5 ways to boost your professional brand…

Apparently, it’s easier than you may think to make your profile catch the eye of potential partners, employers and clients.

LinkedIn's Brad Mauney, a blogger for the business networking website, claims an average of 45 million profiles are viewed each day on the site, and offers how best to exploit such interest.

"Adding a new skill for your contacts to endorse, or updating your Experience section with rich visual content such as presentations, photos or videos, can help make your profile stand out," he says.

Five ways to boost your professional brand:

• Profile Picture:

Mauney claims that by adding a profile picture, it makes your profile seven times more likely to be viewed by others

• Endorsements:

Over two billion endorsements have been given on the website to date. Mauney believes the best way to bolster your professional brand is by adding skills your connections can endorse and recognise as strengths.

• Summary:

A summary of 40 words or more makes you more likely to turn up in a future employer's search according to Mauney. Tip: Include keywords featured in job descriptions for your field.

• Experience:

dd pictures, videos and presentations to your experience section - adding to the already 2.5m pieces of media on the site.

• Volunteer experience & causes:

According to Mauney, 42% of hiring managers surveyed say they view volunteer experience as equivalent to formal work experience. "Add causes you care about and organisations you volunteer with to round out our professional identity," he advises.

How do you boost your professional brand? Tell us your methods below