FireStarter: Online Networking Sites

Online Networking Sites

Two Great Online Networking Websites

These days you can do many things online, including networking. Online networking can be added to your tools to build your business and can be utilised to leverage your contacts and introduce new business contacts/prospects.

This seems like a good promise, but for online networking to achieve its potential as an online networker, you have to put in the necessary effort.

Online networking is also known as social networking, and can include popular websites such as myspace.com but in this article our focus is on business side of networking and we will feature two websites that serve this purpose.

The first one Linked in http://www.linkedin.com/home, is chosen because it has the highest number of business contacts: around 7.5 million members. Linkedin is also the right address for you if you are doing business globally as most of its members are based overseas. And with 130 industries you will definitely find a contact in your industry.

How it works

Registered users maintain lists of contacts of people they know and trust in business (these are called connections). These lists are then used to provide a network of contacts which can be used in a number of ways. Each person's network consists of their direct connections, each of their connections connections (called 2nd degree connections) and also the connections of 2nd degree connections (called 3rd degree connections).

This network can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by the user's direct contacts, or by individuals connected to a contact at the 2nd or 3rd degree.

The "gated-access approach" (where contact with any professional requires either a pre-existing relationship or the intervention of a contact of theirs) is intended to build trust among the service's users.

Employers can list jobs on LinkedIn and search for passive candidates and job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers, HR professionals and/or recruiters, and then discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them. (wikipedia)

What is next?

You can visit the website http://www.linkedin.com/home and create a profile for free.
It is really worth spending time on writing your profile. Think of it like your shop display; you want to impress people and create a good profile that will create the right impression for the people who do not know you and checking out your profile.
After completing your profile it is time to create your list of contacts (connections).And the best way to start is by importing your contacts into Linkedin and add them as contacts (if they are already members) or send them an invite if they are not already there. Ideally start with your immediate circle of friends and business contacts. Then reach to your other contacts.
Start to ask for recommendations from your connections, if you have worked with them and done a good job! This will help build your online reputation.
Now you’ve completed the build up phase and you are in a position to find new connections for your business. A proactive approach is to contact these new connections via your networks or directly initiate the relationship.

Below is a link that explains the steps to start with Linkedin in detail:

http://www.intuitive.com/blog/getting_started_with_linkedin.html

Linkme

The second website is specifically for Australian users. Linkme http://www.linkme.com.au/ is backed by Sensis Group. It has an emphasis on being a new candidate matching and career networking site with over 50,000 members from all industries and locations in Australia. The activity in Linkme is picking up as recently there were around 900 job ads and the membership numbers are increasing rapidly.

It has similar features to Linkedin in which you can create your network but unfortunately this feature is as not user friendly or popular so currently, the website has developed the feel of a job matching site rather than a career networking website.

So at the moment, you can use linked in to find a job or find staff for your business. There is also good content for career management.

There is value in using both websites as they serve different purposes. It is worth investing time and creating profiles and then being proactive in chasing opportunities.

This article was provided by Cenk Baban (he can be contacted via web2grow or through his profiles on Linked In & Link Me (user name: cenkbaban)

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