LinkedIn Concept

I'll give kudos where kudos are due. LinkedIn was a pretty nifty idea. It negated all the Myspace and Facebook triviality and packaged up something that resembled an interactive resume. Not bad.

Recruiters gone wild! People just giving out content that is usually discovered by means of an internet scouring fest? Jockpot.

Well... now LinkedIn is trying to play jackpot. They invited us into their site, pampered us a little, spoiled us a bit. Little did we know that the love and devotion that we thought was a mutually shared aspect of our relationship with LinkedIn was actually a plot to lure and snare.

LinkedIn is expensive for us small(er) timers affiliated with organizations with total employment under 2000. However, we still need the best and brightest. I mean these solar panels aren't going to become 90% efficient on their own after all. Back to the drawing board.

My manager won't budge on LinkedIn Recruiter, Talent, or Premium accounts for me or my team. I can't say I blame her considering the cost.

Talent Basic: $49.55/month

- Value add: Might as well throw a dart at the phonebook.

Talent Pro: $499.95/month

- Value add: Getting better, but I need more juice to find my peeps.

Recruiter: "Learn More"

- Value add: The Porche of LinkedIn memberships. But it will cost our team as much as a Porche.

Back in 2008 I could say, "at least my potential candidates don't have to pay to be a part of this service, so there is no worry about anyone ever being detoured away."

...2010: Not the reality anymore. End user, job seeker, business talent- LinkedIn is trying to push services on them! This is not RIGHT! And I hear LinkedIn is going public, which can only mean one thing...

QUARTERLY PROFITS | DIVIDENDS | SHAREHOLDERS

And the end of our fun with LinkedIn as we know it. :*(

So I asked anyone who reads this - what is a concept similar to LinkedIn, but cooler, jazzier, and CHEAP? What could we do together to build it? What do we need, want, not already see out there? What can we create that is a) useful and b) will teach LinkedIn a valuable lesson?

I own the URLs, lease the web services, and have the motivation... now I just need the concept to complete itself. I want to create something that's better and more efficient for recruiters and sourcers. I want to develop a business model that is fair and support the requirements of the site. This talent sourcing, business networking, and talent acquisition tool with huge ROI has to be built... soon. I'm losing my mind here.

Comment by Delores Ipms on January 22, 2011 at 1:37pm: I just joined Linked in because of the hype. I still never go on it. Im sticking to other exclusive resources to find my talent. As for my clients, simple networking and contacting is working. I really should cancel the account.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on January 22, 2011 at 2:20pm: I just got an email that The Ladders is going back to free for recruiters to post and review candidates. They did the same thing when they had a lot of recruiters using the site then commercialized so looks like most people went to Linkedin which is ten times more up to date. But with the commercialization ( who wouldn't try to make money when they have hit a home run) perhaps the same thing will happen.

Another one will spring up they always do. Name of the game. If you build it they will come. If it works it eventualy has to make money for those who build it, name of the game.