LinkedIn Introduces "Open for Business" Feature in India

New Delhi: Microsoft-owned professional networking platform LinkedIn on Monday launched "Open for Business" in India -- a feature that allows freelancers and small business owners to add their services to their LinkedIn profiles.

Initially rolled out in the US in July, the feature is now live in India and rest of the world and is a way for freelancers and small businesses to indicate they are "open for business".

According to the company, this feature underlines its commitment to supporting small and medium businesses (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, whether they are based in Dubai or Dundee (Scotland)," Allen Blue, Co-founder and VP of Product Management, LinkedIn, said in a statement.

Based on the company's research, small businesses are found to rely heavily on word of mouth, in order to bring in new customers.

"Open for Business" aims to digitise this word of mouth concept by making it easy for members to find, message, and provide references to each other.

With over 60 million users, India is LinkedIn's fastest-growing and largest market outside the US.

The company last month rolled out a 'Made in India' feature called 'Events' that allows members to create and attend events directly on both the app as well the web globally.

The USP of the product is the ability to enable safe online conversations and offline events.