Back in 2003 when LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) was launched, it was primarily used for job hunting. A lot has changed since then. Today, it is extensively used for networking and personal branding.

This fresh insight comes from data collected by NumberSleuth, a company helping to discover details about the numbers of your incoming calls.

According to research, 50 percent of LinkedIn members have found a job through a mutual connection, validating LinkedIn’s popularity as a networking and marketing tool.

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Connect to Create Opportunities

LinkedIn, for its part, has introduced several new features to help users add more connections. You can now see when your connections are online and are ready to chat.

You may also share in-person status updates, tutorials and behind-the-scenes videos on the LinkedIn mobile app.

In the future, LinkedIn is planning to provide free mentoring services for members, connecting them with seasoned pros who give career advice. The new service will have a limited launch this year in San Francisco and Australia.

LinkedIn for Small Businesses

With more than 500 million users, LinkedIn provides a vast platform for businesses to connect and grow their network. But success depends on how well you leverage your network.

To help businesses take their networking, selling, marketing and hiring efforts to new heights, LinkedIn offers a number of useful tools. The showcase pages, for example, are extremely useful in highlighting your company, a business unit or initiative.

You may also consider LinkedIn Sales Navigator to turn the passive LinkedIn platform into a social selling machine.

For further brand impact, another option is LinkedIn Video. This newly launched feature helps small businesses boost online engagement with potential customers and partners.

If you’re still struggling to understand how LinkedIn can help you build your brand presence, check out LinkedIn Small Business. With readily available tip sheets, LinkedIn Small Business offers a place to learn how you can get the most out of your efforts on the site.

LinkedIn Statistics 2017

To learn more about LinkedIn’s rise as a marketing tool, check out the LinkedIn statistics in the infographic below:

You’ve decided that you want to start a new blog and start making money on the internet.

There is no doubt that you’ve seen dozens and dozens of blogging solutions (both free and paid) and one of the solutions that comes up again and again in your research is WordPress.

Okay, so you’ve decided on using the WordPress platform for your blog / website. That’s great as WordPress is one of the most popular and powerful website and blog building tools available.

If you’ve dug any deeper in using the WordPress platform you’ve probably come across two options of using WordPress, which can be somewhat confusing… WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

Naturally, you’re if you’re reading this you’re probably wondering what’s the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com and which is the right choice for your online business?

The purpose of this article is to answer that question and help you make the right choice.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org – What’s the Difference?

The first thing to keep in mind is that WordPress essentially works the same in either format. WordPress is a content management tool, that runs more blogs worldwide than any other platform. What we are going to compare are fine details between these two options. Having chosen WordPress means that you are going to have a stable and functional blog (and website).

Here are the basic differences between the .com and the .org versions of WordPress:

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is where you can get a free blog. You don’t need to pay for hosting or a domain. You don’t need to pay for plugins – because you aren’t able (allowed) to use them. You don’t need to worry about editing the back-end of the site – because it’s just not possible.

With this free hosted solution, you get the power of WordPress but without the ability to customize it.

Basically, the trade-off is that it’s easier to use but limited in options and functionality.

WordPress.com Benefits

• It’s free
• It’s much easier to setup than the self-hosted WordPress option
• Everything is taken care of: setup, upgrades, spam, backups, security, etc
• Your blog is on hundreds of servers, so it’s highly unlikely it will go down due to traffic
• Your posts are backed up automatically

WordPress.com Cons

• While they do provide 100+ themes, you cannot run a custom theme
• You can’t customize the PHP code behind your blog
• You can’t use custom third-party themes / templates
• You can’t upload plugins (a huge disadvantage!)

The Bottom Line: WordPress.com is for people who want to blog, but don’t want to edit the blog, have access to advanced features, or monetize it.

WordPress.org

WordPress.org is where you can download free software (or the blogging platform) to install on your own site. Because it is on your own server, you can use plugins and edit the theme (it isn’t very hard). You basically have full control and access over the theme look and feel as well as the ability to use advanced features through plug-ins.

For most people who are looking to make money online, you’ll want to have access to more customization and plug-in features.

WordPress.org Benefits

• Ability to upload themes – giving your site a custom look
• Ability to upload plugins – giving your site more (and unique) functionality
• Complete control to change code if you’re technically minded
• Complete freedom to do what you want on your site, because you own it

WordPress.org Cons

• You will need to spend money to host your own website (see our list of the top budget-friendly web hosts here)
• Requires more technical knowledge to set up and run (though you can just outsource the technology)
• You’ll have to stay on top of updating your website and keeping it secure (this can be easily outsourced as well)

The Bottom Line: WordPress.org is for people who want a professional blog, full control of appearance and the ability to use plugins that will aid in monetization.

Basically, if you’re looking to make money with your blog, you’ll want to go with the self-hosted WordPress.org option.

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com Bottom Line

If you are just using your blog as an online diary / journal and a way to update people on things in your life then the no cost / low tech WordPress.com can be a good option for you. However if you are looking to start a blog or starting an online business for commercial purposes then I highly recommend WordPress.org, which is also known as a self-hosted WordPress installation. This will give you the flexibility to build and grow your business.

Most web hosting companies (such as BlueHost) allow you to install WordPress for free; which is essentially the self-hosted WordPress.org option. (See our list of top-rated budget friendly webs hosts here.)

Once you’ve successfully set up your blog you’ll want to start driving traffic to it. See this article on the top 5 ways to get massive amounts of traffic to your blog.

There are lots of places to buy cheap domain names. And while most of the vendors are reputable, there are some key points to keep in mind when deciding who you want to register your domain with. You can check out some of our recommend cheapest domain registrars here.
Keep in mind, you don't have to host your website at the same place you buy your domain name. For instance, many people will buy their domain name with a company like GoDaddy.com then host their website with a web hosting company like Bluehost.com.Here are six tips to buying great, cheap domain names.

1. Don’t Settle with "Close Enough" Domains

While everyone's preference is a ".com" domain, sometimes it just isn't available. Resist the urge to add bizarre and hard to remember features just to find one that is available.
Here are three things to avoid when choosing your domain name:

• Hyphens: People will forget where the hyphens go (especially if there are more than one) or forget them altogether. And if you need to speak your site address (voice mail, radio ads, word-of-mouth) then the hyphen just makes it clumsy. It's even worse if your competitor uses the same domain as you, only without hyphens. You’ll send daily traffic to their site when your visitors enter your domain incorrectly. Generally speaking, you should completely avoid using hyphens in your domain name.
• .Org, .Net, .Biz Type Extensions: If you aren't able to get the ".com" version of the site you want but the ".net", ".biz", etc. version of the domain name is available - you may want to hold off before going with those extensions. First, if there is already a well known brand that uses the ".com" version there may be legal implications to you using any version of the domain name. Second, even if the other extension is available, most people are familiar with the ".com" version and may end up going to that website anyways; essentially you'd be advertising for your competitor for free. When a client searches for ".net" version of the domain name, you have to compete against a larger, already established brand. And when a client is actually looking for you, they might not remember your less well known name and end up buying from your competitor.

• Multiple Spellings and Numbers: Because most people can’t spell, choose a word (or words) that can’t be easily confused. For example, the word "bass" has two pronunciations and as a result will be spelled incorrectly, a number of ways. Bass can refer to various fish species, a low-frequency sound, more than ten different towns around the world or even a surname. Second avoid using numbers, as many people may confuse whether or not they need to type in the actual number, like "7", or type in the spelling of it, like "seven".

2. Buy From an Established Registrar

While there are hundreds of places to buy a domain, don’t buy from an unknown domain registrar. The odds of them going out of business is probably low - but why put yourself through that type of risk? The lack of customer support is probably a more likely threat - you want to opt for a company that offers 24/7 customer support. Some reputable domain name registrars include:

• 1and1.com (domain names, ecommerce and hosting)
• BlueHost.com (domain names and hosting)
• GoDaddy.com (domain names, ecommerce and hosting)
• HostGator.com (domain names and hosting)
• Namecheap.com (domain names and hosting)

3. Brain Storm Before Your Begin Searching

Use a free brainstorming tool, also known as a domain name generator, to automatically come up with several variations of your domain name ideas (and see whether or not it's available).
The other invaluable tool is a thesaurus. I've used both a print copy and the online Thesaurus.com. Once you have your few keywords in mind, look them up. Sometimes you’ll get the right word right away. Other times it will take a few hours of playing with variants.

Remember: this is worth the time. You are going to be investing hundreds of hours building a brand and generating traffic for this domain.Choosing the right domain is very important.

4. Buy Your Domain Name for 2 Years Minimum

When you purchase your domain name, rather than just registering it for one year, you should consider registering it for at least two years (or more). Here are a few reasons to do that:

• Lock in a lower price: Usually the more years you register, the lower the price per year will be. Also, as costs generally go up each year, you'll be locking in that low rate.
• Save time and hassle: You won't have to worry about renewing your domain name every year or forget to renew your domain name and end up losing it!
• SEO Benefits: Google rewards your commitment with higher search ranking.

5. Don’t Buy Auctioned Names

While many companies want single word, generic domains (insurance.com or travel.com) you should avoid these.

There are two problems with these domains:

1. They aren't memorable: It is pretty hard to build a brand around a single, meaningless word. The word might define the industry but clients are looking to buy from a company not a generic site. Also, Google and other search engines prefer to rank branded domain names over generic ones.
2. They are expensive: Premium domains sell for hundreds of dollars up to millions of dollars (Insure.com sold for $16 million in 2009).

Customers relate to brands, not dictionary entries. When the internet was new, people would type a word into their browser and add ".com" to the end. We don’t do that anymore. These generic domains have had their day. Unfortunately, big companies still don’t get it and happily pay 6 or 7 figures for these low value domains.

6. Read the Fine Print

Some registrars offer private registration for free. Others charge as much as $11.99 per year. Make sure you are comparing equal variables. Sometimes the "cheapest" option actually costs more.
You’ll also want to make sure about the following features:

• Auto domain renewals: Most registrars are now offering this service, but it's good to check. The last thing you want is to lose your domain because you forgot to renew it.
• Free domain parking until you are ready to use your domain.
• Free domain forwarding in case you are using your domain as a redirect link.
• Hosting options: While some domain registrars also offer hosting, many business owners opt to host their sites elsewhere. This gives them the freedom to change hosts without moving their domains.
• Renewal costs: A low price is great, but how much will it cost to renew?

With these tips, you're ready to purchase a great, cheap domain name. Once you've done that it's time to build your website and start driving massive amount of website traffic.

Recently, a client of mine asked if it was worth being part of the LinkedIn network.
Admittedly, I was a bit dumbstruck by the question. After all, isn't LinkedIn the preferred business-oriented social networking website of the upwardly mobile? As of mid-2013, it claimed over 178 million unique users globally, 65 million monthly users in the U.S. alone, and was heading towards 400 million global members.Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?
See Also: The Best (and Worst) Times to Post on LinkedIn
As I came to learn, he was more concerned about being stretched out over too many networks than with LinkedIn's potential value. Understandable, given the plethora of choices available to online marketers and entrepreneurs today:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Not to mention the thousands (millions?) of micro-niched websites catering to specialized fields.
So, my task was to present convincing arguments for signing up on LinkedIn. Not that I had anything specific to gain, but at the very least it got me to thinking about my own use of the site.
Here's what I came up with.

1. It's All About the Networking!

Regardless of your employment or business status, consider the LinkedIn network as a social equity investment. Being a consistent LinkedIn networker will enhance your standing amongst like-minded people in the long-term.

If you suddenly lose a job, you won't be seen as an opportunist connecting merely to take advantage of people. If you are about to launch a great product or service, it will be seen as par for the course – not a bald-faced attempt to sell.

2. Holding all the Cards

LinkedIn is crawling with recruiters looking to poach currently employed folks with lucrative offers.  Are you an entrepreneur instead? Even if you are fully committed to a nascent business, this is an ideal platform to pick up side jobs that may prove invaluable for income or enhanced networking purposes.

You can stay off LinkedIn if you want, but you will be foregoing many chances to gain valuable contacts and make more money.

3. Niche Networking within LinkedIn

One of the most overlooked and underappreciated parts of LinkedIn are the industry-specific groups that you can join.
Over the years, these groups have evolved into spirited but respectful forums of debate and information exchange, often exceeding the worth of more conventional face-to-face encounters.
Of course, not all discussion groups will be engaging and useful, so you need to use sound judgment about appropriate involvement.
In the end, you should meet like-minded professionals and business people, build alliances, and reinforce your network building skills in the process.

4. A Dynamic and Respected Resume

For most people, a resume or CV is something static, i.e. you write it once prior to your job search, get a job, then forget about it until you decide to change employers.
However, LinkedIn members are subtlety encouraged to update their profiles with important milestones.

This way, recruiters and potential partners already have a good idea about you – and you don't have to frantically scramble to update your accomplishments. A dynamic win-win for all concerned... 

5. LinkedIn Gives You a Trending News Feed

LinkedIn allows you to customize your news feed according to your chosen industry, preferred article preferences, and the interests of people in your network. As a result, you can use it as a customized database of business knowledge – leaving aside extraneous, time-wasting feeds for leisure time, if at all.
Using this aspect of LinkedIn in particular taps you into what is trending amongst your peers, and clues you into what they are thinking about on a near real-time basis.
See more social media marketing tips and strategies here.