Online business networking

Online business networking

Businesses are increasingly using business social networks as a means of growing their circle of business contacts and promoting themselves online. In general these networking tools allow professionals to build up their circle of business partners they trust. By connecting these business partners the networking tools allow individuals to search for certain people within their network. Through introductions, the members of these tools then can get in contact with new prospective business partners. Since businesses are expanding globally, social networks make it easier to keep in touch with other contacts around the world. Specific cross-border e-commerce platforms and business partnering networks now make globalization accessible also for small and medium sized companies. Few example for online business networking platforms are Yceeya, Linkedin, etc.
[edit]Face-to-face business networking

Professionals who wish to leverage their presentation skills with the urgency of physically being present attend general and exclusive events. Many professionals tend to prefer face-to-face networking over online based networking because the potential for higher quality relationships are possible. Many individuals also prefer face-to-face because people tend to prefer actually knowing and meeting who they intend to do business with.
Face to face business networking is often facilitated by referral networking clubs.
There are many Face to Face business networking platforms such as Yceeya and meetup.
[edit]General business networking

Before online networking, there was and has always been, networking face-to-face. "Schmoozing" or "rubbing elbows" are expressions used among business professionals for introducing and meeting one another, and establishing rapport.
[edit]Networked Businesses

With networking developing, many businesses now have this as a core part of their strategy. Those that have developed a strong network of connections suppliers and companies can be seen as Networked Businesses, and will tend to source the business and their suppliers through the network of relationships that they have in place. Networked businesses tend to be open, random, and supportive, whereas those relying on hierarchical, traditional managed approaches are closed, selective, and controlling. These phrases were first used by Thomas Power, chairman of Ecademy, an online business network, in May 2009.
[edit]Business networking in the ICT domain

Companies and organizations, and related value chains and value networks need some sort of IT support. Traditionally, it is provided by software applications, software packages, ERPs, and/or workflows; presently, also by different types of web-based innovations.
A truly ICT business networking approach rethinks and rebuilds the operating support from scratch, around two key business features: information contributions, to be provided by the activities involved, whether they are performed by human beings, automated tools or jointly by the two, in a coordinated way; and automated information exchanges, to be provided by the TLC network.
Information contributions and exchanges, in turn, need to be supported by data storage and access security (signature, encryption, authentication, decryption), which both can be provided either as add-ons or as built-in features.
Yceeya is an good example for the mixture of Face to face and online networking.
[edit]See also

Professional network service
Personal Network
[edit]References

9 Ways To Leverage Your Online Business Networking Activities, April 18, 2010
Hubert Österle, Elgar Fleisch, Rainer Alt (2001), Business networking: shaping collaboration between enterprises (2, illustrated ed.), Springer, ISBN 3-540-41351-0, 9783540413516
About Yceeya network,June 13,2012Online business networking