1. Fill out your profile completely. Yes. All of it. Not just your current job and where you went to college. Add other positions. Talk about where you volunteer. Add your high school. The more touch points from your past, the better the recommendations LinkedIn shares of who to connect to on the site.

2. While we're at it, use the summary to tell us a story about you. Not what you do, but who you are. Give us the why you do what you do...That's what people find engaging. Bonus points for making this more customer focused than "self-focused".

3.  Have at least 500 connections. LinkedIn's algorithm works by number of connections. The more you have the more people you can see AND the more people can see you.

4. Learn how to use search. Search is so powerful on LinkedIn that if Facebook understood search as well as LinkedIn does, LinkedIn wouldn't exist. You can find prospects, clients, strategic partners, jobs, and even your competitors.

5.  Download and use the LinkedIn app on your phone. It makes LinkedIn much easier for everything...well except editing your profile. Do that on your computer.

6.   Join and participate in groups relevant to your niche. There are groups on LinkedIn that cater to every interest. Whether you're servicing engineers or focused in a geographic area like Utica, you can find a group. Get in there and share. But don't just share, comment on other people's stuff.

7.   Spend 15-20% of the time you spend mindlessly scrolling through Facebook purposefully scrolling through LinkedIn. You will find people, ideas, best practices and will be better off for it. 

8. Engage with others. The single best way to engage others isn't to share stuff it's to engage on the stuff they've shared. An insightful comment on someone else's post says as much about you as what you post.

9.  Post a status update daily (at the very least, 3x a week). Get in the habit of putting content here just like you do on Facebook or Instagram. Pictures are better than text. Videos perform similarly to pictures. This is a business site so make sure what you share represents you well. Also keep that in mind for knowing when to share. 9;00 p.m. on a Friday evening is NOT prime time ;-)

10.   Speaking of videos.... It's not quite live like on Facebook but you can access "LinkedIn Live" through a 3rd party tool like restream or streamyard. Alternatively, open the camera on your phone, hit record and then upload to the site directly. This is important because LinkedIn doesn't want their members leaving the site to look at your video on Facebook or YouTube. Yes, it takes an extra minute, but it is worth it.

11.   Share the blog posts or other articles you've written there. LinkedIn has a powerful blog engine called "Newsletters" AND your network is already there. Every time you post a new article, your network will get notified. It's a great way to get new eyeballs on old (or new) content.

Which of these tips do you plan to work on?

Are there any you would skip?

What tips would you add to make LinkedIn easier?

Thanks for taking a look.

Terry Bean has a passion to help others achieve more and unlock their true potential. As a sought after speaker, and corporate trainer, Bean prides himself on delivering “inspiredutaining” presentations. His audiences learn, laugh, and leave inspired. Bean also provides executive coaching for select individuals and teams. He is a two-time published author and an executive producer of TEDxDetroit.