As Zintro’s Expert database has grown and competition for high quality Inquiries has increased, Zintro Experts often ask how they can optimize their Zintro profile to:

1. Improve placement on Zintro’s search results
2. Increase chances of receiving a qualified Inquiry
3. Maximize the percentage of Inquiries that convert into Zintros (paid consults) or high quality leads for larger engagements.

The following suggestions will help you optimize your Expert Profile and maximize the overall efficacy of your marketing efforts.

Suggestion 1: Fine-tune your “Areas of Expertise”

The “Areas of Expertise” section of your Expert Profile has the biggest impact on how Zintro’s search & matching engine see your Profile.

• Avoid stringing multiple Areas of Expertise together in a single field. Use one field per Area.
• Be illustrative with your labels by repeating important key words. For a researcher, (Area 1: “Securitization”, Area 2: “Accounting”) is not as demonstrative of your skills as (Area 1: “Securitization”, Area 2: “Securitization Accounting”).
• Use multiple ways to describe your expertise. For example (Area 1: “Solar Energy”, Area 2: “Solar Power”, Area 3: “Photovoltaics”, Area 4: “PV”, etc.).
• Avoid very general areas like “Marketing” or “Accounting”. They will draw unwanted Inquiries and will increase your chances of not being found with good Inquiries.
• Keep in mind that the Areas of Expertise fields are NOT a place to repeat your resume. They ARE a place for you to enter Search Terms close to those a Client may enter into the Search Box. Try test searches that you feel best apply to your expertise. See where you are listed. Is this where you would like to be found? Tweak and repeat the process if necessary.

Click here to go to MATCHES and fine tune your areas of expertise

Suggestion 2: Keep your “Brief Profile” brief

Your brief profile should be one or two paragraphs and should not exceed 15 lines. Include only the information that really highlights the most impressive aspects of your CV and do it succinctly. There are other places in the Expert Profile to include the remainder of your CV.The Experts who get selected for projects consistently have well-written and brief “Brief Bios”. See Dr. Greenberg’s (above) as an example of a well-written Brief Bio .

Suggestion 3: Reply to Inquiries quickly

Strike while the iron is hot! Responses that come in soon after an Inquiry is sent are much more likely to result in an engagement or other positive outcome. In fact, many Experts stop searching for Experts once they have found one (or more) that meet their needs.

Suggestion 4: Include a Picture (or at least a logo) in your Profile

Including a picture in your Zintro profile significantly increases the chances that a Client will engage with you. Zintro is a people search engine. Pictures are more engaging than silhouette images (see example below). Moreover, Zintro actually gives a boost to the search ranking of Experts with pictures in their profile (because it makes the search results look better!). If you are uncomfortable using a picture, feel free to use your company logo or another image that differentiates you from the generic silhouettes.

Click here for more information on how to upload a picture

Suggestion 5: Sign up as a Premium Expert

Signing up as a Premium Expert provides several benefits that will help you accomplish your Zintro objectives. Premium Experts:

• Rank higher for both searches and Inquiry matches
• Have an increased chance of being promoted to Bronze, Silver, or Gold Status. When Clients receive multiple responses (which they almost always do), elevated status can significantly help to increase chances of selection.
• Your responses will always be on top of all basic responses.
  

Click here to sign up as a Premium Expert

Suggestion 7: Filter incoming Inquiries

Zintro enables Experts to specify the types of inquiries you receive. For example, if you are seeking consulting work and and are not interested in full-time job opportunities, you can filter incoming Inquiries accordingly. This will can make your Zintro experience more productive.

Click here for more information about filtering Inquiries

Suggestion 8: Contribute to the Zintro Blog

Zintro frequently posts articles about interesting & current happenings within various industries. The way this works is:

• A Zintro writer sends a special type of Inquiry called a “Zintro Q&A” to experts within a given industry. The Inquiry specifies questions or discussion points we would like to include in a particular article.
• Experts respond to the Inquiry with text that can be incorporated into the article.
• The writer combines & edits the Expert responses into a cohesive article.
• The article references the contributing Experts and provides links to their profiles.
• Experts can point others to the article in which they were cited as well as Tweet, post on LinkedIn and/or Facebook, and or include on their web-site.
• This is free

Zintro also posts “Success Stories” on its blogs which are good marketing opportunities.

If you have a blog post that you would like to be considered for inclusion on Zintro (it can’t be too self-promotional), feel free to submit it by using the “Contact Us” link on…

Participating in the Zintro blog can be a highly effective and free marketing tool for you. It also will improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Click here to see the Zintro blog

Suggestion 9: Refer Inquiries to Colleagues & Friends

At times, you will receive Inquiries that are related to your areas of expertise, but are not exactly on-point. As discussed above, Zintro provides you with the ability to filter many of these out. However, often times, these Inquiries are perfectly suited for a colleague or friend. Zintro makes it very easy for you to refer these Inquiries via email, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Referring Inquiries to others can benefit your marketing efforts in many ways:

• Referrals can be considered deposits in the “favor bank” for your colleagues or friends. The next time one of them encounters an opportunity that may be a good fit for you, the favor is much more likely to be returned.
• Zintro rewards referrals by awarding free Premium service. Also, Zintro incorporates the number of referrals into the evaluation for promotion to Bronze, Silver, and Gold Expert status.

Suggestion 10: Promote your Zintro profile link on E-mail, LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook

Zintro provides every Expert with a link that points directly to his/her profile. It is “http://www.zintro.com/expert/ZintroID” For example, mine is http://www.zintro.com/Expert/slewtan . Including this link throughout your marketing materials, social network profiles, and elsewhere can benefit you in several ways.

• People like it. It increases the potential for you to receive 1 to 1 (non-public) inquiries on Zintro.
• Search Engines like it. It improves the visibility of your profile on Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.
• Zintro likes it. Zintro’s algorithm for determining potential promotions to Bronze, Silver, and Gold Expert levels include the frequency your Zintro link is used publicly.. The Expert level can have a significant impact on your Zintro search & match ranking and also sends a “Good Housekeeping Seal” to potential Clients.

That means Tweet it, Facebook it, and throw it wherever feels right.

Here are some examples:

1. Put your Zintro link under your signature in your Email, like I do.

2. Put your Zintro link in your LinkedIn and other Social Network Pages, like Erni Lindlar.

3. Tweet about us

4. Put your Zintro link or graphic on your personal website

Suggestion 11: Work hard to get promoted to Bronze, Silver or Gold Expert

It has been consistently demonstrated that Experts who have Bronze, Silver, or Gold status are more likely to be selected for engagements. So how do you get promoted? Taking many of the suggestions outlined above will increase your chances of being promoted. Click here for more information about promotion.

Zintro provides a free way to market your expertise…

By employing these “best practice” techniques will optimize your use of Zintro and significantly and cost-effectively improve your overall marketing effectiveness. If you are aren’t already a Zintro Expert click here to sign up now!

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