Portia Obeng is a social media strategist with over 10 years of experience in social media strategy and content management. Her current focus is supporting individuals and organizations in their use of LinkedIn and Instagram. Our conversation focuses on how anyone, but especially job seekers can use LinkedIn to build their person brand. This is episode complements last season's conversation with Jeremy Schifeling about his book Linked, and using LinkedIn for job search.
We talk about:
- Why you should pay attention to LinkedIn even if you are happy with the job you're in, and why companies should want their employees to be active on LinkedIn.
- How to get started with interacting and making content on LinkedIn from:
- Making comments that add value on other people's posts.
- Commenting on your own company's posts
- Writing LinkedIn articles
- Making images with Canva both for posts and for your profile banner image
Portia's top advice for updating your profile:
- Get a good profile photo and make sure it is set to visible to all people
- If you need a new photo, book a photo shoot with Shoott, or AirBNB Experience, or get a friend to help out. Be sure to smile. Don't be afraid to be bold and show your personality. Natural (and indirect) light is your friend. You can read an article I wrote with four tips for taking a LinkedIn Profile Photo.
- Update your headline and use key words for the role you want.
- Her formula for the about section: What you do, how you do it, and why you're so good at it. Highlight your results.
- Update your LinkedIn Banners with and image made on Canva. The banner is a free billboard to advertise your value proposition
We also talk about getting recommendation from colleagues or clients for your LinkedIn Profile.
Portia recommended the Brown Ambition Podcast and an older show called Joblogues, and the following influencers on LinkedIn
You can find and follow Portia on LinkedIn.
