LinkedIn is synonymous with interpersonal business connections. Looking at my LinkedIn homepage on any day, mostly what I see is "Harry is now connected to Sally," "John is now connected to David," etc. Only a small minority of LinkedIn members are REALLY using the available tools beyond the easy way of starting connections; more businesspeople need to start posting articles they like, expressing opinions, listing upcoming events, asking or answering questions, commenting on someone else's posting, or (gasp!) using one or more of the free LinkedIn apps. So as a fellow contributor to the global personal learning network (PLN) we all share with each other in LinkedIn, I put into written words selections from educational seminars I have been giving in the New York metro area, to evangelize on the "Top Ten Tips to Build a Stronger LinkedIn Profile."

1. Don't just cut and paste sections from your résumé, that backward-looking document. LinkedIn shows your past experience and more: your present efforts and future aspirations.

Describe your rich experience and how it contributes to your current and future abilities, in your own words, as you would to someone you just met. Use short blocks of copy with keywords and rich textual images, in easily digestible bites. Why? Your profile is the primary means of branding yourself as a change agent, an authority, an attractive business prospect to someone seeking your services. Who better to add color and depth to your brand than you? OK, recommendations and referrals also do work wonders, but when a prospective client is comparing you to a competitor, you need to make your profile shine in your own personal way.

The most important takeaway from my sessions is that you MUST convey in rich, searchable terms (à la SEO) WHY YOU. Not what you do at your company, but what values you distinctly bring to the proverbial table, with your unique perspective and clear reasons why you stand out from the crowd. A lackluster cut-and-paste job from your website or résumé won't differentiate you. Show how you are the sum total of your past experiences, how your present work is shaping you as a valued business partner, and express your future aspirations in a business development context. Articulate the character you possess that will make people WANT to hire and/or refer you for new business.

2. Borrow from the best marketers you know. Draw inspiration from others you respect. Adapt smart wording you see them using to your own personal style and branding.

But be sure to light up your LinkedIn profile with your own color. Use present tense, first person ("I" or "my") and the active voice. In your own words, aimed at the LinkedIn audience of over 100 million business professionals, (a very different audience from that of the internet, your blog, FaceBook, or Twitter), tell WHO you really are. Stilted, artificial techno-jargon turns people away. Tell your story, concisely and articulately. Do you have two or more businesses like I do? Wrap the descriptions of each business together in a summary paragraph that paints a picture of yourself as a dynamic, active, yet integrated multipreneur. Your depth and clarity will immediately increase and reflect well on you vs. your drab competitor's flat LinkedIn profile.

3. Write a dynamic personal tagline. That 120-character line of text under your name that LinkedIn calls your Professional Headline is the first impression you make in your profile. It defines you all over LinkedIn.

Your professional headline is your brand, make it intriguing; clearly tell others "WHO you really are" not what your title/company is. Craft it carefully and rewrite it as you change, because you will change. If you think a 140-character tweet is challenging, then 120 characters of self-description on your LinkedIn professional headline can be a real ordeal--and that 120-character limit includes spaces! This exercise in self-definition has been exasperatingly healthy for my clients. The professional headline needs to be keyword-rich (again for SEO) yet easy to digest in a quick gulp, especially as attention-deficit as we have all become. You may be a "VP Treasury at XYZ Corporation," but better said for LinkedIn branding purposes: "Seasoned corporate finance professional with 20+ years' experience in global treasury management" (that's 96 characters including spaces; with room for up to 24 more characters to further express WHO you are!). Doesn't the expanded version tell a lot more about that person than their {title} at {company name}?

4. Put your polished elevator pitch to even better use. Your self-description, practiced and refined, is the essence of who you are and succinctly positions what you do.

Now convert it for use in LinkedIn's Summary section, to attract potential connections. You have but seconds to capture the reader's attention. A terse and intelligent Summary is your second chance to stand out. It complements the WHY YOU aspects you conveyed before and reinforces your areas of expertise, experience, and why you are further worthy of consideration for the business connection. Sparingly, you can insert industry jargon and acronyms here, if needed. Speak to the audience: "here's more about me, now join me as we dig further, and be sure to read my Experience section too." You're on a roll--the reader is following your explanation and expression, once he/she has determined you are worthy of spending the time.

5. Identify your background and show yourself as greater than the sum of the experience you had. The Experience and Specialties fields drive your personal SEO in LinkedIn searches; knit in Google keywords to improve being found in a search.

In describing your past experience, job by job, display your unique abilities in your line of work, personal skills and unique interests, values that round out your professional background and show you as a whole person. Use a note of humor, cite an excerpt from your publication, and express your professional passion. Often ignored, the Specialties, Skills, Certifications, Languages, and Publications section, though relatively new, is another place to add to WHO you are. If you published on paper or electronically, show it off here. If you have earned certifications, or can speak a foreign language for business, say so here. I even had a coaching client who asked if her patent was important to mention. "Heck yes," I told her, "it's a further differentiator, showing a unique developed, earned, contributed aspect of your persona." It directly reflects on the experience she will always possess.

6. You must have a good photo. A clear picture of what you look like, a friendly, approachable face, is a basic, yet underutilized, tool to reinforce your brand.

Potential business contacts will sometimes telephone you after reviewing your profile; allow them to speak to you while looking at your photo on LinkedIn. Your photo should make it easy for someone to spot you in a coffee shop for an initial meeting. While you don't have to run out and get a professional headshot, a digital picture cropped it so everyone can see what you look like, is fine and can be a pose that shows what you do, such as a public speaker with his hands extended making a point, or an attorney on the phone. No picture with your kids, dog, cat, or raising a glass at a party--not professionally correct. This is also not a place to put your logo. And worst of all is not having a picture at all. Show what you look like--your face is part of your brand.

7. Further show your ideas and voice, different from the crowd. Use the powerful free LinkedIn apps to showcase your voice.

Use SlideShare and/or Box.net, the free LinkedIn applications, to provide easy access to your multimedia marketing materials, adding even more depth to your profile with PDFs, white papers, brochures, podcasts, slide decks, and/or video of you speaking or how you perform your services. Add your portfolio of 2- and 3-dimensional art, photos, architectural designs, and interior design work using Creative Portfolio Display, also a free LinkedIn app. While you are exploring these wonderful apps, look at the all the others and determine if they can help further differentiate you from the competitors; Polls, BlogLink, MyTravel, Events, among others. LinkedIn adds more from time to time so check back to see what's newly available.

8. Make your profile 100% complete; get a personalized LinkedIn URL. Look your very best, fully rounding out your LinkedIn profile to tell WHO you really are.

You don't do anything 75% complete, do you? Having a 100% complete profile actually boosts your SEO in Google so you rank much higher, if not at the very top, if someone Googles you. To attain 100% profile completion, show your current position, at least two past positions, education, profile summary, photo, specialties, and three recommendations by others of you. Personalize your LinkedIn URL, instead of using the default URL you were given when you joined LinkedIn. If you have numbers and letters at the end of your LinkedIn profile URL, you need to personalize it. To learn how to do so, go to Learning Center at the bottom of any LinkedIn page, and search for "personalized URL" and then follow the directions. Now use that URL on your business cards, email signature lines, and all marketing materials so the reader can learn about you, in your own words, on LinkedIn. And for you graduating students and other job seekers, place it on your resume too!

9. Answer questions; ask questions. Thoughtful, purposeful answers to questions raised by others add to your street credentials, pointing more eyes at your profile as an expert.

Answering questions to help others is not only a good deed, but also establishes you after enough valued responses, as an expert in the field. Not a bad reputation to have! This reinforces your stature, and builds social capital with your network. Don't hesitate to ask an open-ended question of selected individuals on LinkedIn, all your connections, certain of your LinkedIn groups, or the entire general LinkedIn population; tap into your peers' expertise--the results will amaze you. Ask questions to take the pulse of current thinking in your field. If you get a particularly stimulating answer, take the conversation offline and call or meet that person for a valuable connection now and in the future.

10. Recommend and get recommended. LinkedIn makes it really easy to give someone a recommendation or ask someone to recommend you for some specific aspect of your work.

Give recommendations, as a thank-you for great work and add an anecdote to tell what character the colleague uniquely demonstrated. Surprise someone with a recommendation for a true gift. Ask clients, colleagues, vendors, partners for recommendations, guiding the writer to comment in his/her own words, on a specific characteristic, such as your dedicated follow-up on a particular problem to ensure its solution, or your special TLC at an especially difficult time. The "Halpert 2%" rule should apply: 98% of your network should like you and 2% of your connections should greatly admire you so much as to recommend you. Too many or too few recommendations can suggest a misconception about you. Finally, beware that recommending someone and having them recommend you back on the same day looks like a mutual admiration society--not very impressive or professional. Wait a week or two in between.

Marc W. Halpert Managing Partner, Your Best Interest LLC and its divisions e-giving and connect2collaborate Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6365045