4 Reasons To Join LinkedIn And 2 Reason Not To
I recently signed up and created my profile page on LinkedIn after having my interest in it rise from multiple invitations sent to me.Recently, I've been holding off from the product creation and seeking ways to get get more web presence and LinkedIn was just what I was looking for.
It's dawning on me that in this age of the internet, social interaction on a more personal level is the key to running an online business these days. That's why these social networking sites (Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn) are booming.Faceless marketers will soon be obsolete and only those who can connect and provide real value to the internet community, and LinkedIn is a perfect platform to cultivate that.
I like LinkedIn for many reasons but the main four reasons I like LinkedIn is one, it's free (but there is a paid upgrade option), two, you get to present your business, services and products, three, you can meet other professionals to form profitable relationships with and four, it's a place to keep up with what's happening.
These are the reasons I wanted to join LinkedIn...
1. It's free to join and create your profile. There are plenty of useful applications and modules that offer tools to help you share your info and see others' info. There is a paid upgrade offer, but I'm yet to check that out in detial.
2. You can build your business. These social networking sites are perfect to build your brand, showcase your expertise and get attention. As you know, a big part of marketing is credibility. There are a few applications that let you share your knowledge, such as the Answers forum.
3. Network with thousands of professionals. LinkedIn is full of business owners. I just signed up to LinkedIn yesterday but I already am linked to 122,300 professionals. It's no secret that a big part of success is "who you know, not what you know".
4. Keep up with the latest movements in your field of expertise. The internet moves at lighning speed so being connected to thousands of marketers will keep you up to date with the latest news in your market. It's hard to keep up with everything but missing everything can be a bigger problem.
As with all things, there are pros and cons. The only problems I can see with LinkedIn is that there are some limitations and there will always be strangers asking to be connected with you.
Some downsides to LinkedIn...
1. Limitations of what you can do. It has a lot of great features but there are some limitations. For example, your connections can only be those who are users of LinkedIn and who have accepted to be your contact, so you can't use it as a traditional contact manager like your email or Web Prosperity. It's not as entertaining as Facebook, it's strictly business.
2. Strangers will want to connect. I know on Facebook I get a lot of strangers asking for friend requests, but I ignore 95 % of them. Facebook is what I use for my private life but LinkedIn is strictly for business. I will be more lenient to accepting strangers but will definitely check them out before approving.
Using LinkedIn effectively will take some extra time out of the day, but I feel it is one that could pay off. If you would like to join my network, please see my personal LinkedIn profile here.
See you there!
Stuart Stirling
:)
Labels: business-networking-tools, business-networking-website, linkedin, pros-and-cons-of-linkedin
posted by 'Disco Stu' @ 1:48 AM
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