Like any site with a profile attached, that profile will be the first thing people see of you and will go a long way to how they judge you. Your profile should promote your business in the best possible light and clearly highlight your experiences in a way that will make people want to engage with you. Shout about successful projects you have completed and include quotes and testimonials from past or current clients to bolster your reputation.

Like signing up to a gym membership that you’ll never use, many LinkedIn members join groups that they have little desire to interact with. There are thousands of groups to join and links to be made so it can feel daunting at first to wade through the vast number of them. The crucial thing to do is to only join groups that will truly benefit you. Look at each one and analyse how you can help its members, or how they can help you, but don’t be obvious about it. LinkedIn users tend to be put off by people who only want to use the site as an overt advertising opportunity. You need to engage with users as you would in person, which means not throwing your business card in their face immediately.

With over 300 million users, you will find people relevant to your business. Once you have, you need to interact with them in a way that benefits you both. Don’t bombard those within your ‘network’ with spam-type emails, ensure you only ever send out communications that you yourself would like to receive. With a six-degrees-of-separation feel to it, LinkedIn will show you who your contacts are connected with and there is a good chance that you might also benefit from being connected to them. Asking your mutual friend to introduce the two of you via the site will increase your chances of getting a positive business relationship out of it.

Want to change or update your profile without sending a message to the world you’ve done so?  Adjust your settings to turn off your ‘activity broadcasts’  and those embarrassing emails will be a thing of the past.  More tips and tricks to help you make the most of your account can be found at the LinkedIn Help Center.

One temptation with social media sites is to request and accept connections with just about anybody. But having over 500 connections on LinkedIn will be pointless if 490 of them are of no use to your business. Your news and comments feeds will be taken up by information that is irrelevant to you and it’ll be harder to find the people you can truly connect with so be selective.

Once you do make contact with people, try not to fall into the easy trap of sending automated messages to other users. There are some ready-made, easy-to-use phrases that are available to use on LinkedIn, but imagine how it would feel to get an impersonal message from someone who supposedly wants to do business with you. One personal line that is informative and relevant is worth more than a thousand automated messages.

If you’re not already a member, join the Buckinghamshire Business First LinkedIn group – we are always keen to stay engaged with our members and welcome your views on important business issues. To join our group, login to your own LinkedIn account and search for Buckinghamshire Business First in the search bar at the top of the page.

For more advice on how to make the most out of networking, be it online or in person, contact the Buckinghamshire Business First Business Support Team on 01494 568941. Or why not try out networking face-to-face this coming Autumn with Buckinghamshire Business First’s Simply Networking events. Find out more information here.