Most Australians remember the classic line from that home-grown movie gem, The Castle, when the bumbling lawyer Dennis (played by Tiriel Mora) wrapped up his legal argument with it's just the vibe". Replay the actual moment of comedy brilliance.

Lately, I've been reflecting how often the vibe or tone of LinkedIn profiles and resumes are totally overlooked, don't hit the mark and, therefore, end up negatively impacting the required results and aims. Both have definite intentions that need considered thought and purpose. 

The intent of a resume is for one purpose only - gaining an interview to land a job. But when you are running your own business, a LinkedIn profile has many different aims. It may be for relationship-building, new business, sourcing suppliers, testimonials, acquisitions, networking, branding, thought leadership positioning, sales funnel development, recruitment, headhunting or PR the list is endless and individual. What is consistent, though, is the need for clarity, authenticity and the right vibe to be unearthed when reading a profile or company page.

One of my favourite sayings is Dr Phil's How's it working for you? Often, we don't know what we have missed out on because we didn't get to see or hear the opportunity.  We don't know who looked at our profile and decided not for me or my business. The reasons are often embedded in the tone of personality or vibe of capability.  And unless you have the luxury of learning why someone didn't call or email, you are often in the dark.  Humans are funny animals, with myriad conscious and subconscious perceptions, mindsets and interplays at work. Fundamentally, though, all are attuned to deriving a sense of a person, a situation or company and making rapid judgements, whether they are accurate or inaccurate in reality.  And it's the feel or vibe that forms those judgements.

Opinions (and biases) are made on a gut level.   We want to buy, recruit and deal with people who we feel a tonal connection with. We then seek out the skills and capabilities to validate our perceptions and align those to our needs.  There is no value in communicating a corporate process-driven vibe if you are a relaxed, nimble small business, irrelevant of technical skills. Conversely, it is futile communicating you are a relaxed people person if you are a hard-nosed, fiscally orientated personality.   Our language must reflect our personal and business authenticity for others to feel comfortable.

3 Tips to build the Vibe of your LinkedIn profile.

1. Tone starts with an honest personal inventory of yourself. What are your values, what do you stand for, what drives you, what concerns you, what do you want to make a difference in/for? What is unique about you? Show a few glimpses of your personality style. Be brave but relevant. Be authentic for whatever is true for you and applicable to your business, career and objectives.
2. Content /Story Like a media release, the headlines and introduction paragraphs are your golden pathway to create interest. Your career and business journey also has a tone and needs peppering with a flowing narrative mixed with capability and skills alignment. But the starting point to remember is to focus on what do you do and why, how you got to where you are, what problems do you solve and how you solve them. 
3. Style/Photos/Graphics Your photograph is an essential piece of your tone and vibe on LinkedIn. Your photo will instantly attract or repel and must be congruent with the rest of the profile content and tone. LinkedIn is not Facebook, so be mindful of what you want to convey and how you want to be perceived. Consistent messaging is key.

Remember, first and foremost - we are all humans dealing with other humans. Bring directness but also fun and relevance with your tone and vibe. It will attract better results, engagement and help to land a new client, strategic partner, supplier or network.

Sue Parker runs CV Dynamix and works with individuals to re-energise their LinkedIn Profiles. DARE Group, Sue's sister business, works with companies as a hiring mentor to solve their recruitment issues and communications.