Michelle Grose
“How LinkedIn Enhances Business Professionals All Over the World”
I. Introduction
A. Myself
B. Why I wanted to explore LinkedIn, and why I support it
1. I joined LinkedIn last summer while I was interning in NYC
2. I learned about the importance of networking and the 6 degrees of separation through seminars
3. I wanted to keep track of all the contacts I was making so I joined
4. LinkedIn is another good way to follow up with contacts after meeting them
- You may not always trade contact info but you can find them on LinkedIn if you know their name and/or company
5. I have also used LinkedIn to search for new opportunities that I will discuss more in depth later on in the report
II. LinkedIn’s Company Background
A. How it started
1. LinkedIn had 5 founders- Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, Jean-Luc Vaillant
2. LinkedIn had a humble beginning in the living room of Reid Hoffman in 2002.
3. The site officially launched on May 5, 2003 with the founders initially inviting about 350 of their most important contacts to join, and by the end of the first month of operation, it had a total of 4,500 members in the site network.
B. LinkedIn Currently
1. LinkedIn is now the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 100 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
2. Now, it headquarters out of Mountain View, Calif. And more than half of LinkedIn members are located outside of the US.
3. The company’s current management team is comprised of seasoned executives from companies like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, TiVo, etc. The CEO is Jeff Weiner.
4. LinkedIn members now count executives from all 2010 Fortune 500 companies as it is a networking site really geared towards professionals.
C. Timeline
III. Why use LinkedIn?
A. LinkedIn coincides with the professional networking concept of 6 degrees of separation.
1. I learned about this last summer when I was doing my internship in NYC. It is the idea that you are somehow connected to everyone on the earth by 6 people.
2. LinkedIn shows you how you can be connected to someone through someone you already know.
3. For instance, I can be connected to the Editor in Chief of D Magazine through my boss at Mathes and Co. even though I have never met the Editor in Chief of D Magazine in person before. If I open that connection through my boss, then opportunities with the magazine can open up.
B. You should use LinkedIn because of all the unique features that you can’t find on Facebook and other social networking sites.
1. Marketing yourself- what people find when they look for you…
a. Professional profile that includes…
- Work & Intern experience, sing up to be in the company’s networks on LinkedIn
- Education experience, you can easily connect to others at the same school
- Upload your resume
- LinkedIn understands the importance of other digital ways of marketing yourself & it allows you to connect pages like twitter, your blog, & your website
- Friends, colleagues, coworkers, employers can write recommendations for you
2. What you find when you look for other people…
b. LinkedIn has live Newsfeed to stay up-to-date on your connections & companies
c. You can easily add connections by connecting LinkedIn with your email contacts & it will automatically connect them
d. Follow groups and companies- I am part of DBU alumni & Dream Careers Alumni so I see job postings and updated news
3. Other special LinkedIn Applications
a. Job Seeker- you can search for jobs by company, industry, skills, or connections
b. LinkedIn Today- gives members a customized way to follow the top trending news relevant to a particular industry based on their interests
c. Company Pages- allows companies another “website” so-to-speak where they can upload new products, services, testimonials, etc. for people to follow
d. Mobile Application- LinkedIn has a smartphone application where you can get live company feed sent right to your phone- I have it on my iPhone
IV. Success Stories
A. Personal
1. Brynn Bagot PR event with Bulgari
2. Speaking event with Christina Matheiu at Frisco Women’s Junior League College Night Event (Broadcast degree, Greek Sorority Pres)
B. Othes on press.linkedin.com/success-stories
V. Best Part: LinkedIn is FREE!!
A. Young professionals don’t need to pay much in today’s society with great marketing tools liked LinkedIn!
Bibliography
http://press.linkedin.com/history/
