Created your profile and now not quite sure where to start?  Feel like you haven’t really got the time to do too much with it?  In reality, it doesn’t take a lot of time and I’ve got some quick steps to get you started.

Step 1 – Accept Connection requests.

Do you have pending LinkedIn connection requests?  A common misconception of LinkedIn is that you should only connect with people you know or want to do business within but there’s no reason why you should limit your connections.

Step 2– Send thank you messages to new connections.

It’s a good practice to get into the habit of thanking someone for connecting with you.  If you haven’t met them before this could be a good time to share a piece of content that you think they would find useful.  Remember you want to add value.

Step 3 – Request to connect with one person per day.

LinkedIn will prompt you to connect to people you may know.  Aim to connect with at least one person per day.

Just these 3 steps will help you get the ball rolling.

Helpful tip: how to spot a fake LinkedIn profile.

It would come as no surprise to learn that not all profiles are legitimate and who knows what their ultimate aim is.  The good thing is a fake profile is fairly easy to spot.

They may have:

* Lower case first and last name or rhythmic names like Bob Brown, Joe Johnson, etc.

* Used a stock photo for the profile.  (You can actually do a google image search and see where else it has been used.)

* Incomplete profile with no summary or recommendations few connections but belong to a large number of groups

* Generic company name or dubious sounding job titles

I’d also suggest that unless you know the person, don’t automatically accept a LinkedIn invitation if it comes via your email address. Only view the profile and accept invitations (or not) when you’re logged into your LinkedIn account.