Are you making the most of your LinkedIn account? Jo Evans from Emerald Frog Marketing explains how you can make the most of your online networking.

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful business tools on the web. And it's free! By using LinkedIn for just a few minutes daily you will become more searchable on the internet, increase your business connections and promote your brand online.

LinkedIn has really taken off in recent months and, used properly, can increase your leads and contacts.

Here are our top tips to maximise your LinkedIn profile:

• Ensure that you have set a good personal profile. This will be the first thing people read so is worth spending a bit of time over.

• Summarise your key skills and experience in the "Summary" section and select keywords that will be picked up in searches

• Make sure you include a sensible photograph!

• When adding your web address, select "other" so that the address itself appears on your profile

• Contact some former colleagues/customers and ask them to write you a recommendation

• If someone you wish to connect with has a blue number "2″ after their name, it means that they are already connected to one of your contacts - so have a look at your shared connections. You can ask your contact to "introduce" you to that person, which is much better etiquette than sending them a request out of the blue.

• If you do not want other people seeing who you are connected to, then go to "Settings" then "Connections browse" and turn off the public view. This is especially important if you have confidentiality sensitive customers.

• If you do not wish to know whose profile you have been looking at, go to "Settings" and then "Profile Views" and go invisible!

• Make a point of updating your status everyday so you appear in people's newsfeeds. Don't forget, this is not Facebook - so keep it professional. Perhaps, where you are going or the project you are working on that day.

• You can also set up a company profile so people can keep track of your news and blogs 

Now you have your LinkedIn profile set up, make sure you promote it! Add a "widget" to your website, connect with  those you meet at networking events and search for events in your area.

Oh, and most importantly, make sure that you join the JCI Cambridge LinkedIn group and contribute to discussions. It's a great way to network with members of the group online and see details of forthcoming events.

JCI Cambridge's President (and resident LinkedIn expert!) will soon be running a special interest group on LinkedIn for members...watch this space!