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OnWallStreet ... Advisors: 6 Clever Tricks for LinkedIn

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Advisors: 6 Clever Tricks for LinkedIn

LinkedIn is perhaps the most widely used social network for professionals. But to take advantage of it, you need to make sure your profile and your social media strategies are the strongest they can be. See below [Click through] to see tips we collected from several industry experts. -- Kayan Lim

1. Fix Your Profile

Your profile is a reflection of you, so think about how to deliver the strongest possible impression. John J. Bowen, CEO of CEG Worldwide, offers a checklist of four things all strong profiles should have:

• --A professional headshot: A high quality picture helps form the most basic level of trust and connection with other users.
• --A creative headline: Tell a bit of your personal story, including who you serve and the value you bring to clients.
• --A summary section: Don't stop with your title. Describe your role as an advisor, explaining how you help clients reach their goals.
• --Multimedia elements: Use things like video presentations, power points, studies, ebooks etc. that help establish your credibility and grab other peoples' attention. Not putting in the effort to fix your profile up really shows. According to LinkedIn, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities than those with incomplete profiles.

2. Join Relevant Groups

Join all LinkedIn user groups that apply to you and your business, as well as to the groups associated with your target market, suggest Bowen and Lauren Boyman, head of digital strategy for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Communicating with those groups will put you on members' radar and make you more prominent in search results, Boyman points out.

3. Build Connections

Bowen recommends conducting a targeted email campaign to members of your network who are influential in your market niche. They can provide you with valuable insights into prospective clients; they may even be willing to make introductions.

You should also connect with fellow professionals who serve your client market. Once you are connected, ask for any insights or advice they would be willing to share with you -- and offer to send them your own industry reports, articles and other relevant content. 4. Read & Contribute to LinkedIn Today LinkedIn Today, a personalized newsfeed with articles that are relevant to your network, can be a valuable tool, Boyman points out. Share noteworthy articles with your contacts, and comment on articles they have shared. This is a great way to increase your visibility and also engage in discussions with other industry professionals. 5. Use It for Event Planning Dan Klein, a practice management consultant for TD Ameritrade Institutional, suggests that advisors use LinkedIn as a tool for event planning. When putting together a client appreciation event, advisors can use LinkedIn to look through clients' contacts and suggest a few prospects for those clients to invite. Checking people out online is no longer as creepy as it once was, Klein points out: If people have put up a profile on LinkedIn, they now expect that you'll look at that profile before you meet them. Klein offered other tips for client events during a presentation at this year's TDAI conference. 6. Be Careful About Endorsements One caveat: Because LinkedIn is a social media tool, check with your compliance team to understand your firm's social media policy. Endorsements given by other users, for instance, may be seen as testimonials and therefore constitute a violation. Both Bowen and Caitlin Zucal, marketing coordinator for RegEd, suggest that turning the feature off altogether may be your safest bet.