1. Yandex (YNDX) -20.8% from its IPO Price

19. FriendFinder (FFN) +0.7%

FriendFinder, the publisher of Penthouse magazine and operator of websites like AdultFriendFinder.com and Cams.com, went public in 2011 after backing out from an IPO the year before.

20. Bazaarvoice (BV) +1.26%

Bazaarvoice, the ratings, reviews and social commerce software provider out of Austin, Texas has a virtual monopoly on its market. As long as Yelp doesn’t encroach on markets like coolers (Rubermaid) and electronics (Best Buy) Bazzarvoice should remain strong (full disclosure – I’m on the Advisory Board for BV).

Facebook IPO? Only time will tell if the Facebook IPO is a success

Related Articles: Social Media Success Pippa Middleton

Facebook may have over 910 million users, but it still has stealthy competitors such as LinkedIn. LinkedIn may not be where most individuals share their photos, check their newsfeed or share their daily status updates — but it is where businesses can flourish, B2B kicks butt through lead generation, and  ”likes” can have more weight.

Businesses Flourish

Facebook is a great place for businesses and fans to share content, but the types of content vary from all different spectrums: from Justin Beiber to brand news to business strategies to the Red Sox to pictures of  cat. In short, business content that is relevant to marketing, B2B, finance, etc may get lost in the clutter that is the Facebook news feed. On the other hand, the content on LinkedIn is largely related to marketing and business, and has a higher chance of being seen on the channel. It is purposefully designed for business-minded folk who want to share relevant content. In addition, it is a great platform for brands to distribute similar content and where many followers will look to find information on a brand, what they offer for a product/service, and the content related to it.

B2B and Lead Generation

So it is evident that LinkedIn is great for business content and businesses. But what else? “David Meerman Scott stated that LinkedIn’s conversion rate is now 2.60 per cent, less than what it was back in January, but this is far greater than its nearest rivals Twitter and Facebook, which has 0.67 per cent and 0.39 per cent respectively.” So what, you ask? In short, LinkedIn has competitive percentages when it comes to B2B lead gen due to the ability to target content, optimize for SEO, focus CTAs and utilize both company page and groups.  In addition, those who are visiting LinkedIn are visiting in order to post, read and/or comment on business content. The leads are prime for the picking.

“Likes” Have More Weight

On LinkedIn, people are more careful on what they post on their site, who they “link” to, and what they like, comment on and/or share. It is a site where people are judged for who they are career-wise. In short, if someone “likes” your post or comments on it or shares it — it holds greater value than it would on Facebook and Twitter where Likes and ReTweets are a dime a dozen normally. A recognition on LinkedIn = how many Likes or ReTweets? That’s still up for debate, but in my opinion, LinkedIn has a bit of a lead.

Last piece of Advice

LinkedIn may be a great place to invest in for businesses and those that are business-minded; but it is also easy to goof up if relevant content is not posted appropriately. Invest time to research first, target your content appropriately and grow your page within the channel over time. It is not an overnight success, but the trick is to maintain quality versus quantity.

Additional Reading

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2012/02/21/growing-faster-than-facebook-linkedin-passes-1-million-members-in-indonesia/

http://writingontheweb.com/2012/02/21/the-pros-of-linkedin-vs-facebook-for-professionals/

http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/linkedin-4-times-better-than-facebook-twitter-for-b2b-leads/

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30030/LinkedIn-277-More-Effective-for-Lead-Generation-Than-Facebook-Twitter-New-Data.aspx

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2011/02/16/why-linkedin-is-more-valuable-than-facebook/

http://www.donhalbert.com/10-reasons-why-linkedin-is-better-than-facebook-and-twitter/

These 4 simple LinkedIn tips should help you land your dream job today rather than tomorrow.

1) Don’t forget your paper resume

Less than 11%  of jobseekers include a social media link on their paper resume. Hence, you can stand out from 89% of the field by having a LinkedIn profile that you list on your paper resume. Being fulling transparent you should also list your Facebook account, Twitter account, etc. Make sure that your paper resume and LinkedIn profile information is consistent. Over 90% of employers use LinkedIn to review candidates.

LinkedIn even has a great app that can turn your LinkedIn profile into a beautiful resume. How cool is that!

2) 100% Complete LinkedIn Profile

Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn. LinkedIn makes it simple for us to achieve success. In the upper right corner of your profile page you will see a bar indicating the completion percentage of your profile (see below image). If you aren’t at 100% – LinkedIn will indicate what is missing. Perhaps you haven’t included where you went to college or you are missing a profile picture. Even once you are at 100% completion, you shouldn’t stop there. Instead, click the button “improve your profile” for other helpful tips.

3) Optimize for Search

Review several job postings that you would consider dream jobs. Pay attention to which keywords are consistently being used in these. Make certain to include these keywords in your LinkedIn profile. Specifically pay particular attention to include these keywords in your LinkedIn:

• Headline
• Summary
• Experience

4) Get Recommendations

LinkedIn recommendations are one of the first places potential employers look when assessing candidates. When it comes to recommendations it’s good to have quality and quantity. When sending someone a recommendation request, personalize your requests and be specific of what recommendation you are seeking from that person. Point to, or include, other recommendations you’ve received. This simplifies the request, making it more likely that you will receive a thumbs up. Start trying to get recommendations from your supervisors first as these are generally more “weighted” by potential employers over co-workers or peers. In other words not all recommendations are equal.

If you follow these four tips today than you are well on your way to landing that dream job. Good luck!

Leveraging LinkedIn during your career transition is a blog topic that I’ve put off writing for quite some time because LinkedIn has written about from every angle and I wasn’t convinced that I could write anything about it that would be unique.  But, I’m going to give it a shot here.  As I talk with friends and former coworkers around the country I find myself sharing some of these tips and techniques repeatedly.  I hope this will be a valuable resource for anyone looking to make the leap into their next career.

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool that has extensive reach and resources that you can benefit from.

LinkedIn tips for your job search;

1. Use LinkedIn to create a target company list.  Start with about 40 companies.  This is not easy.  In fact, most give up when they are able to list about 10 companies.  This step is crucial.  It’s the foundation of your job search so use this activity to brainstorm those companies you like to buy from, work for, have friends or families working for, might be interested in, etc.

2. Use the LinkedIn company profile page to research the company and to identify what senior leadership from that company is in your network or groups. Search by title of the person you would interview with (i.e. VP Sales, XYZ Company).  And, choose to “Follow” that company so you can stay abreast of their latest activity.

3. Reach out to senior leadership via LinkedIn “In mail”.  Or, send them an email directly. i.e.  John.doe@abc.com or Jdoe@abc.com.  Sites such as www.mailtester.com,  can verify most email addresses and/or domains.

4. Be brief, be clear and be compelling in your communication with them. Tell them why you are emailing them, make sure your ask is crystal clear and always try answer the question “so what” when telling them about you.

5. When you find a company you’re interested in, go to www.hoovers.com and see who their competitors are.  Then, look those companies up on LinkedIn and follow steps two and three above.

6. Complete your profile 100%.

7. Load up on recommendations.  Preferably 15 or more.  Ask those you’ve worked with, worked for and worked along side.  Ask those in your circle of influence for character references if they are not intimately familiar with your professional responsibilities.

8. Apply for membership to groups you are interested in and groups they are a member of (you can see their groups on their profile page).  Connect and communicate with them via LinkedIn groups.

9. Search for “talent acquisition specialists” for the company on your target list and reach out to them.  Most have In Mail but if they don’t, go to step 3.

10. Use the advance search feature to identify the person(s) you would interview with (i.e. XYZ company, VP, Sales, South East).

11. Utilize your collegiate groups and ask the alumni to for connections, referrals, resources and assistance of any kind.

12. Post a resume video on your profile. Keep it 30 seconds or less.  Make sure it looks professional.  This is your value proposition.  Check outwww.15secondpitch.com to help you craft your message.

13. Post your “Wow” presentation via Slideshare on your LinkedIn Profile.  3-5 slides that illustrate what you have to offer and how it will impact their bottom line.

14. Leverage Twitter and post your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile.  See A Brand, Twitter and Jobs.

15. Don’t pay for the premium LinkedIn subscription.  You don’t need to.

16. Answer one question in the “Answers” section everyday.  Get known and be visible.

17. Comb the “Events” posted on LinkedIn.  See what’s happening in your industry or in your geographical area that would be worth attending.  Be intentional.

18. Pay a professional to do your resume then post that resume on your LinkedIn profile.  Spend your time finding your next career, not thinking of key words and specialties to add to your profile.

LinkedIn is an amazing tool that’s free and right at your fingertips.  Take the time to use all it has to offer.  It will pay off long after you land your next career.

The wildly successful Linkedin IPO has almost instantaneously made Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of Linkedin, a paper billionaire – twice over. No less dramatically, it has provided pundit wind bags with a fresh breath of hot air to blow across the sphere of media.

The lofty valuation of LinkiedIn has led some in the industry to compare the company with the likes of memorable dot com era failures that have become synonymous with the tech bubble of the late nineties and early years of the new millennium.

Some names may still raise hairs on the backs of investors that took huge losses, becoming victims of over-inflated growth expectations. Webvan.com, which was valued at $6 billion after its IPO in 1999 – collapsed about a year and a half later. Pets.com raised $82.5 million in its IPO during 2000, and was insolvent within nine months. Even Netscape, which had their IPO surrounded by great expectations, never lived up to the hype and was eventually phased out of use.

These prodigious collapses provide ideal case studies to examine market conditions at the time of the tech bubble, but supply few valid comparisons with LinkedIn or the current state of the technology sector.

In 1999 and 2000, at the peak of the tech stock hysteria, a company that had yet to turn a profit or in some instances even generate any amount of positive revenue, was able to hold a well subscribed initial public offering, as investors were all too eager to buy into a promising upstart – providing a company with considerable amounts of cash and resources.

Ultimately, these upstart prospects quickly became fledgling suspects, forced to file for bankruptcies as they were unable to generate meaningful revenue streams to finance operations.

Linkedin is Different

LinkedIn saw revenue of $243.1 million in 2010, and net income of $15.4 million. The social network had a 110% increase in revenue growth in the first quarter of 2011 (yoy). Additionally, they’ve got 100 million registered users and three separate sources of revenue: hiring solutions, advertisements, and premium subscriptions.

Whether these fundamentals warrant a $9 billion valuation is debatable. However, implying that a lofty valuation for this particular tech company reflects a more broad tech-market bubble – is in my opinion unjustified and moreover misrepresents the fundamental investing flaws that played a key role in the inflation of the tech-bubble.

In the two year time-span between 1999 and 2000, more than 800 tech companies were priced. Compare that with only 45 tech company offerings in 2010. The current pace in 2011 indicates offerings will likely exceed that of the prior year, but fall tremendously short of the dot com era rate. This lends credence to the argument that today we find ourselves in a completely different market environment than that of 2000.

This isn’t the First Time Market Commentators have Cried Wolf

Google’s 2004 IPO valued the company at $23 billion, a number that pundits were quick to note made the search giant larger in terms of market value than General Motors – a name synonymous with American industry. It was derided as the re-emergence of over inflated growth expectations – ‘Tech-Bubble 2.0′.

Google stock turned out to be a great investment. Though this success is hardly prophetical of how well LinkedIn buyers will fair – it is a testament to the general inability of forecasters to assign accurate valuations.

One blindingly obvious take away from this IPO is that market participants clearly want a piece of LinkedIn. Does that mean you should buy too? At it’s current valuation, it’s certainly not a low risk stock and may not be ideal for investors with smaller risk thresholds.

The New Frontier in Social Networks – Shmish.com

As the founder of a recently launched social media website, my biased opinion is that smaller, more intimate social networks that focus specifically on one discipline will prove to be the wave of the future. That’s why I believe that Shmish! – which is a niche social news site dedicated entirely to the field of finance – will prove to be a destination for those looking not just to read news, but to be involved in the process of news.

Instead of allowing major financial news conglomerates to decide which articles should be featured on a financial news site – ordinary users make those editorial decisions on Shmish. Together, the Shmish community decides the stories of most relevance by voting for articles they enjoy. This puts low budget financial bloggers and well-financed media empires on level ground. The community’s highest voted finance related stories are featured most prominently on the site. Period.

Getting Involved is Easy

Registered users can take any link (URL) of a finance related story, throw that link into the Shmish submission box, and see an automatically generated title and brief description ready for submission. The user then categorizes it and clicks submit – it’s that simple.

How a visitor chooses to utilize Shmish is a matter of preference. One may be interested in viewing breaking news as opposed to the most popular news, so they’ll toggle over to the ‘most recent’ news page.

‘My Page’ is another way Shmish aims to make the site more user-friendly. This is a page where you can save articles, view all the comments you’ve made on any comment thread, see all of the articles that you have submitted on the site, or take a look at what your followers and following have been submitting.

Why just read the news? Be a part of the news making process. Register on Shmish!.

LinkedIn, the “Facebook for Business,” will list its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).  This move follows music site Pandora and China’s largest social network Renren (RENN), which also chose the NYSE over the Nasdaq. Historically many tech companies (Microsoft, Google, Intel) list on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The Mountain View, California-based LinkedIn IPO plans to raise as much as $175 million in an initial public offering under the symbol LNKD.

According to Reuters the LinkedIn IPO:

• 7.8 million shares at $32-$35/share
• could value the company at over $3 billion

Shares owned by co-founder and LinkedIn board chairman Reid Hoffman, who is among those stockholders selling their shares in the IPO, would represent about 21.7 percent of voting power after the offering. Other key stakeholders offering their shares include Goldman Sachs , McGraw-Hill Companies Inc and Bain Capital Venture Integral Investors LLC. Major investors Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners that together own about two-fifths of the company will not be participating in the IPO.

LinkedIn earned $15.4 million in 2010 on net revenue of $243 million. (Reporting by Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Suggested book:The Power Formula for Linkedin Success

LinkedIn IPO should make the company green with cash estimate $3 billion valuation

Above infographic was supplied by Vincenzo Consenza who also points out:

Today LinkedIn, the most popular professional social network, has reached the mark of 100 million members worldwide, according to its own advertising tool. It’s growth rate is increasing: in october 2009 user base was 50 million, in May 2010 jumped to 70 million.

56% of users are outside United States. Top countries are: U.S.A., India, U.K and Brazil. Among European countries the most active are: The Netherlands, France and Italy.

61% of members are men. Both users between 25-34 and 35-54 years old are 36%, while 18-24 years old are 21%.

The most represented industries are hi-tech (17%), finance (14%) and manufacturing (10%), while sales (12%), academics (10%), administrative (10%) are the most common job functions.

Eventbrite demonstrates Social Commerce in action; specifically the Facebook “Like” and the “Tweet”  increase ticket purchases, especially when shared after the point of purchase. Between the social networks, Facebook shares led the pack, generating an average of $2.52 while Linkedin shares were worth $0.90, and Tweets just $.0.43.  The impact of sharing via email was still strong at $2.34.

People are more likely to post to Facebook after they have purchased a ticket to an event, in order to share with their friends and family what awesome conference, party, or networking event they are planning to attend. In turn, when friends and family see this post shared, they may also purchase a ticket to the same event because if that person is attending, it must be worth checking out.

As seen below: Over the last six months, 40% of sharing through Facebook occurred on the event page (pre-purchase) vs. 60% of sharing which occurred on the order confirmation page (post-purchase).

As seen in the stats above, unfortunately for Twitter, Facebook still overshadows it in reach for sharing by almost four times the amount. Facebook to this day is still a more “social” platform where people show who they are, what they do, and where they like to go. It “mirrors” their real life. Twitter, although enormous as well and still growing, has not been adopted by as many people, just yet. Will this change with the new quirks that are coming out with “liking” something on Facebook? Will people want to “like” something when it will be shown as a “share” versus a harmless “like?” Perhaps. Perhaps not. But for now, Facebook still takes the cake on ROI on event sales and promotion via social media.

While China blocked Google, Facebook, Twitter and others, LinkedIn quietly remained unscathed.  That was until Thursday when China blocked the social business networking site.  The China block was in reaction to user Jasmine Z calling herself a “critical dissent dying for democracy, freedom and justice in my homeland” and set up a LinkedIn discussion group. As a result, China blocked LinkedIn.

Chinese officials do not want what is happening in the middle east to spill over into their country.