skills, depending on your licensing level compliance may require you to turn off endorsements for those skills. Don't worry, as opting out and hiding endorsements can be reversed should the need ever arise. See LinkedIn for more information.

screenshot of Skills & Endorsements section on LinkedIn