Are some of these networking sites a complete waste of time. E.G I joined Ecademy (even started a club) but got no orders or any interest what so ever. Main members seemed to be small businesses who were desperate for recognition but were unwilling to buy?
Location specific: United Kingdom
Good Answers (21)
Mollie D
Analyst at mollied.com
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To say networking, or a single online community, is the ultimate solution for business success is a useless statement devoid of concrete quantification and misleads the unaware.
Networking to business success is like fad diets are to permanent weight loss: it's today's trend to keep restless, dare I say aimless, people busy.
In fact networking has yet to be objectively measured in terms of actual percentages of time spent versus financial benefit realized. However, effective business people understand time management and how to construct a linear path to realize financial objectives which, according to investors, the bank(s), the board of directors and shareholders, is how you truly measure success.
Ecademy has a constant tendency to soften words like "success", "entrepreneur", "networking" and "trust" to its detriment. This is why a social business network like Ecademy is seen as an entry-level community for online communication. Many of the active members have zero to offer professionally and several seem to have no grasp of basic business concepts outside of being polite and trying to pay their expenses each month. Going around in circles talking and openly fantasizing about generating wealth, as is done of Ecademy’s front page and in “business clubs”, is going to cost a person far more than they imagined when they subscribed.
I should expect I’m preaching to the choir in this regard.
Nigel D
Wireless and Mobile Strategy, Technology and Business Development Visionary
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Hi,
I also joined ecademy and so far it has proven to be more noise than signal. I will say the for the most part I enjoy using LinkedIn. Frankly so far I'd agree with your view on ecademy but it's probably early days yet. Since I'm in France and bilingual I also registeres with JobUp (actually Swiss), LesJeudis and Viadio (or soemthing like that). Watching who, what and where folks are being hired can be interesting in terms of diagnosing the overall health of the IT markets.
Robert F
Podcaster at podcastGenealogy.com
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There are many types of networking sites ... and if your goal is to drive business, they will seem to be a waste of time. Most people do not go to a networking site to buy something ... they go to get something: assistance, new job, find new employees, sell a product.
Robert D
Executive VP at California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers
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Relationships take time to build, whereas customers pop into existance at the sound of a cash register. Networking sites are as valuable as the work you put into them to build mutually beneficial relationships. Converting customers into a full interactive partner requires the same sort of work, but it is always soured by the fact that the customer knows the expectations of the seller is to make more sales. People naturally back away from strong ties in such situations.
Where relationships become lasting mutually beneficial trading and support agreements, they are very powerful. Indeed, some of the relationships I have made on LinkedIn already are trending in this direction.
Clinton J
Product Manager at Winshuttle
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I think that there are some out there that are desperate to differentiate themselves and hope that they will be the next great thing since sliced bread. Who'd have thought that Blogspot and Livejournal would have ultimately been trumped by things like myspace for example. (i realise i may have opened up a grand debate here).
In reality though, there are so many networking sites out there that eventually we're down to a couple with the simple winner of critical mass. Some ten years ago or so I joined this networking site called sixdegrees.com. Go to it today and who knows what it is anymore, ryze and linkedin came soon afterwards and i joined those two and today they are pretty much the ones I maintain and then there is of course that hybrid crossover between newsgroups and social networking - yahoogroups. My kids have tried to get me to be more active in myspace, facebook, flickr, etsy, slide, reunion.com, classmates.com, spoke, xanga, wayn ... the list goes on and on. In the end the ones that continue to innovate, that create sexy widgets that integrate with outlook etc and with my address and calendar synch resource - plaxo, are going to be my winners! The rest will linger and eventually die. Go with the gorilla, but be aware that the free ride will end eventually. The money making ones will continue to be those that differentiate themselves, build a niche, attract investors, advertisers and fee paying subscribers. For business purposes my money is on LinkedIn.
Incidentally, I found LinkedIn and Ryze to be VERY effective; I have hired and been hired through both of them.
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Hi Ian,
I met you several times on Ecademy.
This month I will be 2 years on that network.
With my more than 20 years of experience in networking, I can give you this important information.
Doing business is not only depending from the network that you work with.
Most important is:
1. Build a good and large network.
2. Make friends.
3. Start doing business with your "friends".
You already understand that this can take some time.
You have to build confidence and trust with people you don't know on the first contacts.
Ecademy is for me the most active network I have visited so far.
I am member in some 7 diffferent ones, but I am only "active" on Ecademy.
This month I am 2 years on Ecademy, builded a network of more than 3 000 people in more than 70 countries worldwide,
"Winning by sharing" is one of my favorite quotes.
You can see it in my more than 300 testimonials. And I can tell you business comes only when you are trusted by your contacts in your network.
I hope that I have give you some insight in networking and all kind of networks can be used for. You have to work with that network, where you really feel good with.
I wish you all the success you deserve Ian.
Fons
Hi Ian,
Like many things in life you get out what you put in. I see you currently have about 100 connections on ecademy and have been a member for about a year. My view is that these things take time and a larger volume of connections to work. I've been a member for 3 years and have nearly 1000 connections on ecademy, and even this is frankly a bit slack compared to some people's achievements.
While, like you I haven't directly found customers on ecademy, I have found all sorts of other things that have been beneficial to my business - Sales director, marketing director, finance director, investment broker, graphic designers, web designers and so on and so on. I've also found all sorts of information that have helped my business with search engine optimisation and so on. As one example, the sales director I found had the right connections to triple the number of distributors I was selling to, which of course had a positive effect on sales.
So while I've not sold anything to a fellow ecademy member, by being a member I have certainly had a more effective business life and made more sales.
Ecademy aside though, there should be little doubt that networking is a cornerstone of success in business. I personally find ecademy to be one of the best places to find and build a big, diverse network quickly.
I use Linkedin.com for NETWORKING. Not Sales. THis isn't yahoo stores man.
You use a networking site to keep in touch. Do favours and receive them. get contacts that can LEAD to eventual sales.
I only use plaxo and Linkedin.
The others are crap
David P
► Visibility Expert ► Social Media Strategist ► UK Editor, Next Web Blog ►Twitter: clarocada
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I put an advert in the Financial Times but got no orders or any interest whatsoever.
I put an advert in the Yellow Pages but got no orders or any interest whatsoever.
I gave away free advice and knowledge in Ecademy. Within six months, I'd made over £4,500 in new income, and I created several clubs to aid that process.
Networking is not selling, it's sharing, and building trust.
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Hi Ian,
From your question it appears that small businesses are not your core market.
If that's the case, Ecademy would be useful to network with consultants or contractors that have access to potential customers - not for direct sales.
LinkedIn will have members who are your ideal customer.
And here's the thing...
If you network with people on Ecademy, build a relationship with them and then connect with them here on LinkedIn, you can see how they are connected to your real prospects and proactively gain an introduction.
It works.
Cheers,
David
As is mentioned below people join Social Networks to find Information, Contacts, Support and Jobs - Business Friends.
When you achieve little financial result with your online activity it means your activity is poorly planned and poorly implemented. Making money online is a black art not (yet) a science. Amazon required $2bn of capital investment before turning a modest profit.
Running online groups is a difficult task without the right skillset. There are experts in Ecademy, connect with them.
Many Ecademy members I have met all over the world now receive 100% of their new business through Ecademy and its members. They have taken the time to nurture global relationships and as a result refer business to one another each week as is mentioned in the comments here.
Top 100 global business brands are approaching Ecademy each month about how to embed themselves in that social networking experience. Brands would not bother if they could not see a new sales channel.
Every brand will build, buy or acquire a social network even this place, Linkedin, one day.
You might be surprised how soon this will happen in this decade.
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David W
Business Transformation Consultant
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I am a member of Ecademy too...and set up the CEN club which is active in networking consultants.
The point of networking in my view is to build trusted relationships, providing a support and 'friendship' infrastructure - you have to give, give, give and occasionally you get to 'take'. Building these relationships might lead to sales, but it may not be direct sales, rather leads and referrals from folks that trust you to deliver.
Listen to the words of Mr Power at your peril. He and his wife have a habit of consistently massively inflating anything to do with Ecademy ...apart from it's profits.
The reality is that the only people who ever talk about making money from networking sites are those people who sell some networking related 'service', like writing peoples profile page or holding speaking engagements where they talk about ...wait for it ....networking!
Ecademy's big mistake is trying to run a 3D networking site with a 1D management team. This is why all the other recognised networking sites like LinkedIn and OpenBC actually generate real money.
So to answer the original question, from a business point of view, unless you sell a networking related service, yes Ecademy is a waste of time, despite Mr Powers laughable talk of "global relationships" ...unless of course he's referring to the dubious business track record of Mr Roger Hamilton in Asia who he has based much of Ecademy on.
Unless you're one of those LoA loons, I'd give Ecademy a big miss.
There were some good people there once, but most have now left or been banned.
I was a member for 2 years, but didn't renew last year as I'm not interested in finding out about "The Secret".
If you really want to waste some time with quality people, head over to First Monday.
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The only one I have experience with is LinkedIn. This has been a huge benefit for me. I have connected with people I haven't been able to track down in years. One of these connections resulted in a job opportunity for a friend of mine. I'd say that marks it as a winner!
Chuck
John L. E
♣ LION@LOCRIS.CO.UK ♣ 30K FCMI FIMIS FIBC MBCS CITP MIoD MCIPS ♣ Interim Director ♣ Change Management ♣ TOPLIN
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And you weren't desperate?
Cheers John
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Ecademy: A low-end forum for the desperate and terminally lonely. Check out our Front Page and see for yourself!
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I landed a large deal which has turned into about six months work via contacts I met on Ecademy. Due to problems at the site, my subscription disappeared for a week in the middle of negotiating that, which caused some embarrassment.
Your 'network' is made up of people, and there are some good people on Ecademy. Unfortunately, with the management's unpleasant habit of blocking subscriptions and refusing to give reasons for doing so, I would be very careful of investing much time in the site itself.
The actual value of it depends very much on what sort of business you're in and what areas of the site you use. Most of the people I know who've made money out of it are either active in consulting / project management groups, or selling services to small businesses (website optimisation and accountants).
It takes a lot of effort, which might be better spent in other areas of your network. The best network marketing method I've found lately involves personalised emails to my contacts on linked in. After all, most of those are people I've actually worked with in the past, and are in my target (corporate) market. Repeat business is the best business.
You mentioned Ecadamy. I am myself a member of Ecadamy and I have the same experience regarding business as you do. Seems to be that Ecadamy is there for small business if even for that purpose. Pretty much ongoing chit-chat on the those forums which are still active. Of all available networking sites, where you are able to communicate online I would tender to Xing or Moneyhours, which is a new networking site which will be released in June.
Best regards
Christian
Priyanka G
Manager-Business Development at Tranzition Outsourcing services Pvt.Ltd
Yes Ian,
you are right..its a wastage for me 2,dont know who gets benefit at the end of the day.You can try www.businesspatrol.com.
Thomas Power mentions that he knows businesses who get all their income via Ecademy.
I'd suggest that was a bad plan in two ways (even if it's practical). Firstly, there's the "obvious" statement that putting all your eggs in one basket is a bit of a risky tactic. Secondly there's the issue of that basket being somewhat managerially unstable.
The network is not the platform or the other way around and "networking" is not "using Ecademy". Networking is a *process* and as such, you get out what you put in PLUS/MINUS a random amount generated by how lucky you are with who you network with!
