The Value of LinkedIn: More Than Just a Rolodex, It’s a Sales Tool and Marketing Platform, Too

Posted on: November 7th, 2017

Founded in 2002, LinkedIn is a professional networking site that now has more than 500 million users.

Its capabilities span anywhere from employer finding employee, to employee finding employer, to business finding more business, to seeing what your friend from high school is up to, and there are so many opportunities in between.

After being purchased by Microsoft in December of 2016, the company saw a spike in growth and is now celebrating hitting the 500 million users mark by adding new features. A few of the improvements might change your view on the site’s value for your sales and marketing.

In the “My Network” tab, you can now see stats on the people you know on the site. If you’ve made connections to clients, businesses, or potential employees, you can make some well calculated moves to connect on a better level. Think “business negotiations.”

What if you could listen in and understand what you need to offer before sitting down to pitch the offer? Knowing various statistics about your network can be the difference between succeeding and falling apart at the seams.

Another new addition has been a curated newsfeed with topics that relate to your interests. Reading through it regularly can be a way to stay up with the competition or even get ahead.

Additionally, note that these profiles allow others to verify your background and experience, thus feeling secure when choosing to work with you. A strong profile can speak volumes about your credibility.

Premium Subscriptions can change your capabilities with LinkedIn and bring your opportunities to a whole new level. Some of the tools available with a Premium subscription include driving sales, finding skilled employees, promoting your business, and expanding your network.

With it, you can research, target, get names, and even contact information for people that you want to work with. Others can find you easily by searching the database for articles, skills, and much more.

As a professional, I’ve found that writing articles on LinkedIn with keywords have led to my name popping up in search bars and the site naming me as a subject matter expert. If you could be seen as a “subject matter expert,” well, you can imagine the benefits.

Sales Navigator is a tool that you have to pay for but is worth the extra couple of bucks. LinkedIn says the intention is to, “grow your sales pipeline”.

This subscription-only service allows users to tap into LinkedIn’s brain and get customer leads. As an employer, using Talent Solutions, can assist you in finding and recruiting some of the best talents on LinkedIn.

The professional networking site is basically a background tool that helps users get valuable information with a few clicks. The result of being able to access all of its tools, in the right way, can mean stable and long-lasting growth for your business.

In the acquisition financing arena, capital availability is destiny as companies require reliable access to capital to grow over the long term. Unforeseen capital needs usually arise when acquirers least expect it. This can cause some concern for the acquisition financing provider, especially when covenants tighten up and that working capital availability is utilized faster than expected.

Mezzanine debt borrowing is usually a straightforward activity that many companies use for funding of transitional growth. Mezzanine debt lenders are highly transparent about their due diligence approach and their post-closing loan management making it easy for companies to engage with.

Elections have consequences and positive ones at that for the acquisition financing middle market. While much media attention is paid to the direction of the yield curve and the Fed’s likely rate cuts, scant attention is paid to the more important drivers of the acquisition financing market – business psychology and regulatory climate.