It must be a slow news week, because I just can’t make out the reasoning behind the latest article on Bloomberg.com about LinkedIn.
For me this ranks right up there with displaying poll results that skew towards some wildly controversial result (And I can’t wait till the end of the month to comment on the current poll – please check it out to the right and submit an answer if you would;-)
Let’s have a look at this so-called news…
Changes afoot at LinkedIn
Yes, if you read the article without knowing about LinkedIn, you might believe LinkedIn has actively changed their business model. Here – check it out at this link:
LinkedIn Joins ESPN, Skype in Shifting From Free to ‘Freemium’
Wow – You’d think that LinkedIn is no longer free but has become this thing called “Freemium”…
Details, details
So I read the article through – looking for this change.
Only when I got to the end I was thinking – hey – what’s the deal – there wasn’t much of a mention of a new policy at LinkedIn, the article simply rehashes what the site currently does.
How could that be?
Putting their facts together
Ok – rereading again – and looking for the specifics… here’s a few quotes:
“LinkedIn Corp., Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, Skype Ltd. and other Web sites, which reeled in users with free content, are now boosting sales by adding features that customers have to pay for.“
That’s the bold statement – that this is a change – adding new features that people have to pay for. Well, in the case of LinkedIn, that really isn’t new, but let’s just follow along…
“LinkedIn introduced a product last month that helps recruiting agencies scour the networking site for job candidates.“
Oh – ok, that’s a new good reason to pay for an account, but they introduced a different product the month before to help people organize their contacts – and that was for every user, not just recruiters. But let’s go on…
“While users can create personal profiles for free, the Mountain View, California-based company introduced paid subscriptions in 2005.“
Ok – so there’s proof – the authors even knew that LinkedIn has been charging for some services with a paid account for the last four years! Why is this suddenly both new and news?
More useful premium account features?
Maybe if the headline read that the “really good stuff” is being introduced with a fee I might have some leaniency, but no – the headline reads that LinkedIn is shifting – and they are not!
The company launched in May of 2003, and started charging for premium accounts in March of 2005 – and now, more than four years later this introduction of a premium service for a fee is a “shift”?
Maybe the news is that consumers seem to be warming up to the idea that there are services that are worth paying for – even if you access them over the web…
The LinkedIn Personal Trainer Shifts To Sell A Book And Offer Free Articles!
Ok – I’m just looking to see what sorts of headlines I might come out with to highlight this new shift – that I both write these blog articles (that I give away for free) and also happen to have written the first book on how to use LinkedIn (that I sell)…
Oh – but wait – that isn’t really a shift either;-)
Hope you have a great weekend!
To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetylock