The platform that got me most of my gigs is 🥁 drumroll…Linkedin 👈 feel free to check out my profile and follow me.

It doesn’t have to be perfect

My Linkedin profile is far from perfect. It’s got an outdated image, I’ve not added any client projects in 2 years and some job experiences aren’t relevant for what I’m looking for. So don’t use my profile as a ‘best case’ example because there’s tons to improve. BUT it proofs that you don’t need a perfect profile to get clients.

I can’t guarantee that you show up on Linkedin’s search result. But one thing I can help you with is to increase the conversion of those who do land on your profile to consider working with you.

How to improve your Linkedin profile

There’s many ways you can improve your Linkedin page. Disclaimer: I’m not a Linkedin expert, but I’ve attended some webinars and coaching calls with Linkedin experts who hosted them. This is some advice I took from them:

1. Add your freelance services
2. Add a clear description
3. Update your banner image

Simple improvements for your Linkedin profile

Again, don’t try to make it perfect. But if you do one of the following tasks, that should help convince more potential clients to turn into actual clients.

Add your services

Linkedin allows you to add your services. You can even add pricing if you want to. If you don’t know yet how to price yourself, we’ll cover that in this blog post.

There are several services you can choose from on Linkedin. Make it clear to potential clients that you do have the skills and offer the services they’re after.

Add a description

When someone sees your profile, you need to make clear what you offer, who you’re doing it for and how you do it. You might have seen this example sentence before. Feel free to be more creative, but if you don’t have a description (or a very bland one like mine) try something like this:

{Your job title} | I help {target audience} get {result} by {your services}

👉 For example:

Freelance UX Designer | I help start ups get more sales by designing delightful user experiences.

Freelance Translator | I help marketing agencies reach a broader audience by translating their social media content into German

Add a banner

An image says more than 1000s words. So use the space to make it clear to your audience what it is you offer or what you want them to do.

In the examples below, you see clear call to actions: “Check the link under my banner” or “Ring my bell”

Creating an image can be tricky if you’re not a designer. Keep in mind the space that is used for the profile image and how it might display on a mobile device.

You can also use the space to make it clear what you’re doing. On my profile, you see some UI work I’ve done, so people know instantly I offer UI as well, not just UX. That project is 4+ years old, and I’ve used Pablo Stanley’s Humaaans illustrations which improve the UI massively. Looking at it now, I should probably update it with some of my more recent UX work where I didn’t use open source graphics 😅

Anyway, use that space to get a clearer message to potential clients about what you’re doing.

Why does it matter?

Linkedin is one of the biggest platforms when it comes to job search. And not just for permanent jobs but also for freelance gigs.

Many recruiters spent most of their time on Linkedin. So make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to convert those profile visitors into freelance clients.

If you liked those Linkedin profile examples, just click on the image to get to their profiles to do more research. Also, you can listen to Angelica’s podcast episode on the Freelance Blueprint here. And Kati Harris offers a free training for Linkedin on her profile.

Done is better than perfect

Don’t worry about having the perfect Linkedin profile. Just do something small. Improve your summary. Add some skills to your profile. Connect with people you know or follow industry leaders in your niche.

You can edit anything on your profile so if it’s not great, you can always come back and change it later.

👩🏻‍💻 Free Guide

The exercise described in this blog article is one step of my free guide for people who want to create a work life that works for them through freelancing.

Get the guide for free.