LinkedIn Starter Guide

1. Profile Optimization
Your LinkedIn profile is the first impression people will have of you — and in many
cases, it's the only one. Think of it as your personal homepage: it should
communicate who you are, what you do, and why someone should trust or connect
with you. Every element, from your photo and banner to your headline and About
section, plays a part in how you're perceived. A well-optimized profile doesn't just
inform — it builds credibility, sparks curiosity, and opens the door to meaningful
conversations. (See the annex for a visual summary.)

Here's what to optimize:

Profile Photo
A strong profile photo builds instant trust and makes your first impression more
human and approachable.
• Use a high-quality, close-up photo with a neutral background.
• Avoid sunglasses, heavy filters, or logos.
• Smile and look approachable — you are your brand.

Do

Don’t
Banner
Your banner is visual real estate — use it to instantly communicate your brand,
values, or promise. It should reinforce who you help and how, even before someone
reads your headline.

• When someone visits your profile, they should instantly think: “Following this
person will be valuable for me.” Ask yourself: How will you deliver that value?
What can people expect to gain from your content?
• You can include a sentence that summarizes your value proposition or your
specialty.
• Keep it clean, readable on mobile, and aligned with your personal brand colours.
• Don’t overload the banner with too many elements.
• Use Canva or Figma to design a banner
• Many people use recognizable logos to convey authority and build credibility.
They act as visual proof of experience, trust, and professional validation.
• You can use an image only, but it has to convey something
Banner examples
Headline
Your headline should do more than just state your job title — it should
communicate value.

Here are different ways to structure it:

• Clearly state what you do and the value you bring

Highlight your services, niche, or unique approach
Mention achievements, certifications, or notable milestones
Include a concise value-driven promise, such as:
I help [target audience] achieve [desired outcome] without [common frustration],
using [your method]
Example: I help professionals over 35 relaunch their careers with clarity, without
relying on outdated job portals.

• Alternative headline formulas:

• [Job Title] + [Who You Help] + [How You Help Them]
• [Value You Provide] + [To Whom] + [Key Skills or Differentiators]
• [Your Role] + [Impact or Results] + [Credentials or Notable Experience]
About section
Your “about” section isn’t just a biography. It’s a chance to build connection,
credibility, and clarity. It should read like a short story someone wants to finish, not
a list of roles.

Structure your narrative with these key elements:

• Start with a hook. Begin with a relatable personal moment, challenge,
transformation, or insight that captures attention.
• Who you are and why you do what you do. Share your personal “why”. What led
you to this path? What values or life events shaped your mission?
• Your current mission and value. Explain clearly what you offer today. What
problems do you solve? Who do you help? What makes your approach different?
• Include relevant keywords. Naturally weave in terms like life coach, career
transformation, emotional intelligence, coaching for women, and so on to
support visibility through LinkedIn search.
• End with a call to action. Close with a simple invitation like: “If you're navigating
a career or life transition and want clarity and confidence, let’s connect.”

Optional structure – PAS (problem, agitate, solution):

• Start by identifying a common challenge your audience faces.
• Agitate it. Show why it matters and what it leads to if ignored.
• Offer your solution. Introduce your approach and how it helps.
Example:
Many professionals reach a point where their career looks fine on paper, but
feels empty in reality. They try to push through, but end up burning out or losing
clarity. That’s where I come in — helping people reconnect with purpose and
design a path that actually feels like theirs.
• Choose the structure that best fits your voice. The most important thing is to
keep it personal, relevant, and centred on transformation.
Featured Section & Experience
Use the featured section to showcase your most relevant and high-impact content.
This is where visitors can quickly see what you're about — so make it count. You can
include top-performing posts, interviews, lead magnets, case studies, your Calendly
calendar, or a direct link to your website.

In your experience section, don’t just describe what you did — highlight the
transformation you created. For example: “Helped 15 executives triple clarity and
confidence through my Clarity Method.” This communicates both your credibility
and your value.

Use short paragraphs, blank spaces, and bullet points when appropriate to make
your experience easy to read. A clean structure makes your profile more
approachable and helps your key messages stand out.
Recommendations
Recommendations on LinkedIn are a powerful way to build credibility and trust.
They provide social proof that reinforces your professional story and your impact.
Reach out to two or three past clients, colleagues, or collaborators and ask for a
short recommendation.

Encourage them to highlight three key areas: why they chose to work with you,
what the process was like, and the results they experienced. A few genuine
sentences about your impact can go a long way in helping others feel confident
about connecting with or hiring you.
2. Positioning
Your brand should clearly answer three things: What do you solve, for whom, and
how?

• Choose one core niche that’s specific and relatable.

Example: Coaches for mid-career professionals facing burnout.
• Define both the emotional and strategic pain points of your audience.
Who is your buyer persona, and what are they struggling with?
• Decide on three positioning pillars that represent your expertise.
Example: Career reinvention, mindset development, and practical strategy.
• Use these pillars to guide around 90% of your content, so your audience
knows what to expect from you and why it matters to them.
3. Build a strategic network
Growing your visibility on LinkedIn isn’t just about publishing content — it’s about
building meaningful, mutually valuable relationships. The quality of your network
shapes the quality of your opportunities. Focus on connecting with the right people
consistently, not collecting random contacts. Start small, start intentionally — and
grow with strategy.

Start by targeting three types of people:

• Mentors — thought leaders, experts, or authors in your niche
• Colleagues — other professionals in your industry or adjacent sectors
• Clients — your Ideal Client Profile (ICP): people who could hire, recommend,
or amplify your work

Start by identifying at least 10 people in each group.

How to find them:

• Use keyword searches like “career coach”, “HR director”, “burnout recovery”
• Check who’s commenting on relevant creators’ posts
• Explore mutual connections and niche-specific hashtags
• Look at speakers or participants in webinars, Lives, or events
• Review LinkedIn collaborative articles and top voices

Tips for connecting:

• Don’t send generic invites — write personalized messages referencing their
content, shared interests, or a meaningful compliment
• Example: “Hi Laura, I loved your post on leadership transitions. I coach
professionals navigating similar changes and would love to connect.”

Once connected, nurture the relationship:

• Leave thoughtful comments on their posts
• Wait a day before messaging — use something real (like a recent post or
comment) as a natural reason to start a conversation
• Keep it short, specific, and human — adapt to their tone
• After a few messages, if you sense chemistry, propose a short 10–15 minute
call to explore synergies
Weekly networking framework (recommended):
• Monday: send 5–10 personalized connection requests
• Tuesday: initiate 2–3 conversations based on recent interactions
• Wednesday: connect with peers or potential collaborators
• Thursday: deepen existing conversations or re-engage
• Friday: propose 1 networking call if there’s alignment

Quality matters more than speed.

Take time to personalize, track progress (use Excel or Notion), and focus on people
with whom you feel real potential for collaboration, learning, or mutual support.
4. Start Creating Valuable Content
Your content is how people get to know you, trust you, and eventually reach out to
work with you. Focus on sharing posts that connect emotionally, teach something
useful, or reveal how you think.

• Ask yourself before posting: would someone pay five dollars to read this?
• Be authentic — don’t try to imitate others. Your voice is your advantage.
• Stick to one idea per post. One post should deliver one topic, with one clear
angle, and one memorable takeaway.

Weekly Content Plan (starter)

• 1x Story post (personal insight, transformation, behind-the-scenes)
• 1x Educational post (tips, frameworks, how-to)
• 1x Opinion post (comment on trend or share lessons from a session)

Post structure
• Hook: Grab attention in the first 2 lines.
• Problem: Relatable challenge your audience faces.
• Story: Tell your own experience or a client story.
• Solution: Your perspective, method, or a practical takeaway.
• Call to action: Invite comments, shares or questions.

3 questions to ask before hitting publish:

1. Is this helpful to my audience?

2. Is what I've written clear or confusing? (one idea per post)
3. Is this helping me grow my brand's authority?

Examples of hooks
• “I almost quit coaching 2 years ago. Here’s what stopped me.”
• “No one tells you this when you leave corporate at 45…”
• “Want to attract clients without cold DMs? Start here.”
Commenting as a strategy

• Quality: Never comment just for the author

Always comment for everyone reading the post.
Instead of writing “Great post”, add value with something like “In my
experience, this works well when...”.
• Quantity: Don't leave only one comment
In addition to your main comment, add two or three replies to other people’s
comments.
Pro tip: Scroll through the comment section to find Ideal Client Profiles
(ICPs) and reply to their contributions.
Bonus: Keep replies natural and relevant to the discussion.
• Time management: Don't comment sporadically
Create a daily list of people you want to engage with.
Include your ICPs, peers, influencers, and competitors.
Bonus: Take note of when they usually post to engage more effectively.
• Time blocking: Comment in focused sprints
Set aside blocks of 10 to 15 minutes to focus exclusively on commenting.
Prioritize engaging at times when your key connections are likely to be
active.
Bonus: When someone new replies to your comment, consider following up
with a message.
• Authority building: repurpose posts into comments
Search by keywords to find posts where your insights are relevant.
Use ideas from past posts as mini-commentaries that add high value.
Bonus: Consider turning strong comments into full posts later.
• Nurturing: Use pinned comments under your own posts
Add a comment to your own post that includes a question, a bonus insight, or
a resource.
These self-comments help reinforce your message and add depth to your
content.
Bonus: Use formatting like spacing or headings to highlight the pinned
comment.
• Consistency: Never post and disappear
Be present and available to reply after publishing your content.
Engagement builds trust and encourages ongoing interaction.
Bonus: Schedule post-publication engagement time into your calendar to
maintain consistency.
5. Quick Tips
• Put external links in the comments, not the post.
• Ask a question to invite engagement.
• Avoid bold text formatting (not supported).
• Respond to comments quickly to boost reach.
• Stay active for 15–30 minutes after publishing.
• Avoid excessive emojis.
• Short native videos (15s) are favoured.
• Video and carrousels currently the best-performing format.
• More reading time = more visibility (hook + spacing = key).
• When teaching, start posts with 'How I…' instead of 'How to…'
• Post from your expertise — LinkedIn boosts professional topics.
• Cover themes aligned with LinkedIn’s priorities (leadership, work, career, soft
skills).
• Keep a supportive network nearby — comments from loyal followers help.
• Post during business hours, 10 am seems to be a good time
• Ideally, use one hashtag (your keyword) per post and no more than 3
6. Trends
1. Video
• Short personal videos perform well
• Don’t forget to include subtitles
• Lives and interviews (e.g. mini client Q&As, expert chats) help establish
thought leadership.

2. Human over hype

• Emotional authenticity is trending. Posts about personal growth, behind-the-
scenes, and real challenges outperform overly polished ones.

3. Engage to grow
• Commenting thoughtfully on others' posts (especially thought leaders and
ideal clients) is as important as posting.

5. Newsletter & articles

• Starting a LinkedIn Newsletter is a great way to build an audience.

6. LinkedIn SEO
• Sprinkle your keyword (life coach for example) naturally in the About,
Experience, and Skills sections
• Use your keyword as a hashtag in your posts
7. Annex