According to the LinkedIn site itself, the professional networking site has over 43 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world. In fact, a new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second and about half of its members are outside of the US. What does the LinkedIn demographic look like?
BusinessWeek defines LinkedIn members to be the following:
“All about business. More males than femals (57% to 43%). Highest average income, at $89,000. More likely to have joined the site for business work, citing keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development and recruiting as top reasons. They like news, employment information, sports and politics. More likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis. Excluding video game systems, they own more electronic gadgets than other social networkers, including digital cameras, high definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-Ray players”.
Does this mean that there is no place for active engagement for young professionals under the age of 40 seeking to advance their careers? If you are a young professional under the age of 40 reading this, what have you done lately to bolster your career prospects on this professional networking site?
LinkedIn PR Manager, Krista Canfield, recommends the following:
1. Study the people that you admire.
2. Tailor your profile to look similar to the people whose careers you want.
3. Research people you are scheduled to meet.
4. Ask for advice and give advice through LinkedIn’s “Answers” feature.
5. If you want to increase your Google-ability, set your profile to public and choose
a vanity URL. Some people even include this on their email signature and
business cards.
Not familiar at all with LinkedIn? View this video to see how LinkedIn can help your professional networking career.
I have a linked in acct, but haven’t found a decent way to use it for marketing yet. Though I’ve definitely seen the networking aspects work.