Last week a new "Volunteer Experience & Causes" functionality was created so a new section can be added to each personal profile.
Why This Is Important
Doing good deeds humanizes advisors who sometimes can come across as too professional. It also makes a connection with high-net-worth individuals that tend to be more philanthropic than the rest of the country.
A common problem has been that firms that do a solid amount of charity work do not do a good job of leveraging it. Most often that is because those that help charities for the right reasons do not do it for the exposure. Thus, they do not want to come across as bragging, and that hesitation makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, clients want to know information about the charitable involvement of an advisor they might choose to or currently work with, as it strengthens the connection and it adds to the feeling of trust.
By taking the time to fill in your profile with charity-related information, contacts within your network will see an update in their weekly LinkedIn updates email. Also, a LinkedIn profile is now something many prospects review before making a phone call, sending an email or making an office visit. Therefore, this newly added information will help make a good first impression, setting you apart from the competition.
LinkedIn's New Functionality
Now there is a section to formally list volunteer experiences, categories of causes that you care about and organizations you support. To get started after logging in, click "profile' at the top of LinkedIn. Then look underneath your listed websites and public profile address and click "add section." On the left click "volunteer experience & causes" followed by "add to profile." The following entry of fields is straightforward. To see an example of how this new feature looks, visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/mwbyrnesjr
Something All Advisors Should Do
For advisors that cannot take advantage of this new feature, because they do not have volunteer experiences to show, make time to give back to a cause and make an impact in your local community. You will find your involvement will be rewarding for many reasons beyond trying to get exposure from LinkedIn's 120+ million members.
Mike Byrnes founded Byrnes Consulting to provide consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. His expertise is in business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness, along with several other areas. Read more at www.byrnesconsulting.com.