Professional Branding Advice – What To Do on LinkedIn When You Have Multiple Businesses

Professional branding can be confusing on LinkedIn, especially if you have more than one company, business, or area of expertise. Viveka von Rosen, CVO of Vengreso, says that she is regularly asked what to do when you have more than one company, business, or area of expertise. That question is usually followed by, “Should I create more than one profile on LinkedIn?”

Her answer? A resounding NO!

Multiple profiles on LinkedIn can confuse your network, AND it goes against LinkedIn’s End User Agreement – so one of your profiles will face the chance of getting restricted and shut down.

Watch this video or keep reading to discover the solution to listing more than one position on your LinkedIn Profile.

Professional Branding on LinkedIn

Viveka says, “Building up the commonalities helps to make your message clearer.” Likely your businesses have something in common. Maybe they’re not in the same industry but think about the people you serve, what you offer, the skillsets you use, etc. Does anything match up?

Viveka recommends customizing these four areas of your LinkedIn Profile to boost your professional branding:

1. Background image – Consider including multiple logos or highlighting your skillset. You also may want to include a phone number. To address all of your businesses, create a new number using Google Voice.
2. LinkedIn headline – Leave out your title and company in your headlines and showcase your skillset instead.
3. Summary – You have 2,000 characters to tell your story. Think about the similarities in your different roles and find a way to tie everything together to create a clear message. Don’t forget to add a few relevant links to your Media section!
4. Experience – Include the various companies you own or work for here and move them around as you see fit. Viveka says, “The first experience section should be the one you’re making the most money in.” Viveka holds multiple positions, companies, and gigs. Check out her profile to see how she manages her different experience sections from her position at Vengreso to speaking, blogging, etc.

As a multi-faceted professional you have a few options when it comes to branding yourself on LinkedIn. Make it easy for your prospects and profile readers to understand your professional brand by drawing the connections between your various positions for them.

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