How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Generates Leads

Patrick McFadden • January 7, 2014

Do you need more leads from LinkedIn?

Are you looking for ways to use your LinkedIn profile to improve your conversion process?

You’re not alone — lots of LinkedIn users want their profile to work as marketing and as a lead generation tool.

In my opinion, the most powerful social media profile you can use is the LinkedIn profile. Especially  if you’re looking to do more business.

In this article, you’ll  discover the single most important feature of a LinkedIn profile and an efficient way to steer prospects down your conversion funnel.

#1: Content is King at the Top of the Funnel

At the top of the funnel, your goals should be to:

  • Grab attention.
  • Establish authority on a topic.
  • Plant seeds of perception.

Bring value to prospects and customers by enhancing your profile headline , first. It’s the hidden benefit. This approach forces you to think about ways to deliver real value first and in doing so become more referable.

I believe that quality content is the singular most important feature of a LinkedIn Profile. The first step in creating a successful profile is knowing what content will appeal to your prospects.

When a suspect or prospect lands on your profile, their first question tends to be, “Is what you’re saying going to benefit me and my needs?”

LinkedIn users view other profiles for two main reasons, to seek out more information on that person, company, products and services, or because they’re interested in their first impression of it.

Regardless of the reason the LinkedIn profile was visited, the prospect will need to have a clear understanding of what you provide.

#2: Educational Content in the Middle of the Funnel

In the middle of the funnel, your goals should be to:

  • Educate connections and interested prospects.
  • Engage prospects.
  • Get profile visitors to go deeper—to subscribe to your blog or email newsletter  and follow you on other social media channels.

The next step is supplying a path where prospects should go next to learn more, which is where LinkedIn media comes into play.

That path is created by having a call to action (more on this later) on your LinkedIn profile.

If you spend all of this time creating a relevant and valuable headline and content but don’t lead the prospect anywhere, all your work will have been for nothing.

In your “Summary”, make sure to tell people where they should go to for more information, what number to call to get a free consultation, or the best way to email you. Include links to your articles, presentations, case studies, checklist, whitepapers, special reports, webinars, tele-seminars, etc. Demonstrate your expertise and position your brand as a valuable resource.

Don’t leave your potential customers and clients hanging. Give them a place to go next (and a reason to go there).

#3: Build Trust and Invite Action at the Bottom of the Funnel

At the bottom of the funnel, your goals should be to:

  • Turn “prospects” into buyers.
  • Build trust.
  • Motivate profile visitors.
  • Start a conversation.

One key to ensure your LinkedIn profile is a successful conversion tool is a clear call to action.

What do you want the customer to do as a result of visiting your profile?

If the CTA is evident prospects will know to move forward in that direction.  Try and think outside of the box, instead of the CTA asking prospects to “connect with you” think about pushing the prospects towards a demo, or more information.

By showing the prospect that you’re more invested in providing them with answers to their questions, offering solutions to problems , and focusing on their needs rather than attempting to sell them, the prospect will in turn feel as though you’re the expert in their industry, cares about them and wants to help them rather than just sell them a service and product.

Use the tactics outlined in this article to take your profile to the next level. As LinkedIn continues to grow in numbers and gain more media attention, it will prove to add more value to your brand and business.

Question: What do you think? Do you know of other ways to turn your LinkedIn profile into a lead generation engine? Do you have any questions?

About the Company:   Indispensable Marketing , a strategic marketing consulting company helps small to midsize businesses improve or create a strong marketing foundation that generates more leads and closes more sales.

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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