What Does LinkedIn’s $1 Billion Network Mean for Your Online Business?

Author: Henry Adaso
SEO Copywriter

If you think you’ve heard the last of the social media gold rush, think again. LinkedIn, the largest business social networking site, has raised $53 million for its European expansion effort which brings the company’s total estimated value to slightly over $1 billion. That’s good and all, but what does that mean to the rest of us who may never see a billion bucks in this life or the next? Whether you’re looking, find, or get found by others in your niche, there are many ways LinkedIn can be beneficial to your online business.

For starters…

Investor Confidence is Good for Business

This huge investment indicates a great level of confidence investors share in LinkedIn’s business model. They obviously have plenty of faith in the networking site’s long-term growth strategy. Thanks to investory confidence, business marketers who may have been skeptical about LinkedIn’s prospects may soon start saying to themselves, “Hey, if investors can trust them, why shouldn’t I?”

• Global Reach – There are over 23 million professionals on LinkedIn from all walks of life. That’s the equivalent of the entire population of Texas in your palms! There’s no doubt that, after today’s significant news, millions more will probably tag along. And with LinkedIn’s proposed European expansion,

• Niche Networking – LinkedIn functions as a business directory in that it allows you to find the people with the knowledge and expertise you need to achieve your business goals. You can search for people in your niche based on recommendations, profession, network, etc.

• Improved Visibility – Want to maximize your brand visibility? Then make it a point of duty to develop an extensive web of connections on LinkedIn. For the uninitiated, “connections” are the Myspace equivalent of friends. The more the merrier. After all, people will much rather connect with people their friends find trustworthy. LinkedIn give rank preferences to the most active participant, and not necessarily the member with the most college degrees.

• Easy Connectivity – If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me to forward them a list of my PR contacts, I’d be typing this post from a million-dollar yatch right now. LinkedIn eliminates this problem by incorporating contact sharing into the social networking experience. Your contacts are my contacts. Your friends are my friends.

• Enhanced SEO Results – LinkedIn allows its members to promote websites on profile pages. This is a smart and inexpensive way to improve search engine optimization results for your online business. So, go ahead, link away to your personal blog, business site, etc. Just be sure to enable “Full View” in your public profile settings.

LinkedIn is quite the unique social networking tool, one that presents online businesses with numerous long-term growth opportunities. So, go forth, search, connect, and be merry.