Welcome Back:

 

This week I am going to take it easy on your brain and share with you four quick, very useful, and potentially critical administrative type LinkedIn features that you may not have stumbled upon. Say what you will about LinkedIn's changes, upgrades, and new features, but one thing is agreed upon -- they could do a better job when it comes to sharing new information with their users.  

 

In a way I think it stinks (bad communication to your customers is not good business) and in a way I love it (it means that guys like me have a place in the world -- helping you understand what is new and useful). 

  • Saving Your Connections List
This one is critical. If your LinkedIn account is compromised in any way, you will appreciate having a backup list of your connections. Also, if you would like to add your LinkedIn connections to a new or existing mailing list, this download will be very helpful.  contacts

To create this backup list, go to the top toolbar under "Contacts" and select "My Connections." Then click "Export Connections," which is on the bottom right. Next, choose the appropriate format -- Microsoft Outlook (.CSV file), Outlook Express (.CSV file), Yahoo! Mail (.CSV file), Mac OS (.VCF file) or vCard (.VCF file) -- and hit the "Export" button.
  • Saving Your Profile
This is critical as well if your account is compromised. It is also a handy summary to share with people if you need a quick resume.

To save your profile, go to "Profile" on the top toolbar and select "Edit Profile." At the bottom of your top box (blue box) you will see the PDF symbol. After clicking that, you will get a PDF version of your profile (minus the picture and any applications) that you can print and, more importantly, save as a PDF file.  

By the way, you can do this for any profile, not just your own.
  • Downloading vCards of Your Connections
From the profile of any one of your connections, click the "vCard" button on the bottom of the top box (blue box) to download an abbreviated vCard (name, company, title and email) so that you can permanently add this person to your other CRM databases. You will have to enter the rest of the information manually, but it sure gives you a quick start to the process.
  • Finding Which of Your Connections Are on Twitter  
Usually if someone is a LinkedIn connection, you sure would like to follow him/her on Twitter as well. LinkedIn has made it very easy to find these folks and then follow them on Twitter.

To do this you have to download the Tweets Application. Simply go to the top toolbar and select "More" and then "Get More Applications." Select "Tweets" on that screen, and go through the registration/downloading process. 

Once you have done this, select "Tweets" from the "More" tab, and then select the "Connections" tab. You will then get a list of all of your connections who are also on Twitter and a chance to follow them by clicking "Follow" on the right of their entry. You can also save this list as a separate Twitter list.
  

I hope you found at least one useful tool here. At a minimum, be sure to save your connections list and profile at least once each quarter just to be safe.