LinkedIn SHOCK: Social-for-Suits ISN'T a flash in the pan
Ads? They're OK, but there are other ways to make money
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LinkedIn has once again proved that a social network can make money, just as long as it's got more than one way for the cash to roll in.
The network for professionals topped analysts' expectations for profit and revenue in the third quarter of 2012 as its advertising business continued to do very well and its job listings unit leapt forward.
LinkedIn made a big splash early on, but unlike firms such as Zynga and Facebook, the website has lived up to its early promise. It has repeatedly performed better than pundits expected since its IPO in May last year.
As well as connecting professionals, and showing them ads, the network gets a tidy bundle of cash from premium subscriptions, and just over half of its revenue comes from its recruitment business, which encourages companies to use the site to offer jobs and hire people.
LinkedIn said its revenue for the third quarter was $252m, up 81 per cent from the same quarter last year, while net income was $2.3m compared to a net loss of $1.6m the year before. The biggest boost to revenue came from its talent division, which nearly doubled its take from last year.
The company now expects its full-year revenues to be higher, landing somewhere between $939m and $944m instead of the $915m and $925m it previously forecast. ®
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COMMENTS
Re: A recruitment agency's wet dream
I've been on LinkedIn for four years. It works for me and it helps me make money. I manage a LinkedIn Group with over 21,000 members. Benefiting from LinkedIn is easy ONLY if you never, never, NEVER accept a connection from someone you don't know. LinkedIn is not Facebook. It's not social networking, it's PROFESSIONAL networking. Quality, not quantity, of contacts counts. I won't accept a connection from someone that I haven't had personal contact with, such as a phone call. Emails don't count as "personal contact".
In four years I have connected with three recruiters. Since I have 150 connections and my profile states I only connect with people I know I get connection requests from recruiters weekly, practically begging me to connect with them. I refuse the connection, then click "I don't know this person". LinkedIn flags that profile.
Did you accept a connection from a stranger because you hope that stranger wants to make money FOR you? WRONG! That stranger is hoping to make money OFF you! Waiting for that magic PM from a stranger contact that says "Hey! I want to pay you money to _____ !" That is never going to happen.
LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers) are the worst. Many of them are fake profiles and harvest your contact information.
Join LinkedIn Groups that are relevant to your field AND are managed properly. Join in on discussions and be insightful, relevant, and DIFFERENT. Show insight into your business that nobody else sees. Opportunities will come
If you see job posts in a Group's Discussions area, if you see non-relevant discussions, if you see "make money blogging" posts, if you see "How to find hidden jobs" spam, then that Group is managed badly and you cannot trust what's posted there, and you need to leave that Group immediately.
Again - only accept connections from people you know. Only accept connections from recruiters you are actively working with. The LinkedIn benefits will come, yes they will.
A recruitment agency's wet dream
My advice to anyone who uses this service is do NOT accept invites from anybody working in a recruitment agency. They can't help themselves from remorselessly spamming every one who makes the mistake of accepting an invite.
Worse, these agencies have so many meaningless connections that you find the service recommending people you've never heard of just because they happen to share some connections to the same agencies as yourself.
After I removed connections to these people I found the service a lot more pleasant. Still don't see much use for it though.
Re: A recruitment agency's wet dream
If an employment agency extracts your data from LinkedIn and uses it to contact you outside of LinkedIn - which they did in my case because I had blocked them contacting me, then it's likely that the employment agency is contravening section 55 of the DPA98: Unlawful obtaining etc. of personal data.
When an employment agency uses LinkedIn it has agreed to do so in accordance with their terms and conditions. The agency should not be taking your data from LinkedIn, guessing your e-mail address and using it to contact you directly.
The employment agency business is full of failed salesmen who think that they can make a better living by operating an employment agency. In doing so, they're prepared to try every trick in the book to make some money out of you.
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