The old joke is that you always know when someone’s looking for a new job when they suddenly start paying attention to their LinkedIn profile. But LinkedIn is so much more than an online CV service.

Many clients I work with use this ‘professional person’s social network’ purely for new business reasons, as part of a carefully considered online marketing strategy.

For example, just having a fully completed profile for each member of staff with links from their profile to your company’s website will significantly boost natural SEO (search engine optimisation) results and will drive more traffic to your website. A complete, ‘All-Star’ profile will feature higher among LinkedIn searches than incomplete profiles. So if someone is searching for a timber importer or distributor, sawmill, joiner or industry expert, you want to be top of the list rather than a competitor. And you can use LinkedIn as a powerful new business tool, helping you find and get introductions to people you want to meet and turning cold calling into warm networking.

Here are 10 tips to boost your profile:

  • Add a picture to your profile. Use a professional-looking picture or corporate headshot for consistency of branding. This will help people recognise you, and it makes your profile more likely to be viewed in searches.
  • You have the option to edit your ‘professional headline’ in the first section at the top of your profile page. Instead of just using the default created for you by LinkedIn (which will be your job title), consider putting in a better description that includes your most important keyword. Your headline gives you a way to sum up your professional identity in a short phrase.
  • In the ‘Contact Info’ section, you have three links to websites that can be used. Always add a link to your website, and ideally more than one: for example, you could link to other key pages on your site, an online catalogue or a blog.
  • Change your ‘public profile’ url to your name. When you edit this url you can also download the ‘profile badge’ which you can then add to your email signature.
  • Take some time to complete the ‘Summary’ section. Try to get a few keywords in here wherever possible – this is the section of LinkedIn that will most influence your visibility in any search results. Have a play with the Search functionality on LinkedIn. Look at competitors’ pages and see how they write their profiles, to see how yours can be even better.
  • In the ‘Experience’ section, add three short paragraphs to describe your current job outlining what sort of business you work for, what it’s famous for, a summary of your role, and an indication of your key achievements to date. Do the same for at least one other previous position. This really helps contacts gauge your expertise.
  • In the ‘Education’ section, don’t forget to list key courses or work related training that you have done if it helps to emphasise your skills and experience.
  • Consider adding something into your ‘interests’ box – you might find business acquaintances who have similar hobbies. LinkedIn is all about relationship building, so sometimes a few personal touches make all the difference.
  • Start writing recommendations for people, and ask other people you know on LinkedIn to recommend your work too. You will need to have at least one recommendation to achieve ‘All-Star’ status.
  • Take every opportunity to boost your network of connections, but only with people you do really know. I have a policy of only connecting on LinkedIn with people I have met or at least had several long telephone conversations with.

Check your contacts’ connections to see if they are connected to someone you know and can add to your own network. After you have attended an event, conference or meeting, search for the new contacts you have made and connect with them on LinkedIn as soon as possible.

There are many other ways to use your profile, LinkedIn’s advanced search functionality, company pages and groups. There are also huge amounts of help and advice online, including video tutorials and some excellent workshops on LinkedIn.

My quick search for people in the UK with the word ‘timber’ in their LinkedIn profiles brought up 11,756 results. Are you in there too?

10 failsafe tips for press releases

1. Keep it short and to the point. 300 words are usually plenty. Provide a link to any other in-depth information if you think it’s necessary.

2. Think ‘news in brief’, explaining who, what, where, when and why.

3. The ‘why’ bit is critical. Make it obvious upfront why anyone should care about your announcement, by explaining its impact on the readers of the publication.

4. Don’t know who the readers are? Do your homework. Only pitch a story that is relevant to that publication and its readers.

5. The most essential elements of the whole story should be in the first sentence. If the most important point is in the last paragraph, make it your first.

6. Write in plain English. Purge superlatives.

7. Use real people’s words in any quotes – no "integrated and synergistic solutions" stuff.

8. Don’t send out a press release and then go on holiday for a fortnight.

9. If you are invited to pay £100 by a publication to print your press release, treat it as advertising and check whether it will bring in leads.

10. If in doubt about the news value of what you want to say, don’t write a press release at all. Pick up the phone instead and tell the journalist your idea for a story. They’ll tell you straight if it’s any good and, if so, what they need from you next.