Social networking is obviously very popular online today. Unlike general networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, there are a number of smaller networks that focus on professionals and businesses. These sites can be an excellent place to gain some exposure and to communicate with other entrepreneurs. Here is a quick look at 10 networking sites that should be considered by entrepreneurs.
LinkedIn has quickly become the leading social network that specializes in professionals. Many users have their resume posted on their profile and a growing number of employers are using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool. Entrepreneurs who are not looking for jobs can still use LinkedIn as a great resource for meeting other professionals and gaining some exposure for their own work.
PartnerUp
PartnerUp is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs find joint venture partners, co-founders, executives, and board members. You can either post your opportunity or search the listings placed by other entrepreneurs. There are networking capabilities through forums and an Ask a Question feature.
Konnects
Konnects focuses on professional networking by giving each member their own profile page. You can join communities, get to know other members, and just generally network with other like-minded professionals.
Ryze
Ryze has been around for a while but isn’t as well known as some other networking sites. On Ryze you’ll get your own profile page that can be customized, you can add friends, leave messages for others, and join groups.
Biznik
Biznik’s tagline is “Business networking that doesn’t suck.” Their approach is aimed more at entrepreneurs and business owners than employees looking for a job. There are a number of different communities for major cities in the U.S.
Cofoundr
Cofoundr is a private community for entrepreneurs. It obviously intends to help members find co-founders, as well as to build teams and network with other entrepreneurs.
StartupNation
StartupNation is a community site for entrepreneurs that includes networking aspects. The forums are very active with a wide range of topics being discussed. StartupNation also includes a number of articles relevant to entrepreneurs.
Upspring
Upspring aims to provide businesses with an opportunity to increase exposure and attract more customers. Members can register for free to get a profile page, join groups, and network with others. There are also premium options for a monthly fee.
Fast Pitch
Fast Pitch claims to be the fastest growing social network for professionals. You can set up your own profile page and network with other professionals.
Xing has a large and active community of professionals. You can network in many of the same ways as you can with the other sites listed here.
Which Networks Do You Use?
Are you a member of any of these networks? Are there others that you like?
- Subscribe to our RSS feed for instant updates!
- Receive the latest posts by email
- Add me to your Technorati Favourites
38 responses so far ↓
1 Dan Root // May 13, 2008 at 8:22 am
Great post! I always catch myself trying to remember all of them, but now I will just refer to this post in my bookmarks!
Great stuff.
2 Chip // May 13, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I’m on LinkedIn and that’s it. The thing is, in order for these sites to grow, you have to invite friends/colleagues to join and there’s no way I’m going to badger mine to join all these different sites. I get annoyed just getting an invite to Plaxo - you’ve got my damn contact info, plug it in yourself.
3 Carrie // May 13, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I will sign up at these sites. Right now I am a member of Start-up nation but have not been active there lately. How do you go about building a social network on these sites? Is there a standard form of etiquette to follow? I don’t want to be the rude newbie bursting in and annoying the members.
4 adnan // May 13, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Awesome post Steven - and I’m glad you’ve listed them here, because I hadn’t even heard of most of these before.
Like Chip said above, it can be annoying having to get your friends to sign up to all these social networking sites, but in my opinion it can be worth it if you find that 1 incredible contact who you can go on to leverage for many years to come.
Also, it’s important for a work-at-home entrepreneur (like many people are) to have some acquaintances, so it’s important to get on these sites (although obviously not all of them - as this could destroy productivity!)
5 Stephanie // May 13, 2008 at 5:48 pm
This is a great list. I would add E.Factor however. http://www.efactor.com
Marion Freijsen, one of the founders of E.Factor describes the site as a place “to connect the entrepreneurial minds - whereever they may be, whichever gender or whichever race - as a group we have Entrepreneurs have SO MUCH POWER. Every Entrepreneur should tap into that - male or female….”
This is what the E.Factor is all about.
6 Zoobie Joy // May 13, 2008 at 7:33 pm
These are nice looking sites..I have to say I’ve only signed up for LinkedIn..haven’t tried the others, yet..anyways I will try to sign up also ..^^..thanks a lot for sharing this resource.
7 Mike Michalowicz // May 13, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Great stuff… I hate to say it but I am a member of a few, but not a participant. And I get out of it what I put into it. Time for me to pick the few and use them well.
8 Steven // May 13, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Chip,
Yeah, there’s no way I would actively use more than one or two. You just have to pick what works for you.
Carrie,
I can’t speak for most of these sites specifically, but in general you should be safe at any networking site as long as you are genuinely involved. People usually only get bothered when it seems like you’re trying to get something for nothing.
Adnan,
Good point. One good contact could totally make the difference.
9 Pierce // May 13, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Hmm. I agree with Chip. I guess I will try these though! Thank you.
10 Thierry Férey » Blog Archive » links for 2008-05-13 // May 13, 2008 at 11:45 pm
[...] 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs (tags: social networking entrepreneurship business) [...]
11 kp // May 14, 2008 at 1:09 am
Nice list! LinkedIn is probably the most used by our execs. http://www.jasezone.com is another nice one that we use.
12 Nicki Laycoax // May 14, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Great post! I currently utilize LinkedIn which is listed in this post. But, the most effective online community for me is Smallerindiana.com. It is an online community for creative minds and business people from the State of Indiana to network both online and offline, contribute to online discussions and get feedback on many subjects.
We just had our live/offline 2,000th member celebration last night-a.k.a. 2,000th Smoosier Fest.
The site was built on a Ning platform for those interested in starting one for their State!
13 LouisV // May 15, 2008 at 1:18 am
LinkedIn is great. I tried it and I love it. Everyone should give it a try. It is really worth it.
14 10 Amazing Social Networks for Entrepreneurs | White Sands Digital // May 15, 2008 at 4:13 am
[...] online for entrepreneurs. Some of them aren’t as good as others. Here are ten of the best.read more | digg [...]
15 Allison Clark // May 15, 2008 at 4:33 am
Love your list, but thought it was missing ideablob.com…where entrepreneurs share, compare and grow their ideas.
16 Kevin // May 15, 2008 at 10:26 pm
All of these a re great, but I need something that will keep track of all of the websites I’m a member at! Is there such a thing? If not, does anyone want to create one with me?
17 dpdhunt // May 16, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Cool resource I was using linkedin but looking at other sites now Many thanks
18 exfatguy // May 16, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Thanks for this great article and guide… as recommended by others I’ll will try it…
19 zohaisx // May 16, 2008 at 4:17 pm
@Kevin: Being a bit greedy eh? Haha.. Just stick to the top few social network sites and you’re good to go. Anyone would gladly rank the sites?
20 Bradvera // May 17, 2008 at 5:07 am
I tend to prefer Konnects because its more generally and more wide scope. I tends to cluster everyone together, so you’re more likely to meet other professionals from different backgrounds. A very nice list by the way!
21 journey // May 17, 2008 at 5:18 am
yea a rankin would help me choose the site abit. gonna look through it. maybe will rank it after i get some more info on it. kinda new to this but very interested
22 Noobpreneur // May 17, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Hi,
I personally network in StartupNation - it’s has a great forum for entrepreneurs.
I’ve networked in Ryze before, but IMO, it’s not really useful for me - but that’s subjective, I suppose.
Cheers!
23 Koka // May 18, 2008 at 7:11 am
That is an impressive list. Thanks for pulling all of these together in one post. This is a bookmark for sure.
24 Kevin // May 18, 2008 at 4:24 pm
@ zohaisx: No, I’m not just talking about social networking sites. Just take a moment to think of every single website you have ever registered at. It should include social networking sites, e-commerce sites, application sites, financial sites, etc etc. Wouldn’t it be great to have one utility that would keep track of all of those and their usernames and passwords??
25 Web Success Diva // May 18, 2008 at 7:01 pm
This is a great list, some I did not even know about
Thanks!
Maria Reyes-McDavis
26 Fresno // May 19, 2008 at 4:33 am
Hi Kevin, maybe give this a try.
anypassword (dot) com.
Its not web based, but I have used it for years and currently keep track of over a thousand user/passes with it with ease.
27 John Walters // May 19, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Great list. It seems there are a lot of sites to get you in contact with other aspiring entrepeneurs. I think I will sign up and give a few of them a try. I’m not really sure what I’ll get from them yet but I’ll have a good look around
John
28 Doug McIsaac // May 20, 2008 at 11:43 am
Walt,
Great post, I’m on a couple of these, but will definitely be checking out the others.
Doug
29 herpes // May 20, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I’m very much into Upspring. Good post once again. Helps to bring awareness to these Social Networks. It’s perks are limitless
30 zowoco // May 21, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Brilliant post: so helpful for social marketing, thanks bigtime blogtrepreneur! You rock, solid
31 loans // May 23, 2008 at 7:32 pm
nice post.. will look through all the websites that u mention, useful to me…
32 Eva White // May 25, 2008 at 3:01 pm
You’ve given me quite a few new sites to check out. Thank’s for the inputs on each site.
33 slade davenport // May 29, 2008 at 4:03 am
Great list!
You missed my personal favorite: http://www.YoungEntrepreneur.com
It has been great for me over the past couple of years and have already connected with a few new business partners in some online ventures!
You should add it!
34 Komodo Dragon // May 29, 2008 at 10:00 am
I have been invited many times to linkedin, but i haven’t really checked them out. I guess I should lol
35 Puneet // May 29, 2008 at 3:19 pm
PS How can I get that little cloud before the comment link on the blog? Is that Haloscan and Blog template
36 Jamie // Jun 23, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Thanks for this, it’s nice to have some networks targeted specifically for business. My first and last social network experience was Facebook, and I got so sick of people sending me invites for groups I had no interest in or sending me widgets that I wasn’t sure what to do with that I had almost given up on social networking. I’ll be sure to give these a try.
37 Charlotte // Jul 1, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I actually find Konnects the most useful for business. It focuses on my current business instead of just my resume. Also, there are many more features, joining different communities that match my industry and interests is very convenient when trying to find new clients and business partners.
38 Lorraine Ball // Jul 11, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I noticed you didn’t list PLAXO. That is probably one of the most active in the Indy Business community. With more of a grownup FACEBOOK feel.
I use LinkedIN for introductions and referrals, but the site I spend the most time on is http://www.SmallerIndiana.com . Built on a Ning platform, it contains the most interesting conversations and connections to new information.
Leave a Comment