Transcription
Hello everybody. These LinkedIn profile hacks helped me land a load of clients and get noticed to the point I was flown across America to Tony Robbins studio to train his clients, and all with a small following.
So, in this video, I'm going to show you 10 LinkedIn profile hacks you can implement in just a few minutes to land clients. Let's jump straight in with number one. And this will make your LinkedIn profile instantly more magnetic. And think of it like this: Since 2017, LinkedIn has more than doubled in size. So, stuffing keywords in your headline and hoping to be found by your ideal clients is exactly like launching a brand new website and expecting to rank number one on Google tomorrow. Virtually impossible. Those spots are already claimed by people who've been building their presence for years.
So, what do most people do instead? They fill their LinkedIn headline with fluffy outcomes like, "I help entrepreneurs 10x their revenue." But here's why that doesn't work anymore either. Imagine you're walking down the street and a stranger offers you a free iPhone. You'd immediately be suspicious, right? Wondering what the catch is. But if you fell and were in pain, and I hope you don't, by the way, and you couldn't get up, and somebody who feels trustworthy offered to help you up, you'd be way more likely to accept without hesitation. And LinkedIn profiles work exactly the same. We help people move away from a pain as opposed towards a pleasure. And so the headline becomes beautifully simple: "I help your market" (more on that in a moment) "move away from specific problem."
But I hear you. Exactly what problem should I speak to? And before we jump into that, we have to first understand your ideal client. And your ideal client is simply the person most likely to buy what you sell. And if you aren't sure, then just pick one of the two biggest groups that make up 99% of LinkedIn: either professionals in a stable job or entrepreneurs looking to grow their business. Pick one, keep it in mind, because there are important differences, and let's move on.
And before I figured out which problem to speak to, I'd use AI to write my headline. But the problem was, it would give me dozens of options, and I had no idea which would be the most important to my ideal clients. But it's actually super easy to get it working. And the best way to think about this is to picture your ideal client on a Monday morning. What do I mean? Imagine they've planned their week on a Sunday. They've gotten up on a Monday, brushed their teeth, maybe had breakfast, drop the kids at school, just like I do. And now they're heading to their office or home workspace. They're excited to tackle everything they planned to grow the business and puts them in flow. But then they open their inbox, and there it is, the Monday morning problem. Maybe a key team member just resigned, or the manager's breathing down their neck about a deadline. In that moment, they look around and they're thinking, "Who can help me with this?" And they don't have anybody. That's what we target in our headline. And you can see an example on screen here.
And by the way, if you want my eyes on your LinkedIn profile and my feedback, see if we're running one of our live events below. If we are, jump in, 'cause we don't do them often. But for now, here's another critical part of the LinkedIn profile that people miss. Because if we don't have another visual element in place, they might not even read this fantastic headline. Because here's the thing: humans make snap judgments based on appearance, whether we like it or not. Think about it. If you walked into a formal business conference and someone was standing there in just their underwear, what would happen? Not only would they look completely out of place, but people would most likely actively avoid them. No conversation, no opportunity, no chance. And LinkedIn works exactly the same way. When your profile image doesn't match the professional level you operate at and your headline, it triggers an immediate "something's off here" response in people's minds. That kills all the potential relationships before they even begin.
But how do you know if your image looks good and what to wear? Simple. Upload your image into this free app where real people will rate your likability, authority, and trustworthiness on a scale of 1 to 10 against your headline. The data doesn't lie. And when your scores hit eight or above, or roundabouts, on all of these metrics, you're ready to move on to the next part of the profile, which is another critical visual element. And that's right, it's your banner. And this quick hack will transform it into something people remember and say "wow" to instead of just scrolling past in just a few minutes. And what is it? Well, think of your banner as a highway billboard. Because just like those roadside advertisements, you have just a few seconds to capture attention, be memorable, and create a positive impression. And the great news is, there are a load of studies on billboard drive-bys, and there's an optimal number and type of words to include. And all we have to do is take the headline above and throw it in this prompt here that you will see on screen, and it will create it for you based on all this research. And that prompt's available for download below, by the way.
But that's not all that it takes to make the banner pop, because there's also another thing based on decades of research that's going to shape the impression people have of you. And this simple 30-second choice could be the difference between conveying professionalism or appearing amateur. And before learning this technique, I'd randomly choose banner templates in apps like Canva, and they kind of looked okay. But then I discovered something that major brands have been doing for years. It's the same principle that made Tiffany's iconic blue instantly recognizable and why luxury brands tend to use black and gold. And yes, the secret here is the color wheel and the science of color psychology. It shows how specific colors trigger particular emotional responses. And all you need to do is identify the primary emotion you want associated with you when people visit your profile: trust, expertise, innovation, or whatever aligns with your personal brand.
But before you do this, don't miss the next hack either, because the most memorable brands actually use two colors. So, get a primary color, and there's a prompt on screen you can use to get it, and then simply ask AI for a good accent color to pair with the main color to convey your desired emotion. Grab the codes and then paste them into one of the pre-made banner templates available below.
And now that your visuals are optimized, let's look at a LinkedIn profile section that's become way more important in the last 18 months due to recent platform updates. And before these changes, I wasted hours perfecting my about section, crafting eloquent paragraphs about my professional journey while completely overlooking what actually drives connections and sales. And yes, I'm talking about the features section. And why is this section so critical for generating leads? Well, it's one of the only places on LinkedIn where you can showcase external links and eye-catching visuals that work as your 24/7 silent salesperson.
But how many links should you include and what should they point to? Well, the optimal number visually is three. Any more, and everything looks a bit squashed, like a busy elevator. And the great news is, we also already have data on what are the best links for landing clients because HubSpot's first sales director revealed in his book that after analyzing all the website visitors they got, they discovered something crucial for making money. Successful businesses must be able to provide both a high and low commitment option. Why? Because some prospects are ready to buy and book a call immediately, while others are just beginning their research. So the magic formula is exactly this: Number one, a direct link to book a call, your high commitment option. Number two, a valuable free download, your low commitment entry point. And number three, your most impressive recommendation or highest engagement post as social proof, because this will help people feel way more comfortable with you.
And now, with all this work, you're going to be feeling way better about your profile and might even be taking a look at other profiles of potential clients and peers. But there's a tiny setting we need to change before we go any further, because nobody wants to get caught in the act of snooping, no matter how well-intentioned it was. So, make sure to change your privacy settings so people can't see when you viewed your profile. And instead, you'll just show up as anonymous. Just go to settings, privacy, flick this simple toggle, and this adjustment gives you the freedom to go where you want.
And now you're ready for the next step. And this is a huge mistake most people make on their profile, and it can be fixed in 2 minutes. And I discovered this the hard way. I get loads of leads and loads of conversations. And maybe I'd be chatting to them, but they'd always disappear right before booking a call. I couldn't figure out why until one potential client revealed with me really bluntly. He said, "Mark, everything looks really great, but honestly, what were you doing between, you know, 2011 and 2017?" When I see huge gaps like that in people's experience section, it's a huge red flag. I once hired somebody with a mystery period, and they completely let me down. And now, with all the fake profiles and claims online, I'm just really careful." My heart sank, 'cause I reluctantly explained to him those years I'd just been a low-paid English teacher in Bogatar, Colombia. But do you know what? His response really shocked me. He was like, "That's really cool. I wish I'd done something like that." So here's the thing: authenticity, and all your experiences, be it homemaker, mother, travel, whatever it is, builds more trust than a polished facade ever could.
But it won't help if people can't find your profile in the first place. So, let me show you a little-known hack that can dramatically increase your visibility far beyond LinkedIn in just 30 seconds. How? Well, LinkedIn profiles always rank highly on Google when someone searches for your name plus your expertise, but only if we change a little-known setting that's usually turned off. And this is super important because I don't know about you. Comment below if this is you. I always check people out before I buy from them. And here's how to do this: Simply go into your LinkedIn settings, click on visibility, and then edit your public profile. Toggle this switch to on to make your profile visible to everybody on the web.
But visibility alone isn't enough. You need to make sure your profile makes the right impression when they find it. But here's what most people get wrong after optimizing their profile and implementing their steps to get clients. They think they need to focus on creating tons of content or building massive traffic. Absolutely not. Let me show you what to do instead. When I implemented this strategy, I got almost 90% of people accepting my connect requests, and almost all of them naturally flowed into productive conversations. And I only discovered this after following conventional LinkedIn coaching advice that was about as useful as yelling at the wind to try and stop it blowing. Because they all told me to do a search for my ideal client profile. So, for example, it might be a founder of a medical devices business with 11 to 49 employees in my local area, but it didn't work. Think about it. Just because somebody fits your ideal client profile on paper, it doesn't mean they have anything in common with me or you, or are interested in buying the services we sell. Nobody responded. I was feeling down and wondered why I put so much work into my profile when something interesting happened. A connection request came in from somebody who'd worked at IBM, where I started my career. And the next day, another connection request came in from somebody who went to the same college as me, albeit in a different year. And I accepted them both without even thinking. Both turned into great conversations, and trust was instant due to our shared past. And that's when it hit me. The answer to quick clients and leveraging the profile was right in my own background.
So, I immediately ran a search for people who worked with me, who went to the same college with me. And here's exactly how to do this. And I do recommend giving LinkedIn Sales Navigator a go to do this. Go to the search bar here, type the company or college. Here's the critical step: Don't press enter on any of the options below, or it will bring up people who work there or study there. Now, just press enter. Filter for people who posted in the last 30 days. And now you're good to go.
And don't forget to check if we have one of our free events and download the resources and prompts below. Have a wonderful day.