If you’ve been using social media for any period of time you’ve heard about LinkedIn. Chances are you’ve put up a profile hoping to attract business.

Whether or not you’re getting the most out of LinkedIn may be open for discussion. The same holds true for virtually any social network. You may have an account and a profile, but are you getting the most out of your efforts?

Each social network has specific strategies you must implement in order to optimize what you are doing. With LinkedIn your profile plays a big role as to whether or not you are easy to find beyond someone simply imputing your name. Ideally when someone inputs keywords that are specific to what you do your profile is near (or at) the top.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for most people listed on LinkedIn. Only a fraction of active members are found based on keyword searches. Why? Because most experts are incredibly ambiguous in how they describe themselves, who their market is and what their background is.

Expertise
Although there are some profiles that are very detailed and specific to an area of expertise there are countless more that are not.

The one commonality in the majority of the profiles is an ambiguous identification of what the person does and who their target market is.

For example, in the coaching industry there are life coaches, business coaches, executive coaches, marketing consultant, etc. Although some may think this is enough of an identifier to attract the right type of client… it's not.

The question that begs to be asked is, “What kind of Life Coach and for whom?” “Who are you a marketing consultant for? What industry and type of client?”

A life coach for recently divorced professional women is very different than a life coach for professional athletes. A marketing consultant for the equestrian industry is very different than one for the entertainment industry.

Challenges
Ask most coaches and consultants what their major challenge in business is and they will likely answer, “Attracting enough of the right kind of clients.” The right kind of clients would be those you are a great match for and they are a great match for your expertise.

The solution… be clear on who you are and who your ideal client is.

To attract more than enough business you have to be much more specific about who you are and what makes you an expert.

Ambiguity won't work. In the past it might have, but today there are far too many coaches and consultants for a client to choose from. This means the more specific you are the better.

Some may believe that by being too specific they are eliminating business. Actually, you are. But it's likely the business that is a better fit for someone else rather than you.

When you are viewed as an expert for a specific market (or markets) you actually have an easier time attracting an abundance of clients for your practice/business AND you will attract more of the types of clients you want to work with.

If your business is not where you want it to be start with the basics:

• Who am I? What is my expertise? What is unique about what I do?
• Who do I enjoy working with? Who am I qualified to work with? Who do I want to work with?

Consider this:

• Is your profile clear and specific?
• Will you stand out from the thousands of others who might be vying for the same business you are?
• Will potential clients have an easy time finding you?

If you answered NO to the “consider this” questions rework your profile as soon as possible. To see what’s working for other experts do a profile search with the keywords your potential clients would use to find someone with your expertise.

Notice which experts rise to the top of a search. Review their profile. How have they positioned their expertise AND how does the description of the type of clients they work with read?

Reworking your profile is not something that should be put on the “someday I will do it” list. Do it immediately. After all, don’t you want to begin attracting more business immediately?

Here's a Solution
Because I know how essential doing this is to the success of one's business I have put together a FREE video series called – How to Build a Successful Coaching and  Consulting Business.

To learn more about defining your market and expertise, creating multiple streams of revenue, effectively marketing your business, positioning your expertise, having the right mindset and have a great vision for your business CLICK HERE to access the first in this free series.

What is your experience with clearly defining your market? Share your thoughts below.