Will you join us? [Link Here]

Professional networking is here to stay, and we've decided to take advantage of one networking website where our prospective franchisees meet up - LinkedIn.

Here's what I know about LinkedIn: in just six years it reached 45 million members in 150 industries in more than 200 countries and territories around the world; a new member joins about every second; and, executives from all Fortune 500 companies are represented.

If you want to recruit professionals to become franchisees (and still allow them to maintain their career if they like), then you can't ignore 45 million businesspeople-wherever they are-who are creating business contacts, searching for jobs, exploring business opportunities, and prospecting for clients.

We want to award Great Clips franchises and strengthen our position as the world's largest hair salon brand. LinkedIn allows us to reach out to prospective franchisees, or people who can link us to prospective candidates, and to engage them with our story (we do, after all, reward people with $2,000 if they refer us a person that becomes a franchisee!).

Also, and more importantly, our LinkedIn group provides prospective franchisees with an interactive forum to connect with our group members. You can network with a lender, a Great Clips support person, or even a franchisee! We're also posting regular discussion topics with useful information. If you have a question, or want to comment, we welcome your participation. To learn more about franchising, and to join in the dialogue, [Click here] to check out our group site. Our goal is to reach 1,000 group members by the end of 2009. So join today and spread the word!