Articles Index

Virtual Business Development
Business networking serves many purposes: sales, general marketing, recruiting, job-hunting, knowledge exchange, and business development (in the sense of strategic alliances, joint ventures and channel sales). Of all these, business development is the one that it supports best. In fact, business development and business networking are closely related. Online networking sites offer unprecedented ways for entrepreneurs to identify and connect with potential partners.

How to Use Online Networks to Market Your Business
While virtual networks may not reach the massive numbers that advertising or national publicity does, it’s very effective in reaching highly qualified prospective customers, establishing perceived Competence with them, and reinforcing your brand. Online networks are also a powerful tool for market research, and can even help you get national publicity down the road.

Ten Steps to Dramatically Improve Your Network with Social Software
Online networks are the new power lunch tables and the new golf courses for business life in the U.S. In the past ten years, online dating has become mainstream; 40 million Americans use online dating sites. Now, businesspeople are starting to use the same family of technology to find business clients, new partners, and jobs, through virtual contacts they make online.

Crossing the Social Networking Chasm
The potential market for business networking is enormous. Over 20 million businesses worldwide are members of local chambers of commerce. Add to that all the marketing, business development, and non-retail sales professionals, plus hiring managers, recruiters, and job seekers, and the number gets very large. Generating revenue and supporting other business processes via relationships are as compelling reasons to connect as finding old schoolmates or potential dating partners.

Leveraging Social Networking Sites to Generate Business
Where services such as Friendster, MySpace and Connexion have been successful bringing singles and groups together based on affinity and mutual interests, business-networking services are now offering a parallel experience in the professional world. Along with LinkedIn are such offerings as Ryze (www.ryze.com) and Tribe.net (www.tribe.net). This use of online, friend/associate-based networking will prove to be one of the most valuable business tools the Internet has yet provided.