With over 400 million members, LinkedIn is quickly becoming the place for business professionals to network. LinkedIn is a one of the tools potential clients and business partners use to evaluate you. But simply having a LinkedIn profile is not enough to make an impression on your newest connections. Here are our 5 tips to WOW your profile visitors.

1. Choose the Right Photo: Adding a professional photo to your profile makes you 14 times more likely to be found on LinkedIn. Avoid unprofessional images that are out of focus or grainy. It is best to use a high resolution, smiling photo that portrays your personality and energy.

2. Customize Your URL: As you build out your network in person and online, you want to make it very easy for your connections to get to your profile. Here’s how to do it in 4 easy steps:
   1. Click edit my profile
   2. Click the gear next to your URL
   3. Click the pencil next to your URL
   4. Type in your new URL

3. Tell Your Story: The Summary section of your profile is the ideal spot to tell your connections all about you. Simon Sinek, the author of Start With Why, says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” This is the area of your profile where you should explain what you are passionate about.

4. Grab Attention with your Headline: Most LinkedIn users simply put their title here, but you do have 160 characters for this section. Put something catchy and attention grabbing.

5. Share Your Expertise: This is one of the most important aspects of your profile. The proof! There are so many ways to share valuable content to the LinkedIn community, but here are our 4 suggestions to get started.
   1. Published Post: A published post is a personal blog housed right on your profile. It’s a great tool to build your professional legacy. We suggest writing about topics that will be interesting or useful to your readers.
   2. Video: 78% of people watch videos online every week. Add videos of your speaking engagements, an interesting TED talk you relate with, or a quick 1 minute video about your company.
   3. Slideshare: Slideshare allows you to upload PowerPoint presentations to your profile. We suggest no more than 10 slides for one of these. You don’t want to show all your cards, just give them a sneak peek into what you have to offer.
   4. PDF: LinkedIn also gives you the option to upload PDF documents, making it easy to add case studies, info-graphics, and any other “proof” you need to your profile.