Best practices for promotional models on LinkedIn.

There are a few things your LinkedIn model profile must include if you are a promotional model or brand ambassador. In this article, I’ll explain how to update key sections of your LinkedIn profile and why that matters. The key areas of your LinkedIn profile we will look at include:

• A professional profile picture.
• A smart and concise headline.
• A brief and informative professional summary.
• An overview of your promotional modeling experience, including photos.

As a promotional model or brand ambassador, you may not have given LinkedIn a second thought. The reality is, potential promo modeling clients and event staffing agencies are on LinkedIn. LinkedIn currently boasts more than 467 million users… Are you one of them? As a promotional model or brand ambassador, you are offering a professional service. Therefore, you should present yourself as a professional and experienced Brand Ambassador that is available for bookings.

Businesses use LinkedIn as their “search engine” when seeking to hire talent. What you may not know is that your LinkedIn profile can also be listed in search engine results like Google and Yahoo as well!  So it’s not just about being on LinkedIn.  It’s about giving your potential clients and agencies yet another way to find you!

Think of your LinkedIn profile as your promotional modeling resume. It’s the perfect place to showcase your experience and keep it updated with recent modeling gigs.

So what are the key things you need to know about your LinkedIn profile that really matter?  Allow me to highlight some best practices promotional models should follow to keep their profiles current and inviting to future clients.

First impressions matter, so use your best head shot as your profile picture.

Include a professional profile picture.

You are a model. Your prospective clients want to know what you look like. Common sense right? You’d think so… but I was floored by the number of models on LinkedIn who had “promotional model” or some variation of that in their headline, yet they did not have a profile picture.

I’ll say it again… You are a model. If I’m looking to hire a model to help me at an upcoming trade show, expo or other brand related events, which of these profiles do you think I’m more likely to click on?

And here’s your bonus tip: Your profile picture should be a head shot or something professional. Not a picture of you doing shots or hanging out with friends.

Capture them with your profile headline!

Your headline should explain what you do and who you help. That’s it. Plain and simple. Your LinkedIn profile headline, combined with your picture, are the two most important pieces of your profile. If you don’t grab someone’s attention you’ve lost your opportunity.  It’s not a place for fluff or buzz words. You are a promotional model and an experienced product sampler. This is not a place to be whimsical or cutesy. Be professional, and get to the point.

Which of these two LinkedIn profiles has a more professional and inviting headline?

And your bonus tip: For the love of Pete people: use proper grammar, proper English, and proper punctuation or capitalization. Avoid slang at all costs.

A short summary of your modeling experience ties it all together!

Your summary is a short paragraph that displays just below your profile picture and headline. It connects all the dots for your profile viewers. This is the area where you can showcase a little bit of your personality. The primary goal here is to expand on your professional experience, but not include your full resume.  (That’s for the “Experience” section of your profile.) If someone viewing your profile in LinkedIn Search results likes your profile picture and headline, they’ll likely click on your profile to view more.  Your summary is the very next thing they will see.  It’s your elevator pitch – your 30 seconds to shine. If you have a great summary, your future clients will explore more of your LinkedIn Profile.

This is what your published summary will look like:

Bonus Tip:  Include a beautiful cover photo to add polish to your profile. Mine showcases a beautiful bridge that is well known in the city where I live.

Showcase your modeling experience with photos.

This is a no-brainer. Let your potential clients see you in action! The Experience section is your promo modeling resume. When you’ve successfully wrapped up an event modeling gig, add it to your Experience and include a great photo from that event! Try to get great photos of yourself at every event you work as a model or brand ambassador with LinkedIn in mind.

To add recent promo modeling experience, click the little “+” at the right side of the Experience section header and fill in all the fields (shown below). Write a description of the event that includes your responsibility, and how the event went (engagement rate, impressions, etc.).  Again, use proper English and punctuation, avoiding slang. Use the “Upload” button to add a photo. Here’s an example of what adding your modeling experience should look like.

This is what your promotional modeling experience will look like once you’ve published it to your LinkedIn model profile.

What else should I be doing on LinkedIn as a promo model?

It is always a good idea to keep your profile up-to-date on LinkedIn. Keeping your resume current shows prospective clients that you are active and available to work.  Here are a few things you might do to keep your profile fresh:

• Ask for Recommendations:  If you worked a trade show or brand event that was awesome, strike while the iron is hot and ask the agency for a recommendation on LinkedIn.  These recommendations are GOLD.
• Add Skills to your profile and ask for endorsements from people who know you.
• Continue to add Experience as it happens to show that you are actively working.
• If you blog or have other social networks where you publish content, share it as a status update on LinkedIn, just like you would on Facebook.