10X Writer #108
10xWriter is a newsletter for freelance writers and copywriters who want to build a writing practice that actually pays.
Most writers treat their LinkedIn profile as a credentials document. List your experience, list your skills, add a few writing samples, and wait.
That makes it harder for the right client to see why you’re relevant.
A LinkedIn profile built to attract clients isn’t a résumé. It’s a positioning and proof document written from the client’s point of view.
Every section should reduce a different question in the client’s mind:
Is this person relevant to my problem?
→ Do they understand my situation?
→ Can they actually do this?
→ Can I trust them?
Here’s how to build the profile around those questions.
1. Rewrite your headline around the client’s problem, not your job title.
Your headline is one of the first things a potential client sees.
Use the headline to name who you help, what problem you solve, and what changes as a result.
“I help D2C brands turn product pages into their highest-converting asset.”
That’s a positioning statement.
“Freelance Copywriter.”
That’s a job description.
Your headline should make the right client stop because they recognise themselves in it.
2. Open the About section with the client’s situation.
Don’t start with:
“I am a freelance writer with X years of experience.”
Start with the problem your ideal client is dealing with now.
“Most SaaS companies have the same problem: strong product, weak copy. The features are real, and the value is there, but the website doesn’t reflect either of those things, and the trial signup rate shows it.”
The first paragraph has one job: make the right client recognise their situation.
3. Use the rest of the About section to walk the client through your positioning.
Once you’ve established the problem, structure the rest of the About section around three questions:
Who do you help?
Name the client type specifically.
What do you do and what does it change?
Describe the work in terms of the outcome it is meant to produce.
Why should they trust you with it?
Use relevant experience, results, proof, or a specific point of view.
Your background can come after that if it adds credibility.
A simple structure:
Paragraph 1: Their problem
Paragraph 2: Who you help + what you do + outcome
Paragraph 3: Why you / relevant proof
Paragraph 4: Relevant background + next step
The About section isn’t your biography. It’s the client’s first serious test of whether you’re right for their problem.
4. Turn the Featured section into a proof gallery.
Most writers paste a link to their portfolio website into Featured and leave it there.
Instead, choose two or three pieces that demonstrate the specific work you want to be hired for by the specific client type you’re targeting.
That could be:
A short case study
A testimonial or recommendation
A piece of relevant spec work with a brief explaining the problem it addresses
Each item should answer:
“Has this writer produced something relevant to a business like mine?”
Keep the selection tight. You’re reducing uncertainty, not displaying everything you’ve ever written.
5. Fill the Experience section with outcomes.
Most writers describe their experience like a CV: list the role, list what they did, move on.
Make the client do less inference.
For every relevant role or project, lead with what changed before describing the work.
“Wrote a twelve-email onboarding sequence that reduced trial churn by 18 percent for a B2B SaaS company.”
is stronger than:
“Wrote email sequences for SaaS clients.”
The first describes an outcome. The second describes an activity.
When you have a real result, lead with it.
6. Collect recommendations strategically.
A recommendation from a client who names a specific problem and result gives the next client more useful information than a generic “great writer, highly recommend.”
Ask past clients for recommendations the way you’d ask for a testimonial with a specific prompt:
“Would you be willing to write a short LinkedIn recommendation? It would help if you could describe the problem we were solving and what changed after the project.”
A specific prompt makes it easier for the client to give you useful proof.
7. Post consistently on one topic that demonstrates your thinking.
A strong profile shows what you can do. Your posting history shows what you think about.
You don’t need to post daily. One useful post a week on a topic relevant to your niche can demonstrate focus over time.
Write about:
A pattern you’ve noticed across client work
An observation about your niche
A specific mistake you see often and how to fix it
The post doesn’t need to perform. It needs to be relevant and consistent.
A writer who has posted forty-two times about conversion copy for SaaS companies gives a different impression from one whose last post was eight months ago.
Your posting history becomes another piece of evidence that this is the problem you actually spend your time thinking about.
Before you update anything, audit your profile in this order:
Relevance: Does your headline make the right client stop?
Recognition: Does your About section make them recognise their problem?
Proof: Do Featured, Experience, and Recommendations show evidence that you can solve it?
Ongoing credibility: Does your posting history demonstrate that you consistently think about this problem?
Then fix the biggest gaps in that order.
Start with the headline. Then rewrite the About section. Then build the proof around the work you want more of. Finally, make your posting habit reinforce the same positioning.
Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t need to tell the client everything about you. It needs to give the right client enough reasons to keep looking.