Why Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for CRE?

These five steps to optimize your LinkedIn Profile can help you organize your LinkedIn in an appealing and informative way.   As a commercial real estate professional, being found is key to your success. Optimizing your LinkedIn profile can help you be found when a prospective client is looking for a commercial real estate expert in the area. Having an up-to-date and optimized profile validates your work and reputation and could be that final nudge for the client calling you up...instead of the other guys.

1. Complete Your Profile

Give the most complete and up-to-date view of your profile by first completing your LinkedIn profile. Include your current employer, past jobs and education. For the picture, use a recent professional head shot as other LinkedIn users can be wary of "fake profiles" and impersonators. Not having a picture could cast you as suspicious. Having a completed profile always rank better in LinkedIn searches making you easier to find and making you more accessible when prospective clients are searching for a commercial real estate professional. 

2. Use Industry Keywords

As you complete your LinkedIn profile, incorporate commercial real estate keywords in your copy. This will help separate your profile from other industries. Beyond that, you will also want to work in keywords and phrases that are specific to your specialty within commercial real estate, like:

• Industrial 
  
• Office 
• Retail 
• Multifamily
• Tenant Representative
• Commercial Real Estate Investment
• Healthcare Development
• Property Management

These keywords will help you be found for the right searches when people are looking within the industry and will help brand you as an expert within your sector. However, be sure to naturally work these keywords in to your copy. You don't want your profile to be saturated with the same phrases and you don't want to sound like a choppy robot either. 

3. Get Meaningful Recommendations

Prospective clients should be looking over your client references when considering you, as we mentioned in our past post on hiring a CRE broker. Having a collection of meaningful recommendations validates your experience on your LinkedIn profile and adds legitimacy to your portfolio. Ask for recommendations from past clients who you had a good relationship with. You can ask for recommendations via a message over LinkedIn, but it's always a good idea to follow this up with a personal call and/or email. Fake recommendations are easy to see through so make sure that the person who is endorsing your work is legitimate and also has a good reputation. 

4. Grow Your Network 

LinkedIn favors puling up profile in searches of those with larger networks. When working on your LinkedIn profile, take the time to reach out to past colleagues, clients, associates from networking events to connect over LinkedIn. Include a personal note on each invitation to remind them how you are connected. After this, you can start also reaching out to new people with related interests and industries to grow your network and connections. Make sure that all of your connections are meaningful in someway and don't accept every invitation to connect. Make sure that you have some connection, whether it be industry or an in-person relationship. 

5. Join and Participate in Groups

Another excellent way to expand your network and find others in your area or industry are LinkedIn Groups. You can use the top right search bar in LinkedIn to search for commercial real estate groups and find groups that strike your business interest. Some good ones for CRE are:

• CCIM - Certified Commercial Investment Members
• Costar Group - Commercial Real Estate Industry Forum
• The Real Estate Networking Group - Commercial Real Estate Investment, Development and Property Management 
• Block Real Estate Services

Posting articles and starting discussions in these groups are not only great ways to get noticed, but also a great way to find relevant knowledge about what is going on in the world of commercial real estate. 

Whether you're on the job hunt or secure in the firm you are with, it is always a good idea to keep your LinkedIn up to date with these tips. Plus, LinkedIn is an excellent search tool for prospective clients to find you. You never know who could be searching for you on LinkedIn, so keep it looking the best it can be!

Contributing Author:

Paige Salveter
Director of Marketing and Communications
Block Real Estate Services
LinkedIn