LinkedIn from zero
You’ve never used it. Here’s the first hour of setup that makes a US buyer’s check go well.
“Before they’ll cross, they check the bridge is real.”
If you have never used LinkedIn, this guide is for you. You do not need to become an expert, or post every day, or “build a personal brand.” You need one thing: when a US buyer hears your name and looks you up, what they find should say real, trustworthy maker — not empty account, might be a scam.
Because that is what happens. A buyer gets a message or an email from a supplier they don’t know, and the first thing they do is check you on LinkedIn. This guide is the first hour of setup that makes that check go well.
What LinkedIn actually is, for you
Forget the idea of LinkedIn as social media. For an exporter, it is two simple things.
So you are setting up two things. Your personal profile is the handshake, the human they meet. Your company Page is the storefront behind you, the proof the company is real. Both matter, and they have to agree with each other.
Your profile
Set these up in order. None of it is hard.
- 1Put your real face on it. A clear, current photo of you — not your logo, not a product, not a stock image. It answers the buyer’s quiet worry: is this a real person, or a faceless factory that will disappear? By LinkedIn’s own count, members with a photo get up to 21 times more profile views. Plain background, good light. That’s all.
- 2Write a headline that says what you make, and for whom. Not “CEO at Kai Precision.” A buyer skimming a list can’t tell what that is. Instead: what you make + who you help + one proof. For example, “Helping US brands source stainless kitchenware direct from our ISO-9001 factory — OEM/ODM, 15 years.”
- 3Fill your About with the buyer in mind. Start with the problem a US buyer has — sourcing risk, minimum orders, quality control, slow replies from overseas — then how you solve it. Then your capabilities: capacity, certifications, lead times, years in business. Keep the English plain. A fuller About also helps buyers find you in search.
- 4List your role, and link it to your company Page. When a buyer clicks your employer, it should open a real, complete Page (you build that next). A blank or broken company link is a warning sign.
- 5Ask for two or three recommendations. A few words from anyone you’ve worked with — a customer, a partner, even a supplier — is the strongest trust you can add, especially for an overseas maker a US buyer has never met. Ask, and offer to write one back.
- 6Turn on “Providing services.” A free setting that adds a small services page under your headline and helps buyers find you. One thing to avoid: do not switch on the green “Open to work” banner — that tells the world you are looking for a job, the wrong signal for a factory owner. (If you read older advice about “Creator Mode,” ignore it. LinkedIn removed it in 2024; its features are just on for everyone now.)
A finished profile is worth the hour. By LinkedIn’s own measure, a complete profile is far more likely to be found and contacted than a half-filled one.
Your company Page
When a buyer clicks from you to your company, this is what backs you up. A dead Page undoes a good profile.
Add your logo and a real cover image. The cover is the biggest “is this real” cue on the whole Page. Use a photo of your factory, your production line, or your product — never an empty stock skyline. A blank cover is the number-one sign of a company nobody is running.
Write a one-line tagline: what you make, for whom, and one proof point. “OEM/ODM cookware for US retail brands — ISO 9001, since 2008.”
Fill the About, website, location, industry, and company size — honestly, and so they match your website and your profile. A cross-border buyer is checking that everything lines up.
A complete Page pays off: LinkedIn’s own data says Pages with complete information get about 30% more visitors each week than incomplete ones.
Get your team onto it. Ask the people at your company — you, your sales staff — to list the company as their employer and follow the Page. A Page with real employees and a few followers looks alive. One with zero looks abandoned.
The beginner mistakes that read as “fake”
A few things make a new account look untrustworthy. Any one of these makes a careful buyer hesitate:
One last thing: don’t look dormant
You don’t have to post often. But a single recent post — a product, a shipment, a line from a trade show — tells a visitor the business is live and operating today. One post is enough to not look abandoned. You can do more later.
You look real. Now, who’s out there?
That’s the setup done. When a US buyer looks you up now, they find a real maker they can trust. The next question is the useful one: who are the US buyers for your product, and how do you actually reach them?