LinkedIn is the most powerful marketing tool of the 21st century.

• LinkedIn operates the world's largest professional network on the Internet with more than 313 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
• Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second.
• There are over 39 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn. They are LinkedIn's fastest-growing demographic.
• LinkedIn counts executives from all 2013 Fortune 500 companies as members; its corporate talent solutions are used by 94 of the Fortune 100 companies.
• There are more than 1.5 million unique publishers actively using the LinkedIn Share button on their sites to send content into the LinkedIn platform.

In today's highly competitive business landscape it's become extremely more difficult to standout in the market place and get your message in front of key decision makers. The old traditional methods of marketing yourself are not as effective as they used to be.

Rather than getting your message in front of one potential employer, using this strategy you can broadcast your message in front of hundreds if not thousands of targeted contacts that have already built trust with the business or person you are partnering with.

By allowing your community to applaud your accomplishments, LinkedIn provides validation for everything you say about yourself. Endorsements help confirm your strengths and skills. Recommendations allow you to put the spotlight on testimonials that are associated with your various roles.

Because LinkedIn lets you showcase your achievements, it opens doors that otherwise would be closed.

Often delivering the first impression to a prospective employer, your LinkedIn profile is you when you aren’t there. Even if people are researching you in Google, it’s likely that they’ll end up at your LinkedIn page. That’s because when someone searches your name, LinkedIn will typically show up at the top of the results – making your profile their most likely resource for learning more about you. you are going to choose only one personal branding tool to invest time in, choose LinkedIn. With a smart profile and a well-honed strategy, LinkedIn can become your powerful partner in long-range branding and career management.