I actually wrote these tips for a friend, however, I thought it will be helpful to post it on my site too. Want to know how to get started on the world's largest professional platform, LinkedIn? Follow these 10 easy steps.
1) Sign-up to a free account.
2) Choose a photo - Be clear on your objectives. What are you hoping to achieve from LinkedIn? Choose a photo to reflect this. Tip: Your personal profile picture should be 300x300 pixels. Your background image should be 1584x396 pixels.
3) Add your headline - this is the first thing people see, you may want to use your job title (but you don't have to). Use this part to expand on your role. Consider what opportunities are you interested in? You can also add pronouns here to show your support for gender non-conforming people and the LGBTQ community. Common pronouns are: “she/her,” “they/them,”
4) Profile Summary - Use this 2,600-character limit, wisely. Decide your objectives and incorporate keywords into your summary. For me, 'copywriting' is a keyword. Inject some life and personality into this section. Make it interesting to read.
5) Add detail - add your work history, educational qualifications and voluntary roles such as school PTA or governor roles.
6) Personalise your URL - make sure you personalise your URL, so it's easy to remember. My profile is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bevsalt/.
To change this, click on: 'Edit public profile and URL' on the top right. Then click the pencil icon to customise your URL.
7) Adjust dashboard settings - LinkedIn tells you who has viewed your profile. You have the option to display this or remain anonymous. Go to your profile/settings and privacy. Adjust settings to your preferences.
8) Grow your network - start connecting with people you know, by sending invites. Tip, when sending invites, tailor the message. Don't use the default one. You can also upload your personal contacts to LinkedIn.
Join relevant groups, some groups are private, you have to request to join.
Follow hashtags - find relevant hashtags and follow, LinkedIn will display these in your newsfeed. e.g., I follow #marketing
Follow companies/organisations/thought leaders e.g., Richard Branson
9) Get recommendations and endorsements - ask for recommendations from colleagues/ex-colleagues. These can be displayed on your profile. You can also give recommendations too.
Under skills and endorsements, you can add your skills in here and your connections can endorse a particular skill.
10) Decide on content to post - Decide on how frequent you want to post, daily, weekly, monthly. Pick content which your audience will engage with. Whether it's your own content, your organisation's content or someone else's content, You can also create polls. LinkedIn also has a blogging functionality where you can post blogs. (write article). You can also use LinkedIn to promote vacancies. Keep content topics business related.
Finally, here's a bonus tip:
11) Engage - similar to Facebook, you can engage with posts through like/comment/share options. Choose to leave a comment, over a like, you will stand out more.