Review: Fast Pitch!

Fast Pitch! Review

RATING: 5 Stars

STRENGTHS: Powerful Marketing services, vibrant network of professionals, subscription model offers a lot of value for the price.

WEAKNESSES: Service has only been around for 1 Year, but growing fast.

Fast Pitch! has a very interesting origin. Out of the all the other sites online today, Fast Pitch! is only one with a true "networking" background. Fast Pitch! started prior "Web 2.0" as a business networking company with networking groups and events around the country. As the online networking entered the scene, Fast Pitch! transformed its business into one of the leading online networking sites on the web today.

Fast Pitch! is very similar to FaceBook (an online social community for college students, which is now expanding into new markets) where a person creates a profile which includes information about the individual. Fast Pitch! (unlike FaceBook) focuses on business. However, everyone knows social networking is alive and well in the business world.

Fast Pitch! offers some very powerful services which are not available on the other networking sites including 1) Marketing services (SEO, SEM, Advertising) 2) Press Distribution (distribution of press to media outlets and members) and 3) Self-Promotion services including Blogs and Podcasts. These services are what set Fast Pitch! apart from the pack.

Now Networking ... Fast Pitch! allows users to connect to other users, and begin building their "network". They use a credit system, which is easy to follow. One credit buys you one introduction. The user that receives the invitation to connect must Opt-In, before the sender can see their contact information and begin networking. Fast Pitch! gives credits to paying subscribers, and offers a variety of ways to earn credits for non-subscribers. One of the most powerful aspects of Fast Pitch! is their ability to connect people based on their profiles. This is unique to Fast Pitch! and not provided by any other service.

In summary, Fast Pitch! is definately a service I recommend, because it offers services that the others do not, but mostly because its a powerful networking platform, that gets you connected quickly in your industry and your city.

http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com

Review: Ziggs

Ziggs Review

RATING: 2 Stars

STRENGTHS: New Design, New Focus

WEAKNESSES: Small user base, lack of networking features

Ziggs has gone through a variety of stages, but seems to have settled down to its new business model. Their tagline says it all "My People, My Hub". Ziggs is a service that allows a user to create their "personal portal". The idea being that organizing your friends, favorite sites, and news has becoming too tedious, and it makes sense to put it all in one place.

So the question is what is different between Ziggs and myYahoo! or other personal portal services? Not sure, but I am sure Ziggs has a vision that is aligned more with the idea of connecting to other professionals, and building a community.

It was difficult to review this service at this stage (being that their new model is so new), but I was impressed with the new interface. It seems to me, to be targeted to the younger professionals (perhaps all those FaceBook users who are graduating).

In summary, Ziggs seems to be taking a different slant at building a personal profile. Less focused on networking, and more on "concierge" type personal services. I look forward to seeing how it pans out.

http://www.ziggs.com

Review: Ryze

Ryze Review

RATING: 2 Stars

STRENGTHS: Established brand, consistent user base

WEAKNESSES: Lack of features, Lack of Networking capabilities, poor design

Ryze was one of the first business networking sites to arrive on the scene. Over the years, the service has tranformed into more a business classifieds where people post products, services and events. The overall design is clunky and slightly amateurish, which makes it difficult to navigate.

Ryze offers different levels of membership which allows a user to create groups, and participate in other sections of the website, but its unclear on how this translates into networking and meeting new people. Despite the design, Ryze has a lot of content posted by its users on a daily basis, so clearly their is activity (which means their is opportunity).

Most of the features that are intersting (who visited your profile, who is online) requires you to be a subscriber, so its difficult to get a sense of who is on the network without signing up. I suggest taking the time to browse a few networks, and look at a few profiles to see if there is potential for your business.

In summary, Ryze seems to be on the decline. It lacks too many features that the other services provide, and its unclear on how to effectively use the system to really grow your network and market your business.

http://www.ryze.com

Review: Xing

Xing Review

RATING: 4 Stars

STRENGTHS: Leader in Europe (central), active user community

WEAKNESSES: Weak presence in US

Xing (formerly OpenBC) is the front runner in Europe. Xing offers a solid platform for creating a profile and joining networking groups. If you do business in Europe, or trying to expand your business into Europe, it is a great way to plug into a community of professionals.

Xing has upgraded their interface, and is very easy to use. A lot of their Networking Groups seemed to based on alumni groups and associations. Xing also has a section on Events (much like eCademy), Xing is offering users a balance of online and offline (in person) networking. Since both eCademy (UK) and Xing (Germany) are very concentrated networks - the events seemed to be mostly localized to their countries.

One of the unique aspects to Xing is their affiliations with a variety of services which they offer promotions and discounts to their members. As a subscriber, Xing members get the benefits of these programs which include hotel discounts, newspaper subscriptions and many other business related offerings.

In summary, Xing is clearly making a footprint in Europe, and seems to be a great resource to get connected.

http://www.xing.com

Review: eCademy

eCademy Review

RATING: 3 Stars

STRENGTHS: Leader in UK Networking, active user community, powerful partnership with BNI

WEAKNESSES: Weak presence in US, no "connection" logic to drive relationships

eCademy is the leading networking platform in the UK. eCademy offers a variety of services releated to networking including forums, classifieds and jobs. eCademy offers a variety of membership levels with ranging benefits.

Much like the other networking sites, eCademy also starts off with a personal profile. The eCademy profile is less organized as the others, and allows for a more flexible design by the user and gives the user control over content. This makes it a little difficult to navigate through profiles, since each profile looks different.

eCademy offers a balance of online and offline (in person) activity (mostly in the UK) which gives users the ability to connect in person. In a partnership with BNI (Business Networking International) they are gaining traction in the U.S. and also enhancing their offline event offerings outside the U.S.

Most of the content and communications in eCademy seems to be driven by the posting of classifieds and forums. Unlike services like Fast Pitch! and LinkedIn (which both link users based on their profiles), eCademy is a more open environment, which requires users to be more proactive in searching for likely connections.

In Summary, eCademy has a solid user base in the UK, and seems to have a nice networking platform for people to share thoughts via forums, and post wants/needs through classifieds.

http://www.ecademy.com

Review: LinkedIn

LinkedIn Review

RATING: 5 Stars

STRENGTHS: Large userbase, powerful "reference" utility for jobs and services.

WEAKNESSES: Pricing model not favorable for networking.

LinkedIn is a front-runner in the business networking space. With over 6M users it has become a destination for many professionals looking to post their resume and business accomplishments as a LinkedIn Profile. LinkedIn has focused its value around personal references and creating a very efficient system for someone to build "personal equity" through connections, recommendations and expert advice.

Unlike some of the other services that focus on the business-side of a person's profile and leveraging networking to find new customers and business partners, LinkedIn is has become a destination to find a Job or find someone to do a Job. Whether it is hiring a new Sales Executive, or finding a vendor that offers website design services, LinkedIn has done a great job in creating a powerful system in qualifying people and connecting you to the best candidate or the best company to work for.

The LinkedIn pricing model is based on number of outstanding requests to connect. LinkedIn requires each connection request to be approved (or passed on) by the network. So, if you are 3 degress away from someone, you need 2 people to approve your request. The pricing is expensive if you are trying to network for business, but is reasonable if you are just making one or two connections per month while looking for employment.

LinkedIn offers other services related to Job seekers or Job placement, where they charge a fee to send out a Job listing to your network.

In summary, LinkedIn is a great platform for job seekers or companies looking to hire qualified professionals. It provides a powerful platform for people to build resumes, get recommendations and build their "personal" brand.

http://www.linkedin.com

The Business (Social) Networking Space

I wanted to start off this Blog with an entry that outlines the landscape of Business (Social) Networking. I think this space is loosely defined by most people - but I will give my basic definition.

Business (Social) Networking sites are online communities where the users interact around content with the purpose of doing business. The content can range from personal bios (resumes), to business profiles, to blogs and forums. The content comes in many forms, but the purpose of sharing the contenty revolves around the same principle - a person wanting to do business.

Here is my list of Business Networking destinations:

• Fast Pitch!
• LinkedIn
• eCademy
• Xing
• Ryze
• Ziggs

I will go ahead and give my Review of each, since I have a profile on all of the sites.