Follow the guidelines in this article to succeed on LinkedIn

1.Check the Expertise Requests option in your profile.

2.Complete your profile as thoroughly as possible, and include interests, an avatar, and business information.

3.Connect with as many business associates as you can, since they will help you to network with like minded individuals and companies.

4.Learn from others and gain new knowledge, so you can become an expert in other subjects and topics.

5.Ask questions.

6.Answer questions. Use your knowledge to your advantage by answering peoples' questions thoroughly and expertly, and you'll gain other users' confidence.

7.Check your home page on LinkedIn fairly often. It contains industry updates, news, and postings from associates.

8.On company profiles, the top five most popular other profiles are displayed on the home page. This is important since it will show others who you associate with, so be aware of who your top five are.

9.Choose the top 5 who will link back to you, so there is a reciprocal benefit.

10.Be sure to explain your work experience in as much detail as possible. Don't just list employers or experience, but instead expand upon it by showing others' what you've done in detail.

11.Comment in the discussion forums as much as you can so your profile gets noticed.

12.Update your status with useful content and information as much as possible.

13.Feel free to implement keywords in both your profile and your content, so that your information comes up in search engine results.

14.Do not forget to include your LinkedIn profile link in other places like Twitter, Digg, and other social media websites.

15.LinkedIn is also a useful employment tool, so if you're hiring, use it to find good employees.

16.Customize your buttons. This will make your profile look more professional and give you more control.

17.Include your skills and specialties and be sure to expand upon your current business.

18.Obviously, include your company URL somewhere on your profile.

19.Have a plan in place when you begin to build your network, otherwise you may end up getting some contacts you don’t want, and not enough of the ones you do.

20.Do not just be friends with people because they ask you to. It looks a little odd for a professional member to be friend with their partying buddies from college. Leave the casual online friendships to Facebook.

21.Look at network statistics to see what is going on with your account and the progress you're making.

22.Keep in mind the number of characters in profile fields are limited, so you may want to do a few practice runs first before publishing everything.

23.Include past education and past companies/experience, not just your current business or company.

24.Customize your public profile's URL so it's easier to link this to other pages and people will remember it much better.

25.Utilize the reference check tool to find out how long someone worked for a company and much more.