Before social media, when we needed to find a specialist for a specific issue, our best option was to ask around. "Hey Joe, do you know a good chiropractor? My back is killing me!" If Joe didn't have any recommendations, we would ask the next person, and the next, until we found a relevant referral.
Today, we have a much better system, but we don't take full advantage of it.
Try this exercise: log in to your LinkedIn account and search for yourself. No, I don't mean in some existential way. I mean literally type the keywords your prospect might use to describe the kind of problem you solve (e.g., bankruptcy lawyer, Los Angeles area). Take a look at the top hits and notice how their keywords are part of their description. Also notice that they stay away from jargon on their profile page (because no one searches for "insolvency").
We live in the era of the search engine. It's the first place we go to find the things we want. And in the business world, the most commonly used search engine is LinkedIn. LinkedIn prioritizes results based on your network of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Tier connections. So, make sure you are connected to all of the people in your network and make sure that your profile description is aligned with the language your prospective clients use to describe their problems.
Authored by David Ackert