How to Add Portfolio to Your LinkedIn & Show Your Work – Expandi

Sometimes, a resume isn’t enough.

One of the best ways to get noticed on LinkedIn and stand out is by adding a portfolio to your LinkedIn profile.

You want to showcase your portfolio pieces visually and attractively. So that potential clients or hiring managers can tell at a glance what you do and how you can help them.

For example, if you’re a web designer, you can showcase screenshots of websites you’ve worked on. If you’re a copywriter, you can include links to some of your writing samples.

From your personal websites to interactive presentations, there are many different types of content you can include in your LinkedIn portfolio.

Ideally, you’ll want to include content or updates in your portfolio section that is important and meaningful to you, like a job update, a significant achievement, the next step in your career, and so on.

 

But don’t worry, even if you’re not an accomplished thought leader in your niche, there’s still plenty you can do to show off your highlights section, as we’ll cover below.

To put it shortly, updating your LinkedIn portfolio is a highly underrated part of optimizing your overall profile. And in this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about your LinkedIn portfolio and featured section.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• How to Add Portfolio Pieces to Your LinkedIn Account
• Showcasing Your Work in Your LinkedIn Portfolio: Best Practices and Examples

Ready?

Let’s get started!

How to Add Portfolio Pieces to Your LinkedIn Account

So, first things first, what exactly is a LinkedIn portfolio?

A LinkedIn portfolio is the same as your “featured” section in your profile.

Here, you can add samples of your work so that people who view your profile can look through your samples in your portfolio to get a sense of what you do at a glance.

If your resume tells people what you do, your portfolio shows it.

There, you can share all types of content – from web links, images, videos, presentations, and more.

If you’d like to upload custom files, you should know that LinkedIn supports .png, GIF, .jpg, and .jpeg files.

Now, to update your LinkedIn portfolio and add pieces of your work, here’s what you have to do:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile.

2. Click Add section and select the appropriate category under Featured.

3. From there, you can add different types of content to your LinkedIn portfolio:

• Posts.
• Articles.
• Links.
• And media.

Alternatively, you can also scroll down to your Featured section and make changes directly from there.

Simple, right?

To make the most out of your LinkedIn Featured section, consider showcasing different kinds of content – from viral LinkedIn posts to ways your leads can reach you (e.g., Calendly link with a CTA.).

What to showcase in your LinkedIn portfolio

As mentioned above, there are different kinds of content you can showcase in your portfolio.

But this will largely depend on your career and/or achievements.

So, consider what can differentiate you from hundreds and thousands of other people with the same job title as you.

It can be:

• Picture of you receiving an award or giving a speech.
• At a conference or in your natural work environment.
• With your work colleagues or other significant influencers in your niche.

This will mainly demonstrate your interpersonal and people skills.

But you can also upload different kinds of content that showcase some of your other skills too.

Depending on your career, you can also feature samples of your work, which most people do. Such as:

• A presentation you have given adapted into Slideshare.
• An article of yours published in a critical newsletter or website outside your organization.
• A mindmap to show your logic, flowchart of your most successful marketing strategy, and so on.

How much content to share in your LinkedIn portfolio

LinkedIn allows you to add an unlimited number of files or links to your profile.

Meaning, you can add a portfolio that continually grows through your career.

When you’re adding content to your LinkedIn portfolio, though, as a rule of thumb, you’ll want to add 2-5 items that fill out the space and give a general overview of you as a person, your skills, your branding, and so on.

Try to focus on showcasing a breadth of project work, too, and use multiple content types that capture the interest of your target audience.

Whether it’s giving away value, promoting yourself, using data and numbers, and so on.

Here’s how to do that.

Showcasing Your Work in Your LinkedIn Portfolio: Best Practices and Examples

Not sure where to start with showcasing your work in your LinkedIn portfolio?

Here are some best practices and examples you should keep in mind.

Use visuals that stand out and capture the attention

When a prospect lands on your LinkedIn profile, you’ll want to capture their attention and assure them they’re in the right place.

You can do so by featuring your most crucial work visualized in your Featured section.

When featuring something visual, make sure it’s understandable at a glance and aligns with your branding.

People on LinkedIn trust other people first and foremost. More than companies and businesses.

So, you can’t go wrong with featuring your personal branding to come across as more human and sincere.

LinkedIn lead magnets

Want to capture more leads directly from your LinkedIn profile?

Consider featuring case studies or e-books that go to your website, where your prospects can claim them in exchange for their email.

When featuring content like this, try to aim for a mix of both: Giving away value and showcasing your authority.

With external websites, you can also showcase your personal blog or portfolio.

Though, a cold prospect might not be able to convert automatically upon landing on your LinkedIn profile. So, this strategy might work best if you’re already sharing content on LinkedIn and providing value for free.

Evergreen and viral content

One way to continue driving traffic and engagement to some of your top content is to feature it in your LinkedIn portfolio.

Consider doing so with your top content that went viral, had the most engagement, or is simply a favorite with your target audience. Even if it’s not necessarily tied directly to your work.

This way, even if most people in your network already saw it, as long as people keep coming to your profile, those posts will continue gaining engagement.

This strategy also works great if you’re continuously networking with more people in your niche.

As soon as someone visits your profile when connecting, they’ll be able to tell at a glance what are some of your values and what kind of content they can expect from you in the future.

Additionally, if your old post starts gaining engagement again, it might go viral because of the LinkedIn algorithm bump.

What else to showcase

Finally, if you’re still unsure as to what you should feature in your LinkedIn portfolio, here are some different ideas:

• Letter of recommendation.
• Social proof and client success.
• Work samples.
• A video introduction of yourself and your brand.
• A short version of your resume (or a PDF version).
• Your skills and achievements in an infographic.
• Personal branding elements to come across as relatable and build rapport.
• Next steps on what a prospect who lands on your profile can take (e.g., connect with you, visit your calendar for a free consultation, lead magnet link, etc.).
• FAQ of what you do.
• And more.

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap.

I hope you found this guide to LinkedIn portfolios valuable and have an idea or two on what to showcase in your profile now.

As you might have guessed, you can showcase many different kinds of content in your portfolio.

So, if you’re not sure where to start – aim for a mix of valuable content and content that highlights your authority as an industry leader. This way, you should gain both leads and engaged followers.

Now, to sum up, let’s go over some of the top questions regarding your LinkedIn portfolio:

Conclusion

• Where do I add my portfolio on LinkedIn?

You can add your portfolio to your LinkedIn profile under the “featured” section. To do this, you should:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile.
2. Click Add Section and select the kind of content you want to showcase in the Featured section.
3. Then, add content you want to highlight: A post, article, link, or media.

• Can LinkedIn be considered a portfolio?

Yes, as you can upload your portfolio as well as your resume on your LinkedIn profile. Though LinkedIn is different from a professional portfolio, you can showcase your work samples and previous projects in your profile. This way, prospects who visit your profile will be able to tell at a glance what you do and what kind of projects you’ve worked on before.

• How do I add CV and portfolio to LinkedIn?

To upload your CV or resume to your LinkedIn:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile.
2. Click Add Section.
3. Select Media under Featured.
4. Select your resume file.
5. Click Apply and Save.

• How do you add a PDF portfolio to LinkedIn?

Similarly, you can also upload a PDF portfolio to your LinkedIn profile. To do that:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile.
2. Click Add section.
3. Select Media under Featured.
4. Select your PDF portfolio, resume, or CV.
5. Upload and save.

Finally, once you’ve added your portfolio to your LinkedIn account to showcase your work and fully optimized your profile, you can get started on outreach and improve your lead generation efforts.

Now, suppose you’d like to start generating leads or search for a job through LinkedIn. In that case, you can also begin using Expandi to automate some of your manual outreach tasks like connecting with your target audience and following up.

Get started with a free 7-days trial now and start sending up to 100 connection requests per week automatically now!

And if you’re looking for more info on how to stand out on LinkedIn, be sure also to read:

• 8 Best LinkedIn Practices – From Demand Generation to Social Selling
• 5+ LinkedIn Marketing Solutions That Will Skyrocket Your Business In 2021
• Building Online Community Around Your Brand on LinkedIn – Tips and Tools