How to Create LinkedIn E-Mail Signatures

By Joel Elad from LinkedIn For Dummies, 2nd Edition

One of the best ways to communicate your presence on LinkedIn is to add your LinkedIn profile to your e-mail signature. LinkedIn developed a cool tool with which you can build your own advanced e-mail signature using the LinkedIn website. You can decide what information you want to include in your signature, and LinkedIn helps you with formatting.

Log in to LinkedIn, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the Tools menu bar item.
On the Tools Overview page, scroll down to the Email Signature section and click the gray Try It Now button.

LinkedIn takes you to a special Profile page: Create Email Signature.
On your Profile page, click the drop-down arrow next to Select Layout to pick which Layout option you want.

You have multiple options to select from. Some (such as Ingot or Plastic Curve) add a graphical look; the Simple option lists your information as text; and the Executive layout presents your information in a more professional manner.

Click around and pick a few layouts to see the automatic preview of that layout on your screen. This gives you an idea of which layout and color scheme you want. You may want to revisit this step after you enter all your information so that you know how your finished signature will appear.
After you pick your layout style, enter the contact information you want to appear in your signature.

You can input as much or as little as you’d like, and that information will be reflected in your signature file.
(Optional) Add a picture to your signature by entering the URL of that picture’s location in the Image Selection field.

If you already uploaded a picture of yourself for your LinkedIn profile, you can include it here as well.
Scroll down to the Options section (below Work Address) and decide which of three links can appear as part of your signature by selecting the appropriate check box(es):
- Professional Profile: Create a URL link to your LinkedIn Profile page.
- See Who We Know in Common: Create a link to LinkedIn that, when a LinkedIn member clicks the link, shows other LinkedIn members who are connected to you and that person.
- We’re Hiring: Creates a link that takes someone back to LinkedIn and starts a Job Search query for job openings in the company you’ve listed in your LinkedIn profile.
Near the bottom of the page, click the Click Here for Instructions link under the Save Your Email Signature header to create and save your e-mail signature.

A pop-up window appears with your e-mail signature information. If you have a pop-up blocker on your Web browser, you may want to deactivate it temporarily before performing this step, or be ready to temporarily allow pop-ups from LinkedIn.com.
When the page with the pop-up window containing the “code” of your e-mail signature appears, simply select all that text and then paste it into your favorite e-mail program, or you can scroll down and follow the instructions.

LinkedIn provides instructions for the most popular e-mail programs, such as Outlook and Yahoo! Mail. Click the drop-down arrow to bring up your e-mail program and instructions will appear at the bottom of the window, as do the instructions for Outlook.