E-networking benefits for business 23Sept10

Reaping the benefits of online business networking

Carkean Solutions Ltd., Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BD

23/09/2010

E-Networking Networking with clients and organisations

using web-based tools and social media or specialist networks.

Exiting new way to connect with people where they are already connected.

Reach out and represent your organisation on the vast online marketplace.

Benefits of e-NetworkingShare or gain new ideas.Mix with your peers or like-minded people.Find out what your competitors are up to.Gather general or specific Industry information.Get help with problems from people with

appropriate knowledge and experience.Keep up to date with new industry

developments, regulations and policies.Form relationships with potential business

partners and collaborators.http://www.carkeansolutions.co.uk | http://carkeansolutions.blogspot.com/ |

https://twitter.com/carkeansolution

How to use e-NetworkingMost of your e-Networking will be done on social

media sites or specialist networks.The first step to connecting with new clients is to

research these sites and see which work best for you.

Twitter, for instance, is a micro-blogging service which is great for sharing small amounts of information but not for expansive content.

Picking appropriate sites and services will make sure you’re on the right track from the very beginning.

http://www.carkeansolutions.co.uk | http://carkeansolutions.blogspot.com/ | https://twitter.com/carkeansolution

How to use e-NetworkingThe next step is telling your clients about yourself.

Most of these sites will offer extensive profiles which allow you to share a lot of information.

Any unique features (company colours, logos etc.) should be added to help identify your organisation.

Fully completed, comprehensive and graphic profiles have more chances to be found and are more impressive to users.

Remember to add any other social media/network links as well. These are all interconnected.


How to use e-NetworkingFinally you’re ready to network and start

connecting with those clients. This is quick, easy and often as simple as clicking a single button.

Searching is the quickest way to find clients. Search keywords, previous positions, education, experience or skills to get accurate results.

Equally you can connect via networks of individuals. These are user-created and often encompass a single industry or trade, such as a financial network in London.


Looking to the futureSocial media has grown massively in the last few

years and every indication suggests it’s not going to stop any time soon.

This is an important consideration as technological advancements will mean new sites, new opportunities and changes to current sites.

This also highlights the long-lasting result you will receive for investing time in these sites.

And helps you to project new ideas for the future- knowing that eventually they can be realised.


Looking to the futureAs e-Networking is incredibly flexible it is a great

idea to design your sites for tomorrow, as well.Think about the content and sites you’d like to

have alongside your current social network. Then research these kinds of sites.

Most established sites are almost-certain bets for success, but upcoming sites can be very lucrative if you notice a great idea early.

Always try to stay active and push to introduce new features to your sites regularly.


Using user feedbackMany social media sites incorporate a number

of in-built feedback systems.Facebook has a ‘Like’ system, Twitter has a

‘ReTweet’ system and blogging services have a system where users pick a response to a post.

These are great ways to see if your content is being read and if people like it.

If you notice a lot of your content has been ReTweeted or you have a great deal of Likes on your Facebook page- you’re doing well.


Using user feedbackAlthough, in many of those cases the responses are

quantitative. Or, more simply, they’re statistical and don’t tell you what people like or why.

This can be the case with sites that post a wide variety of content regularly.

A lot of feedback there would only tell you that your content is enjoyable, interesting or engrossing. Why or what particular points we don’t know.

In this case we would employ the use of qualitative feedback, or, more simply, asking the users.


Using user feedbackThis is also something that is easily done on

many social media sites. Most now offer in-built comment systems which is a great starting point.

However, should you want more information, say about a layout change, there’s a few more specific ways to acquire specific data.

One of these is via the use of widgets. These are anything from buttons to polls to customisation options. These are more useful with questions such as “What do you think of our new layout?”


Using user feedbackOnce we have acquired a wealth of feedback we

can analyse it and see which areas are popular.These can either be improved to further their

popularity, or you can focus on the lesser known/liked aspects to create an all-round site.

However, don’t become complacent as users will only return to sites regularly if they offer something new or interesting.

And, besides that, unless you’re selling a product via these sites- several well-made networks are just going to waste sitting there.


Reading the user experienceThis is a combination of both the user feedback

and how they interact with the sites themselves.Most of these sites either offer analysis tools

(such as Stats on Blogger or Weekly Page Updates on Facebook) and they provide a lot of useful information.

These can tell you where people are looking, for how long, what they’re looking at and sometimes where they linked from to get there. Equally, demographic information is available.


Reading the user experienceMuch like feedback, this is again all quantitative

data, and doesn’t really open on why people are not staying or why they’re looking at these pages.

But, it does offer a few more layers of explanation. You can start to develop trends, such as, people are visiting one particular page and then deciding they don’t want to see the rest.

Why? What is putting them off?Equally, on the positive side, if they are staying-

what’s on that page? What draws them in?


Reading the user experienceIn some cases this can be no fault of the

information or the site itself. It could be a number of factors, such as layout or placement.

Design is an important aspect of these sites and if you’re getting a lot of people leaving on certain pages check the layout.

Also check the content you have- is it jargon free? Easy to find? Do you use categories or split things up?

Mostly, however, these will provide you statistics to see what the best pages are on the site.


Reading the user experienceAgain, to stay complacent would be folly and you

will lose more than you gain.Look at what makes those pages

popular/unpopular- how can that be reflected in the rest of your site?

What are people expressly looking for on your site? Is it something you have a lot of information about? If so, why not add more?

There are so many ways to respond to this that to list them all is impossible- be proactive and innovative in your approach.


Statistical Analysis


You can see both the sources of your traffic (where your users are coming from).

And the audience (where your content is being accessed across the world)

Statistical Analysis


Graph views are usually available which show a visual distribution of users and visitors. Pageview breakdowns are also sometimes available for further analysis.

Designing e-Networking sitesThink of how users are used to accessing this

information. Where do they find it? What do they usually look for? How do they know where it is?

Try to use many of the in-built features such as categories to clean up your design and make it easier to use.

Graphics, logos, colours and other content is great to have and makes you noticeable.

But remember to balance this and add features in moderation- too much of anything is a bad idea.


Designing e-Networking sitesThe first step would be to decide just what you

need or what on there. What content, logos, graphics and colours?

Often colours and background images are the base level of customisation- have options for both.

From there, begin to theorise how best the layout would work- how are you going to draw users to the right place?

Also, what external links and information are you going to have (if any)?


Designing e-Networking sitesThen you would need to decide which features are

going on which sites. To have several sites all the same would not only be difficult- but a waste.

Twitter is a micro-blog, so use small ‘bit’ links to link it to other sites. Facebook is more informative, so use that for details and information not found on the others. Finally, Blogging services can be used to post expanded and information-heavy content.

This also helps with designing them as you know what limits you have and what you want on each.


Designing e-Networking sitesFor those not coding proficient there are basic

templates available. These provide a great starting point and help you see what you can change, what you can’t and how it all works.

Much of the customisation has user friendly options so you can edit it as many times as you like.

However, the most important point is to keep revisiting an idea until you’re happy with how it looks, what it says and how it comes across to any users- new or old.


Designing e-Networking sitesFinally and most importantly- be creative! Great

designs stand out because they’re things we don’t see every day.

Try different colours, layouts, styles, widgets and so on until you find something that not only works but looks interesting.

Should you be able to achieve this you can receive two-fold business. That from existing clients and ones you’re looking to connect with. And possibly from those passing by who notice your incredibly interesting sites.


Suggested Websiteshttp://www.ryze.comhttp://www.ecademy.comhttp://www.wibn.co.ukhttp://www.business-network.co.ukhttp://www.connectbuzz.comhttp://www.bizface.co.uk/bizfaceforumhttp://www.brxnet.co.ukhttp://www.bni-europe.com


E-networking benefits for business 23Sept10

Business

great starting point

social media sites

user feedback

specialist networks

blogging services

user experience

sites regularly

networking sites