Seriously, I'm assuming the same ad driven model that has made Facebook profitable would work for a professional network to.
I know I have personally clicked on ads that are related to my profession. I'm far, far more tolerant (even accepting) of B2B advertising than I am of B2C.
It's tricky though. They would have to be careful not to turn it into a pure marketing play. There would have to be safeguards against that.
The key is they would have to keep their eye on the main value proposition:
Becoming the number one way professionals connect with the idea, events, and people who can help them do their jobs better.
For other people who don't know (and don't want to make the effort): my argument was that special purpose social networking sites can do well. Even if with a bit of hacking (and `apps') you could replicate most of their functionality on Facebook.
Ravelry is for knitting and associated crafts.