Skill: sergebulaev/linkedin-profile-optimizer (version 1.0.0)

--- name: linkedin-profile-optimizer description: Audit and rewrite a LinkedIn profile end-to-end for 2026 — headline formula, About section 7-step structure, Featured section strategy, banner design, photo rules, Experience metrics, Skills pinning, custom URL, recommendations. Triggers on requests like "review my LinkedIn profile", "rewrite my headline", "fix my About section", "optimize banner", "profile audit", "LinkedIn bio", "Featured section", "profile conversion", "profile keywords". Converts default/resume-style profiles into one that converts visitors 3-5x better. --- # LinkedIn Profile Optimizer Audit the nine components of a LinkedIn profile (photo, banner, headline, About, Featured, Experience, Skills, custom URL, recommendations) against 2026 best practices, then rewrite each section that needs it. Optimized profiles get ~3.9x more views and convert visitors 3-5x better than default/resume-style profiles. ## When to use - User pastes their LinkedIn profile URL and asks for an audit - User wants to rewrite their headline, About section, or Featured section - User is launching a content strategy and needs the profile to match - Any of: "review my profile", "fix my headline", "optimize bio", "profile audit", "LinkedIn optimization" ## Input - Profile URL (or screenshots of sections) - Goal: **clients** / **job seeking** / **authority** — Featured and CTA vary by goal - Optional: draft content to grade against the existing profile ## Output A structured audit + rewrite in this shape: 1. **Scorecard** (9 sections, pass/fail/needs-work) 2. **Priority fixes** (ranked by impact) 3. **Before → After rewrites** for each failing section 4. **Expected uplift** (based on benchmark data) ## Steps 1. **Intake.** Collect profile state + goal. Flag missing sections. 2. **Score each of 9 sections** against the checklist (see references/). 3. **Rewrite headline** using `[What You Do] | [Who You Help] [Achieve What Result]` — fit all 220 chars. 4. **Rebuild About** with 7-step structure; verify first **265-275 chars** hook before "see more". 5. **Curate Featured** (3 strong items) matched to the goal: - **Clients:** lead magnet + case study with results + calendar link - **Job seeking:** portfolio + best work samples + top-performing post - **Authority:** best content + media/podcast features + newsletter signup 6. **Rewrite Experience bullets** as `action verb + specific metric`. Add 5+ skills per role. Pin top 3 skills. 7. **Claim custom URL** (linkedin.com/in/firstnamelastname, not the `-123abc456` default). 8. **Draft recommendation requests** with specifics ("about [project/skill]") — don't send LinkedIn's generic template. 9. **Deliver before/after diff** + expected uplift (3.9x views, 3-5x conversion, 71% more likely to land interviews). ## Nine-component scorecard | # | Section | Pass criteria (2026) | |---|---------|----------------------| | 1 | **Photo** | ≥400x400, face fills 60% of frame, <3 years old, natural light, slight smile | | 2 | **Banner** | 1584x396, text in right 2/3, high contrast, includes value prop + CTA, tests well on mobile | | 3 | **Headline** | Uses all 220 chars; format `[What You Do] | [Who You Help] [Result]` | | 4 | **About** | 200-300 words, first-person, 7-step structure, hook in first 265-275 chars | | 5 | **Featured** | 3 items, matched to goal, custom 1200x627 thumbnails | | 6 | **Experience** | Every bullet = `action verb + metric`, 5+ skills per role, media attached | | 7 | **Skills** | 50 listed, top 3 pinned, mirrors target job descriptions, ≥1 endorsement each | | 8 | **Custom URL** | `linkedin.com/in/firstnamelastname` (not the default hash) | | 9 | **Recommendations** | At least 3 recent, specific (not generic), from diverse contexts | ## Key benchmarks (from co.actor research) - Optimized About sections: **3.9x more views** - 5+ listed skills: **3x more connection requests** - Comprehensive profile: **71% more likely to land interviews** - Featured section content: **30% longer viewing time** - Personal founder profile vs company page: **315% more engagement, 270% more conversions** ## Hard rules - No em dashes in any profile copy (AI tell, penalized by 2026 detection tools) - First person ("I help...") never third person ("Jane is a passionate...") - Never "passionate thought leader" / "driven professional" / "results-oriented" - Capitalize all names, companies, products - Avoid wall-of-text — use line breaks in About section - 80% of users leave Featured empty — filling it is a free edge ## Reference files - `references/profile-headline-formulas.md` — 220-char formula + before/after examples - `references/about-section-templates.md` — 7-step structure with character budgets - `references/featured-section-playbook.md` — goal-matched content types - `references/banner-photo-specs.md` — dimensions, composition, mobile test - `references/experience-skills-rules.md` — bullet rewriting + skills strategy + custom URL + recommendations ## Related skills - `linkedin-content-planner` — post pillars should echo the profile's headline/About thesis - `linkedin-post-writer` — Featured section rotates quarterly; pin your flagship post - `linkedin-humanizer` — scrub profile copy for the same AI tells we scrub from posts

path: references/about-section-templates.md
content: # About Section Templates

## Display budget

- **Mobile cutoff:** first 265-275 chars show before "see more"
- **Full length:** 200-300 words (1,000-1,500 characters)
- **Voice:** first person ("I help...") never third person ("Jane is a passionate...")

The hook is everything — most readers never click "see more", so the first 265 chars have to carry the whole pitch.

## 7-Step Structure

| Step | Purpose | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hook | Open with a question, claim, or specific number that stops the scroll | ~50 chars |
| 2. Your role | State what you actually do, who you help | ~100 chars |
| 3. Achievements | One or two concrete wins with numbers | ~150 chars |
| 4. Value proposition | What problem you solve and how | ~200 chars |
| 5. Personality | One line that shows you're human | ~100 chars |
| 6. Specialties | Keywords for search (no generic buzzwords) | ~150 chars |
| 7. Call-to-action | What should they do next | ~100 chars |

## Full worked example

```
Why do most B2B founders burn 40% of their pipeline on bad-fit leads?

I help 1-10M ARR SaaS founders rebuild their inbound motion around signal, not volume.

Last year my team cut acquisition cost 62% for three portfolio companies and grew pipeline 3.4x — the full case studies are in Featured.

What I do: AI-native demand gen. I audit your funnel, rewire the signal layer, and install an always-on content engine that brings the right 50 buyers to you each quarter (instead of 5,000 strangers).

Outside work: two kids, one dog, bad chess player.

Specialties: demand generation, signal-based marketing, AI content operations, LinkedIn strategy, B2B SaaS, RAG systems.

Want the demand-gen audit I run for new clients? Comment "AUDIT" on my latest post or DM me.
```

**Why this works:**
- First 265 chars ("Why do most B2B founders burn 40% of their pipeline on bad-fit leads? I help 1-10M ARR SaaS founders rebuild their inbound motion around signal, not volume.") earns the "see more" click
- Concrete numbers (40%, 62%, 3.4x, 50, 5,000) — not "significant lift"
- Specialties line packed with search keywords
- CTA is specific and low-friction

## Anti-patterns

- "Passionate thought leader" — empty signal
- "Buzzwords without substance" — "innovative", "synergy", "disruptor"
- Third-person corporate speak — "Jane is a seasoned professional with over 15 years..."
- Wall of text with no formatting (mobile kills it)
- Starting with "Welcome to my LinkedIn!" or "Hello!"
- Ending with "Let's connect!" (dead CTA)

## Benchmarks

- Optimized About sections: **3.9x more views**
- Keyword density matching target role: **3x more recruiter impressions**
- Hook fitting in 265 chars: **2.4x "see more" click rate**


path: references/banner-photo-specs.md
content: # Banner & Photo Specs

## Banner

### Dimensions
- **1584 x 396 px** (4:1 ratio)
- Keep text/CTA in the **right 2/3** of the image — the profile photo covers the left 1/3 on desktop and overlaps even more on mobile

### Composition checklist
- High contrast background (pure white, pure black, single brand color — not noisy photos)
- Value prop or tagline in bold type
- Brand colors + logo (small, in a corner)
- CTA: URL, email, or "Book a call →"
- Optional: visual showing your work (not a stock photo)

### Mobile crop test
LinkedIn crops banners aggressively on mobile. Before finalizing:
1. Upload to a test profile
2. Check on 3 screen sizes (phone portrait, tablet, desktop)
3. Verify key text is visible on the smallest screen

### Anti-patterns

- Stock photo of a handshake
- Stock photo of a city skyline
- Tagline only, no visual structure
- Text that overlaps with where the profile photo sits
- More than 3 colors (noisy)
- Tiny logo in the center (gets lost)

## Profile Photo

### Dimensions
- **Minimum 400 x 400 px** (LinkedIn enforces)
- Square crop

### Composition checklist
- **Face fills 60% of the frame** (not a full-body shot)
- Update every **2-3 years** — older photos read as stale/inactive
- **Natural lighting** near a window beats studio lighting
- **Neutral background** (solid color, uncluttered wall) — no distracting backgrounds
- **Work clothes** appropriate to your industry
- **Slight smile** beats "serious professional" — humans respond to warmth
- Eye contact with camera

### Kills credibility

- Cropped group photo (others' shoulders visible)
- Vacation shot (beach, mountains, cocktail in hand)
- 10-year-old photo
- Sunglasses or hats
- Filters / heavy retouching
- Very low resolution (pixelated)
- Facing away from camera
- Stock "professional headshot" (obvious — faceless model)

## Why this matters

- Banner + photo = first visual impression; visitors decide whether to scroll in under 2 seconds
- Profile with a real, current photo: **14x more profile views** than one without
- High-quality banner: **+23% profile view duration** (correlation, from Co.Actor's 2026 data)
- Banner space is essentially free advertising — 90% of users waste it on a default or stock image


path: references/experience-skills-rules.md
content: # Experience, Skills, Custom URL, Recommendations

## Experience bullets

### Formula
`[Action verb] + [specific metric]`

Not: `"Responsible for X"` or `"Managed X"` — these are resume fossils that LinkedIn's NLP ignores.

### Before → After

| ❌ Before | ✅ After |
|---|---|
| Managed social media accounts | Grew social following by 340% and generated $50K in attributed revenue |
| Responsible for sales team | Built and led 8-person sales team that exceeded quota by 25% for 6 consecutive quarters |
| Led product development | Shipped 12 features in 18 months; user retention +47% |
| Handled client accounts | Retained 23 enterprise accounts worth $2.4M ARR; 94% renewal rate |
| Worked on marketing | Wrote and shipped the "Pipeline Teardown" series; 18M impressions, 340 qualified leads |

### Action verbs (strong)

Led, Built, Increased, Delivered, Shipped, Cut, Drove, Launched, Grew, Closed, Retained, Rebuilt, Scaled

### Action verbs (weak — avoid)

Worked on, Handled, Assisted with, Responsible for, Participated in, Helped with, Was part of

### Media attachments

Every role should have at least one attached media item:
- Screenshots of metrics dashboards (anonymized)
- Links to live projects, articles, demos
- Case study PDFs
- Video walkthroughs

Roles with media get **2.1x more profile view duration** than text-only roles.

---

## Skills

### Volume rules

- **Up to 50 skills** listed (LinkedIn cap)
- **Pin top 3** at the top of the section
- **Mirror skills** from target job descriptions if job-seeking
- **≥1 endorsement per skill** to count in search (skills with 0 endorsements are invisible to recruiters)
- **5+ skills listed:** **3x more connection requests**

### 2026 high-value skills

Include if genuinely applicable:
- AI Literacy
- Data Analysis
- Project Management
- Strategic Thinking
- Communication
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Prompt Engineering
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
- Systems Thinking

### Skills hygiene

- Remove skills you haven't used in 3+ years (stale signal)
- Don't list generic soft skills without evidence ("Leadership", "Teamwork") — back them with roles that prove it
- If you have conflicting skills across roles (e.g., front-end dev + sales), keep them — LinkedIn tolerates breadth

---

## Custom URL

### The rule

`linkedin.com/in/firstnamelastname`

Never: `linkedin.com/in/firstname-lastname-123abc456`

### How to claim it

1. LinkedIn → Profile → Edit public profile & URL (top right)
2. Edit custom URL
3. Change to `firstnamelastname` (no spaces, no dashes if possible)

### Why it matters

- **Memorable** — you can say "linkedin.com/in/sergebulaev" in conversation
- **SEO** — Google ranks canonical URLs higher than hash-tail URLs
- **Email signatures** — the short URL reads as intentional, not default

---

## Recommendations

### Why they matter

- Candidates with ≥3 recommendations: **71% more likely to land interviews**
- Authority profiles with 10+ recent recommendations: **4x trust signal** vs. profiles with 0

### How to request (the right way)

1. **Email or call first** — don't use LinkedIn's generic auto-request
2. **Ask for specifics** — "about [specific project / skill / outcome]"
3. **Offer to draft bullets** — make it 2 minutes of their time
4. **Reciprocate** — write theirs first, then ask

### Template for the ask

```
Hey [Name],

I'm cleaning up my LinkedIn and hoping you'd be up for a short recommendation.

If you're open to it, specifically about:
- [specific thing you worked on together]
- [concrete outcome]
- [skill you demonstrated]

Happy to draft 2-3 bullets you can edit. Takes you 60 seconds, helps me a ton.

Also happy to write yours first if that helps.
```

### Rotation

- Target **3 recommendations per year** from current context
- After a role change, ask for 1-2 from the old role (not 5 — looks desperate)
- Diverse contexts matter: colleagues, clients, vendors, direct reports


path: references/featured-section-playbook.md
content: # Featured Section Playbook

## Why it matters

- **80% of users leave Featured empty** — filling it well is a free edge
- Featured content drives **30% longer viewing time** on your profile
- It's the only section where YOU choose what's shown first — use it

## Quality over quantity

**3 strong items > 10 weak ones.** Rotate quarterly.

## Content types allowed

- Posts (your own, especially top performers)
- Articles (LinkedIn native or external)
- External links (blog posts, newsletter issues, landing pages)
- PDFs (one-pagers, case studies, checklists)
- Presentations (decks you've given)
- Videos (demos, talks, explainers)

## Custom thumbnails

- **Dimensions:** 1200 x 627 px
- Use **benefit-driven titles**, not generic descriptions
- ❌ "My blog post about sales" → ✅ "How we cut CAC 62% in 90 days"
- ❌ "Case study PDF" → ✅ "B2B SaaS pipeline teardown (live client data)"
- High-contrast background, bold sans-serif text, minimal decoration

## Goal-matched content

### If your goal is clients

1. **Lead magnet** — free guide, template, or tool that solves one acute problem your ICP has
2. **Case study with results** — named client + specific metric + before/after
3. **Calendar booking link** — direct path to a call (Calendly, Cal.com, Savvycal)

Example:
- Featured 1: "The 7-question audit I run before taking a client" (PDF)
- Featured 2: "How we took [Client X] from $40K MRR to $120K in 6 months" (case study)
- Featured 3: "Book a free pipeline teardown" (calendar link)

### If your goal is job seeking

1. **Portfolio / personal site** — your best work samples
2. **Top-performing LinkedIn post** — demonstrates voice + engagement
3. **Signature project** — a GitHub repo, design case study, or published research

Example:
- Featured 1: "15 projects I shipped this year" (personal site)
- Featured 2: "Why I rebuilt our data pipeline from scratch" (top post)
- Featured 3: "Open-source agent framework" (GitHub)

### If your goal is authority

1. **Best content piece** — the post or essay you're most proud of
2. **Media / podcast feature** — external validation
3. **Newsletter signup** — gets the visitor off LinkedIn and into your owned channel

Example:
- Featured 1: "Why SaaS pricing is broken — my 3,000-word teardown" (article)
- Featured 2: "I was on The Operator Podcast — full episode here" (external)
- Featured 3: "The Weekly Teardown — join 12K+ subscribers" (newsletter)

## Rotation schedule

- **Quarterly audit:** replace any item older than 12 weeks OR that got less engagement than its successor
- **After a viral post:** pin the viral post within 48 hours while the momentum is live
- **Before a launch:** rotate Featured to showcase the thing you're launching (lead magnet, waitlist, beta)

## Anti-patterns

- Featuring your current company's corporate blog post (better to feature your own content about it)
- Generic "About our services" PDF (nobody downloads)
- A 2019 webinar recording (feels dated)
- Random "selected writing" — be deliberate, not kitchen-sink
- Leaving default Featured content from a connection's post


path: references/profile-headline-formulas.md
content: # Profile Headline Formulas

**Character limit:** 220. Use all of them.

## The formula

```
[What You Do] | [Who You Help] [Achieve What Result]
```

Three parts separated by `|`. Each part does one job:
- **What You Do** — your actual function, not your title
- **Who You Help** — the specific audience
- **Achieve What Result** — the concrete outcome

## Rules

1. **Lead with value, not title.** "Helping B2B founders book 40% more demos" beats "VP of Marketing".
2. **Be specific about who you help.** "B2B SaaS founders 1-10M ARR" beats "business owners".
3. **Include keywords recruiters search for.** Search-matched headlines appear in 3x more recruiter results.
4. **No filler adjectives.** Cut "passionate", "driven", "results-oriented".
5. **Capitalize names, products, companies** — "Claude", "HubSpot", "Co.Actor".

## Before → After

### For a marketer

- ❌ "Marketing Manager at Company X"
- ✅ "Helping B2B SaaS companies close 40% more deals | Sales Director at TechCorp"

### For a founder

- ❌ "Founder & CEO"
- ✅ "Building tools that help creators monetize | Founder at CreatorLab"

### For a consultant

- ❌ "Marketing Consultant"
- ✅ "I help service businesses get clients without ads | Marketing Consultant"

### For a developer

- ❌ "Senior Software Engineer"
- ✅ "Shipping AI agents for B2B ops teams | Senior Engineer at StackCo"

### For an executive

- ❌ "CTO | VP Engineering | Technology Leader"
- ✅ "Helping fintechs scale past $100M ARR | CTO at PaymentCo"

## Anti-patterns (auto-fail)

- "Passionate thought leader" — empty signal
- "Driven professional" — empty
- "10+ years of experience in..." — nobody searches this
- All-caps headlines
- Emoji chains (🚀🔥💡) — read as low-effort
- Generic "Open to Work" framing (move that to the banner badge, not headline)

## Search-keyword placement

LinkedIn search indexes the headline heavily. If you want to appear in search for a role or topic:
- Include the target role noun ("CTO", "Head of Marketing", "AI Consultant")
- Include the target industry ("B2B SaaS", "Healthcare IT", "FinTech")
- Include your specialty keyword ("RAG", "agentic workflows", "demand gen")

Profiles with 5+ target keywords in the headline + About: **3x more recruiter search impressions**.


Security scan verdicts — ClawScan: clean | static analysis: clean | VirusTotal: clean | SkillSpector: clean (LOW)