Biznik - Business Networking that Doesn’t Suck

Business networking is typically something that happens at organized regular events, with plenty of notice, rsvp lists, and planning. But it’s also something that happens spontaneously all the time, right? Well here’s one more way to be spontaneous with your networking: join Biznik’s “flash networking” SMS group. The idea is simple: If you’re working at a coffee shop or hanging out with a friend or two for a happy hour drink and are in the mood for a little quick business networking, you can snd a quick invite to everyone in the group by sending a single text message. Everyone in the group then receives a text message on their cell phone, containing your invite. If someone is nearby and interested, they can send a text reply and join you. If you want to be part of this spontaneous form of networking, just add your cell phone number using this widget, and let’s invent a new form of business networking!

We’re using a free service called Swaggle to host this. Swaggle just added a new web-based interface which makes signing up and sending SMS messages easier. There are full instructions on how to use the service on their website.

I suspect a lot of indie businesses can benefit from this service. For example:

• Someone running a crew of housecleaners or delivery people could use it to coordinate (”done with house x, moving to house y”, “Whoever finished at place z first, meet us at place a”)

And, I think it would be useful for smaller groups within Biznik, too:

• If you’re hosting a Biznik event, you can create a group specifically for that event, and then if there are any last-minute changes you can notify everyone instantly. “Event cancelled because of the snow today.”