LinkedIn is a powerful business networking tool. Like anything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. To maximize the potential that LinkedIn has to offer, follow the advice of my colleague Yoon Cannon, ofParamount Business Coach, LLC and avoid these four common mistakes:

1.) Not achieving the “get-ability factor”.
While LinkedIn is great in highlighting your expertise, it doesn’t do the work for you. If you don’t want this to happen, be sure to state in your summary section who your target market is, what service your business provides, what makes your business unique, and end with a call to action that opens the door to more connections.

2.) Not acquiring enough connections.
If you want a high number of connections, you have to dedicate the time to collect them. Whether it is 15 minutes or an hour a day, you need to make getting connections part of your daily routine. Search LinkedIn for any former colleagues or classmates and ask people in any offline professional groups that you belong to if they would like to join your network on LinkedIn. Your connections are out there, you just need to put the time in and find them.

3.) Not targeting the right connections.
Just because you know someone or that person knows someone you know, doesn’t mean that he or she is the right LinkedIn connection for you. Make sure the people you are connecting with are the right kinds of people, namely people in your industry or target market. Targeting the right people can lead to them referring opportunities to you or being opportunities for you.

4.) Not having any social proof.
What is social proof? Endorsements. Think about it. When you want to buy something, you look for personal recommendations or online reviews. It is the same thing with LinkedIn. If you don’t have any endorsements, people will go elsewhere. Endorsements help boost your credibility in the eyes of other professionals and in the eyes of your target audience. If you want them to come to you, be sure you have endorsements. How do you get them? Simply ask colleagues and past and present clients to endorse you. Of course, it’s always nice to reciprocate whenever you can. You should aim for at least 10 endorsements and if you can get more, that’s even better.

I have seen many examples of how LinkedIn has helped people find jobs, customers, service providers and even my services and expertise! Sow the seeds and you will reap the rewards that will LinkedIn can bring your way.

Source: Cannon, Yoon “4 Worst Mistakes Small Business Owners & Sales People Make on Linkedin & How to Avoid Them” Biz Growth Tips Newsletter