Overview

LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 332 million members in over 200 countries. This social media site is extremely important for young graduates looking to make it in the professional world, especially in business.




The Platform in Brief

LinkedIn provides a place for professionals in similar industries to share information, find answers, or find employees. The founders include Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin


Guericke, Eric Ly, and Jean-Luc Vaillant. (About us, 2015). The site launched in 2003 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company is publicly held and has a diversified business model with revenues coming from talent solutions, marketing solutions, and premium subscription products. The platform is currently available in 23 different languages. They have 6,000 full-time employees with offices in 30 cities around the world. There are 39 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn, their fastest-growing demographic (About us, 2015).




The Platform in Operation

More than 4 million companies have a LinkedIn page and its corporate talent solutions are used by 92 of the Fortune 100 companies (Shin, 2014). There are numerous ways that companies and small businesses can take advantage of LinkedIn. First of all, they can acquire new customers through online recommendations and word of mouth. Satisfied customers are the best source of new customers. Those happy customers can write a recommendation that can be seen directly on the company’s LinkedIn profile.

Secondly, they can find the right vendors to outsource services they are not an expert on performing. Companies can find photographers, web designers, and accountants, and more. Thirdly, LinkedIn can help raise funds. Companies can possibly find investors to help start up their small businesses. Next, the company can build their industry network. They can search LinkedIn’s groups directory to find industry associations and networks to take part in. LinkedIn also surfaces popular events in an industry calling out local events that one’s connections are attending (Kawasake, 2010).

Speaking of LinkedIn groups, there are eight defining tips that can help companies use these groups effectively. These tips are: join groups where your customers and prospects are, create your own LinkedIn group, do not join too many groups, establish yourself as a thought leader or expert, recruit new hires, conduct market research, ask for testimonials/reviews, and involve your employees (Shin, 2014). Lastly, one important way that companies can use LinkedIn is to keep up with current competition. Companies’ pages usually have key stats on sales, recent hires, as well as movers and shakers. Not only do company profiles give unique insight into competition, they also give the opportunity to stumble upon potential hires by browsing through company pages.




The Platform’s Pros and Cons

For businesses, there are a number of pros and cons of using LinkedIn. Examples of pros include providing global access to small and large company contacts, providing interactivity with other users, and offering business owners the ability to research company information. It is a great tool for conducting background research on a company that you may wish to approach to sell your company’s products or services. A company can use the robust search to allow them to find people who may be seeking a new job if they are looking to hire people. They can also use LinkedIn to find companies who offer complementary products or services to create a mutually beneficial alliance (Shah, n.d.).

Examples of cons for businesses include people using the platform just for “personal selling”, the paid subscription being quite expensive, and having limited interactivity when compared to Facebook or Twitter. LinkedIn’s “request to be linked” process can be cumbersome and not as real-time as a connection request on Facebook or Twitter.

For an individual, pros include having a resume available for potential employers, having recommendations/endorsements from friends, former supervisors, and teachers, and researching companies that are of interest to that individual. This platform conveys an individual’s personal brand. You can create a positive online reputation and add credibility. LinkedIn is a research tool and a supplement to conventional methods of calling, face to face networking, and pounding the pavement to find job and networking opportunities (Weighing, n.d.).

Like any social network site, LinkedIn has its limitations. The value of the site depends on the amount of people and the quality of people using it. Cons for an individual include young people not being in tune with what is needed to be good at networking, getting e-mails from companies not related to your industry, and the platform being impersonal when compared to in-person meetings.




Analysis

I believe that LinkedIn has a great future for young professionals and seasoned professionals. Networking is at the forefront of business today and LinkedIn provides a great tool for that. Social media has become a part of everyday life and this avenue has become valuable when it comes to finding new employees, employers and clients, getting career advice, and reconnecting professional relationships (Demers, 2014). With any social media site, care must be taken to bestow a positive image for yourself. This is especially important on LinkedIn, a professional site in its nature. For the past few years, LinkedIn has been growing in its users and revenues. In my own opinion, this trend will continue for years to come.




References

About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2015, from https://www.linkedin.com/about-us


Demers, J. (2014, November 5). 7 Truths About LinkedIn Every Professional Needs to Know. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/7-truths-about-linkedin-every-professional-needs-to-know.html


Kawasake, G. (2010, April 6). Ten Ways for Small Businesses to Use LinkedIn. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/ten-ways-for-small-businesses-to-use-linkedin-1/


Shah, N. (n.d.). The Pros and Cons of LinkedIn for a Business. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.corpmagazine.com/technology/digital/the-pros-and-cons-of-linkedin-for-a-business/


Shin, L. (2014, June 26). How To Use LinkedIn: 5 Smart Steps To Career Success. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/06/26/how-to-use-linkedin-5-smart-steps-to-career-success/

Contact Information

To contact the author of this article, “What You Need to Know About LinkedIn: An Executive Roadmap for Social Media Success,” please email the author at [email protected].    

The mission of the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University is to provide educational experiences for personal, professional and intellectual growth, enable the creation and sharing of knowledge to enhance learning and to advance the practice of business, and engage communities through service to positively impact their future. The Accounting and Business programs in the College of Business are accredited by the AACSB International.