Following are benefits of Linkedin for Professional use.
1. Networking: Linkedin provides to connect with rigt connections and not just anybody. Its more targetted and search really helps to narrow down to right contact. Advanced Search feature in Business Account helps connect with right networking opportunities.

2. Acceptability in Corporate:
Companies are understanding the value of professional networking and are allowing employees to access business opportunities of lead generation and spotting talent.

3. Recommendations:
Professional recommendations over the years build a reputation and helps in personal branding.

4. Application Integration
Business related applications like slideshare and tripit are useful and help in powered networking to inform connection about travel and presentations.

5. Groups
These are targetted groups available for business domain specific contacts, news, discussions etc.

Looking forward to more localized networking with Linkedin.

Deepak Motiramani

Interactivity of Facebook is something which allows users to connect faster. I guess Linkedin is focussing on creating membership upgrades and that something which is limiting its growth and popularity.

May be i have a distinct bias because of my expereince , by i do not find anyother social networking site more engaging to a Generation X than linkedin. Orkut,Facebook et al may be tracking sticky eyeballs from the Generation Y and Gen Z but a serious amout of rich and meaningful interactions gets transacted out here at linkedin.

It is quite impossible to maintain sanctity in the www pas the forces out there are myraid and multiple in varied contexts. Yet linked in has been able to harness the DNA of the likeminded people to rein in the rumblings of the wilderness which is quite prominent on the web.

India i believe mainly due to the vast pools of english intellects and children of the new information economy will drive growth for web majors world wide. The unprecedented ramp up to a fast million users at linkedin is a testimony. In another era it would have taken a few decade to achieve this kind of patronage.

Now having gotten here what do we have to do to get there:

There is a world which is waiting to make a meaning ful contribution to this august company of a million protagninists. Spell out a few agendas for them as i am sure they will agree :

Build a leadership by unsing this community to enable :

A green world ahead of us.
A pluralistic world tolerant to the many diffrences those in many way enrich our existance in the planet.
A world enabling welfare and wellbeing across all continents.
An inclusive world accomdating the many myraid diversities in our society.
Above all spread peace, prosperity and share wealth irrespective of who one is !!

I am writing this in response to the question, “Indian Linkedin members, How do you use Linked In?”.

This question not only made me think, “How do I use Linkedin to identify good practices by me if any?”, but also helped me come across some requirements and ideas.

I am not sure whether these currently exist even in Premium account (I used premium membership for 3+ months). If they exist, please help me in using them

1) Expanding Network – My job demands meeting several people all over the globe as I work for a KPO / BPO firm. After meeting, I generally consolidate the business cards and look them up on Linkedin. If I find them, I send them a note thanking for the meeting, at times summarizing key points we discussed all in the Linkedin invite to join my network and stay connected.

Requirements & Ideas

If you find the profile, it is easy to add the person into your network.

However, when more and more people join your network, it is very difficult to track and at times identify them. To avoid this, it will be helpful to create a remarks column against the name of the individual. I rather prefer to call them as, “Li-mark a shortened form for Linkedin remark”.

This should facilitate the user to add Li-mark such as, “Met the person in a xyz event on mm/dd/yy and planned a particular activity as a follow up”. Basically, Li-mark should accommodate free text for user to enter whatever s/he likes to add to the contact.

Now, there are cases where I do not find the profiles of certain individuals whom I met, as they are yet to open an account. In such cases, I send an invite to the person and depending on the need to be connected, I motivate the individual to open a Linkedin account.

I think, if there is any reward program it may help in more people signing up for Linkedin. For eg, a person inviting another person to open an Linkedin account can accumulate some points, once the person joins which can be used to upgrade the account from basic to premium

2) Communicating Updates – When I accomplish something, I update my profile on Linked-In. This is helpful as it gets reflected in the network updates section which will get picked up by my network and also recruiters  if they are tracking me.

Requirements & Ideas

If there are several people in a network, the updates kind of get lost in the clutter of so many other updates. In such a scenario, having a feature like prioritizing updates depending on importance of a particular contact will be helpful. Priority can be assigned if the user has included certain network contacts in the tracking list.

If you find these useful, I would love to share more ideas on a regular basis. Let me know if there is an innovation club that you run to obtain inputs for Product Development on a continuous basis.

In the meantime, when using Answers, I’d suggest using the general marketing category, as the Internationalization category tends to have more of a technical bent.

@ Gautam: thanks for the suggestion! we should definitely look into that

@ Deepak: Generally speaking, we don’t talk about member numbers on a per-country basis. We do occasionally make exceptions for significant milestones such as this one for India, which remains our largest country in the Asia Pacific region. When we reach a million members in China, I’m sure we’ll let everyone know!

@ all:
Thanks so much for your comments, both here and on Answers!

In the meantime, when using Answers, I’d suggest using the general marketing category, as the Internationalization category tends to have more of a technical bent.

@ Gautam: thanks for the suggestion! we should definitely look into that

@ Deepak: Generally speaking, we don’t talk about member numbers on a per-country basis. We do occasionally make exceptions for significant milestones such as this one for India, which remains our largest country in the Asia Pacific region. When we reach a million members in China, I’m sure we’ll let everyone know!

@ all:
Thanks so much for your comments, both here and on Answers!

Would be curious to know the numbers Linkedin is doing in China as well?

Deepak