Are you guilty of creating your profile on LinkedIn and then <GASP> abandoning it? I hate to say this, however, you’re in very good company. If you want to know how to make money using LinkedIn, this is your lucky day. LinkedIn is a business goldmine for all of you B2B entrepreneurs–and it’s really very simple to use with just a wee bit of guidance.

I know you’re busy, so instead of overwhelming you with a monster project and suggesting you try to tackle LinkedIn solo, simply listen to the interview I did with Rick I, “The LinkedIn Guy” on my free marketing call in May. On this call Rick teaches you how to make money using LinkedIn. And because I love you more than butter, I’ve also summarized the daily 15 minute action steps I posted on my Facebook page in May–all of which are designed to help you rock LinkedIn. Enjoy!

1. If you want to generate results, observe and do what the people that are already generating results are doing. Check out my profile. Then, check out Rick’s. Take note of the commonalities.
2. Re-write your professional headline. You’ve got 120 characters to play with. Make yourself stand out. First, tell people what BENEFIT you offer them. Then tell them what you do. And be sure to get your keywords in there!
3. Check out your current position & title. Did you add your keywords? So many people write the name of their company and then put “owner” or “CEO” down for title. B-O-R-I-N-G! Be memorable and get your keywords in your title.
4. Add your past positions & optimize them with keywords. For example, if you want to be found when someone searches “auto repair” make sure you pop those exact words in your past position titles & descriptions as many times as you can. On LinkedIn, your search results are a numbers game. He who populates a page with the keyword the most, gets to the top of the page. You’ll see people do all kinds of crazy things to make this work to their advantage. While some keyword integration will help you, don’t go overboard too far. Remember, real people are reading your profile–above all, you want it to be appealing to humans.
5. Write a catchy first sentence for your summary. It needs to grab the attention of your audience.
6. I see a lot of LinkedIn summaries written in 3rd person. YUCK! That’s a really quick way to distance yourself from the reader–and also come across as a bit elitist. Remember, REAL people read this stuff. This is your opportunity to build a relationships with them. You wouldn’t talk about yourself in third person if you met them face-to-face. Don’t do it here either. If you’re guilty, time for a re-write!
7. In your summary, tell your viewers how your CLIENTS say you’re different from your competition. This isn’t you saying whatever you want to say, this is your clients. That’s far more powerful than anything you can say about yourself. Don’t know? Ask!
8. Add action steps to your summary. What do you want people to do after they read your summary? Tell them! They’ll probably do nothing if you don’t direct them.
9. Add your specialties to your summary. It’s keyword time again!
10. Get familiar with “Answers.” Click on ‘more’ in the top navigation bar of LinkedIn. Then, select answers from the drop down. Find a question related to your industry that you can answer and do it. This is your opportunity to show everyone how brilliant you really are!
11. Now that you’ve answered a question on LinkedIn, it’s time for you to ask a question. Click on ‘more’ in the top nav bar, then select ‘answers.’ I’ve learned some incredible things using this tool.
12. Look at your connections, and think about who you can introduce your clients & prospects to. Since you only have 15 mins, pick one client/prospect today and find as many connections as you can that they might benefit from. Make the introduction and watch the LinkedIn love start to pour out!
13. Embrace the fact that you don’t have to entertain deep relationships with every single person you connect with. Pick a handful. Shower them with love. Sprinkle the rest on occasion. That’s all you need to do to make social media work for your business.

Got more insights your fellow entrepreneurs need to know? Post ‘em in the comments!