A long time ago, in a company far far away …
Well, without wishing to spoil a good story, scarily it was actually last month.
I was speaking to a company about using LinkedIn as a business development tool. No surprise there.
I’d mapped out a training plan for them and, as is my preference, the 1st session included how they presented themselves on the site – their Professional branding – particularly the sales team.
That’s all covered I was reassured.
Super! But I thought I’d check anyway.
First one was okay, a couple of pieces missing but generally not too bad.
The second one looked strangely familiar.
As did the third and the fourth.
By the time I got to the twelfth it was abundantly clear that all they had done was cut & paste the same corporate piece into the About, Headline and the Work Experience sections.
The photo & name was the only difference.
Now I’m a big fan of branding but the keywords for me are:
✅ Consistency
✅ Coordination
It’s critical there is also personality in the profile.
The client deals with a person – the person who represents the company. Therefore by all means get the message right, give a template to work from but do allow the personality to come through as well.
If not, you’re basically telling your customers that you are represented by a group of stormtroopers.
And call me picky but I’m not sure that’s in anyone’s interest.
