Episode 206

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Published on:

28th Apr 2018

Time To Refresh Your Profile?

Welcome to episode 206. As the new desktop profile design continues to roll-out to many, I thought it would make sense to cover profiles with you in this episode.

Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week


LinkedIn’s AutoFill plugin could leak user data, secret fix failed


Facebook faces exodus as businesses call time


Facebook's new slogan: 'If you think we're not good for your business, leave'


Always Customise Your LinkedIn Invitation? Better not?


LinkedIn Features


The new mobile ‘Find Nearby’ seems to be broken! The settings have disappeared which renders it useless!


Post of the Week


Following on from last weeks episode on content marketing I thought I would highlight this excellent post from John Espirian. Great advice…and great subtitles too!


Refresh Your Profile


With the new profile design rolling out to many of you I thought it would be a good time to make some changes to your profile.


As a starting point I posted this video this week showing a side by side comparison You might find Andy Foote’s article on the reasons behind the new profile design interesting


A Scientific Explanation Of The NEW LinkedIn Profile


Some of you will have to change your background image because of the new position of the profile picture. It is unlikely to change on mobile where it is still centred. This is not a massive issue as the background image is less important on mobile, but worth considering.


The easiest way to create a background image is to find a suitable free image on Pixabay and upload it to Canva and then create a ‘custom dimension’ of 1584x396 px


It may also be a good time to invest in a new, professionally taken headshot image. This is no longer an expensive thing to do and you should easily be able to find a good local headshot photographer on LinkedIn, just type the following into the searcher at the top of the page; headshot AND title:photographer then select ‘people’ and add your location


Review your headline : Is there clarity to your prospects? Are you using your 120 characters wisely?


Company Logo; The most recently commenced position will be the one that shows a logo at the top of your new profile. Make sure that if you have several concurrent positions that the most important one is at the top (you can move them by dragging the 4 horizontal lines)


Summary: This has increased from 2 to 3 lines (roughly 300 characters) now. A good summary should start with your contact details (only 45 characters are seen on mobile) and the rest should provide an enticing ‘teaser’ to encourage the viewer to click on the now more prominent ‘show more’


Media: As there are now 6 thumbnails that actually show in the preview, it may be a good time to review which media you are using and perhaps designing them so that the thumbnails (which are much smaller) show what the media is.


Skills: If you are into skills (I’m really not!) then you might want to use the new format as an excuse to review what you show (see Greg Coopers post above)

Mentioned in this episode:

This show was created by the original host of the show, Mark Williams.

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About the Podcast

Informed: the podcast for LinkedIn® users
A podcast for anyone interested in LinkedIn® best practice
"Informed" is for you if you'd like to understand more about how LinkedIn works so that you can be an effective user of the platform.

It's hard to know whom to believe with so many self-appointed gurus out there telling you the latest hacks for going viral and earning 7-figure deals. And even LinkedIn's own publications often don't speak to the reality of using the platform.

But for those who see past superficial promises and sanitised reports, this podcast provides evidence and thoughtful opinion. With a track record of more than 10 years of sensible, no-nonsense advice about honest best practice for LinkedIn, Informed is a trusted source of insight by many thousands of regular listeners.

The show was created by Mark Williams, who's affectionately known as "Mr LinkedIn". Mark retired in late 2025 and handed over the reins of the show to John Espirian, the relentlessly helpful® LinkedIn nerd. John is a LinkedIn trainer and consultant, the founder of the Espresso+ community, the creator of the UpLift Live conference (the UK's original event dedicated to LinkedIn best practice), and the author of the personal branding handbook Content DNA.

John's reputation is for getting to the point and for not being a salesy douche canoe, so you can expect short, sharp episodes with zero ads or sponsored slots. This also is NOT an interview show, so if you've read this far then please don't pitch yourself for a guest appearance. However, you're welcome to get in touch if you have a LinkedIn question you'd like John to cover on the show. (To do that, search for the "Informed podcast" company page on LinkedIn and send a message.)

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About your host

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John Espirian

Relentlessly helpful® LinkedIn® nerd, trainer and consultant who specialises in LinkedIn best practice for individuals, small businesses and corporates. I wrote the personal branding handbook Content DNA, I founded the Espresso+ online community for small business owners and I'm the creator of the UK's original independent conference on LinkedIn best practice, UpLift Live.