These days you cannot spend five minutes on social networks without coming across someone who touts themselves to be an expert, guru, or an authority on aspects of social media. Like most of you out there, I am none of the above. So I figured that some of you may benefit from the six LinkedIn tips that I picked up and used to improve my presence online. With over two hundred million business users and counting, it is your best shot at projecting your professional image to peers, prospective employers, and indeed, to cold callers. At the end of the day, social media is about engagement, your improved profile will only get you more visibility. It’s up to you to take it from there.

LinkedIn profile picture

Even though this may seem obvious, there are many users on LinkedIn – some with over five hundred connections – who have not bothered to upload a profile picture. Folks who may be interested in connecting with you after viewing your profile may hesitate to deal with a faceless person. At the recent Social Media Marketing World event, Guy Kawasaki, a thought leader in the digital and social media industry, pointed out that, ideally, the headshot image for your account should have an off-centre alignment than a regular front-facing one that you would use for a passport. With over 246,000 followers on LinkedIn, he seems to have gotten it right!

Customize your public profile URL

This simple step is often overlooked by most users. By completing this step, you can create a simple link to your public profile vs. one that has a number of alphabets and characters that are not aesthetically pleasing.

Add projects and publications to your profile

Most of us have yet to land a gig writing for Harvard Business Review (HBR) or the Huffington Post. However, our day-to-day work functions may include presenting at seminars, training sales teams, or writing blog posts for our businesses. Update your LinkedIn profile by adding projects and activities that reflect the highlights of your job. This is a relatively new feature within LinkedIn and should be leveraged to maximize your exposure.

Export connections to Excel

If you are seriously trying to connect with a subset of the folks in your network, scouring alphabetically through the list of connections online may prove to be cumbersome. With a couple of clicks, you can easily download the entire list of connections into an Excel spreadsheet and sort and filter it to suit your needs. This feature can be found at the bottom of the “Network” tab on your main LinkedIn page.

Join LinkedIn Groups

Joining LinkedIn groups is an excellent way to keep abreast of the goings on in the business or community of your choice while at the same time expanding your connections. Unlike trying to connect with a complete stranger, you can directly send invitations to anyone within the group that you are a part of. In the example shown here, I am able to send an invitation to connect with Sean Gardner, a Forbes Top Ten Social Media Influencer, using my Social Media Marketing group membership.

Add your LinkedIn URL to your Twitter profile

If you have a Twitter account, it is a great idea to include your LinkedIn URL in your profile. This is especially helpful if you are relatively new to Twitter or are concerned that you have very few followers. Your LinkedIn connections will bring added credibility to your Twitter account as you continue to build up your Twitter following.

So there you are. Now you are on your way to establishing a new and improved LinkedIn presence!

Let me know if you find this list useful, or are aware of features and capabilities that should have made this list. Please click on “Leave a comment” to add your thoughts, and share them with your friends using the options below.