If you’re like me, you’ve been seeing an extraordinary amount of online learning opportunities lately. Right now, many of us are using the lack of a social life to learn a new skill or get in some extra coaching, but there’s another opportunity you may not have thought of that could actually help grow your voiceover business even during a pandemic: improving your LinkedIn profile.
During these shelter-in-place times, I’ve had not one but two sessions on a Saturday with two new clients who reached out to me through LinkedIn. One person contacted me directly because of a video I posted about my home studio set up and the other person responded to a message I had sent him in the past. The point is, now more than ever, professionals are becoming increasingly active on LinkedIn. That’s great news for you if you are solidly in the active user category.
But let’s be honest, when’s the last time you posted on LinkedIn? Is your info even current?
If you know your LinkedIn profile could use a little love, here are some tips to help you spice things up again.
1. Update your profile and background photos.
Photos can become outdated as the years go by. Hopefully, it hasn’t been too long since your last headshot session and you’ve got some current ones on hand. For your profile photo, you’ll need a close-up headshot where you’re looking straight into the camera and smiling so you appear approachable. For your background photo, you could incorporate a second photo of you with a different style, your logo, a skyline of your city, or plenty of other options. Feel free to get creative here!
6 Ways Voice Actors Can Write a Stellar LinkedIn Bio 2. Update your contact info.
Is your email address even current? Do you have your voiceover website listed in your contact information and in the About and Experience sections of your profile? If not, you’re missing opportunities for clients to get in touch with possible voiceover opportunities.
3. Add some fresh work examples.
Did you know you can post your work examples under both the About section and the Experience section? Take a quick scan over what you’ve got listed and make sure they are both current, as in came out within the last 3–6 months, and that they are an accurate representation of your work. If you’re not sure how to find work examples, just scan through your recent bookings to see if you can find them on iSpot, Vimeo, YouTube, or the end client’s website. If they’re public-facing, I typically consider them fine to share but it doesn’t hurt to get explicit permission if you want to make sure sharing is OK.
4. Check to see when you posted last.
To do this, scroll down to your Activity section and click “Posts.” If your last post was a month ago or more, it’s definitely time to post again. Ideally, posting three times a week should be your goal, but it’s OK to start with once a week.
A VO Pro on How to Use Linkedin to Market Yourself 5. Get some current recommendations.
This step takes a slice of courage, but you can do it! Reach out to a client that you’ve worked with in the past and let them know you’re in the process of updating your LinkedIn profile. Let them know how much their valuable feedback would help and invite them to write a quick recommendation. All you have to do is visit that person’s profile and click “Ask for a recommendation.”
Follow these five easy steps and you can avoid letting your LinkedIn profile become the digital equivalent of a mullet!
Looking for remote work? Backstage has got you covered! Click here for auditions you can do from home!
The views expressed in this article are solely that of the individual(s) providing them,
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
