LinkedIn Premium: Should You Bother Upgrading?
LinkedIn is one of the top business resources on the Internet. Millions of people throughout the world use the social network as a way of promoting their business. The site provides free services as well as a pay service with premium options. But is LinkedIn Premium worth it?
What does LinkedIn Premium Have to Offer?
LinkedIn Premium has several different perks for paying customers. This includes the ability to view the full profiles of all LinkedIn members, the ability to use the site’s advanced search service, and the ability to see who has viewed your profile. You can also use the site’s InMail service to send messages to anybody on the network. You can also organize profiles more effectively, saving and sorting them using the Profile Organizer system. Depending on the level of membership you choose, this can cost your business anywhere from $24.95 per month to $99.95 per month.
The InMail System
Using InMails allows you to send a certain number of messages every month to other members on the network. The plus side to this system is that a response is guaranteed. If you don’t get a response within a week, you get the credit back so you can send an additional InMail to somebody else. The down side to the system is that it’s comparable to sending an email, which means that even though you get your credit back, you won’t necessarily receive a response. This means you should only send an InMail to those you believe are likely to respond to you.
Viewing Profiles
As with the InMail system, the utility of being able to view profiles with LinkedIn Premium is limited to certain fields. You can only view profiles that have been made public by the user, which means that certain businesses will not have much of a use for this. For example, any sort of legal or medical business that relies upon confidentiality or a business that is not actively pursuing new contacts are unlikely to have a public profile listed. When considering a premium account, you should think about whether you will be contacting business personnel that have a reason to make their contact public. If you work in a field that relies upon confidentiality, this feature will likely be wasted.
Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?
Certain premium features, such as the Profile Organizer, have a great deal of utility that can be used by almost any business. Others, particularly the InMail system and the ability to view profiles, may have limited utility when it comes to your field. When determining whether you need a LinkedIn Premium account for your business, first think about your business model. Do you have time to send multiple InMail requests, even if many are unlikely to get a response? Do you work in a field where others in your field will want a public profile? If the answer to these questions is no, you might want to consider spending your money elsewhere.
Hopefully, this LinkedIn Premium review has served to enlighten you on some of what the service offers. By knowing more about the features available, you can make a better decision when it comes to choosing where you spend your business funds.
