2. Your name should ONLY contain your name 1. Photo should always be professionally taken 3. Your Headline should be catchy and have keywords you want to be found for 4. Reach at least 501 connections for social proof and extending network 1. Photo Should Always Be Professional – Take the time to get a real professional picture taken by a photographer. Anything else doesn’t leave nearly the same impression so get off to a good start with a great headshot. 2. Your Name Should ONLY Contain Your Name – Avoid adding any additional titles, acronyms or credentials. Keep it clean and concise! 3. Your Headline Should Be Catchy & Have Keywords You Want To Be Found For – Create a headline that captures your target market’s attention to encourage them to check out your profile. 4. Connect With At Least 501 People – The reason I suggest this is because LinkedIn will show how many connections you have until you hit 500. People like to connect with “connected” people.

7. Customize your profile URL 6. Customize your website names with terms that attract your target market rather than putting your company name 5. Add all relevant Contact Info 5. Provide All Necessary Contact Info – Not everyone will want to message you on LinkedIn when they find your profile so it’s good to give multiple options. I chose not to put my address and instead put an alternate – you can do the same, if you want but make sure you at least have an ! 6. Customize Your Website Names – On my own profile, I didn’t just put my company name or my website names. Instead, I used words that would be more attractive to the type of person I aim to attract. 7. Customize Your Profile URL – When customizing your LinkedIn profile, aim to just have your full name without anything else. If you have a more common name (sorry, John Smith) then you might have to resort to a slight modification.

8.Update your status daily with content that provides value to your target market. 8. Update Your Status Daily – One of the pillars to social media success is consistency so be sure to update your LinkedIn status daily with something that provides value to your target market.

9.Use Keywords you want to be found for throughout your summary and profile 10. Write in the first person-this is not your resume! 11. Invitation to connect & Call to action to contact.. 9. Keyword Load Your Summary & Profile – Notice again how I’ve strategically placed my chosen keywords through my profile and summary. Be careful not to overdo it or else your profile loses it’s impact. 10. Write In First Person – Your LinkedIn profile is not your resume so make sure you are always writing in first person. 11. Invitation to connect & Call to action to contact.- Pull your audience to connect with you as well as contact.

12. Add a video or slideshow using Linkedin new multimedia feature.

13. Keyword load your Skills & Expertise section for terms you want to be endorsed for 13. Skills & Expertise Should Be Filled With Keywords – This is a keyword haven on your LinkedIn profile so think about every skill you promote through your business and list it here. Everything you put here will show up in your Endorsements section so choose carefully!

14.Use the projects section to highlight key projects that beef up your work experience. 14.Use The “Projects” Section To Promote Products – This is a great section to showcase your skills. Only add things that will provide value or validate your skills.

15. Keyword load your current and past work history with terms you want to be found for 16. Keyword Load Your Current & Past Work History – Notice how in my profile I used keywords like “Social media trainer” and “social media instructor”. These are some of the keywords I want to be found for.

16. Use keywords when filling out your experience section 16. Use Keywords When Filling Out Your Experience Section – See explanation for #9. Same drill!

17. Recommendations are extremely important! 17. Have At Least 1 Recommendation This is key for building credibility. Do whatever you need to do to get your first recommendations, as they are paramount to distinguishing you from competition online.

18. Other Sections 18. Other Sections- Depending where you are in your career level will you want to include these sections.

Join 50 groups – You can join a maximum of 50 groups on LinkedIn so take advantage of every one of them. If your business is primarily local then start by finding relevant local groups for your industry or wherever your target market is likely to be. 19. Join 50 Groups- That is the maximum LinkedIn Allows