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| | The Un-Marketing Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | Views: 1241 | | Feb 28, 2005 9:54 am | | Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Klaas Brumann | | Call for evidence on the benefits of online social networking "Technology now allows social networks to make a quantum leap forward in breaking the old trade-off between quality and quantity -- you can now increase both, without compromising either one."- Geoffrey Hyatt
Over the past two years a number of online social networks have sprung up. While there is plenty of information about the value of real world networking (business clubs, social clubs, exclusive schools etc) the subject of online social networking for business and academia is relatively new. Platforms like - Academici.ac (research and higher education) - Alumni.net - Philippines - BIZTRIBE - The Netherlands - Cap-up.de - Germany - Ecademy.com - UK - eConozco.com - Spanish language - Flickr.com - photography / USA - Huminity, Social Software - Israel - Itsnotwhatyouknow.com / Knowmentum - USA - LinkedIn.com - USA - NetMinder - South Korea - openBC.com - Germany - RealContacts - New Zealand - RYZE - USA - Shortcut - Sweden - SmallWorld.net - Soflow.com - UK - Tribe.net - USA - viaduc.com - francophone network - Zerendipity Networks - Canada - Zerodegrees USA have attracted millions of members spending varying amounts of time and effort in social networking online. The question arising out of billions of hours spend online are: - Is it a worthwhile activity from a business perspective? For research in Business studies at the University of Liverpool I am calling for anecdotal examples on which I would like to investigate any possible economic benefits and how/why it was achieved through online social networking. If you would please take a moment responding with some (free text) examples of benefits or failures of social networking. If you prefer not to submit your example to this forum you can also contact my on: networking@exactresults.com All examples submitted will be dealt with in confidence. Thank you for your cooperation. Private Reply to Klaas Brumann | | Mar 04, 2005 4:39 am | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Douglas Karr | | What used to take trips and phone calls that interrupted the daily routine and cost more, is now effortless and inexpensive via online social networking.
Key to online social networking is its efficient use of MY time. I read your note at my convenience, and you are going to read my reply at yours. I read email from important clients immediately, and put unimportant emails aside for later.
Are the examples you are looking for strictly to do with Business? Or Personal?Private Reply to Douglas Karr | | Mar 07, 2005 8:22 pm | | re: re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Wei Yang | | I find sometimes people come on to these networks to pitch their MLM stuff. I don't mean within the Ryze network specifically or anywhere else for that matter. However, in those cases, it's a waste of my time. Private Reply to Wei Yang | | Mar 07, 2005 10:08 pm | | Lets reconsider the premise... | # | 
>> Barry Caplan - Start Your Future Today | | Millions of people and billions of hours?
Uh, is that right? At its peak, AOL claimed membership in the ~30 million range... are all social networking sites combined servicing anywhere near that many people?
Let's be generourous and say 10-15 million have sampled it... then "billions of hours" would mean an average of multiple hundreds of hours per person of use.
Given my observation that the average user fills it out and forgets it, and I would predict the usage curve (# users vs # hours) is heavily spiked towards the low number of users with high number of hours, with a very long tail, I think the average amount of usage is going to be way lower then hundreds to thousands of hours. Maybe as few as "minutes", not "hours".
Although myself, I certainly have spent that amount of time on it, no way do I feel am I anywhere near the median in that regard...
Best,
BarryPrivate Reply to >> Barry Caplan - Start Your Future Today | | Mar 07, 2005 10:11 pm | | re: re: re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Frank Michlick | | I actually find that this seems to be very typical for Ryze though, which unfortunately has lead me to consider unsubscribing from some Networks here before. Especially when people promote the same links/products over and over and over... ;-)
/FrankPrivate Reply to Frank Michlick | | Mar 08, 2005 11:37 am | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # |
Frank Michlick | | When I wrote that 'this' was typical for Ryze, I was referring to people posting their affiliate links...
Hm... looks like this 'threaded' view is not really threaded, since it does not always join replies with the (sub-)post that people replied to.
/FrankPrivate Reply to Frank Michlick | | Mar 10, 2005 5:45 am | | re: re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # |
Wei Yang | | Fortunately and unfortunately, anyone can be a boss these days. Being a successful boss is another story.
When I come on here, I'm looking for quality over quantity. While there are a lot of successful people on here, unfortunately I haven't found a person who I'd consider a great person to brainstorm with (yet).Private Reply to Wei Yang | | Mar 20, 2005 8:09 am | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Scott Allen | | Klaas:
I am coauthor of a book due out in June on online social networking, The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, and write a monthly column for FastCompany.com on the topic. We have spent the last two years collecting success stories (and creating a few of our own). Several of them are mentioned in our blog and articles, which I've linked to below. I'll also be happy to send you a copy of our manuscript for your review, which will provide you with dozens of anecdotes for your research.
Success Stories on The Virtual Handshake Blog
Crossing the Social Networking Chasm (FastCompany.com)
I'll follow up privately with a link to the manuscript. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.
- Scott - Private Reply to Scott Allen | | Mar 27, 2005 4:31 am | | Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? Definately NOT a waste! PF | # | 
Paul Finkelstein Early bird Entrepreneur - omgtalk.com | |
Hi Scott and all,
I think this is my first post here.
Let's give it a shot.
:)
I definatley do NOT think it's a waste of time to
use online social networks.
You never know who youre going to meet or connect with.
Yes or yes?
I am still stunned how many people manage to stumble upon
my ryze home page.
When I first started on ryze,
I admit I got a little cocky.
As my wife says,
"cockiness will cost me dearly"
So, I toned down my page to very little about what I do.
And more about hobbies and interests, and industries
I like to network within.
I may have 2 or 3 links of ads on my ryze page,
but I hope they are interpreted as areas of interest
of myself.
I also am intrigued by RSS feeds.
So I have played around a bit with news sources for rss
feeds.
Also,
I hope visitors to my ryze page think of my page
as a place for FUN.
IF networking can be fun, then maybe
the networking part will be smoother.
What do you think???
Thanks Scott for un marketing.
Sincerely,
PaulPrivate Reply to Paul Finkelstein Early bird Entrepreneur - omgtalk.com | | Mar 28, 2005 9:13 pm | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero | | I don't think ANY networking is a waste of time. I personally grew my business from struggling to over 6 figures solely on networking. I never placed one single cold call and I'm no longer taking clients (sorry, Scott).
I have case after case after case of how my business has catapulted and friendships forged because of online networking.
Warmly,
Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero
http://www.red-hot-copy.com/tele-classes.htm
P.S. I'm looking to meet more entrepreneurs in person. Mark Victor (one of my clients) is throwing an event in Los Angeles April 15-17th. Will anyone else be there besides me? I'd love to meet you in person.
Private Reply to Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero | | May 24, 2005 3:24 am | | re: re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Jay NaPier | | NOPE!
I think Online Social Networking with the WRONG expectations IS.
I started Social Networking on an online forum in my industry. I STILL visit daily - It's kinda like a Coffee Shop, we stop in and chat and the like.
Ryze has been a great way for me to build my business. It's the Center of my web presence. I redirect from http://www.JNaPier.com .
I've made several friends and had a great time networking with like minded professionals.
Jay NaPierPrivate Reply to Jay NaPier | | May 26, 2005 4:25 am | | re: re: re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Ja-Nae Duane | | Since the start of the world wide web, the world has suddenly gotten ALOT smaller? Am I right? With that in mind, any type of networking seems to have a social element to it. This is mainly the case because it is easier to build lasting relationships (of any kind) with people we know and trust. You can't get to that point unless there is a form of social interaction. So, why not socialize with the world? It's right at your finger tips! Ja-Nae Wild Women Entrepreneurs Founder/President Private Reply to Ja-Nae Duane | | May 29, 2005 12:39 pm | | re: re: re: re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
KAF HEY TAV - Julie Perkins | | Ok, what has my online social networking cost me? Time, well, I don't usually waste time networking. Every minute of my time networking is working for me or I'm not doing it. I view every person and every situation as income. The people I am talking with on Ryze, for example are potential customers or vendors of our center.
I met my husband online with AOL. We are both professional astrologers and we met in a private chatroom that only professional astrologers would meet in to discuss astrology.
My best friend since 1993 I met online on AOL. I flew out to meet her and see her area of the country and she flew out here to see my area of the country. We have developed a business together and are best friends.
I've met people on Ryze that have and are still contributing their time, effort, and their products to our center in a win-win situation.
I don't consider networking a waste of time. Of course, I'm not asking "How's the weather?"Private Reply to KAF HEY TAV - Julie Perkins | | May 29, 2005 9:06 pm | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Klaas,
I can see why some folks might think social networking is a waste of time. Why? Because it is not delivering what they expect it should. When you walk into a piano store, what do you see? Answer: pianos. Now, if you happen to have the skill to play music on a piano, you could sit down at a piano and make beautiful music. If you do not have that skill, you cannot - even if you try to fake it. However, the fact that you happen to be in a piano store means there should be resources there available to help you develop the skill needed to make such beautiful music.
That is pretty much the way I see social netwoorking. It is a skill - not an innate trait. Just being at a networking event does not mean that you will engage in let alone benefit from the process.
I am hosting a seminar/mixer event in "Small Town USA" (Middletown, CA) to help educate the local merchants here on how to network - both in-person and online...locally, nationally and internationally. Because I believe that people all over the world have something to offer in that regard, I have given folks from all over the world the chance become involved. You see, I also believe the most powerful marketing tool available to any of us is the "personal referral." That means an endorsement from someone as far away as New Zealand or Australia can actually impact the turnout of an event taking place in Northern California.
All that is really required is for a person passionately communicate with an audience his endorsement in the English language. If you go to our Ryze Event Page at Middletown Merchants Seminar/Mixer, I think you will see that is already happening.
A key ingredient for networking, I believe, is "passion." I am not simply referring to the passion you have for the products or services you offer others, but that which others have to offer you as well. When you present a "win/win" scenario, I believe the incentive to have passion - let alone develop more of it - grows.
Lamar Morgan Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | May 30, 2005 12:09 am | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Anita Cohen-Williams | | I find online social networking to be quite valuable for me. I am able to help others understand how to use the Internet and search engines, and they teach me many things.
But, then, I have been running 3 discussion lists online since 1994. So, I have been in the thick of it for a long time.
LinkedIn.co and Jigsaw.com are not really the same type of social networking as Ryze and Tribe.
Anita Cohen-Williams
MySearchGuru.comPrivate Reply to Anita Cohen-Williams | | Jun 05, 2005 6:26 am | | re: Is online social networking a waste of YOUR time? | # | 
Marilyn Jenett | |
Hello Klaas,
I will make an understatement: Ryze has changed my life entirely.
This question was posted on another board (specifically with regard to Ryze) and I have copied my response here...
How is Ryze working for me?
When someone I didn't even know invited me to Ryze a year and a half ago, I had never been on a networking site before. I had only used the Internet to send and receive emails to clients and for an occasional search. I was new to cyberspace and in fact, had only learned to use a computer a short time before. For years in my highrise office, I had staff who did all my word processing and computer work. The whole idea of computers intimidated me (and I don't intimidate easily). I was not part of a generation that came out of the womb holding computers :-)
I came to Ryze having never conversed or networked online.
In my corporate business, my clients are the largest corporations in the world and they would not be found on Ryze, so I didn't treat Ryze as a business opportunity.
I had started teaching my prosperity lessons locally in Los Angeles just shortly before joining Ryze. I saw Ryze as a platform to share the knowledge and passion for Universal laws that I had used for decades and had stored inside. That was my reason and still is my reason for being on Ryze. I saw that there were thousands of others sharing their passions and reaching out to communicate and present their wares. I was delighted to participate in the discussion forums with my views. Then I felt prompted to start a network. But who would come? I kept thinking "Build the field and they will come". I put a few excerpts from my lessons on the network and then students started posting results. I built the field. They came. From all over North America. From all over the world.
In the past year and a half, Ryze has served as the platform for me to give birth to an additional career which has changed my life (and has and is changing the lives of others). It has given a whole new meaning and purpose to my life and is fulfilling beyond anything I could have imagined. It has stretched and grown and surpassed my corporate business of two decades in importance (I now consider that business a lucrative "hobby"). And yes, it has been very financially rewarding and has prospered me as I have devoted myself to teaching others to prosper using Universal laws. It has opened up the entire world to not only attract students to my program but to also bring friends and special people into my life whom I would not have otherwise known. It has served as an outstanding avenue of self expression for me and much of the information I have shared on forums has been saved and translated into profits.
Oh...let's not forget when my corporate client asked me to find a castle in Europe for the second of three promotions I was involved with. A castle in Europe? Out of the thousands of castles in Europe, it had to be one that could accommodate all of the extremely specific needs for this promotion - have publicity appeal that would attract millions of children in television commericals and the Internet, be willing to rent to us for the winner and his/her family to live there exclusively for an entire week, be kid friendly with all of the right activities within reach, accommodate our budget, etc., etc.
Go back to the field and they will come...
I was guided to post on a couple of networks in search of the right castle. Several Ryzers submitted castles they found on the Internet but an American Ryzer found THE castle - Eastnor in England (the one you see on my network and website) and received a substantial finder's fee. That was an extremely profitable booking for me.
Several months ago...one of my private students in Zurich is the CEO of a company that sells corporate jets (Lear Jet, etc.) in several European countries, Australia, and South Africa. I mentioned this briefly on a Ryze network and received a pm from a Florida businessman whose good friend owns an international company in Australia that has been considering buying a fleet of corporate jets. I put him together with my student and his company and negotiations began. Now as of this writing, a deal has not yet been consummated, and I don't know if one will be, but
I include it here to emphasize the tremendous possibilities that exist in the world of social networking.
So, is this working for me? Or shall I ask, Why is this working for me?
I didn't have anywhere near the experience most of you have had online and with networking. I didn't even have experience teaching or mentoring prior to starting Feel Free to Prosper. Although I have a special events company, I had never rented a European venue in my whole career. And I certainly have no experience selling jet planes!
Here is why it's working, plain and simple:
Belief. Belief. Belief.
I have a core belief that this Ryze door opened for me for a reason and that it is making available to me a world of limitless opportunities. And I am open to receive them. Complaining will not bring them. Expectation and belief will.
Although I believe it was all a part of Universal guidance, I will never be able to thank Adrian Scott enough for this wonderful platform that has changed my life and never ceases to surprise me!
Thanks for reading this long post. Reading about people who can't make it work really pushes a button :-)
Marilyn
Feel Free to Prosper
http://www.FeelFreetoProsper.com
http://prosper-network.ryze.com
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