In the new world of work, where people meet you online before they connect with you in person, your digital profile has become essential to career success: Making your virtual world brand match your real-world brand is critical.

If you had to choose one digital branding profile to work on, focus on your LinkedIn profile. Why? Because, in business, it's often the first place people go when they want to check you out.

And even if someone starts with a Google search, they'll likely end up at your LinkedIn profile because it's usually in the top 3 results Google displays. Therefore, having a stellar LinkedIn profile is not a nice-to-have; it's an essential personal branding tool.

And for marketers the bar is set high. People viewing your profile assume that if you can market a product you should be able to market yourself and that you are an expert in social media.

After people see your headshot and read your headline, viewers of your LinkedIn profile check out your summary. Your summary is what should pique their interest and make them want to learn more about you.

Here's the three-step process for creating an authentic, differentiated, and compelling summary.

Step 1: Create context

Before writing your summary...

• Know your target audience—whom you are writing it for—and how you want them to feel after reading it.
• Determine what you want readers to do once they have read it.
• Finally, figure out what you want the summary to say.

Step 2: Collect content

Think of your content in terms of the categories described below. Then fill in the buckets.

• Accomplishments: a sentence for each of the your most important accomplishments in terms of the value you create/created (for example: "Launched the first fully integrated social media campaign for our B2B products; built and led the marketing team with the greatest employee satisfaction and longevity in the organization...").
• Values and passions: your operating principles (non-negotiables) and the things that move you (for example, innovation, creativity, collaboration, team sports, travel).
• Strengths: the things you do better than anyone else (for example, "I inspire teams to exceed client expectations by focusing on a vision and shared mission." Or "I can persuade even the most dubious product manager of the importance of using social media tools such as Twitter and Pinterest").
• Differentiation: things that help you stand out from other marketers (for example, "I like to challenge the status quo and say things in meetings that make people stop and think." Or, "I use my international expertise and passion for travel to design truly global advertising campaigns.").
• Quantifiable facts: accomplishments with numbers (for example, "I climbed five of the tallest peaks; I lived in five countries and speak three languages; I implemented marketing campaigns that led to $500K of additional business with a 20% reduction in cost.")
• Validation: quotes, awards, and accolades bestowed upon you (for example, "Graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts; named in the top 10 marketers to follow on Twitter.").

Step 3: Combine and connect