Hello Reader,

LinkedIn is my place to connect my colleagues, learn about marketing, and discover what businesses are doing. I like hanging around in LinkedIn because I can avoid "I'm a new dad!" posts most of the time.

They're testing an AI assistant for Premium members. This assistant helps users learn more about specific companies or topics, enhancing research and networking capabilities.

Lia's ICYMI mentioned these newsletter features:

• Comments now appear to the right of articles, fostering better engagement.
• Cover images can be designed using Microsoft Designer for a more polished look.
• Email and in-app notifications are sent to subscribers to keep them informed.
• Staging links allow you to see an article's URL before it’s published.

​Engadget covered LinkedIn's AI that can write your cover letters and edit your resume.

That's all fine but I'd like LinkedIn's UX to be less cumbersome.

Here are my suggestions to make LinkedIn simpler to use and work for the user:

1. Email Capture - While all platforms want you to stay in their platform for as long as possible, email capture would be a value to those of us who are list-building. As a brand or individual, you could increase subscriber growth and engagement.
2. More Analytics - I'd like to have a way to futz with the reporting for both individuals and company pages. And let's throw in Group analytics too, even though I'm not very active in Groups. I want to see what's resonating - keywords, sources, shares, etc.
3. Better Way to Organize Contacts - There are tags that you can use to organize your connections, but if you're like me, you added all the people who requested a connection 10 years ago. I'd like to organize my connections from "I don't know them" to "I don't like them but I should probably keep them on" to "Keep an eye on this one-they're doing amazing things."
4. Mass Delete Connections - Back to #3, I want to mass delete hundreds of connections I made back in 2006. (I'd like that for Facebook as well.)

What do you think? Got any ideas or thoughts on how LinkedIn can improve?

How do you use LinkedIn? Will you use it more often than now?

• Ever been to the Ren Faire? The founder is looking for the next CEO... Cling cling cling.
• USC's MFA is now tuition-free! WHAT. Time to apply, thespians! (Julliard and Yale also have tuition-free MFA programs!)
• Blah blah blah AI, but did you know college students were hiring people from Kenya to ghostwrite papers? I've been living under a rock.

I see a lot of "30 under 30" lists or "40 under 40" lists. But I don't see any lists about people who have pivoted careers and thrived. So I asked on LinkedIn; here are some responses. Everyone is inspiring, and it has nothing to do with age.

By this time, I'll have completed teaching Class 2 of a 5-class marketing series for LA County's EMI program. (I actually have 7 different classes to teach.) It's been a great turnout so far and a wonderful experience to be able to teach small businesses (in typically underserved communities). I'm grateful to be a part of LEEAF's part of EMI, and I'm especially grateful to the LEEAF outreach team for pounding the pavement and sharing this free education program to small business owners.

Til next time, stay gold, Ponyboy.

Chris

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