Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.
Founded: 2003
CEO: Reid Hoffman
Founders: Ried Hoffman, Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Eric Ly, Konstantin Guericke
Membership: 38 million members in more than 200 countries and territories globally
Company employees: 350
Tips from LinkedIn gurus Wayne Breitbarth, president of M&M Office Interiors, and Katie Felton, account manager at PatientCare, on how to use LinkedIn for business:
- Complete your profile in full. Get recommendations, add activities, groups, employer information etc. It increases the effectiveness of your usage.
- Study other profiles to find the type that best fits your professional style at this point in your life.
- To increase your contacts, import your Outlook, or webmail contacts into your profile to see who is on LinkedIn.
- Increase contacts by searching for old classmates and colleagues.
- Take advantage of the network status function: “What are you working on?” It helps keep the network informed on your business and what you are doing.
- Use the introduction tool. Meet people through other people that you know.
- Ask questions of your network. Utilize the power of the digital network.
- Get recommendations to provide third-party validation of who you are and the work that you do.
- Get used to routinely searching on LinkedIn.
- Budget your time and set aside at least one hour a week to devote to LinkedIn.
