Do I Need LinkedIn Premium? (And Which Tier Is Best for Business Owners?)
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One of the most common questions I get from clients, especially founders and service-based business owners, is:
“Should I sign up for LinkedIn Premium?”
And if so… which plan should I get?
Here’s my take as someone who has run the majority of my business through LinkedIn:
First, Ask Yourself: What’s Your Goal on LinkedIn?
Not everyone needs to jump into the $100/month plan immediately.
Start by asking: What’s my intention for using LinkedIn right now?
If your goal is to:
Post content and maintain a professional presence
Modestly grow your network
Stay connected with past colleagues or industry peers
Then you don’t need to be paying for the full Sales Navigator suite just yet.
Instead, you might find value in one of these:
👉 LinkedIn Premium Career ($29.99/mo):
See who viewed your profile
Get personalized profile insights
Send 5 InMail messages per month
👉 LinkedIn Premium Business ($59.99/mo):
All the Career features
Plus the custom call-to-action button (great for driving traffic to your website or calendar)
15 InMail credits
These tiers are useful if you’re starting to take LinkedIn more seriously and want to test the waters.
But If You’re Growing a Business on LinkedIn...
Then LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core ($109.99/mo) is worth serious consideration.
If you:
Have content performing well
Are getting inbound leads
Want to proactively build your pipeline with qualified leads
LinkedIn Sales Navigator can pay off big time.
It’s ideal for:
Building and saving targeted lead lists (like decision-makers in companies you want to work with)
Running highly specific searches based on job title, industry, company headcount, and more
Tracking lead activity and engagement
Sending up to 50 InMail messages per month
Essentially, it’s an advanced LinkedIn CRM for serious business owners who are ready to use LinkedIn as a real sales tool.
So, Do You Need LinkedIn Premium?
Not necessarily — but if you want LinkedIn to work for your business, it’s an investment worth considering.
Here’s my honest take:
If you’re looking to take your business seriously on LinkedIn — Premium is a must. You need to invest in the platform to have it give back to you.
I’ve worked with dozens of clients who hesitated to upgrade — and once they did, the opportunities grew significantly.
BUT — if you’re going to pay for it, commit to using the features:
Spend time building lead lists
Use InMail strategically
Review who’s viewing your profile and make connections
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful (and still underrated) business tools available.
If you’re committed to:
Growing your business
Building your brand
Connecting with aligned clients and partners
…then LinkedIn Premium is worth the investment.
Just make sure you’re actually using it!
Have questions about LinkedIn Sales Navigator or LinkedIn Premium tiers? Let’s connect.
P.S. I work with founders who want to grow their business on LinkedIn with a real strategy — content, profile optimization, and lead generation that actually works. Book a call to learn more.
