For those of us who may only check LinkedIn once we are prompted by an update email, a connection requestion, or general curiosity, paying additional $’s to the platform may seem silly. And it may be for you but many others are making the investment and finding success.
In this #31DaysOfLinkedIn post, we will look at the differences between free and paid access to LinkedIn. Full disclosure: I am a free user but have paid for advanced access in the past…just to see what it was about. More on that in a moment.
In the chart below, you can see the “powers” you get with free and paid access. Hit the tweet button to the side of this post if you actually are using all of the free tools provided to you. I will wait for all the @mentions!
If you are looking for a more proactive approach to LinkedIn which may lead to greater professional experiences, the paid options include Job Seeker, Sales Navigator, Recruiter Life, and Business Plus. For a beginning monthly investment of $30, or up to an annual investment of $1000ish a year, you can gain powers like:
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- Direct messaging of recruiters
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- Deeper access to “Who’s Viewed My Profile?”
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- A greater number of InMail messages which allow you to message folks you are not connected with
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- Advanced search options to see who is working for or on what and if you might know them
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- Greater sales research on companies you are interested in doing business with
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- The ability to manage your entire candidate pool for hiring possibilities
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- Special design tools for recruiting purposes
Now, I have tried what used to be known as LinkedIn Premium in the past. My findings were that it really wasn’t worth the investment, for me anyway, as many of the prospect individuals and companies I was seeking to connect with, learn more about, or have become aware of my efforts were simply no active enough on LinkedIn for them to pay attention.
I do see the Recruiter Life being a cool tool for professional recruiters…if the pool of prospects is deep enough in frequent LinkedIn interactors. I do know some recruiters who have to prompt prospects to clean up and update their LinkedIn profiles before they can add them to a prospect list. That seems like it would be a hard day at the office every day…
(A poorly kept secret about LinkedIn extra services is if you try it out for a bit and cancel the service, they will throw free months of service to you to try to keep you in the loop. Remember, LinkedIn is the social media platform which turns a profit!)
TL; DR: If you are interested in raising the profile of your LinkedIn profile (ha!), a $30 investment isn’t a bad idea. It all boils down to if the ones you are trying to attract are actually active on the platform.
What do you think? What have your experiences in paying for LinkedIn been? Share some stories in the comments below or reach out to us on social media with your details. Thanks for reading/watching this piece of the #31DaysofLinkedIn and stay tuned for the next updates. We’re sure to get to something troubling you very soon!
The #31DaysOfLinkedIn Posts from @RocketGroup
#31DaysOfLinkedIn – Introduction and Recap
A Look at LinkedIn Endorsements and Recommendations
Add Project Details to Your LinkedIn
Building Relationships on LinkedIn
Comparing LinkedIn Audiences to Other Social Platforms through @GaryVee
Educate, Inform, and Entertain Yourself with LinkedIn Groups
Kids, LinkedIn is for Professional Stuff
LinkedIn Premium: How Do They Work?
LinkedIn: Connect with the Right People, the Right Way
Manage Your LinkedIn Activities
Optimize Your LinkedIn Headline
Professionally Mingling on LinkedIn
Recruiting and Hiring on LinkedIn
Say No to the Default on LinkedIn
Setting a Schedule for LinkedIn Activity
Share (Professional) Stuff on LinkedIn
Sharing and Getting Shared on LinkedIn
Sharing Content on LinkedIn Effectively
Spread Out Your LinkedIn Posts
Taking LinkedIn to the Real World
To Pay or Not to Pay for LinkedIn
Want to Get Found on LinkedIn?
What We Learned During #31DaysOfLinkedIn
