Okay, so one of the questions I'm constantly asked is, "Which Social Networks are the best? Which ones are really worth my time investment, and will benefit my business?"
Well, in my humble opinion, it just depends. Yeah, I know. Sounds like a cop-out, right? But it's true. Just as no two people are alike, no two social networks offer quite the same features/benefits. Each one typically has a primary core focus or strength. Each one seems to specialize in reaching and catering to a particular genre/group.
LinkedIn is one of the more professionally astute network offerings (Think virtual Rolodex). If you're looking for a hot date, this ISN'T the place to go! And don't expect all the fancy gizmo's, widgets, and colorful custom backgrounds. This is your grandparent's MySpace.
HISTORY
Founded in 2002, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. As of this past December, its site traffic was 3.2 million visitors per month, growing at an annual growth rate of about 485%.Just this March, it had more than 20 million registered users,spanning 150 different industries.
LinkedIn's current CEO is Dan Nye. The original Founder and former CEO, Reid Hoffman, previously the exec VP of PayPal, remains President of Product and Chairman of the Board. Corporate Headquarters are located in Mountain View, California. LinkedIn reached profitability in March of 2006.
CORE PURPOSE
The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know, respect, and trust in the business world. The people in the list are called Connections. Members can invite anyone (whether a current member or not) to become a connection.
This list of connections can then be used in a number of ways:
- Your contact network is built up consisting of your first-tier direct connections, the connections of each of their connections (termed second degree connections) and also the connections of second degree connections (termed third degree connections). These can be used to gain an introduction to someone you wish to know through a mutual, trusted contact.
- Your connections can be used to find jobs, people, and business opportunities recommended by someone in their contact network.
- Employers can list jobs on the network, and search for potential candidates.
- Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can possibly introduce them.
The feature LinkedIn Answers, similar to Google Answers or Yahoo! Answers, allows members to ask questions for the community to answer. This feature is free and the main differences from the two previously mentioned services are that questions are potentially more business-oriented, and the identity of the people asking and answering questions is known.
The LinkedIn Groups, feature allows members to establish new business relationships by joining alumni, industry, or professional and other relevant groups . This is another free feature of LinkedIn. Although the groups directory is not searchable from LinkedIn’s site, there is a working LinkedIn Groups Search available.
A mobile version of the site was launched in February 2008 which gives access to a reduced feature set over a mobile phone.
One of the features I have appreciated is the Profile Completeness Meter. From the moment you join, there is a meter that gauges your progress, and tells you what additional steps you need to fulfill before your Profile is complete. Another thing is that it obviously enables you to cross-over and network through multiple vocation/career/industries.
They also have a corporate LinkedIn Blog and a LinkedIn Store.
LinkedIn is like most social networks. You get out of it what you put into it. But in my humble opinion, for business, it's one of the more serious, practical, and beneficial ones out there!
For your Further Reading Consideration: Top 100 Tools on LinkedIn CrunchBase Review 10 Ways to Use LinkedIn
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