Are business focused social networks delivering what we want?

The results of a survey conducted by BNI amongst its members shows three quarters network to get new business. But are business focused social networks delivering what people want?

It's no surprise that the members of BNI, Business Networking International, founded by Dr Ivan Misner and the world's largest referral network, are big fans of networking. They joined and pay subscriptions for BNI to enable them to do just that -- all 3.3 million of them. And it perhaps isn't surprising that 75% of the 2,400+ of the BNI members who have taken the survey with the question "What is your primary objective for networking?" have said that "New business" motivates them to meet with other members on a regular basis (for more see http://www.bni.com/Default.aspx?tabid=721).

What did surprise me, however, was how little there is available online for business people to achieve the same objective, even though social networks are very much in vogue. Could you realistically be winning new business online during the time between BNI get-togethers?

Let's take a look. LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com) is the largest of the apparent business focused social networks, with some 23 million members. As I have reported before, there are actually very few tools within LinkedIn to promote introductions to new contacts that can lead to business. Profiles are barely more than resumes and CVs, with little information on what each company does or reasons to deal with them -- and even fewer ways of finding interesting new businesses if you didn't know about them already. Members are told to not accept invitations to connect from people they don't know. With recruiters paying many thousands for unrestricted access to all 23m profiles, there is little doubt it could help you progress your career -- incidentally, "career advancement" was stated as the primary objective of networking by 15% of BNI respondants -- but it does a poor job of putting together people with needs and solutions if it isn't hiring.

Xing (http://www.xing.com) has much of what LinkedIn offers but across several languages and is strong in mainland Europe, especially Germany and Spain. As with LinkedIn, it seems to have the greatest appeal to the technology and media sectors, arguably the trend setters and early adopters, not yet having yet wooed other industries or the many, many small and medium-sized businesses out there. Time will tell whether owner manager of SMBs see the appeal of networking sites that are motivated towards career development.

Viadeo (http://www.viadeo.com) offers much the same for France, having not yet taken off in the UK in spite of a recently opened office. I am a member of Viadeo, as I am LinkedIn and Xing, and read about the great networks other members are building through their e-mail updates. But I don't often read how they have turned them into new business.

Ecademy (http://www.ecademy.com) has a dedicated hardcore of followers, but its premium BlackStar members number no more than 600 and the site requires a lot of time and commitment to get things from it. Many BNI chapters have a presence on Ecademy and one of the BNI concepts, "Givers Gain" could well be said of Ecademy too -- you can get out of it, but you have to put in. Expect to register and see the leads roll in and you'll be disappointed. I have heard it reported that founder Thomas Power says a member should expect results after two years of networking on Ecademy and I can believe it -- I have been a member for nearly 4 years and struggle to find the time to keep on top of it these days.

These are the largest social networks for UK business people covered. Is there, within them, anywhere for owners and managers, BNI members of not, to easily and quicky generate new business, as Web 2.0 should surely be able to offer? My feeling is there isn't. That is what prompted me to start WeCanDo.BIZ.

The Web 2.0 boom has been likened to the Dot Com Boom of the late 90s. I was there at the time and the thing that struck me most was how the strategies of those companies seemed to be linked purely to exicting analysts and investors, and little to do with what customers wanted. If parallels do exist with todays Web 2.0 market, could this be why 75% of fully paid up professional networkers won't find what they want online?

I'd love to read your thoughts. Are you or your colleagues generating new business on any of the networks above? Or are there others you recommend?

Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz