A Writer With 1 Billion Views Audited My LinkedIn Profile — Here’s What I Learned
Plus, the results so far
Screenshot of the LinkedIn audit
I’ve been wildly inconsistent with LinkedIn, but I want to improve and use the platform to attract more clients.
So when a writer with 1 billion views audited my profile, I was all ears.
Here’s a quick backstory.
You know who it is
Last year, I shared the story of how I started working with Tim Denning.
Things are going great. After six months of working together, I asked Tim if he would write me a testimonial.
He kindly agreed:
Screenshot from my LinkedIn recommendations
He then did something that blew me away.
He audited my LinkedIn profile and sent me a video. I didn’t ask for it. And it was incredibly helpful.
What can I say?
Tim’s one of the good guys.
Okay, so here’s what I learned from Tim’s audit
I’ve decided to share Tim’s commentary about my LinkedIn profile and the changes I’ve made.
Tim’s opinion is the one that matters. After all, he’s got over 518,000 LinkedIn followers.
You can apply these improvements to your own profile.
Banner
Previous:
My previous LinkedIn banner (designed on Canva)
“I’d ditch the banner. It’s pretty hard to read. I definitely won’t be able to read it on my phone.
“The logos are cool. I think the only one I’ve heard of is Semrush. In general, if you’re going to use logos, unless most people know what they are, there’s probably no need to use them.
“And it’s a little bit too salesy, right? It straight away feels a bit like an ad. And I just don’t know if it helps you. So I’d consider something else.
“Have a look at some of the guys with 100,000+ followers to get a few ideas.”
Present:
My present LinkedIn banner
This still needs some work.
I’ve ditched the old banner, but the new one feels corporate. I pinched it from Pexels.
In the coming weeks, I’m going to rework it and follow Tim’s advice: look at some of the guys with 100,000+ followers to get a few ideas.
Photo
“Yeah, the photo is good […] You generally want to get a zoomed-in photo because the face is what people recognise the most […] So maybe use the same photo but just zoom it in much, much more.”
This is exactly what I did:
The same image zoomed in
Headline
Previous:
Freelance Content Writer | 1M+ views on Medium.com | SEO Instructor with Zero To Mastery
“I’d be talking about 1 million plus views on social media or some other phrase.
“SEO instructor with Zero To Mastery — most people don’t know Zero To Mastery is. So you could just go SEO instructor.
“The danger here is if you try and put too many things, you’re nothing to no one. You’re better off just saying writer or marketer or whatever it is. And having it in some sort of format like, ‘I help X type of people do Y.’”
Present:
Freelance content writer | 1M+ views on social media | SEO instructor
I’m still figuring out what I want to be known for.
Once I’m clear on this, I think other bits — like writing a better headline — will fall into place.
Featured Section
Previous:
Screenshot of my previous featured section
“You’ve got way too many things going on here.
“You should only have one thing here in the featured section, and that should be a link to your landing page […]
“Your only goal with the featured section is to get my email address.
“All this other stuff is just confusing, and it’s not needed. I can get this off your website or whatever later on.
“But right now, you just want my email address, so then you can send me emails and help me, right?”
Present:
Screenshot from my LinkedIn profile
I only link to one landing page in my featured section.
It’s my highest-converting lead magnet, and it took me five minutes to create it on ConvertKit.
(I use the same lead magnet at the end of my Medium articles.)
“Learn how I make $7,000+ a month online from scalable income streams. Click the link to download the free PDF.”
The language of the CTA is similar to what Tim uses:
Screenshot from Tim’s LinkedIn profile
Experience
Previous:
Screenshot from my previous LinkedIn experience
“Your bio looks good.
“One year and four months is not a lot. Some people might have an issue with that. You could maybe change the date a little bit if you want.
“The rest of the stuff doesn't matter too much.”
Present:
Screenshot from my LinkedIn profile
I changed the date to 5 years and 4 months.
Although I only started freelancing full-time in December 2022, I’ve been working in SEO since January 2019.
LinkedIn posts
Previous
“So if you want to be doing LinkedIn seriously, you need to be posting probably once a day, six days a week except Sunday […] It’ll really help you given what you do for a business.
“LinkedIn is a game changer. You’ll literally just get inbound leads if you nail it all day long.
Post example #1:
Screenshot of a post I’ve since deleted
“It’s overproduced. It looks like an ad. I’m just not a big fan of this stuff and I don’t see it get a lot of reach.
“VA unplugged. Again, I don’t know what that is. As soon as you start using acronyms, you lose people […]
“Your whole profile told me you’re a content writer and SEO person, and then I got VAs. Again, this is the danger if you have too many things. People are like, ‘What’s this guy’s identity?’”
“You might be better off saying something like internet marketer or something that’s more broad […]”
Post example #2:
Screenshot of a post I’ve since deleted
“Free 30-day challenge, but the picture is not engaging, right?
“This sort of content just doesn’t convert. You want to educate people. And [it was posted] five months ago […]
“You want to post really good content, and then if you want to do your ads, do that on the backend of the email list with a PS or something. That’s the way I do it, and I’ve built a decent business by doing that.”
Post example #3:
Screenshot of a post I’ve since deleted
“These DAY 191 posts — people don’t care […]
“It sounds exhausting. It’s like, ‘Oh my god, 191 days? How many more days do I have to keep reading this? It’s like a Marvel movie that never ends, right?
“Again, on LinkedIn, I’d stay away from that stuff.”
Present:
Screenshot of a recent LinkedIn post
I’m taking Tim’s advice on board.
I’m writing a week’s worth of content in one day and scheduling it on LinkedIn so that it publishes automatically.
I’m posting once a day, six days a week, and my aim is to publish educational content about freelance writing. It’ll primarily be text-based, and I’ll experiment with picture quotes like Tim is doing.
I’ve also learned from Niharikaa that you should:
Tell personal stories — These are unique to you and can’t be copied
Hook people in with your first two lines — You can think of this as the headline and subtitle for your post
It’s early days, but my posts are getting more impressions.
Here’s your LinkedIn action plan
Tim’s stats speak for themselves.
His content has received over 1 billion views, and he’s picked up hundreds of thousands of followers across multiple platforms.
He’s someone we can all learn from.
Following Tim’s advice, here’s an action plan to help you succeed on LinkedIn:
Optimise your profile — Think about your banner, headline, and profile picture. What do you want to be known for? What’s your identity?
Only have one link in your “Featured” section — This should be a link to your landing page. You can collect people’s email addresses in exchange for your lead magnet.
Post once a day, six days a week (except Sundays), about the thing you want to be known for — “Writing on LinkedIn is the most powerful thing you can do.” — Tim Denning
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