By now, you must realize how important creating and maintaining a presence on LinkedIn is; if you don’t know why…see my first IN post.

I know social media can seem like a thankless chore but this IS different. In today’s fast-paced, connection-driven world, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of LinkedIn. Believe me – the rewards will surprise you. Not only does LinkedIn provide you with invaluable professional connections, it’s a great resource for staying on top of what’s important in your industry. So, to get started:

• Come up with a scheduled set of key tasks to do
• Each day/each week – pick from below.
• Schedule it! Write down when and which taks you’ll do to stay on top of it with a minimal time investment.

Daily: 

• Check all of your updates and responding as appropriate; look at notifications, connection requests, and messages.
• Pay some attention to activity in your news feed. Comment, like, and share others’ posts; be an active participant!
• Share any recent news from your company, and browse through LinkedIn Pulse to stay current on news within your industry.

Several Times a Week: 

• Think about quality “shares” with your network as updates. Make sure it’s something others will find helpful. This can be an article, a relevant quote, or a new insight into your industry. Make sure everything you post is professional.
• Check out what LinkedIn Influencers are up to on a regular basis via LinkedIn Pulse.  Share anything you find that you think your connections could benefit from!

Weekly: 

• Connect with any new professional acquaintances—you should aim for at least 500 connections – to start J
• Connect with your customers and prospective-customers’ companies as well. Take the time to edit your groups: find new groups to join, and weed out the ones that are inactive or irrelevant.

Occasionally: 

• Go through your profile from time to time and add any new skills or qualifications you’ve acquired.
• Endorse skills in trusted colleagues, and requesting endorsements when appropriate. Be conservative with endorsements; endorsing the wrong people, or asking for endorsements from too many people, can come across as unprofessional.

Sounds overwhelming? Don’t despair! Pick one or two things a day or week and soon it will become a part of your routine, and before you know it, you’ll be a LinkedIn pro!

My secret? I have the LinkedIn App loaded on my phone and preform all of these tasks while waiting in lines, or for appointments, or when I need a little diversion from whatever else is in front of me at the moment!

Keep your eyes peeled for a third blog in my LinkedIn series to help you whip your profile into shape!

Go Get Noticed!