The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is widely recognized as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. Dave maintains three weblogs, The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, focused on business and industry analysis, the eponymous Ask Dave Taylor devoted to tech and business Q&A and The Attachment Parenting Blog, discussing topics of interest to parents. Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs.

LinkedIn announces InMail, gives entire site a facelift

LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman announced an interesting new feature of the LinkedIn service, InMail. The biggest improvement? You can finally -- finally! -- search outside of your own network. Of course, there's now also a paid membership option ($15/month), but unlike Meetup.com, there's still a free membership option. Smart move. There are user interface changes that'll take a bit of getting used to, a new tab, and lots more.

For two years, we’ve been building a new kind of business tool, one that lets you benefit from and enhance professional relationships that matter. This summer, we’re taking several more steps toward making LinkedIn an essential resource for you.

New Name Search: All of LinkedIn for Every User.

We’re introducing the best professional search on the Web. Now when you search for someone by name, you’ll get results from the entire LinkedIn Network of more than 3.3 million registered professionals. And we’ve improved People search, too — you’ll see not only matching professionals in your network, but also the top results from the entire LinkedIn Network. Introductions: Greater Trust and Speed

Overwhelmingly, users have told us that four-degree referrals take too long and require too many people to get the real benefit of a referred introduction. We agree. Introductions, our new name for Contact Requests, will now extend only three degrees. Everyone in an Introduction chain will know either the original sender or the final recipient, establishing a truly trusted link.

Introducing InMail™: Opportunities Through the LinkedIn Network

InMail, a new service available exclusively through LinkedIn, allows you to receive business opportunities from other LinkedIn users directly onto your homepage without sacrificing privacy. You decide whether to receive InMail; you get to rate every InMail you receive to help ensure quality; and you choose when to share your contact information.

Business Accounts: Advanced Tools for Business Users

Beginning today, you can upgrade to a Business account, a premium service for LinkedIn users. Business account holders will be able to request more Introductions, send InMails, see more complete search results, and receive premium customer service. Learn more and upgrade now.

As always, our goal is to help you get connected to the right professionals and the right new business opportunities. Send your comments to me at
ceofeedback at linkedin.com.

I wish you every success,

Reid Hoffman
CEO, LinkedIn

Congratulations on the improvements, Reid and team. LinkedIn continues to push the envelope with professional networking tools. Of course, this week also marks the official introduction of O'Reilly's new O'Reilly Connections, which looks remarkably similar to LinkedIn. But that's another story entirely...

Posted by Dave Taylor at August 6, 2005 12:25 AM

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