3 Steps to Prevent – Why or When did I connect with that person

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August 8, 2012 by 5 Comments

Admit it, at least once you have gone, why or when did I connect with that person on LinkedIn?

Even though I am selective, I do suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember …. Stuff) and there are times when I see a name in my activity feed that I do not recognize. I click on their name and they are a first degree connection. I rack my brain and I cannot remember why or when I connected with them.

3 Steps to Track LinkedIn Connections

I have come up with a 3 step process that allows me to leave a trail of bread crumbs that helps me track connections.

  1. Download their vcard into my local contact list. If you are unfamiliar with vcards click here to read about them. The vcard is populated with the e-mail address, first and last name, and other information from their LinkedIn profile. In the video below you will see that when I download the vcard it opens up into mail program. I can then update their contact information with a comment on where and when I met them.
  2. Tag them. Yes, there is a tagging feature. By default the contact will be tagged with how you made the connection, colleague, classmate, friend,…. I create my own tags on how I know them. For example, if I worked with them at IBM, I tag them IBM.
  3. Add a note. This is the least known feature. There is a note section where I put where and when I met them. This is stored in your profile and is hidden to everyone else.

Watch the video below to see how this is done.

If you follow these three steps you will always be able to answer the question – Why or When did I connect with that person on LinkedIN?

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Comments

  1. Jim Adcock says:
    August 8, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    After the first few times I encountered the problem you describe, I became a heavy user of the tags and notes feature in LinkedIn. The moment I acccept an invitation I make a note and tag the person so I will remember later.

    There was a time when the LI site wasn’t saving the notes when I hit save (as you did after adding the “Met again” note in the video). In trying to figure out how to make the notes actually save, I discovered the detailed contact information page See the link just below the Notes textbox that says “View/edit contact info”? That takes you to a page where you can add lots of information about your connection even if they don’t supply it on their LI profile. For instance, if they don’t include their phone number on their profile but you have it on their business card, you can add that.

    The problem with getting the information saved has been fixed, but I’m glad it helped me discover the detailed contact information page!

    Reply
    • Marc Miller says:
      August 8, 2012 at 4:24 pm

      Jim,
      You are correct you can add a lot more information. The reality I do not look in LI for that info, I look in my local contacts.

      I have the same problem that when I save a note it comes back and says my contacts are not available. I refresh the screen and I can then add the note. I was all prepared to do the refresh when I was making the video but IT WORKED this time. Just another quirk with LI.

      Reply
  2. Jerry Dunham says:
    August 8, 2012 at 10:48 pm

    This blog post made me feel stupid. :-)

    This is excellent advice, but why didn’t I figure it out for myself? I’ll certainly use it from now on.

    Reply
  3. whilldtkwriter says:
    August 10, 2012 at 11:41 am

    I wrote a blog article that specifically walks the reader through the LinkedIn tagging feature, which includes a screenshot.
    “Tagging Your LinkedIn Connectees” (http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2012/03/tagging-your-linkedin-connectees.html). You can tag people with multiple tags. Example: Occupations, commonality because of more than one company worked at, same professional and/or networking organization memberships, …

    If making face to face contact, exchange cards and write at least the date and venue. In LinkedIn email invitations, expand beyond the canned invitation and add a short blurb about the circumstances of meeting. Send or accept the invitation within a day or so while the circumstances are still fresh in the mind.

    Reply
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