Professional Networking: The Best Way to Start with a LinkedIn-style Site
Many professional networking sites have become household names, showing there is a large audience for such websites. However, the idea of competing with well-established brands like LinkedIn can be daunting.
Fortunately, evidence suggests that in the case of online networking, bigger isn't always better. Studies show that curating smaller networks with close and reliable connections can yield better results in the long term. So, creating your own professional networking site is both likely and profit-making.
In this blog we'll go over the reasons you might want to establish an exclusive membership website for professional networking. We'll then show you how you can create an effective networking site in just four simple steps. Let's get started!
Why You May Want to create a website to help Professional Networking
LinkedInis an ideal example of a professional networking website. With almost 800 million users, this platform shows its popularity. of site.
Professional Networking Example Site
Powered by, Healthcare Business International is an online networking website that investors, administrators, advisers and suppliers of the healthcare industry depend on for industry news and networking.
HBI covers more than 15 sectors in the health care space which includes dentistry, hospitals and other outpatient services. They provide professionals a place to find sources on business models evaluations, valuations, as well as innovations regarding AI and digital health.
How to Begin a Membership Site for Professional Networking (In 4 Steps)
Step 1: Design Your Membership Pages
Each professional networking site is distinctive. But, there are certain elements that you'll find across many of these sites.
For instance, most networking sites have a page where members can log in and a page where they can view their account:
Fortunately, can create all of these essential websites for you. After installing and activating the plugin, go to > Settings > Pages. In this page, make sure you have Auto Create New Pages is selected for all of the reserved pages dropdowns:
Click on update options. It will then automatically generate an account, login as well as thank you page:
In this moment, professional users are able to sign in to their accounts by navigating to the login page. It's a good idea to ensure the login page is easily accessible. This is why we recommend adding it to the site's elements with a regularity, such as the footer or the sidebar.
Fortunately, provides a ready-made login widget. Just go to Appearance > Customize. You can then select the + button:
Look for the Login widget. Now you can integrate this feature into any widget-ready area within your site.
Step 2: Include Your Payment Gateway
If you want to add any payment gateway or two, navigate to Settings. Then, click on the payment tab, followed by an (+) button:
It is now time to select your payment gateway. Depending on your selection there may be a require additional settings.
Step 3: Create Your Membership Levels
For example, you might be able to follow the LinkedIn example and offer free and premium subscriptions:
In your dashboard, navigate to > Memberships > Create New. Enter all the information for this membership level:
If you're pleased with your design, you can click the publish button. If you'd like to provide a choice of memberships, you can click the Add New button to create the new subscription.
To set these rules, navigate to > Rules > Add New Rules:
Now you can create your own policy. For example, you might define that content that is tagged with "job searcher" will only be available to those who have bought your "Job Seeker" membership.
step 4: Publish a Pricing Page
To design a page for pricing start by going to the Groups tab and then Add New. To start, give your page a descriptive title:
After that, go to Group Optionsand Add all members you wish to show on the pricing page. It is then possible to select your theme:
In default, users are able to join multiple subscriptions concurrently, which makes it ideal to increase sales.
In this case, professional employees might initially enjoy the limited membership. However, they may decide to upgrade to access the job hunting e-book that you just released.
If you do not want to offer your customers the flexibility to enroll in different memberships, select an Upgrade Path option.
Once you're happy with your information and are satisfied with the information you've entered, you're free to publish this page. Congratulations, you've just created a professional networking site!
Conclusion
Making a site that is a member-based one specifically for professionals is an excellent method to establish long-lasting relations with job-seekers as well as recruiters and networking professionals. These memberships could be used for monetizing your site or even offer registrations for free to help with an approach to lead generation.
We'll quickly go over how to build a site for membership to facilitate professional networking.
- Add your payment gateways.
- Create your level of membership.
- Make a page for pricing.
Are you having any doubts regarding building your own professional website for networking? Please let us know in the comments section below!
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