Riding the wave of social media fervor, LinkedIn has hired investment bankers Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase to help it prepare for an IPO. The company’s venture-backed investment value is about 2 billion according to SharesPost, an online marketplace for private investment.

What does this mean for the independent insurance agency or all small businesses for that matter? Social media and online social networking is here to stay and investors are will to pay for it.