I think the most powerful marketing strategy is building a bank of great LinkedIn recommendations on your profile. This can be from a past client, from fellow LinkedIn users, or a team member you are presently working with. It also might be the best way to convert your audience on LinkedIn into potential new clients! A good LinkedIn recommendation can become an impactful testimonial to attract opportunity.

LinkedIn Recommendations are also a great way to build your online credibility and social proof. They can give your potential clients and collaborators an opportunity to get to know you better. These recommendations provide valuable insight into the quality of your work (and what it's like working for you). People reading your recommendations are also much more likely to trust you when they see that others have worked with you in the past and had positive words to describe you.

A great LinkedIn recommendation can be a valuable asset that speaks about your service as a dietitian for future jobs, for attracting more clients, or for business services you provide as a dietitian.

The reverse is true as well. Providing a positive recommendation on a person's profile for someone you have had a professional relationship with, worked with, collaborated with, managed, or were a client of, can boost your own social clout. It's also a good idea to have it serve as a reference to future potential employers (or a hiring manager). For job seekers they are also great recommendation letter snippets or a professional reference!

You have enormous power in providing a well thought out and well written LinkedIn Recommendation. But if you are thinking that writing a LinkedIn Recommendation for someone is time consuming, then read on, as I share my LinkedIn Recommendation Formula and to save you time and effort. I've included some specific LinkedIn recommendation samples and specific examples as inspiration and best practices.

In this article, I'll show you how to request and write a detailed and impactful LinkedIn Recommendation that speaks to exactly why someone in your social network should do business with a colleague (or you!).

I'll also provide LinkedIn Recommendation examples to use as templates or to inspire your next recommendation to save you time and effort.

What Are LinkedIn Recommendations

Let's start at the beginning. You might be wondering what LinkedIn recommendations are exactly. According to LinkedIn, "A recommendation is a commendation written by a LinkedIn member to recognize your work."

When I am researching a potential client or another colleague that I want to work with, I like to read their recommendations. It give me a better idea of how that person works, what types of people they have worked with in the past, what types of projects they have been involved with, and whether or not we will be a good fit to work together.

Who Can Give LinkedIn Recommendations

This is a common question that comes in our workshops. According to LinkedIn, "You can request recommendations from your 1st-degree connections you work with or have worked with."

LinkedIn recommendations can only be written for, or requested of, your 1st-degree connections. so if you have worked with someone in the past (or presently) that you are not yet connected with, then start by extending a connection request.

Why LinkedIn Recommendations Are Unique

Like many testimonials that live on social media platforms, recommendation or testimonials speak to the quality of your work and your work process. The difference with LinkedIn recommendations is that they are authentic and social proof from an actual colleague or client. They are not cut and pasted from an email. They are real! They become an important asset for your public brand.

Recommendations also back up what you have included in your public profile.

Why You Want To Give (or Receive) a LinkedIn Recommendation

Receiving a recommendation or a testimonial from a past client that experienced exceptional service is the best marketing!

Because they are authentic, recommendations are highly valued and respected. So that's why you want to make an effort to request words that speak directly about your and your work.

Providing a LinkedIn Recommendation for someone you have worked with, or managed, were a client of, or collaborated with, can also boost your own social clout.

Why LinkedIn Recommendations Matter for Dietitians

1. Enhances Credibility: A recommendation on LinkedIn acts like a modern-day letter of reference. When colleagues, clients, or employers vouch for your skills and professional demeanor, it adds a layer of trust and authenticity to your profile that can’t be achieved through self-promotion alone.
2. Increases Visibility: LinkedIn’s algorithm favors profiles with recommendations. Each endorsement increases your profile’s activity, thereby boosting your visibility in search results. This can be particularly beneficial in a competitive field like dietetics, where standing out to potential employers or clients is key.
3. Showcases Your Expertise: Recommendations provide a platform for others to detail your specific skills and professional attributes. For dietitians, whether it’s your nutritional planning prowess, innovative treatment methodologies, or exceptional patient care, a well-written recommendation can highlight these strengths to prospective employers or collaborators.
4. Supports Career Development: Networking is vital in dietetics, a field where opportunities often arise through professional connections. Recommendations can open doors to new job offers, collaborative projects, and speaking engagements.

Essential Elements of a LinkedIn Recommendation

It's not good enough to just say that "Sarah provided excellent service". We want all the juicy details. As readers or potential clients, we want to know what kind of service was so excellent? What was the problem that brought the client to Sarah in the first place? How exactly did the client feel after working with Sarah? Did the client have an improvement in health outcomes? So many details! So the question is how do you get your clients to provide more details? You need to give them a template.

When asking for a testimonial or a LinkedIn Recommendation you can direct your client to a formula, a structure, or just bullet points to consider including.

My Personal Story About LinkedIn Recommendations.

Here's my personal story about LinkedIn Recommendations. I once asked a client to give a recommendation. The client and I worked on modernizing her resume and LinkedIn Profile together for several weeks, I gave her cover letter templates, and I coached her on the job interview process. She nailed the job interviews and got the job! She and I were both so thrilled. So naturally I asked her to write a LinkedIn Recommendation.

Her recommendation was glowing but I couldn't publish it on my Profile.

Why? Because I wasn't specific about what to address in the recommendation. Her recommendation was a glowing review of my nutrition knowledge and my savvy cooking skills!

I laughed out loud when I saw what she had graciously offered as a recommendation. She thought I wanted a recommendation about my career path as a dietitian, as a nutrition expert, as a culinary nutritionist. But I am in the business of helping people modernize their resumes and LinkedIn profiles to get jobs! I was at fault for not being specific about what to include in the recommendation.

So she and I had a good laugh. I gave her more specifics about what to write about in the recommendation. Thankfully LinkedIn gives you the power to accept or not accept the recommendation that will live on your Profile. Which is different that a product review!

How To Request a LinkedIn Recommendation - From Your Profile

To ask for a LinkedIn Recommendation on a desktop, navigate to your Profile (vs. your Home feed), scroll down to your Recommendations sections and select the "+" icon. Then select "Ask for a recommendation". From there you can find the connection you want to give a recommendation.

Here's the step-by-step process to request a recommendation from profile via desktop computer

1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
2. Select View profile.
3. Scroll down to the Recommendations section and click Ask to be recommended.
4. Type the name of the connection you'd like to ask for a recommendation in the Who do you want to ask? field.
5. Select the name from the dropdown that appears.
6. Fill out the Relationship and Position at the time fields of the recommendations pop-up window, and click Next.
7. You can include a personalized message with your request by changing the text in the message field.
8. Click Send.

Step-by-step process to request a recommendation from mobile

1. Navigate to the profile of the 1st-degree connection you'd like to request a recommendation from.
2. Tap the More icon in the top section of the profile.
   
3. Tap Request a recommendation. This will take you to the Ask [member name] to recommend you page.
   
4. Select relationship and Select your occupation at the time from the dropdowns, and tap Next.
   
5. You can include a personalized message with your request by changing the text in the message field.
   
6. Tap Send.
   
7. You can also request a recommendation from the Recommendations section of your profile. However, this section is only displayed once you give or receive a recommendation that isn't hidden.

The default for your personalized request message is, "Hi [name], would you write me a recommendation please?"

You have 3000 characters to personalize your response, but you also don't want to overwhelm your colleague or client! Stick to about 200-500 characters as a general rule.

Important Notes about Requesting Recommendations

LinkedIn advises, "you can only request one recommendation from a connection at a time, although there's no limit to the total number of recommendations you can request or receive."

"You won't be able to change the relationship once you send the recommendation request. You'll need to ask your connection to delete the recommendation request and request a new recommendation."

Examples of How to Write a Recommendation Request

To help guide your recommendation, you can be more specific in your request. This also helps the person giving you the Recommendation so they can spend less time thinking about how to structure the paragraph.

The tone of your request will depend on how well you know your connection and the nature of the services or project you worked on together.

I always find it helpful to see examples when given a list of instructions. Here are a few examples fo how to request a recommendation from your 1st-degree connection in your network.

"Hi [name], it was so wonderful working with you on the malnutrition project for the Hospital Committee. Would you please write me a recommendation about our time collaborating on that project. Thank you in advance. - Stacey"

"Hi [name], it was so wonderful working with you on the malnutrition project for the Hospital Committee. Would you please write me a recommendation about our time collaborating on that project. You can include how we completed the deliverables 1 week ahead of schedule, how we used SPSS for the data analysis, and how we actually had a lot of fun working together! Thanks so much - Stacey"

"Hi [name], it was so wonderful working with you as your Nutritionist. Would you please write me a recommendation about your experience working with me for future clients. You were such a great example of someone whose health made a big improvement and there are so many people that could benefit from your words. Any details about how you felt before working with me and then after would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. - Stacey"

Examples of How to Turn a Testimonial into a Recommendation Request

"Hi [name], Thank you so much for your recent email with your kind words about us working together. I'm updating my LinkedIn recommendations and wanted to see if you would be able to drop those same words into a recommendation for me. It would be greatly appreciated.

Here's what you wrote:

'You are so efficient, easy-to-work-with! You really know your copywriting and SEO stuff! You are so well versed in finding the right tone and SEO resulting in stellar nutrition writing. You always meet deadliness too. Thank you'.

Thank you again for your generous words. - Stacey"

How to Receive a Recommendation Given To You

If a connection writes you a recommendation, you’ll be notified via a direct message from the sender on LinkedIn (check your Messaging tab on the top).

You can accept, dismiss or ask for revision of the recommendation.

Once you’ve accepted a recommendation from your connection, it’ll be visible to your network by default. You can hide a recommendation you’ve accepted.

How to Give a LinkedIn Recommendation

You can also recognize your connections’ work by writing them a recommendation. If you receive a recommendation request, you can decline the request and aren’t required to respond.

There's no limit to the number of recommendations you can request or give. You can request or give only one recommendation per position, per member.

You can write a recommendation only for your 1st-degree connections whose work you'd like to recognize, like a collaborator, a colleague, a co-worker, an intern, or a student.

The recommendation recipient can choose to display it on their profile. If a contact requests a recommendation from you, the request will be sent to you via a message which you can access from the Messaging icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.

Step-by-step instructions for giving a recommendation from your profile via desktop computer

1. Navigate to the profile of the 1st-degree connection you'd like to recommend.
2. Click the More button in the introduction section.
3. Select Recommend.
4. Fill out the Relationship and Position at the time fields of the recommendations pop-up window, and click Next.
5. Write your recommendation in the message field and click Send.

Step-by-step instructions for giving a recommendation from your mobile

1. Navigate to the profile of the 1st-degree connection you'd like to recommend.
2. Tap the More button in the introduction section.
3. Tap Recommend. This will take you to the How do you know [member name]?page.
4. Select relationship and Select [member name’s] position at the time from the dropdowns, and tap Next.
5. Write your recommendation in the message field.
6. Tap Send.

Change Your Mind?

According to LinkedIn, "if you do write a recommendation and change your mind later, you have the option to revise a recommendation you’ve given or delete a recommendation."

The LinkedIn Recommendation Formula

You can use my formula (as LinkedIn recommendation templates) to guide your writing process and to help save time.

1. SPLASH - Your opening line can be a splash summary statement and a prompt to guide the reader to an action, like buy, or sign up, or join, or work with, or collaborate with - "I would highly recommend working with Sarah to anyone who wants to feel better quicker and get to the root of their health problems pronto!"

2. RELATIONSHIP - Describe relationship - "I hired Sarah to improve my gut health after years of failed efforts on my own."

3. DETAILS - Add quantifiable details or results or how you now feel compared with before hiring for services - "Within 2 months I was symptom-free for the first time in 10 years. I feel hopeful for a pain-free future." You can also include details about their professional skills, such as a strong work ethic, their unique ability to get the job done, positive attitude, their leadership role in the project, their ability to be a great manager, team player and other hard skills, someone who goes the extra mile in getting the project accomplished, that they are a great asset on a project, or maybe just helped you reach your own professional goals.

4. SUMMARY - Summary of results - "I can honestly say that I finally have control over my health thanks to Sarah and her in-depth nutrition analysis and protocols that reversed my gut health problems."

Examples of LinkedIn Recommendations for Dietitians

By just pursing your own connections on LinkedIn you can get an idea of typical LinkedIn Recommendations as examples to use. Below are LinkedIn Recommendation Examples that can be provided for fellow dietitians.

LinkedIn Recommendation Example for Clinical Dietitian

"Janelle is a talented registered dietitian specializing on oncology! Janelle and I worked together on the Enteral Formulary along with Pharmacy. She was knowledgeable, easy to work with, and always delivered on time. Her deep understanding of micronutrient requirements for squamous cell cancers was extraordinary. I would highly recommend working with Janelle."

LinkedIn Recommendation Example for Private Practice Dietitian

"Terry is the best nutritionist for kids. I would recommend Terry again and again. I was referred to Terry by my pediatrician to help my child with several nutrition difficulties. I went into our first appointment with lots of fear and anxiety. Terry was amazing by putting us all at ease and giving us lots of resources. We went from feeling anxious to feeling in control again. Thank you Terry!"

LinkedIn Recommendation Example for Nutrition Writer

"Efficient, easy-to-work-with, who knows their stuff! We hired Andy to tackle copywriting for our nutrition supplement blog. Andy is well versed in finding the right tone and SEO resulting in stellar nutrition writing. Always met deadliness too. We have been working with Andy now for 16 months and we will continue into the future!"

LinkedIn Recommendation Example for Virtual Nutrition Speaker

"We hired Pat to deliver an engaging talk to our district on How To Get More Clients. The audience was blown away! Pat worked hard to understand our audience and engage with our members ahead of the presentation. It was such a delight to work together to provide the Keynote presentation. The best!"

Summary

You are now armed to offer your LinkedIn connections a recommendation and in return you can ask them for a recommendation as well. Using the formula and examples can help expedite the process. We can't wait to see your results!

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About the Author

Stacey Dunn-Emke, MS, RDN, is the Founder Owner of NutritionJobs and an established dietetic career expert. She helps steer dietetic and nutrition professionals to a successful job search process with the top-ranked dietetic job board platform, NUTRITIONJOBS. Stacey is the author of The Dietetic Resume Guide and numerous dietetic career action-ables. She gives the tools to create a modern standout dietetic resume to land that job interview, help with job interview prep, and with creating All-Star LinkedIn profiles. Stacey has interviewed and hired many dietitians and in running NutritionJobs since 2000, she has reviewed thousands of dietetic resumes. She works closely with dietetic hiring managers and recruiters to know what standout resume elements land a job interview.

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