Personal Branding on LinkedIn: For Entrepreneurs and Freelancers

Let’s talk about personal branding on LinkedIn. But first can we just clear one thing up? Not everyone needs a personal brand. If your professional identity is tied with what you offer then yes it’s the direction for you but the rest of you probably just need to raise your profile to be honest. 

Enhancing your LinkedIn profile is beneficial for nearly everyone, given the platform's versatility for recruiting, promoting employee and employer brands, and job hunting. Personal branding on LinkedIn is about strategically positioning yourself in your industry or field, differentiating yourself from the competition, and connecting with your target audience – whether it’s for job opportunities, networking, or establishing thought leadership. Dying to know how to get going? Let’s get into it.

Personal Branding for Entrepreneurs and Freelancers

Let’s look at personal branding for both parties. For freelancers, it’s all about flexing your unique expertise and being the go-to person for that one thing you do better than anyone else. On the flip side, entrepreneurs build personal brands to reflect business values and vision with the aim to attract those investors and establish industry authority. While both groups need to highlight their strengths and what they’re good at, freelancers often prioritise demonstrating their capacity for varied projects, whereas entrepreneurs focus on business development, leadership qualities and their ability to drive business success. Freelancers hustle project to project; entrepreneurs are playing the long game, building trust and authority. Different game, same goal.

Optimising the Profile for Visibility

First off, if you’re new to LinkedIn - we need to think basics. Think about why you’re here. Are you new to personal branding and need a head start on what direction to take? First things first, you can’t start anywhere if you’re profile is looking sh*t. Think about it – what impression do you get when you see a connection request from a fella called Dave, with no profile picture? You’re probably thinking “It’s a no from me, right?”. Yeah good answer, swerve that one. You want to be making a killer impression instantly but where do you start? 🤔

When it comes to personal branding, you want to start with optimising your profile photo. You better be looking hot because unfortunately it’s looks over brains to begin with here. It’s basically Tinder 🚩The profile picture needs to to scream ‘you’, but in the most polished, ‘I got my sh*t together' way. Think less passport photo, we don’t want you to be looking like a convict … that’s probably not going to get you anywhere and your latest p*issed up beer crawl won’t cut it either. You need to be in focus and the quality must be mega. We like using lifestyle, candid pictures as personally we think it’s a true reflection of who we are.

Your banner should complement your profile, telling a visual story of your professional persona. Whether it’s showcasing your work, a personal mantra, or a simple, sleek design that speaks to your industry, make it count. Think about including a CTA so that people know where to go and how to get in touch when the time comes.

Your headline? Don’t just slap your job title there. How about you spice it up with showing what makes you different and authentic in your field. ‘Social Media Marketer’ won’t differentiate you. It’s not gonna get you the visibility you need because every Tom, Dick and Harry has the same role. Which begs the question … What makes YOU different? Why would someone choose you? You need to decide what makes you unique.

For our profiles, our headline clearly states our value proposition. People know what to expect from us. We’re a small team of three here and we all have something different that we can bring to the table. This is how we show this online:

• Jordan Stachini: 💥I create ROI driven marketing strategies without the fluff | Founder:co&co💥

• Sophie Kimmance: 💥I create engagement strategies for customer centric brands | Director:co&co💥

• Megan Farrow: 💥 No fluff. No bull. Just Mega Marketing | Head of Making Shit Happen 💥

Notice how our job roles are positioned towards the end? We do this to basically say “Hey, look at this cool sh*t we do,” before even bothering to drop the job title bomb. This isn’t your average intro; it’s a bold, in-your-face play that makes our profiles stick out. We’re much more than our job title. We know what we’re doing so we’re gonna talk about that. We see ‘founder’ plastered everywhere all over LinkedIn … but what actually makes them special? Yes you might be a founder of a start-up company but let’s not make it your whole personality. You’ve got more to offer and we want to hear it. We keep the same emojis to show a bit of brand continuity … We also do it to show we are fire at what we do✌️💥.

Moving on. Let’s get to that About section – no one’s lining up to read a CV that’s might as well be a book 😴. No one wants to hear about every single achievement you’ve made in your life. Yes, tell your story. Hook them with your essence: what drives you, your standout skills, and how you leave your mark. But as far as that goes, we don’t need to know about every job you’ve had or your selected subjects in school. Leave it out lads. Show some personality, throw in a bit of humour, and make it impossible for anyone not to hit that ‘connect’ button.

If you look at Jordan’s About section - it tells you everything you need to know: 👇

What’s mega about this?

1. Clear Focus: Emphasis on ROI-driven approach to marketing and customer engagement.

2. Straightforwardness: "No fluff. No bull." motto sets expectations for direct, results-oriented communication.

3. Expertise: Showcases our specialisation in key areas like marketing strategy, social media, and branding.

4. Client-Centric: Demonstrates a tailored approach to our clients' needs, whether it's for long-term support or one-off projects.

5. Measurable Results: Stresses the importance of measuring outcomes – showing a commitment to accountability and success.

6. Accessibility: Ends with an open invitation for contact, making us approachable.

Showcasing Expertise Through Articles and Posts

So we’re assuming you know your sh*t if you’re intending to start a personal brand on LinkedIn. But … How do you actually get people in your corner? You need to know HOW to use LinkedIn effectively. You want your content to be drowning in value. Got a unique take on an industry trend? Spill it. Learned something the hard way? Dish out that sh*thot advice. People live for relatable content and LinkedIn is your stage to mix professionalism with personality.

Want to learn the co&co way? We’ll share the basics with you now but you might want to join us for LinkedIn training to get the whole shebang. Our client’s get mega results on LinkedIn with our help - the stats don’t lie. So let’s tell you how we’d go about it. Crafting your LinkedIn content is about striking the perfect f*ck-it balance between who you are, what you’ve done, and what you know that no one else does. Here's how you nail it:

👉 Break up your posts into content pillars – personal, professional and industry 👈

The Real You

First up, the personal sh*t. Make sure to introduce yourself, tell people who you are and what genuinely f*cking matters to you. This isn’t just any social profile; this is LinkedIn with personality. Share the real you - the good, the bad, the ugly – the actual human behind the profile. People love authenticity, not corporate bores.

Professional but Not Boring AF

Let’s talk business - your professional world. But for the love of God, make it interesting. Throw in visuals, stories of success and failures - make it relatable. Bragging? Sure, a little bit here and there. But don’t be a d*ck about it. There’s no room for any more of them on LinkedIn 😂

Know-It-All (In a Good Way)

You know all about industry insights? Share them - here’s your chance to show off your brains. What’s hot, what’s not, and what’s about to blow up. Be the expert of your field, but keep it digestible. No one's here for a lecture. This stuff takes time, to be considered an expert you need to consistently show up.

The Long Game

Don’t just hit it and quit it when it comes to posting. Timing is everything; get it right. Post consistently – this means the same days at the same times. This might take a lot of trial and error but trust us, it’s worth it. Engage with people daily both 30 minutes before and after posting. On the days you simply can’t be bothered posting, you still need to show up. If you want to add any links in, DO NOT include them in the body of your post. The LinkedIn algorithm is not a big fan of that … and will punish you (dead serious).

Talk Back

When it comes to engagement, nothing p*sses us off more than those who post and ghost. It’s fu*king rude. You can’t expect people to stick around and comment on your posts if you’re just out there for yourself. You want to work towards building a loyal community. Chat, comment, be a f*cking human. It’s social media after all – be social. Mix this all together and you've got a LinkedIn presence that’s hard to ignore.

Networking Tactics for Personal Brands

When it comes to LinkedIn networking, it’s not just about collecting contacts and keeping a count of how many you’ve got in x amount of time. It’s quality over quantity lads. Think about it this way … it’s better to have 100 active followers than 1,000 inactive followers. Building genuine connections is what it’s all about. The first rule is to engage with intent. The LinkedIn algorithm has a mind of its own and will know if you’re just showing up for yourself.

Don’t be lazy and write “great post!”. Add value, share your take on the selected post. Why not slide into someone’s DMs (not in a creepy way pls) and share something meaningful or complement their most recent post? It starts a conversation that might just lead you to something mutually beneficial. Don’t be spammy though. Offer value, send personalised connection requests, ask insightful questions, and share something that shows you actually give a fu*k about what they said. Networking is about making the other person feel seen, not just another person to add to the list of faces.

LinkedIn management doesn’t need to be hard. We get it though, people are busy, sometimes LinkedIn has to take the backseat – but you’re missing out big time. co&co offer services that can help you with this. We can take the stress off your hands. Let’s work together on building your personal brand, we really know what we’re doing.