Building Relationships Just Got Easier with LinkedIn Contacts

My LinkedIn Contacts "Rolodex" is now my personal Social Relationship Manager.

LinkedIn Contacts iPhone App views

I have over 1,700 contacts and growing on LinkedIn! I've always considered LinkedIn a digital Rolodex, adding connections as I meet them or see them pop up in LinkedIn suggestions. I've been looking at the new LinkedIn Contacts features and LinkedIn Contacts iPhone App to see what might make my life easier and improve my networking time management.

I synced my iPhone with the LinkedIn Contacts App and my LinkedIn Connections so I always have the most up to date info for my contacts. It also provides "on the go" networking with up to date activity from my network.

One feature I really like about LinkedIn Contacts is the daily reminder/task list called "your day" on the desktop version and "to do' on the app version, which conveniently suggests networking activities with my network based on things going on with them such as a new title or birthday -  Following Relationship Rule #1: make it about them! LinkedIn Contacts makes it easy to reach out to say "congratulations" and it helps me to always be "in the know" when I bump into people at events.

Another feature I really like is the option to Set Reminders to Stay Connected. How awesome is that?! It is like my personal social relationship management system (*new buzzword!).

View from my LinkedIn Contacts dashboard with all the new features highlighted.

With LinkedIn Contacts I can leave myself notes about how we met and what we discussed. It also tracks your relationship to show when you last connected with a contact and pulls up your last LinkedIn conversation. This is truly amazing for a highly social and slightly OCD person like me!

For now, I'm starting with getting organized with tagging my existing connections with targeted "tags." LinkedIn lets you create up to 200 unique tags so there's plenty of ways to slice and dice my contacts into categories.

LinkedIn provides simple steps to Tag your contacts. Here's how to get started with Tags: Make a list of the types of connections you have- how do you know the people or what do you have in common?  For example, I made a list for Nashville Corporate Marketing, SMC (Social Media Club), Social Slam Conference, and Ad Agency connections.

As I go through my LinkedIn connections I will have more tags, but this is a start when I want to send these groups targeted messages, related to articles, or share networking or career opportunities with them.

There are other features that I have yet to dig into such as calendar share for events, mapping connections, syncing with Outlook, and more. As you explore LinkedIn Contacts, please feel free to share your tips with me and remember to drop me a line to say hello on LinkedIn!

If we aren't already, connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm looking forward to building a relationship with you there!

Related LinkedIn Articles:

• LinkedIn Connections Overview
• Social Media Examiner's How to Use the LinkedIn Contacts Feature