What is LinkedIn? Essay -- Website, Professionals, Networking

LinkedIn LinkedIn is a website specifically established for the professionals all around the world to network. The website allows people to search for business contacts, manage their professional identity, research firms, join industry groups and identify desired career opportunities. This website is also being leveraged by the brands and recruiters and many corporate profiles have been established on LinkedIn to recruit candidates and develop a pool of potential candidates through networking (Lewis, 2012). Is the organization doing well? Despite the increasing competition in the internet sphere, LinkedIn has been performing since its establishment in 2003. LinkedIn is always going to have the benefit of being pioneer in launching a website that targeted the specific niche of professionals for networking and recruiting. As of March 2012, LinkedIn was declared as the largest professional network on the internet with revenue of $522.2 million in 2011. By 2012, the website has more than 150 million members in over 200 countries. The success of LinkedIn can be determined from the fact that it is the first major U.S. social networking company that completed its initial public offering in 2011 by raising an aggregate of $270.2 million for general corporate purposes and working capital (Our Social Times, 2012). The main reason for the success of LinkedIn has been its ability to offer innovative products and services to all its members. The individual profiles and corporate profiles are provided with different range of products through which they can affectively leverage the potential of LinkedIn. The company has targeted all areas in the specific niche of professionals around the world and has diversified its portfolio to r... ...ed Marketer, February 2009, pp. 17-18. Steyn, P., Salehi-Sangari, E., Pitt, L. and Berthon, P., (2010). The SocialMedia Release as a Public Relations Tool: Intentions to Use Among B2B Bloggers. Public Relations Review, 36(1), pp.87-89. Thackeray, R., Neiger, B., Hanson, C. and McKenzie, J., (2008). Enhancing Promotional Strategies Within Social Marketing Programs: Use of Web 2.0 Social Media. Health Promotion Practice, 9(4), pp.338-343. Venkatesan, Rajkumar, Kumar V., and Bohling, Timothy, (2007). â€Å"Optimal Customer Relationship Management Using Bayesian Decision Theory: An Application for Customer Selection†, Journal of Marketing Research, 44(4), pp.579-594. Verhage, Bronis, (2010). Marketing Fundamentals. Noordhoff Uitgevers bv., Groningen. Ward, David, (2009). â€Å"Needs Seeded Strategies†, Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, vol. IV, iss. 3(9), pp.441-456.