LinkedIn is such an important tool for building your online reputation and professional network, it pays to look like you know what you’re doing. Looking like an amateur could be the difference between getting a job offer, landing a contract or meeting an important new business partner…or not.

Here I run through 5 simple mistakes to avoid.

1. A Poor quality or an inappropriate profile picture

Your profile picture is the first thing someone sees when they visit your profile, it is your first impression, the thing that sets the agenda.

Which of the following pictures set the best agenda?

Profile picture 1 – The Joker

Profile picture 2 – The friendly professional

The questions people ask themselves when viewing your profile (often subconsciously) are:

• Is this person a professional?
• Do I recognise them?
• Do they look trustworthy?
• Are they welcoming and do I want to interact with them?
• Do I want to connect with them?

You may like the first profile picture but the chances are higher that you don’t or that it will fail on one of the above questions.

Profile picture number 2 is more neutral but also more welcoming.

The rules are simple. A profile picture should be:

• Close up – headshot of you only
• Smile
• No hats or glasses
• In focus and relatively current
• Neutral background (no distractions) 

2. An Ineffective headline

The headline is the 2nd most important part of a profile (after the picture) and should include 2 things:

1. A clear description of what you offer
2. Keywords / key-phrases

Headlines are always automatically populated with your current job title and employer – this should be deleted and replaced with something similar to the above headline. 

You have a limited number of characters to work with (120) so it will take some thought. Try to include some important keywords because the headline is the most keyword sensitive field in a profile (other than the name fields) but don’t get carried away, a clear description is the most important thing.

Colin has also added his name, this is not essential but can make your profile more visible to people who are outside of your network (when they search for you by name your profile will be fully visible).

3. Blank or default message invitations

When you invite someone to connect it is polite and respectful to explain why you would like to connect with them, even if it is someone you have only just met – a quick note thanking them for their time and encouraging them to keep in touch will go a long way to fostering a good relationship. 

Unfortunately LinkedIn don’t make it easy – mobile invitations do not give you the opportunity to customise your message – unless you know how and inviting from a profile forces you to pick from a very limited list of ‘how you know them’.

It is however worth the effort of customising your invitations, however you may feel about it, there are many people that really dislike receiving blank or default message invitations.

LinkedIn is about being social and engaging with people – don’t let your very first interaction be one of ignorance! (Tweet this)

4. Failing to grow your network

LinkedIn encourage you to ‘only connect with people you know well’ this is odd because LinkedIn is an online networking site but if I went to an offline networking event populated by people that I already knew well…..

….I would call that a party!

It makes no sense to only connect with people you know, just as it makes no sense to attend a networking event and only speak to people you know well!

Networking is a practice that is designed to allow you to meet new people, only connecting with people you may know makes LinkedIn nothing more than a glorified address book!

There is however a balance, it’s also a mistake to connect with thousands of random people who have no relevance to your networking objectives.

My advice is to consistently grow your network with relevant people – you don’t have to know them but you do need to feel they are relevant, even it it’s just that they are likely to be connected to people that you would like to be introduced to.

Related: How to find and connect with anyone on LinkedIn for free!

5. Posting thinly disguised sales pitches in groups

Groups are a great place to raise your profile and engage with relevant and interesting people. Contributing to other peoples’ discussions or creating your own can be a very beneficial practice.

However a big mistake made by many is to post a discussion that has more to do with promoting your own products and services than helping other members of the group.

A common way this is done is by simply posting links into groups such a blog with a headline “Does Birmingham lack exciting and innovative event venues?”

from someone promoting an exciting and innovative event venue in Birmingham!

Blog links are OK when they are posted in support of a discussion but not in isolation as they rarely create much engagement.

The discussion topic should be relevant to your business but not promoting your business – leave the promotional stuff to your personal profile and company page and encourage more people to want to read them by adding value to the group and engaging with more members.

So there you have it, these are the most common mistakes that I come across.

Are you guilty of any of them? 

What other mistakes do you see on LinkedIn – feel free to post your answer in the comments section below.