I’ve been on hiatus from blogging here at Linked Intelligence for a while. It was a combination of factors. First of all, I’ve been crazy busy with other projects. Secondly, I was burned out on trying to deal with all the BS moves by LinkedIn management. Thirdly, there’s the simple matter of ROI — was the time I invested in Linked Intelligence worth the benefit?
But I’ve decided it’s time to revitalize Linked Intelligence. For whatever issues I have with some of the decisions LinkedIn makes, it’s still by far the most useful networking tool both for me personally and for businesspeople, i.e., my clients, generally speaking.
It also seems that a whole new batch of people are discovering it, and thanks to Twitter, a bunch of them are discovering the super-incredibly-useful resource, 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn. Plus, more people have written more cool ideas about how to use LinkedIn, and I want to include them in the compilation.
Finally, there are potentially now more ways to monetize this (hey, just being honest). There are a couple of great products I’ve participated in, such as Jason Alba’s book, I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??, and (finally!) LinkedIn For Dummies
So if you’re new here, welcome. If you’re visiting again, welcome back.
http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
For all the people with Outlook, here is a real simple solution to get the LinkedIn Badge on your email signature:
1. After you login to LinkedIn, look to your left bar and click “Edit My Profile” link
2. Just under the 2nd Blue box, look for “Promote your profile with customized buttons” and click “customized buttons”
3. Drag and Drop any of the Button Images (Badges) you like to your desktop – this should save a copy and easy to find
4. In Outlook (I am using Outlook 2007) go to “tools” and then “options” from the menu bar
5. From the dialogue box, select the tab “Mail Format”
6. Toward the bottom, select the button “Signatures”
7. Select your Signature (or create a new one)
8. Place your mouse wherever you want the LinkedIn button (Badge) to appear in the edit window below
9. Look for the icon just above the window you are in for “picture” and click on that
10. Go to your desktop where you saved the LinkedIn button (Badge) and select that
11. You should see the LinkedIn button (Badge) in your signature window now
12. Select the LinkedIn button (Badge) and click the icon just to the right of the “Picture” icon called “insert hyperlink”
13. In this window look on the left and select the “Existing File or Webpage” icon
14. Go back to your page you copied the LinkedIn button from, your LinkedIn Profile, and select on the left the “View My Profile”
15. In the URL Address Bar of your browser, highlight and copy this url
16. Go back to Outlook and past this url in the window and white box labeled as: “Address”
17. Save the Signature and hit ok until you are back in the main Outlook window
18. Test your email signature before using by sending yourself an email and click the LinkedIn button (Badge) AFTER the email arrives to see if your profile is accurate
NOTE: If you test only with an email that you start as “New Message” in Outlook, you will need to hold the control key down and select the LinkedIn button (Badge)
Good Luck.
Best,
Dean Holmes
CSO at Selling At The TOP
Dean, excellent article and much needed one.
I would like to two some items between point 1 & 2 to make it little easier.
1. After you login to LinkedIn, look to your left bar and click “Edit My Profile” link
1A. Look for “Public Profile” which is a line about the “Summary” Section.
1B. Click “Edit” that is at the right end of your “Public Profile”
2. Just under the 2nd Blue box, look for “Promote your profile with customized buttons” and click “customized buttons”
Thanks,
Mahesh.