LinkedIn for the Beginner Part 4

LinkedIn recently added applications that can help you more fully utilize LinkedIn.  You can find Applications in the top left box of any LinkedIn page.  Kudos to LinkedIn for providing simple and clear instructions for each application.  Some of the apps in LinkedIn could be used in any social networking site.  The 3 that really integrate well with LinkedIn are Tripit, Slideshare and Bloglink.

Below are the 3 that have the most value for small/medium size orgs.   

1. IF YOU TRAVEL:  TRIPIT.  
   
   1. Tell Tripit where you are going, and it will tell you who else is there when you are.  Tripit includes who lives in your destination city and anyone who has logged travel plans with Tripit.  Not enough folks are using it yet so your chance of hitting upon someone traveling to a particular city is pretty thin.  The value of TripIt is that it helps you create an opportunity for in person networking. 
   2. A great time saver is the option to email your travel itinerary to plans@tripit.com, thus avoiding manual entry.  For those of us who drive to our destination and sleep on a friend's couch, there is the manual entry option :-). 
   3. My Story: 2 weeks ago I traveld to San Fancisco and Los Angeles.  Tripit was instrumental in pointing out which of my LinkedIn contacts live in those cities.  Once your network starts to get really large, its impossible to remember exactly who lives where. 
2. IF YOU HAVE A SLIDE PRESENTATION:  SLIDESHARE.
   1.  If you already have a powerpoint you want to highlight on your LinkedIn profile, then your work is mostly done!  The presentation is posted in the middle of your profile.  If someone was interested enough to check out your profile, they may be interested enough to watch a presention you offer.
3. IF YOU BLOG: BLOG LINK.  
   1. Blog Link can include your most recent blog posts on your LinkedIn Profile.  If your blog posts help represent you and your organization, use Blog Link.
   2. Blog Link also offers to search your contacts, grab the blogs and serve as a blog feed, ie. a means of pulling the recent blog posts of your contacts into one location.  Unless you honestly do not know which of your contacts blog, I do not recommend using this feature. Most likely you have a good idea of who blogs and can set up a separate feed (my reccomendation is iGoogle).

That was the last of our 4 part LinkedIn for Beginners series.  Did I miss anything?  Be sure to let me know!