How to Build a Member List for Your New LinkedIn Group

By Joel Elad from LinkedIn For Dummies, 2nd Edition

If many of the members of your LinkedIn group are already connected to you in LinkedIn, you can simply export your connections to start building your member list. Otherwise, the easiest way to build your list of members for your LinkedIn is to use a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel and create a Comma-Separated Values file which is simply a text file of members and their e-mail addresses. You should definitely have your member list in front of you before starting this process.

When you’re ready to build your list of members, just follow these steps:

Open a spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel. Choose File→New from the top Excel menu to create a new blank document.
In the first row, create these entries, which will be the three column headers:
- First Name
- Last Name
- E-mail Address
Starting in the second row, fill in the members’ names and e-mail addresses.
Choose File→Save As.

The Save As window pops up.
Make sure that the Save as Type option is set to CSV (Comma Delimited) and then click OK when prompted.
Go to your LinkedIn account and click the Groups link in the top navigation bar to bring up your My Groups page.
From the My Groups page, roll your mouse over the Actions link underneath the name of your group and select Pre-approve People from the drop-down menu that appears.

This brings up the Pre-approve People page of your group. At first, you’re the only member of this new group.
Click the Upload a File link below the Connections box in the middle of the screen.

This brings up the Upload a File page.
Click the Browse button to find the CSV file on your computer.
After you specify the file you want, click the Upload File button to upload the file (containing your list of members) into your group.

The next page attempts to determine whether the file was uploaded correctly. You should see your member list uploaded correctly. Here, you have two options.
- Finish Uploading: If LinkedIn brought in the first few names correctly with the right text encoding, click the Finish Uploading button.
- Try Next Encoding: If the names shown don’t display correctly, click the Try Next Encoding link.
You’re done! Your new members will appear on the Pre-Approved list for this group.