5 LinkedIn Tips You Didn't Know

BY Amber Mac

It may not be as dramatic as Twitter or as ubiquitous as Facebook, but LinkedIn attracts dedicated users who are serious about business. Here's how to connect with them using the fast-growing service's most powerful new tools.   

Whether it's Mark Zuckerberg talking about killing pigs or a Hollywood blockbuster under its belt, Facebook has plenty of attention in our lives. Twitter falls into the same camp. From Justin Bieber's noisy 10 million followers to hordes of social media gurus tweeting the benefits of 140 characters or less, it's easy to discover how and what makes Twitter work. However, there is one social network that lacks drama but makes up for it with a devoted business community and plenty of compelling features.
Here are five LinkedIn tips you should try today.

1. Use "Signal" to discover relevant news and information
When you're logged in to LinkedIn, take a tour of a new-ish feature called Signal. This tool lets you easily monitor updates within your network, but more importantly you can filter information so you can also see what people in your extended circle (2nd and 3rd connections) are posting. You can also do the same filtering by industry or location, so you can weed through the noise.

2. Export your connections
Go to "My Connections" to view a list of all your LinkedIn contacts. This address book is a really handy way to get email addresses and updated information, but most importantly you can export this list. At the bottom of the page click "Export Connections," which will put all this contact info in a format suitable for your address book (Micorsoft Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, etc.).

3. Create a resume

If you've already filled out your LinkedIn profile information, it's easy to use it to create a foundation for a resume. The Resume Builder will suck in your professional past and you can use any of the pre-built templates to make it look good. From an Executive style presentation to a more casual layout, this tool will take some of the pain out of the resume building process. You can export the resume, share it easily, and edit as you wish.    

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