How to Capitalize on this Cutting Edge Web Trend
Social networking is not a new phenomenon - people have been
meeting together for centuries as a way of expanding their
friendships, increasing their sense of community, and
establishing new business relationships. And even in the last
half century neighborhood or city-based networking organizations
have arisen such as the Lions, Kiwanis, and Elks clubs along
with those dedicated to pure networking like Business Networking
International and LeTip. But it wasn't until a website called
sixdegrees was created a few years ago that online networking
started to take off - sure chat rooms and listservs had existed
in the pre-1995 days but there were never resources online
dedicated exclusively to networking. And while sixdegrees sold
off their company's assets to other online upstarts, the
networking craze had begun. Depending on where you look, there
are potentially hundreds of websites where one can network,
separated out by interest, industry, and geography and whether
the networking interest is for business or personal reasons. For
more business networking, there are 4 primary sites individuals
use to expand their network and ultimately their income. The
granddaddy of them all is craigslist - a San Francisco-based
warehouse of local community news, classifieds, dating options,
and job listings started by Craig Newmark that has content
specific to the top metropolitan regions in the US. It's a
popular site and useful for many things - as ebay found out when
they recently purchased a 25% share. ecademy is a UK-based site
created by the uber-networker Thomas Power. ecademy requires
membership and is set up for pure networking, particularly on a
worldwide basis. The site also enables blogging,
industry-specific content and chats, and is enabled for
heavy-duty networking with known and unknown associates. Ryze is
a site focused on business to consumer networking and provides a
venue to create a community around your business and personal
interests - unfortunately, Ryze use is not regulated too well so
the connections and content often related to business
opportunities, MLM deals, and value-less connections. LinkedIn
is the current disputed leader in the US and worldwide due to
its ease of use, practical benefit, and value added features
including providing a testimonial for someone you know, passing
along requests for connections, job listings, and easy
networking with those with similar interests. Regardless of
which site you decide to use, pick one initially and commit to a
week or month of consistent participation in the community and
decide how you might benefit the work or personal lives of
others. As with everything else in life, you get out of it what
you put into it - so think both of how you can benefit yourself
and others as you participate.