The 1-Year Experiment: Is there Value with LinkedIn Basic Accounts?

LinkedIn is putting the squeeze on users. Is a basic membership still worth it?

Mike Marcellus

Apr 05, 2024

194

LinkedIn just surpassed 1 billion users.

A BILLION.

Yet, I know a lot of professionals that don’t use it (or rarely use it)

Why?

The three most common responses:

“I don’t have the time”
“I either get ignored or spammed on LinkedIn”
“A basic membership is worthless and I don’t have the funds or desire to upgrade”

Ok, I do see the issues with LinkedIn on points #1 and #2.

After all, it’s the LinkedIn Influencers that seem to garner the most value on LinkedIn, but they spend several hours a day on the platform to do so.

And they only make up 1% of all LinkedIn users.

It also seems more users are ignoring or ghosting other members as the amount of spam on LinkedIn has grown exponentially.

But a basic membership being worthless?

No way.

At least, that is what I thought up until now.

For years, I was a premier member on LinkedIn.

In 2023, I downgraded my Linked account for 12-months to a basic (free) membership to test my hypothesis that there was still significant value to be generated for free accounts.

The result?

With LinkedIn Events, I generated over 1K registrations for my networking events.

Using the LinkedIn Polls, I was able to target hundreds of users for strategic meetings.

For my LinkedIn Newsletter, I used it to help me grow a separate newsletter to 250k subscribers (a relatively new strategy to move users off LinkedIn and onto your own platform and domain)

I went on to develop dozens of strategic partnerships.

And I hired key personnel.

All with a FREE LinkedIn account.

I had such a successful experience with a free account that I launched my own course to help others.

Still, I don’t think LinkedIn appreciated my efforts.

I continuously get notices that my free account faces more and more limitations:

You’re taking away my ability to add personalized invitations to my LinkedIn connection requests?

Really, LinkedIn?

I thought the whole point was to connect with people I know.

So why, LinkedIn, would you rather I send a generic invitation rather than a personal note?

And are you really going to restrain me even more on the weekly invitations limit to a fraction of what it used to be?

Oh, I see, you want me to pay $10 for each message I send through InMail.

Hmm, that great experience I had with a free account in 2023 seems to have LinkedIn thinking twice about it’s mission to “connect the world's professionals”

The squeeze is on to convert me back to a paying member.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again…

Check out more with my new LINKEDIN COURSE that launched on April 1:

Strategic Networking on LinkedIn with a FREE Account

Learn More

Join us virtually!

Participate in discussions on networking strategies, connecting with professionals, and sharing valuable tips. Join our weekly virtual networking events for new, exciting, and sometimes unconventional ways to network.

There is no cost to participate.