LinkedIn 101 | The Business Value

A first reaction to LinkedIn’s blurb is to wonder just how experiened and how professional the members of this site actually are. After all, LinkedIn’s worthiness somewhat depends on the calibre of its seven million users.

• Clicking “People search” and typing in a common last name will provide a good list of people, their industries, companies, positions and locations. And, wow, this site is not filled with spam and idiocy!
• The majority of people on LinkedIn are true professionals. Thus, there are definitely marketing opportunities available here.
• The process of promoting a business on LinkedIn involves getting recommendations from other people (who must have LinkedIn profiles themselves). When you receive a recommendation from someone, the fact that they recommended you appears in your profile. The only odd thing about this is that the recommendations do not come with the names or statements of the people who provided them.
• You can search through professionals in specific areas (and be listed, if you have the adequate recommendations),
• Job searches for job-seekers and a candidate search for employers and recruiters is also available.
• You can also view members who graduated from your school, people with specified skills and people from a particular area of the world. And yes, this site is popular enough to be truly international. Looking for an engineer in Denmark? Look no further.
• Oh, how wonderful it is not to have to provide one’s relationship status or a list of “who I’d like to meet!”
• Gain visibility on a site where everyone is there for professional purposes. You can use the site to either find potential business associates, or someone may find you and your services instead.

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