LinkedIn announced Thursday that the professional networking site now has 150 million members, an increase of 20 million members since November—impressive, right?
The announcement came as part of the company’s fourth quarter and 2011 fiscal year financial results, which, according to a press release, included the following highlights:
- Revenue for the fourth quarter was $167.7 million, an increase of 105 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
- Net income for the fourth quarter was $6.9 million, compared to net income of $5.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2010.
“Q4 once again exceeded our expectations for member engagement and business growth,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, in a press release. “It was a fitting end to a memorable year in which we reinforced our position as the pre-eminent professional network on the web. We believe continued focus on our members and technology infrastructure positions us well for accelerated product innovation in 2012.”
A quick side note? We do a lot of LinkedIn training for clients, teaching them how to optimize profiles and leverage LinkedIn, both from a recruiting standpoint as well as a business development standpoint. So it was only natural that we scooted over to give Weiner’s LinkedIn profile the once-over. Shockeroo … his profile could use a makeover! Funny, isn’t it, that someone whose career completely revolves around LinkedIn has a profile that’s in dire need of a revision? Give us a call, Jeff. We’ll help you out!
We expect that LinkedIn will continue its growth trend as more people flock to the site for professional connections, lead generation and other business-related goals. After all, when it comes to getting your skills and experience noticed by a professional audience, no other social networking site can come close to LinkedIn. The site hand-delivers a readymade professional audience, more than 50 percent of which are business owners, managers, senior management and C-level executives. I don’t know about you, but those are my customers and prospective customers and it’s where we do a bunch of research for new business development purposes. Plus, that’s where 95 percent of businesses head when they’re looking for talent and/or evaluating talent.
As LinkedIn continues to grow and evolve, now’s the time to focus on your profile and getting it into shape so that it represents you in the best light possible. Whether you’re seeking a new job, generating business leads or expanding your network, LinkedIn is the destination for all things professional. And judging by the information released in this quarter’s earnings report, LinkedIn will likely continue on an upward trajectory in terms of member growth and revenue. Congratulations, LinkedIn!
Image by RLHyde via Creative Commons
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
