Linkedin rolls out Open for Business in India

Networking platform LinkedIn has launched a feature which allows freelancers and small business owners to showcase their services on Linkedin profiles. Branded Open for Business, the feature has now been released in India and the rest of the world following an initial rollout in the US on July 2019. 

The services and offerings will also supposedly be available from Linkedin search through the usage of a special ‘service providers’ filter. Once the ‘open to’ feature is turned on, a box like card pops up on the top of a profile which showcases the services provided by the person in the profile.

Members will also have the feature of browsing the full list of services offered and send direct messages to the service provider, a statement said.

Linkedin said that its research showed that small businesses relied heavily on word of mouth to rake in new customers. “Open for Business aims to digitize this word of mouth concept by making it easy for members to find, message, and provide references to each other,” the statement said.

To enable open for business, users have to tap on the profile picture, click on ‘get started’ from the showcase services box in the introduction card, follow the prompts and then click on add to profile.

The networking platform said that the feature signifies its commitment to supporting SMBs and freelancers across the world.  “With 660 million members and 30 million companies on the platform across the world, LinkedIn is uniquely positioned to help freelancers and small businesses be more productive and successful,” said Allen Blue, LinkedIn’s co-founder and VP of product management.

This is perhaps LinkedIn’s second biggest announcement in the past few months, the first being the launch of a feature called events where individual users can plan, announce and send invites to meetups and get-togethers.

The feature that supposedly rolled out on October 17th is shown as an item on the menu on the website and app. However, the meetup icon is not visible in India as of November 12.