Executive ghostwriter gives LinkedIn makeovers to execs. Here are 4 ways to brag more effectively on your profile.

Jillian Richardson is an executive ghostwriter who helps leaders use humor to stand out on LinkedIn. She advises focusing LinkedIn profiles on customer impact and using testimonials. Richardson suggests pinning key posts in the 'Featured' section and adding recommendations from others. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jillian Richardson, a 31-year-old ghostwriter for executives. She's based in Brooklyn. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I'm a ghostwriter focused on helping executives and founders grow their presence on LinkedIn . I offer LinkedIn profile polishes for executives, as well as people looking for a new job or trying out self-employment. After helping a number of people edit their profiles, one of my takeaways is that people need to brag more. They are not hyping themselves up nearly enough. LinkedIn is the place where it's socially acceptable to brag. The point is to discuss your career and where you're going next in life. LinkedIn is also a sea of people, and if you don't share what makes you unique, you won't stand out. People also assume you just need to share something about yourself once, and that's it, but things get lost on social media, so you can share the same thing a few times. I recently talked to a colleague, and we both have the same experience with ghostwriting clients. When they start posting more on LinkedIn , they'll receive a text from a friend calling them a try-hard or poking fun at them. The idea that social media is not entirely real and only shows everyone's best side is what's called "discernment." You're not going to be sharing every horrible moment of your life on social media . If you did, you probably wouldn't be in a super stable place. There are only parts of yourself that you want to share on the internet, and that's up to you. I wouldn't say that's inauthentic. That's just having boundaries. There are a lot of places in the profile where the bragging - or lack of it - can show up. These are my suggestions to showcase your accomplishments more effectively: The 'Headline' The headline is one of the places people share accomplishments. I always recommend that when people write their headline, they think about using the language they would if they were speaking to an individual customer. You want to use the headline to let the reader know how you can support them. Just write it as a single sentence. Don't use those divider lines that chop up everything because that's when people get carried away, and then they have 10 different accomplishments that don't connect to the person reading it. The 'About' section I can't tell you the number of founders I've talked to who literally don't have anything in their 'About' section. If I looked at their LinkedIn, I would assume their company doesn't even exist. In the 'About' section, you should share statistics of how you help your customers. This is the...

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