LinkedIn Crosses the 5 Million Member Mark in Mexico

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, today announced it has surpassed the 5 million member mark in Mexico. Osvaldo Barbosa de Oliveira, managing director, LinkedIn Latin America, made the announcement during a presentation at “GroupM What’s Next” in Mexico City.

The five largest countries in terms of members are Brazil (16+ million), Mexico (5+ million), Argentina and Colombia (3+ million each) and Chile (2+ million). These five countries are among LinkedIn’s Top 20 list in terms of worldwide membership.

“The fast growth in the region shows that Latin Americans have been taking more and more advantage of the professional content available on the platform that ultimately makes us more productive and successful. With the new Latin America headquarters based in São Paulo, we will be able to be closer to the customers and members and better understand the region’s specific needs

It began to gain popularity in Latin America after the translation to Spanish (April 2008) and Portuguese (April 2010). In the last year, the region faced a 50% growth rate and unified its operations in Sao Paulo, working with representatives in most of the countries.

Recently, the company announced it has crossed 50 million members in the Asia Pacific region. Nine countries in tate region now have over 1 million members - India (24+ million), Australia (5+ million), China (4+ million), Indonesia and the Philippines (2+ million each), Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and New Zealand (1+ million each).

LinkedIn is the largest and most dominant social network in the professional arena. Totally different from the likes of Facebook, it is used for maintaining a professional persona and brand. LinkedIn connects the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful and connects more than 277 million members worldwide.

 Other uses for Linkedin include finding a job, networking, recruiting new employees, getting sales leads and even getting your business news.  Some ways to add value to your profile or use LindedIn powerfully:

-Ask for recommendations. LinkedIn allows you to ask connections for recommendations and post them to your profile. You will see the recommendations and approve the postings. This feature reinforces the information in your headline summary and specialties sections. Prospective employers and clients browsing your profile will see these recommendations, as will the connections of those who have recommended you.

- Join and participate in LinkedIn groups. You can increase your network and your visibility by starting and contributing to discussions. Local groups will inform you of networking activities and events. 

- Continue to build your network on a regular basis, adding new connections with a personal note of invitation. A good rule of thumb is to only add those connections who you could envision giving you a good recommendation. Think twice before adding connections who aren't too fond of you or any of your companies or businesses.

- Make sure your LinkedIn profile is accurate, updated, and showing you in the best light. Spend the most time making sure your profile has a concrete list of your achievements and notes the special skills, qualifications, publications and such that you have. If you have been quoted in the press, have a patent, or have a similar "wow" in your background, state it on your profile.