Missed out on Part 1? Make sure you read that first!

LinkedIn has many more tools and abilities to maximise every user’s profile, as you’ll see below.

18.    Patents

This area is more important for some industries than others, but always shows a level of ingenuity that can give you an edge over the competition.

19.    Projects

Always include specific projects you have worked/are working on. It gives a great insight into exactly what you do.

20.    Professional Organization Affiliation

This can be a great talking point for you and prospective clients. Do think twice about what you put here though as it can also alienate some people.

21.    Certification & Licensing

You never know what a prospective client might be looking for. If you have an HGV license or scuba diving certification, put it here. It could also be another great conversation starter.

22.    Skills

Again, these are things that can be surprisingly useful in connecting with others. If you are bilingual or have in-depth knowledge of HTML, show it off.

23.    Awards and Honours

Always impressive, awards and honours not only show experience, but also that you are above your competition.

24.    Include your online presence

Using the ‘Add Sections’ tool you can include content from your personal WordPress blog or Twitter feed, which adds another dimension to your profile.

25.    Add a little something extra

There are a variety of LinkedIn applications that you can add to your profile to personalize it even more. Apps like Amazon’s Reading List can become a talking point between you and prospective clients.

26.    Control your narrative

You can drag the section headings on your profile page to rearrange in what order they appear. Placing the most important and interesting content at the top of the list will give visitors a much smoother experience viewing your profile. Get yourself Google Ready

27.    Show your specialties

Search engines will use the keywords found in the Background Summary. Be sure to add a ‘Specialties’ section and insert your focuses.

28.    Account for typos

Also in the Summary section, consider to include common misspellings of your name.

29.    Remember that Google reads your Headline

Place some relevant keywords in your headline. For example, ‘Web Designer in Annapolis’ or ‘Fabric Designer in St Louis’

30.    Edit your Summary, Description, Skills and Experiences

These are other areas where keyword placement is beneficial.

31.    Don’t go overboard

Whilst keyword placement is essential, don’t let it take over your profile. You need to maintain a conversational attitude with those who visit your profile so be sure to think about that when you’re fleshing out the bits and pieces.

32.    Link

If you have a personal website, blog, Facebook page, etc, don’t forget to mention your LinkedIn profile there – the more traffic the better. Network.

33.    Who are you and who needs you?

Ask yourself these two questions before you jump into networking – Does my profile represent me as a professional person? Who would potentially be interested in networking with me?

34.    Join a group

When you’ve established whom it is that you want to get in touch with, find and join a group comprised of your target audience.