Why LinkedIn? Let us begin with some statistics.

• There are 332 million people on LinkedIn.
• Two new members join every second.
• There are 187 million monthly unique visitors.
• LinkedIn is currently used in over 200 countries and territories. It’s available in 20 languages.
• There are one billion total endorsements on LinkedIn at the moment.
• 59% of LinkedIn members have never worked at a company with more than 200 employees.
• There are over 39 million students and recent graduates on LinkedIn.
• LinkedIn has 17 million users in the UK users, 10 million users in the Middle East, 61 million users in Asia, 28 million users in India, 6 million users in Australia and 6 million users in China.
• 41% of millionaires use LinkedIn.
• 13% of LinkedIn users do not have a Facebook account. Likewise, 83% of users do not have a Pinterest account. 59% are not active on Twitter.

What these number sum up for us is the overwhelming outreach of LinkedIn across the professional global network. Today, having an updated LinkedIn profile is just as important as having a resume. Whether you are an entry level professional or a CEO, you are expected to have a LinkedIn profile. But why LinkedIn ? Why all the noise over it? We offer you four reasons which we hope will compel you to create your LinkedIn profile right now, if you already haven’t!

Why LinkedIn – You make yourself visible:

Imagine being one of the best musicians, or authors or doctors, but not knowing how to reach out and market yourself? On LinkedIn, you will be connected to 332 billion other people, some of who may be looking for someone with the skills you possess! Alternatively, you will be easy to find on the World Wide Web, if someone has your name. Google will list your LinkedIn profile as the first or the second search result.

Why LinkedIn – It provides you with invaluable resources:

With the hundred odd features that LinkedIn comes packed with, it is quite a resourceful tool to have at one’s disposal. It provides you with a host of features like – “Get Introduced” (a current contact introduces you to someone you want to establish a connection with), Recommendations (all of us need them and it authenticates our identity and establishes a reputation in the required field of profession), millions of interest groups to choose from, to stay updated with what’s happening in those spheres, and the brilliant LinkedIn Pulse. These are only few of the resources you can avail of!

Why LinkedIn – You stay connected:

You can update your profile every so often and let the world know what’s happening with you (not like we do on Facebook). You can get endorsed for the skills you list out for yourself. LinkedIn also enables you to follow various topics you may be interested in, in the form of groups. A quick ten minute glance on your LinkedIn profile every day, will ensure you are connected with the latest news about everything you are interested in – from stocks to best Ted talks.

Why LinkedIn – It is your own personal brand!

You can market yourself as uniquely as you wish to through having a LinkedIn profile. It vests you with opportunities to make yourself visible to members in the communities you wish to be recognized in. It enables you to add videos, images and recommendations to showcase yourself. It is next only to you being present in person! So how good a brand ambassador are you for yourself?

Now that we’ve given you enough reasons to have a LinkedIn profile, you better sit down and start working on one right away! And read our blog post to help you create the perfect LinkedIn profile! And if you have one, we hope that you are harnessing all the power of LinkedIn for your career.

If you need more reasons to convince you about LinkedIn and how to make it work for you, we recommend you take a look at all the posts on LinkedIn  by the LinkedIn Maestro, David Graham – Coach | LinkedIn | Content | Engagement | Influence | Leads| Business Opportunities. You can start with his latest post on how to spend quality time on LinkedIn. You will thank us for it 🙂