On January 1 of this year, I set a goal to spend at least 10 minutes a day on my LinkedIn account.

It’s been easy to meet my 10-minutes-a-day goal, and I bet I only missed a half-dozen check-ins the entire year.

Being more intentional and consistent has been fun and rewarding. It brought me several hundred new connections, a few leads and referrals for my marketing and communications business — and I can credit my LinkedIn activity with two new clients.

The data nerd side of me liked this experiment, as well, as I’ve watched more traffic come to my website via LinkedIn. In 2019, the average number of visitors each month was 16. This year, it jumped to 34. More people clicking on a blog post I shared on LinkedIn or finding my website’s link on my profile, then clicking over, shows they want to learn more about me. And that’s always a good thing!

Join My LinkedIn Challenge

As you might guess, I plan to continue my focus on LinkedIn in 2021. But I need new goals and would love some peer support for extra accountability. I’ve come up with a challenge for you and my other friends, connections and clients. (If you’re thinking, I’m up for it, Melanie — join the challenge right now!)

Here’s the big idea: To get more from the time you spend on LinkedIn, tackle these 21 tactics any time in 2021. Having the full year means checking off about two tasks each month, and that should be a piece of cake!

Even though this is a self-directed, DIY challenge, I want to stay in touch with my challenge cohorts throughout the year. I plan to send periodic emails to everyone who signs up to participate. (Don’t worry — I won’t spam you with 21 emails in a row!)

21 Tactics to Improve Your LinkedIn Presence

Here are 21 actions that will help us get more out of LinkedIn in 2021. I started doing some of these back in 2007 when I first started my account — and just like many best practices, they stood the test of time.

You can complete the tasks in any order. If you’d like a handy-dandy checklist to print out and use to track your progress, you’ll receive one when you officially join the challenge.

1. Read through your profile to catch old errors or dated or incomplete information. Start at the top of your profile page with your headline and read through the Interests section, which most people have at the end of their information. Chances are, much of your profile’s verbiage is dated and could use a refresh or at least a thorough review. Make the updates and fixes, and you can check task #1 off the list.

2. Check the engagement (likes, comments and shares) on the last three things you posted. Which one was the most popular? Do you know why? Maybe you tagged someone, which means some of their followers saw your post. If you can determine what types of posts drive the best engagement, you can repeat the strategy over and over again.

⏩ How-to video:  If you don’t know where to find the engagement numbers on old LinkedIn posts, watch this three-minute video from yours truly: Where to Find the Engagement Stats on Recent Posts.

3. Like and comment on three connections’ posts after reading what they shared. It’s easy to quickly like several posts in a row on your newsfeed without fully exploring what your connections shared. If they posted an article or video, take time to consume it all, then post a comment about what they shared.

4. Post a question. We all love to give our opinion, and that’s why questions are a great way to drive engagement on LinkedIn. Post a question and then check back in a few days to see if your post received more engagement (likes, comments, shares) than other types of posts.

📕 Required reading: My business coach Ilise Benun’s article, LinkedIn Hack: A Simple Way to Get People Commenting, offers advice on how to ask a question.

5. Check your contact information. Is there something you can add to make it more complete, such as including your email address? More detailed information makes it easier for people to reach out directly or explore what you’re all about. For example, if you’re a graphic designer with a portfolio page on your site, add its link to your contact information.

⭐ Pro tip: The more complete your contact information, the better it is for networking — so include lots of detail. Here’s what shows up in my contact information block on LinkedIn.

6. Spend 10 minutes a day on LinkedIn, five days in a row. Make it a Monday through Friday, or start day one on a Saturday. It doesn’t matter when you do it. The idea is to get a streak going and be consistent.

7. Request a recommendation. Ask a client or business partner to write a blurb about their experience working with you. Their kudos will stay connected to your profile, and you can use the testimonial for other marketing purposes, like in your email newsletter. (It’s a good idea to mention the extended usage to the person recommending you.)

⏩ How-to video: Spend four minutes watching this How to Ask Someone for a Recommendation where I walk you through the process.

8. Leave a recommendation. Who could you publicly thank for a job well-done or a business connection that you value? Give a person a recommendation, and make their day.

📕 Required reading: I like the recommended elements advice that’s near the end of the article, The Best LinkedIn Recommendations Look Like This.

9. Follow three business pages. This is a great way to stalk (in a socially acceptable manner) a prospect, competitor or a favorite nonprofit you’d love to work with.

10. Rewrite your headline. When’s the last time you tweaked your headline — forever ago? This is the section people see first because it’s below your photo. Make the most of this prime real estate with a keyword-rich and perhaps clever description of what you’re all about.

⭐ Pro tip: Your headline text shows up in LinkedIn’s search results. So don’t skimp on the quality or character-length. You can see what I’m referring to in this screenshot.

Ten Down and 11 More LinkedIn tactics to Go!

11. Share a connection’s article or blog post.  It’s good to bring in fresh perspectives to what you share on LinkedIn. Introduce your connections’ expertise or content to your network, just like you might do at an in-person networking event.

⭐ Pro tip: You can also opt to share content from someone outside your network, either in hopes of connecting with them or because you appreciate their wisdom or works. I did this on LinkedIn when I tagged a writer and gave her a shout-out on an article she wrote.

12. Post an update about an event you attended. Write a post about a recent online or in-person event you attended. If you can @mention (i.e., tag) the event coordinator or someone you met there — even better!

13. Connect with a former co-worker, client or an old friend. Think about who you’ve lost touch with and ask them to connect with you on LinkedIn. This blast from the past can lead to a renewed relationship and maybe some new business for you.

14. Write an article (not a status update post). Share long-form content as a way to show your unique point of view. If you’re a copywriter, writing a LinkedIn article is a great way to show your expertise to your connections.

⭐ Pro tip: Don’t want to write something new? Reblog what you wrote for another purpose — an old blog post or guest post or a particularly creative email you penned. Earlier this year, I started resharing old posts on LinkedIn. You can find my three articles here.

15. Follow three hashtags. I bet you already know you can add hashtags to your LinkedIn posts. Did you know you can follow hashtags, too? Check out my video for how and why you might do this.

⏩ How-to video: How to Find and Follow Hashtags takes about 3.5 minutes to watch. Hope it’s helpful!

16. Update your profile header image. Show your personality and boost your brand with a custom image that prospective connections will see when viewing your profile. (The header is the wide background image at top of your profile.)

⭐ Pro tip: The image you choose may look great on the desktop view but poor on a tablet or mobile phone. Check all three views to make sure you like what you see.

17. Connect with three new people. Send out three connection requests — all personalized with a note from you — and you can check off this challenge task. (If you’re a LinkedIn pro, you likely already customize your invitations. Way to go!)

18. Share one of your own photos or videos. When you share a blog post or news article on LinkedIn, the featured image typically displays automatically. This task is to share an image or video that’s not tied to other content — for example, a photo you took, an image you created (perhaps from a creative project you worked on) or a day-in-the-life video clip. Don’t forget to include text explaining what you shared.

19. Update one of these sections: Licenses & Certifications, Volunteering or Skills & Endorsements. These sections are easy to forget about, especially if you set up your profile many years ago. What new accomplishments, activities or expertise can you add to boost your creds?

20. Add something to the Featured section of your profile. The Featured section is closer to the top of your profile page, so people will see it more often than your other sections. Add a blog post, article, link or media file (movie or image ) to make your profile stand out.

📕 Required reading:  For inspiration on what to feature, check out this helpful article from Social Media Examiner:  How to Use the LinkedIn Featured Section on Your Profile.

21. Post a story using your mobile phone. Let’s close out the challenge with a tactic that’s still somewhat new to LinkedIn and, so far, isn’t available on the desktop: Post a LinkedIn story. Use your phone to share a photo or video clip about a project you’re working on or something else that’s business-related.

⏩ How-to video: Check out this under-five-minute video on How to Use LinkedIn’s Story Feature. If you tag me in your story, I’ll get to see your handiwork.

Three More Tactics for Over-Achievers

Want extra credit? Add one or all three tactics to your 2021 to-do list.

22. Update your LinkedIn profile photo. Is your photo from 2020 or 2019? Great. You get a pass and can skip this task.* If not, it’s time to update your photo. Spring for a professional photo session, and it’ll cost you around $200, depending on where you live and how many shots you ask the photographer to take.

⭐ Pro tip: Take a change of clothes with you so you can have more than one type of image to choose from. Ask for both headshot and full-body (or from the waist and above) photos, too. The surplus photos you like can be used on your website and elsewhere. (Note: Check with the photographer in advance to see how much these extra images will cost you.)

*My photographer-friend Everardo believes you should get a new photo every year. Read his article, Debunking Headshot Myths #1: You Only Need to Update Your Headshots Every Few Years, and see if you agree.

23. Share this challenge on LinkedIn. If you find yourself enjoying the challenge as 2021 progresses, I’d love you to share it on LinkedIn or another social media channel. Just grab a link to this blog post and tag me so I can see the shout-out. Thank you in advance!

24. Ask me to do a free critique of your headline. I’d love to give you my two cents about your LinkedIn headline, even if it’s saying I like it and wouldn’t change a thing! Email your request to me at md@melaniedeardorff.com.

Here’s to a great 2021 and to getting more from the time we all spend on LinkedIn. I’ll see you over there — and if we’re not connected, please reach out!