A question frequently asked at my LinkedIn Workshops is whether or not it’s worthwhile to pay for a LinkedIn Premium account.  My answer; it’s a bit like a gym membership, it’s only worthwhile if you use it and make sure you are taking full advantage of the free features first before deciding if it’s worth the cost. Only around 18% of people are paying to use LinkedIn, although this number has been consistently rising. Users are beginning to pay for subscriptions that can give them better visibility, improved tools and allow them to generate more leads. LinkedIn is seen as a fantastic forum for businesses to benefit from and premium accounts are all about achieving your business goals more quickly and efficiently.

There are options available when you decide to upgrade so that you can opt for a package that suits you and your individual needs. You can go for:

Job Seeker – complete with tools to help you get in touch with recruiters, get you noticed by potential employees and provide you with premium insights @ £19.99/month

Business Plus – complete with tools to help your visibility, reach and search options @ £39.99/month

Sales Navigator – it’s designed and enhanced for sales professionals with tools to help you generate leads @ £59.99

Recruiter Lite – helps find candidates, contact them directly and build relationships with prospects @£79.95/month.

The accounts are equipped with tools and to help you to reach your objectives and here we’ll look at some of the most helpful ones.

InMail

With InMail you are able to send direct messages to people that you aren’t connected with although you can also send messages via Groups to 15 members per month.  Of all the features of Premium I have found this to be the most beneficial with about a 60% response rate to my approach to connect.  The official stats from LinkedIn say InMails ‘have 2x the open rate of emails.

I have found InMails to be a credible way to reach out to people I don’t know but would like to connect with so rate this as a valuable feature.

Ann Robb is running the next Edinburgh Chamber LinkedIn Masterclass on the 15th of October. If you are interested in attending please view this link