LinkedIn is one of the oldest social networks. It's often not even mentioned when people talk about social media, but it is a social media platform. LinkedIn has added so many features recently that it's easy to get confused about how it works and what to do with it. But if you focus on the things it does best, you can get a lot of value from it.

It started life to help you get a new job. You would promote yourself as an employee to future employers and recruiters. You could also broaden your network by asking for referrals through people you know. It's still a powerful job/career network, but for experts it's better to think of it as a place for demonstrating your professional authority.

Ensure your LinkedIn profile is professional, current and accurate. Some of this is straightforward, but take note of these important bits:

- Name: Include your name and only your name. Some people add keywords in their name to appear more prominently on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn doesn't allow this, and can block your account for it.
- Photo: Use a good professional photo, not a silly selfie or a cartoon (unless that's really part of your brand).
- Summary: This is where you write your "blurb". Focus on the 4 E's: Expertise, Experience, Education and Endorsements.
- Contact Info: Fill in as much as possible, especially the links to your other properties: Twitter, Web sites and blog.

By default, your page on LinkedIn has a weird URL, but you can customise it to make it more readable - e.g. mine is linkedin.com/in/gihanperera. This is not essential, because most people will be just clicking a link rather than typing it in. But it's free and easy (provided the URL you want is available), so you might as well do it.

You can enhance your "Summary", "Experience" and "Education" sections with documents, pictures, videos, and slide shows. LinkedIn calls this your Professional Portfolio.

Start by connecting only with people you know. This applies both to incoming invitations and outgoing invitations. If you don't know them, don't connect with them.

There are some exceptions to this rule, where you choose to connect with other people in your network:

- People who seem like a good match: For example, this might be somebody in your industry or your niche market.
- People you meet on LinkedIn: For example, people who comment on your posts, participate in your groups, or engage with you in other ways.
- People who are introduced by somebody else.

When you connect with somebody, LinkedIn's default message is "I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn". Use this to explain exactly why you're connecting with them (For example, how you know them).

Unfortunately, LinkedIn sometimes doesn't allow you to customise this message. But if you click through to their profile first, the Connect option here does allow you to write your own message.

Use LinkedIn's Search feature (at the top of the page) to find people you might want to connect with. The Advanced Search allows you to be specific about your search criteria - e.g. people with "retail" in their title in Sydney.

As another example, if you're attending a conference or other event, look up the speakers, panellists and other participants on LinkedIn. You might find some that are worth connecting with before the event.

When you find people of interest, you can start connecting to them. You do this by asking for an introduction.

If I introduce you to somebody I know, that person already trusts you (to some extent). In fact, wouldn't it be great if the only people we worked with were people who had been referred or introduced by somebody else?

One of LinkedIn's original features was this ability to ask for introductions. Use it to reach out to people you would like to reach, not just by contacting them out of the blue, but through somebody who knows you both. Because that person in the middle is trusted by you and the other person, the initial connection is far warmer than just a cold contact.

When asking for an introduction, it's even more important to explain why you want to connect, so the "middle man" knows whether to pass on the request.

You can write testimonials for people in your network by writing a "Recommendation" for them. Apart from helping to boost that person's reputation, LinkedIn also invites that person to return the favour, so this is a good way for getting recommendations for yourself as well!

LinkedIn also has a feature called "Endorsements", where you can endorse people for certain skills and expertise. But it just takes a click to do this, so it's not as highly regarded. It's OK to do Endorsements, but focus on Recommendations.

All of the earlier ideas will help build your LinkedIn network. That's all leading up to the most important thing you can do: Share your own ideas.

LinkedIn has its own article publishing platform called Pulse. Use this to publish original articles, and all your immediate LinkedIn connections will be notified.

You don't have to limit yourself to new articles that you haven't published elsewhere. So you could start by taking articles you publish elsewhere (e.g. your blog) and pasting them into LinkedIn.

As with any other social network, the more you participate the more value you get. On LinkedIn, the best place to participate is in groups (look under the Interests tab on the menu).

Search for groups you like, join them, and participate. You can start by just "lurking" (just watching silently to see how the group operates), and then join in and contribute. The easiest way to start is just by answering other people's questions. You don't have to be a world expert; just share your experience.

Most LinkedIn members don't like people who promote themselves, so don't promote yourself! Just give solid answers that genuinely help people, and they will look up your profile anyway.

Don't just sit back and wait for things to happen - take action! Try a few things, measure what works, and do more of that.

If you really find that LinkedIn is working well for you, there are a lot of advanced tools to help you get more value from it. But most people don't even exhaust the basic tools, so start there.

Gihan Perera is a futurist, conference speaker, author and consultant who gives business leaders a glimpse into what's ahead - and how they can become fit for the future.

Since 1997, he has worked with business leaders, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and other change agents - helping them with their strategy for thriving in a fast-changing world.

Forbes magazine rated him the #5 social media influencer in the world in his area of expertise.

http://GihanSpeaks.com

http://GihanPerera.com