How to Write a LinkedIn Headline and Banner That Bring You Leads
I changed my banner copy and my DMs got better. Not more. Better.
Headline and banner copy is hard, and mine were garbage for years. Here is the rule that fixed it: your banner should never repeat your headline.
Your headline is how LinkedIn codes you.
LinkedIn uses your headline to decide what you are and who should see your content. That is not branding, that is math. Keep it simple: who you help, how you help them. If your headline says "coffee lover, dog dad, lifelong learner," the algorithm has no idea who to put your posts in front of. [I wish more things on LinkedIn were cute. This is not one of them.]
Get the headline tight and right before you touch anything else.
Your banner carries the promise.
Everything the headline cannot hold goes on the banner, and the most important line on there is your promise of transformation. What result does someone get when they work with you? Not your process. Not your values. The result.
Here is my banner, in 3 versions.
The first: "Let's find your Story Spark." Cute. Clear as mud. Nobody knew what they were getting.
The second: "Leads, recognition, and authority, built for you on LinkedIn." Better, but "recognition" bothered me. It sounds like chasing accolades, and that makes a lot of buyers uncomfortable, especially the quiet ones with money.
The third, and current: "Visibility, leads, and authority, built for you on LinkedIn."
1 word changed. My DMs improved that week. I closed 2 leads shortly after, and my roster is close to full.
Test your copy out loud.
Read your banner to somebody outside your industry. If they cannot tell you what you do and what they would get, it is not done. Language that feels clever to you reads as vague to a buyer, and a confused buyer never DMs.
I don't want to be another newsletter in your inbox. I want to be an actionletter. In every edition, I'll include a "Go-and-Do" below to help you take an action step TODAY that improves your LinkedIn™ performance, your business, or even your life.
THE GO-AND-DO
Read your headline and your banner back to back, out loud. If they say the same thing, rewrite the banner as a single promise of transformation. 1 sentence. Result first.
One More Thing - The LinkedIn™ Spark Community
If today's edition resonated, you'd love the room I built for people who want to take this seriously.
The LinkedIn™ Spark Community is for people who want three things most LinkedIn advice doesn't deliver together: education, accountability, and real networking.
Inside, we focus on:
· LinkedIn strategy that actually moves the needle
· How to become a sharper writer (because writing is the work)
· Content systems, not content luck
· Guest speakers, "hot seat" sessions, and presentations from members themselves
You also get one 1:1 call with me per quarter. This is not a group where you post once and disappear. It's a community where people show up, sharpen each other, and build the kind of presence that compounds.