LinkedIn recently launched a new feature that could make a huge difference in the ‘freelancer-for-hire’ market. It’s called ProFinder and is designed to bring together clients who are on the hunt for high-quality products and services with qualified professionals who can provide them.
Already an ideal online portal to network with like-minded individuals and sell products and services, the new move is designed to make the process even easier and more profitable for all parties involved. It’s added incentive for freelancers to create killer LinkedIn profiles and, for those who are not on the platform, to join right away.
Also, ProFinder could become a major source of revenue for LinkedIn as more people are turning to work-from-home opportunities and freelancing their skills online every day.
What is LinkedIn ProFinder?
LinkedIn describes ProFinder as the easiest way to find top professionals in their fields. Whether you’re looking for a qualified professional who is building their portfolio, or a highly recommended consultant, you can browse and hire from among millions of qualified experts who are part of the LinkedIn community. All professionals in their respective fields are evaluated and vetted by the ProFinder concierge team to ensure that they are among the best in the world and that clients get their money’s worth.
How does ProFinder Work?
Designed in a similar manner to freelancer-for-hire giants, UpWork and Fiverr, ProFinder allows prospective clients to post jobs and projects that they would like to get done. By answering a few questions during the job submission process, ProFinder is then able to introduce clients to freelancing experts in related fields from its curated list based on the keywords, categories and search terms entered.
Using LinkedIn’s wealth of user data, ProFinder can also filter your search results for the right professionals based on the client’s connections on Twitter, recommendations from similar users, nearest locations, and a host of other variables.
Freelancers are able to send proposals for the job or ongoing project, noting what they can do, their terms of work and price quotes. Before hiring, you can view the profiles of the professionals and then pick the most suitable candidate for the job.
Services that are currently available on ProFinder are similar to many categories found on some of the top freelancing websites around. They include:
- Writing and Editing
- Web/Graphic Design
- Home Improvement
- Software Development
- Legal services
- IT help
- Marketing
- Business Coaching and Consultancy
- Insurance
Is ProFinder Free?
Both customers and sellers are free to use ProFinder since its launch, with a maximum of five proposals allowed per job offer. However, it is possible that LinkedIn could start taking a percentage from dollar amounts agreed between parties, similarly to popular freelancing websites. If that happens, LinkedIn could generate a great deal of revenue along the way and raise its stakes as one of the top social media platforms.
Top Benefits of using ProFinder
For people seeking to find products and services, LinkedIn’s ProFinder could offer a high-caliber value proposition. That’s because of how the LinkedIn platform is currently set up to display qualified and credible professionals and their levels of experience. Compared to some freelancer-for-hire sites, it would allow hirers to find the ‘best of the best’ so to speak.
On the other hand, for freelance professionals, including those who have not yet made the leap, ProFinder could make it easier to land clients. You can get warm leads sent to your inbox daily, which provides more options for success.
LinkedIn Facts
Not on LinkedIn as yet? Here are few reasons why you should be on the world’s largest professional network:
- LinkedIn has over 400 million members in over 200 countries.
- Listing your skills on your profile makes you 13 times more likely to receive views from potential clients.
- Total number of page views on LinkedIn reached 45 billion in Q1 of 2016.
- CEOs on LinkedIn have an average of 930 connections.
- 44% of all LinkedIn users earn more than $75,000 per year.
- Before ProFinder, there was an average of approximately 3 million active job listings.
As you can see, there are more than enough reasons for freelancers to jump on ProFinder. You never know what opportunity might be awaiting you.
