Many of the best ideas in life never get implemented because there just isn't enough time.
I frequently make this comment in my closing remarks at LinkedIn speaking engagements:
If my LinkedIn book came with a coupon in the back for an extra hour each day (a bonus 25th hour), I know that more of you would fully embrace many of the great features I just shared with you.
Perhaps lack of time is one of your LinkedIn hurdles as well. So let's take a look at how much time successful LinkedIn users are actually spending on the site.
According to my most recent LinkedIn user survey, just over half of respondents said they're spending zero to two hours per week on LinkedIn, but 15% of the users are spending more than one hour per day!
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How much time does it take to get verifiable results on LinkedIn?
By digging deeper into the survey results, we can see the correlation between the amount of time spent on LinkedIn and the success users are having as a result of the time they spend.
When asked How important is LinkedIn in your efforts to grow your network and 
develop your business or help you find employment, respondents answered 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, with 5 representing extremely important and 1 representing not important.
About one-tenth of those surveyed answered 1 or 2, but only 13% of them are spending three or more hours per week on LinkedIn.
Two-thirds of the survey respondents answered 4 or 5, and a full 60% of them are spending more than three hours per week on LinkedIn.
First of all, it's good news that two-thirds of all respondents consider LinkedIn to be very helpful to their business or career. But it's also important to note that the majority of those users are spending in excess of three hours per week. Personally, I don't think it's a tremendous leap to conclude that most people who make a significantly larger commitment of time on LinkedIn are seeing real results from that increased time devoted to LinkedIn.
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What should you be doing with your time on LinkedIn to optimize your effectiveness?
Like most things in life, the more time you put in, the more results you get--as long as you're spending your time doing the right things. So, what are the right things?
Without having a one-on-one LinkedIn consulting session with you to learn more about you and your business, it's hard for me to answer that specifically, but here are the top three activities that will produce results, regardless of your individual objectives and strategies on LinkedIn. They have been extracted from my free 20-question LinkedIn self-assessment titled LinkedIn Success Scorecard: How do you measure up? Download your free copy below.
In an average week, how often do you post an individual status update? [0 = 0 points, 1-5 = 5 points, 6-10 = 7 points, 10+ = 10 points]
To learn more about posting status updates, read LinkedIn Status Updates: The Rule Everyone Should Follow.
Have you saved at least one Advanced People Search? [10 points]
To learn how easy it is to amp up your results by using saved searches, read Have You Ever Called on the LinkedIn Dynamic Duo?
When people in your target audience show up on your “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” list, how often do you send them a message or an invitation to connect? [Never = 0 points, Sometimes = 2 points, Frequently = 5 points, Always = 5 points]
Read Are You Taking Advantage of the Top Rated LinkedIn Feature to learn how this LinkedIn feature can pay big dividends.
These three activities are best practices with most of my consulting clients, but it's important for you to evaluate the features and activities you're spending your time on each week and make sure they're giving you the results you desire.
If you'd like to schedule a personal session with me to learn more specific ways to generate results for your company or your career, contact me here.
For more suggestions on how to manage your LinkedIn account on a daily, weekly, monthly, and periodic basis, check out Chapter 19 of the newest edition of my bestselling LinkedIn book Ready...Set...Go! A Six-Week, Two-Hour-Per-Week Road Map to Results.
LinkedIn Success Scorecard: How do you measure up?
