Enhancing LinkedIn with Evernote

LinkedIn is a powerful social media application which if most people on the don’t actually use it themselves, they’re aware of it.

We use it to manage our careers, look for new positions, or for social selling and business development.  That’s a lot for one tool.

Like most tools though it has its limitations.  A good hammer is only going to drive nails and sometimes remove them.  (I have a friend who insists on using one as a paperweight but I’m not going to go there.)

Having additional tools, however can compensate for another’s limitations.

One tool that I’ve found to be particularly useful when used with LinkedIn is Evernote.  

Wikipedia describes it nicely as, “Evernote is a suite of software and services, designed for notetaking and archiving.”  

My initial attraction to Evernote is that it offers a very worthwhile free version which allows 60MB of uploads per month, runs on pretty much all the major operating systems and mobile devices, and has several very handy add-ons itself.  What’s really neat about Evernote is the additional functionality it adds to a tool like LinkedIn.

Let me give you a few examples.

First, let’s talk about organization and the search for the Holy Grail, a truly paperless work environment.

For email, Evernote now interfaces with CloudMagic via its Cards feature to easily create a note (The lowest level of organization in Evernote.) with just one swipe of your finger.

Web pages can be copied dynamically and saved with the Web Clipper tool.  BTW, that’s as it existed at that time, no more going back to a page to find it’s changed.

Presentations and other images can be marked up with the Skitch tool.

Then Mohiomap  will show you the relationships across your Evernote data.

Now, you may ask how does this help me with my LinkedIn app.

Here’s what I do.

LinkedIn does a great job of showing who’s in my network, their backgrounds, and how everyone is connected.  I find Evernote and its tools very useful as I look for connections, do research, prepare materials for posting.  Additional information about my connections can be stored in Evernote for later use.

Another good use of Evernote with LinkedIn is when you attend conferences.  (You do go, don’t you?)

How about instead of stuffing all those business cards you receive in either your pockets or purses (or wherever you put them) you just take pictures of them with the Hello app, create a note, and throw the hard copy away?  Hello also permits you to build a history of the people you meet.

While you’re at it you use MYND to attach notes to your meeting either before arriving or later.

Of course, while you’re at the conference, Evernote permits you to make notes on the fly for when you prepare to update LinkedIn with your new connections.  Templates and checklists can be created to make optimal use of your time while you’re there.

Don’t forget either that audio recordings and pictures from your meetings can also be saved in Evernote.

Next is my favorite use for Evernote.  When you want to work with LinkedIn Publisher, Evernote and its tools are a great way to organize yourself, conduct your research, and prepare a draft for posting.

I’ll mention two other Evernote add-ons in passing, even though these don’t directly relate to LinkedIn, they are certainly useful and can be of assistance if you’re aggressively using LinkedIn either in your career or your business.

These are UberConference  and LiveMinutes. 

The former is  a free visual phone conferencing service that permits sharing Evernote notes during calls.  The latter permits live collaboration on meeting minutes and then saving them back to Evernote.

I haven’t meant this article to be a hands on, how-to guide.  I’ve meant to introduce the Evernote tool set as a force multiplier for your work with LinkedIn.  Subsequent articles will address some of these points in more detail.  (Yes, I know!  This is a cheap trick to get you to come back.  But, let’s face it, you’re not coming here for my jokes!)

If you haven’t guess it by now, I strongly recommend these tools.

They all are free and have different paid components which you may wish to look at depending on your needs.  I think you’ll find these are much less expensive than a LinkedIn Premium account!

I also recommend to start slow.  Don’t try all the tools at once.

Take a look at my article on how to develop a social media program to get some additional ideas.  

That’s it for now!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have.  I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.

Remember!

I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me.  Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.

I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.

My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.

Stay well!