Attending business networking events for me has often been a waste of time.
It feels like speed dating without a happy ending. Too many people with business cards and nothing in common.
The experience?
Frustrating, fake and futile. Much snake oil and not enough authentic connecting.
The social web has reinvented that desperate business networking.
Weak ties and strong ties
Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn you can connect online with people that have a common interest on the other side of the world or around the corner. You share their tweet, leave a comment or offer something of value in their Twitter stream or on Facebook page. It’s a small connect but it is often noticed and valued.
This is the weak tie connection.
Want to take it up a notch and then you can Skype, grab a coffee or even share a meal. You can see the color of their eyes, sense their passion and authentic presence. A real relationship can commence.
This is where the strong ties start.
Lurking, loitering or effective?
LinkedIn is a place where hundreds of millions of professionals from around the world hang out, connect and network. It is the default business persons social network. It is more effective than lurking at a a business cocktail party waiting to be pounced on.
Many mistakes are made on LinkedIn from selling without creating a relationship, to not being clear on your profile. But on the other hand it can be used to generate leads faster than your competition if you are willing to learn how to use it effectively.
Want to learn how to be effective on LinkedIn? We are running another FREE webinar this week. Register now.
LinkedIn can also be used as a global CRM platform to target potential clients and grow your business.
LinkedIn facts and statistics
So what are some LinkedIn facts and what was also revealed when they announced their 3rd quarter results in 2014?
- LinkedIn started on May 5, 2003
- It went public in May 19, 2011
- LinkedIn has 332 million members
- 2 new users join every second
- 42 million unique mobile visitors per month. This stat is up from 29 million a year before (This is a 45% increase in just 12 months )
- Net revenue for the quarter was $568 million which is a big increase from the Q3 result in 2013 of $393 million
- 107 million users are in the USA alone
- LinkedIn’s user goal is 3 billion registered users
- Average time a user spends on LinkedIn is 17 minutes per month
- 25 million LinkedIn profiles are viewed every day
- One in three professionals on the planet are on LinkedIn
- You can increase your linkedIn views by 11 times by including a photo
- 41% of users visit Linkedin via mobile
- The average number of connections on Linkedin is 930
- There were 28 billion Linkedin profile views in Q3, 2014
- 13% of millennials use LinkedIn
- LinkedIn’s percentage of social sharing is only 4%
- 39 million students and recent grads are on LinkedIn
- 56% of members are male
- 44% of members are female
- 30,000 long form posts are published on Linkedin every week
- 41% of millionaires use LinkedIn
- 13% of LinkedIn users don’t have a Facebook account
- 59% of Linkedin users don’t visit Twitter
- LinkedIn users spend 26% of their time on LinkedIn using the mobile app
Infographic source: Wearesocialmedia. Other statistics were sourced from LinkedIn’s quarterly report and Expandedramblings.com
What about you?
What facts surprised you. How are you using LinkedIn?
Look forward to hearing your stories and insights in the comments below.
Free LinkedIn webinar for business success
A few months back I held a webinar with Alex where he shared the 3-steps to LinkedIn mastery and how he’s used this system to achieve the results mentioned above. The feedback pouring in ever since has been nothing less than incredible.
Unfortunately a lot of people were not able to make it to the webinar due to time zone differences. So we’ve decided to hold another session.
If you want to learn more about how to leverage LinkedIn effectively, Alex and I are running another FREE webinar this week.