LinkedIn.com

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 LinkedIn.com is quickly emerging on the scene with a new social media for business professionals. It is greatly assisting business professionals in networking online with co-workers and clients. The over popularity of this new media is astounding, considering that it was only started in 2003 by Reid Hoffman. His entrepreneurial insight allowed this alternate media to become almost synonymous with Facebook.com and Myspace.com. Although, these two social networking sites are popular they lacked the reputation of a business professional website. Stafford (2007) indicates LinkedIn.com as “the massive networking site [that is] now number[ing] more than 11 million people and is growing at a rate of 180,000 new members per week” (p. 1). That staggering amount of people per week shows the shear enormity of this new website. With this amount of people the opportunity to advertise is a must. ======

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Reasons for Use:
E. Reese (personal communication, September 21, 2009) stated “LinkedIn.com is to help CEO’s establish professional relationships, and more or less there is a need to make advertisers aware that complementary conversational marketing is key”. This means advertisers can go on LinkedIn.com and converse with CEO’s for potential ad campaigns they can contribute to the various CEO’s companies. This is very worthwhile to both parties, because in either of their networks they may make more connections leading to more business for both individuals. Knowing the amount of new LinkedIn.com users per day makes LinkedIn.com a very fashionable means for advertisers to communicate directly to other business professionals. Reasons for using LinkedIn.com are simple: it is intended to maximize your business network. Additionally, Stafford (2007) acknowledges “it costs nothing for a basic membership, which connects users to business contacts, former colleagues, classmates and their contacts in a no-nonsense presentation” (p. 1). Having an entourage of this magnitude makes it easy for small business and large business to chat and increase the potential that they can do business together.



 LinkedIn.com is limited by the fact it is not really recognized and advertised as much as other social networking sites. Schachter (2008) observes “LinkedIn, meanwhile, has seen rival social network Facebook.com evolve from a refuge for college students to an online site that increasingly accommodates mid-career professionals” (p. 5). Moreover, noting how Facebook.com is now competing with LinkedIn.com that presents the issue of who will come out on top. Furthermore, LinkedIn is also below the bar in moving past a language barrier. McConnon (2007) points out “LinkedIn boasts more than 13 million active users in five continents” (p. 4). But, McConnon (2007) further states “even though its services are currently offered only in English, half of its market is overseas, with India and Brazil being its fastest-growing international hubs” (p. 4).

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There are currently no fees to join LinkedIn.com, but your free membership is short lived after you receive five introductions to other online members. Also, Johnson (2006) states that “for fees ranging from $5 to $200 a month, participants can request more introductions and obtain the ability to e-mail other members, which is not permitted with a free membership” (p. 1). The costs of running LinkedIn.com are a little bit more costly. Johnson (2006) indicates LinkedIn.com is “supported by $10 million of venture-capital funding acquired in 2004, the privately held company reached profitability last month” (p.1).

Currently, according to E. Reese (personal communication, September 21, 2009) “LinkedIn.com reaches 48 million people and 20 million on a monthly basis”. Furthermore, this amount of reach extends over five continents as previously stated. The frequency of LinkedIn.com from an advertising perspective is difficult to judge, because of its new status and limited information allowed to be accessed by individuals. But, knowing 20 million people are reached monthly shows that they are excelling in continually growing and getting people to revisit.

 There is a constant on-going scheduling as more and more people continue to become members. The scheduling of advertising is additionally based solely on what advertisers and businesses decide upon while speaking with each through their networks. With all of this info it can become apparent that LinkedIn.com is unlike all the rest, because users have the options of which companies to do business with and how frequently they need to access each others resources. Considering the rate of exchange for information these days it’s not hard to understand how quickly schedules can be made and changed.

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The impact made by LinkedIn.com can be assessed simply by looking at its rate of new users. Also, Johnson (2006) states “users post their professional work and academic histories on LinkedIn. In addition to the typical pull-down menus used to categorize industries users can freely type in more detailed information” (p. 1). Johnson (2006) further claims “a simple line from a client or colleague helps add credibility, participants say” (p. 1). So these two points really complete some of the things needed in a social business networking site.

 LinkedIn.com recently just broke some major ground in its partnerships as well as its return on investment. Schachter (2008) states “The deal, announced Thursday, will feed CNBC’s articles, data and video to LinkedIn’s 27 million users, while allowing CNBC to tap LinkedIn users as participants in surveys and on-air question-and-answer sessions with reporters and newsmakers” (p. 5). Partnerships like this really raise awareness of a new media, which is important for any emerging media. Likely, this will bring more users to the site when they notice its new news capabilities. E. Reese (personal communication, September 21, 2009) informed that profile data can now be used to effectively reach a target audience based on profile data they provide.

 So it seems people can now reach any business they have interest in at the click of a mouse. A good many businesses have already taken part in the LinkedIn phenomena. To list a few E. Reese (personal communication, September 21, 2009) points out that some big companies have recently used the website for ad purposes and they are GE, Fedex, UPS, Microsoft, and JP Morgan and Chase. All of which realize LinkedIn’s strength is not just advertising but helping businesses.

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Works Cited
1). Johnson, K. (2006). California-based website LinkedIn.com offers forum for business networking. Denver Post, The (CO), http://search.ebscohost.com.

2). McConnon, A. (2007). In networks. BusinessWeek, (4049), 4-6. http://search.ebscohost.com.

3). Schauter, K. (2008). LinkedIn Tunes to CNBC. Red Herring, 5. http://search.ebscohost.com.

4). Stafford, J. (2007, June 12). Business network grows into %u2018myspace for adults’. Daily Oklahoman, The (OK), http://search.ebscohost.com.