Basic Account

The Basic LinkedIn account is the free account that has been discussed throughout this book. Unless otherwise specified, all of the features discussed in this book are available to basic account holders.

Basic LinkedIn accounts are completely free. Unless you want to post a job, purchase additional InMails, or upgrade to a premium account, you don’t have to pay a cent to use LinkedIn to build your brand, career, or business.

With a Basic LinkedIn account, you can do the following for free:

• Create your member profile.

• Create a standard Company Page.

• Start and join groups.

• Send and receive private messages through your LinkedIn Inbox to and from your connections.

• Use third-party LinkedIn applications.

• Give and receive recommendations for and from your connections.

• Send connection requests to people you know or request introductions to people you don’t know through your existing connections.

• Ask and answer questions using LinkedIn Answers.

• View 100 profiles when you conduct a search.

• Save up to three search alerts per week.

• Get introduced to up to five companies you’re targeting per month.

• See the first names of your third-degree connections and group connections.

INSIDER SECRET

I highly recommend that you start using LinkedIn with a Basic account. Like most people, the free account is likely to offer all the functionality you need to effectively use LinkedIn to build your brand, career, or business. If you find you need advanced features in the future, you can always upgrade when that time comes.