The following is part of a new ebook from HubSpot: Learning LinkedIn From The Experts . Please download your free copy .

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network online today with an astounding 80 million users ! These affluent, ambitious, and influential professionals have an average household income of $107,000, and over 50% of them represent some level of senior management. If you are a business professional and you do not have a powerful presence on LinkedIn, you are undoubtedly missing valuable opportunities to connect and grow your business.

After you’ve taken the time to grow your LinkedIn presence , market your business and market yourself, it’s important to track your progress so you know your hard work is paying off. The following are some of the ways you can measure your progress.

Measure Your LinkedIn Reach : As you’re interacting on LinkedIn, you’re also using it as a tool to build your contact database and community. How is that community growing over time? Be sure to track the growth of your personal LinkedIn network and perhaps the networks of your employees.

Monitor the Interaction in Your LinkedIn Groups: Did you start a LinkedIn Group? How is that growing over time? Are people discussing different topics and responding on their own? Creating a self-sustaining group that grows with a natural momentum would be a great feat!

Track Your Developing Thought Leadership: Be able to report on your developing thought leadership on LinkedIn. Are you giving and receiving multiple recommendations? How many questions have you answered? How many of your responses were voted “Best Answer”?

Compare Results Before and After Significant LinkedIn Activity or Events: If you plan to develop and execute a specific LinkedIn campaign, be sure to take a snapshot of your progress before and after your campaign so you can report on its effectiveness.

Measure Your Website Referral Traffic From LinkedIn: As you are growing your LinkedIn presence, are you also driving profile visitors or group members back to your personal or company website? Is that traffic growing over time?

Analyze Your Leads and Sales: Bottom line is bottom line! The best way to understand if LinkedIn is working as a marketing tool is to measure its effectiveness at driving leads and sales. Have you used LinkedIn to interact with a lead and close a deal? How much business are you earning from LinkedIn?

What are other methods you use for measuring your LinkedIn efforts?