Top 5 Major LinkedIn mistakes to avoid

You are working hard to use social media marketing successfully and you have launched your LinkedIn profile. You will make a mistake or two or leave out something you should have put in your profile.

The top major LinkedIn mistakes to avoid

1. If you are a job seeker, do not use the branding statement at the top of your profile to say “unemployed” or engineer, seeking new role in manufacturing. This area is a branding headline. Use the 120 characters to tell people your value. Don’t waste it by giving the wrong message!
2. Don’t let LinkedIn fill in the branding statement with your last position either. Again you need to use that top space to sell  yourself and your value. LinkedIn will ask you if you want to change your branding statement to your newest position. Uncheck the box and create a headline that sells you:

Global Communications Director — Brand Management | Executive Messaging | Employee Engagement

Tips to make LinkedIn work for you

1. Claim your name. LinkedIn gives your profile a name when you start with them and it is usually your name plus a series of numbers. You want to come as close as possible to your own name and change it in the customize your public profile area.
2. Write your LinkedIn summary fully (you can use 2000 characters) and use the first person to make it a very personable summary. Don’t write like a resume. Too many people put just a blurb in there or paste their resume content. This is the place to showcase accomplishments and describe your passion.
3. Put your contact information in with easy to contact email and cell phone number. The new contact information moved to right under your branding information in your profile. Make sure it is updated. If no one can find a way to contact you, they won’t!

If you avoid these major LinkedIn mistakes, you will be much more successful in networking.

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