I just spent an hour doing live LinkedIn profile teardowns with Jillian Richardson, one of LinkedIn's top ghostwriters, and we found the same problem in almost every profile we looked at.

They were professionally perfect.

And completely forgettable.

Generic headlines. Resume-speak. Confusing as to what they actually do for clients.

There's a difference between writing your LinkedIn profile as a job-seeker and one that gets you clients.

Most people are optimizing for the wrong one.

Here's the typical pattern.

"Marketing Consultant | Helping Companies Grow"
"CEO | Scaling Startups"
"Head of Growth | SaaS Enthusiast"

These headlines tell me nothing about whether you can help me.

They're professionally safe. And they blend into every other profile on the platform.

If you’re using LinkedIn to help your business grow as a founder, consultant, or agency owner, that’s a problem.

Your headline shouldn't say what you do, it should speak to what your ideal client needs.

Here's what that shift looks like in practice:

Before: "CEO | Helping startups scale"

After: "I help bootstrapped founders hire their first marketer without wasting $20K learning the hard way."

Same person. Completely different signal.

The second version is specific (bootstrapped founders), concrete (hire their first marketer), and shows proof (you've helped others avoid that 20K mistake).

Being clear converts. Specificity builds trust. And building trust at scale is the goal of LinkedIn!

Most About sections are resumes with paragraph breaks. They talk about what you did but not how you can help someone.

Instead, write it like you're talking directly to your ideal client.

Use "you" language. Address their problem. Prove you understand what they're dealing with (and this is where you can brag by adding proof to show you are credible).

And yeah, show some personality. The kind that makes the right people think, "Finally, someone who gets it."

Jillian's famous for going viral with a banner that said "Relax your butthole." (Yes, really.)

It wasn't random weird. It was strategic weird.

It signaled to her ideal clients, founders and execs who are tired of corporate-speak, that she's not like every other LinkedIn ghostwriter.

You don't need to be that bold. But you do need to sound like yourself.

Because sameness doesn't sell. And professionally boring doesn't book calls.

This conversation reinforced something I've been thinking about.

LinkedIn profiles aren't static billboards. They're client-generating assets.

And most people treat them like digital resumes that sit there collecting views instead of generating business.

In this episode of the pod below, we do live teardowns of 3 real profiles (don’t worry, they consented!), walking through exactly what to fix in headlines, about sections, and how to position yourself so the right people feel like they already know you.

If your profile feels too polished to be real, that's your red flag.

Listen now: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

This is the first episode of our new season! And this is exactly the type of conversation I want more of in Season 2.

Not just "here's what's working on LinkedIn," but tactical, in-the-weeds breakdowns of how smart marketers are building trust and generating business through content.

Profiles that sell. Offers that land. Posts that feel human.

More to come.

Thanks for being here ❤️

Let’s keep building and keep that caffeine flowing!

-Christine

P.S. Read your About section out loud. Would you actually talk like that? If not, rewrite it. Then forward this to someone whose profile still sounds like 2017.

Find season 1 on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Know someone great I should interview next? My inbox and DMs are open!