Biznik Blog

It’s really no big surprise, you get out of this community what you put in.

I recently took some photos of Biznik members for a new about page that we are creating. Madhu Singh gave me this nugget of a quote, “Biznik truly promotes relationships with the person and not just the company. If you respect the community by participating and promoting your peers you will gain the same respect back X 10!”

We see this concept proven over and over again. Members that participate by commenting on articles, lending their perspectives and expertise are the ones that foster relationships that lead, eventually, to business.

Alas, there is no model yet to prove the ROI of business networking. But really, does there need to be? Can’t you just tell that when you get yourself out there in one way or another, that results come your way? Sure, you could think about it like this: business=participation/time.

But why bother?

What is important is that you connect with other real business owners that are just as serious about their business as you are, find out what they need, try to fill that need with someone that you know; making good in this world for two of your peers.

Today I found a 2-year-old blog post by Social Media Answers called, “Why Do Business Social Networking Sites Suck So Bad?” The author, Kevin Palmer, complained about poor design and interface, little business perspective, unsolicited self-promotional spam from users, and “random features” unrelated to business.

Boy am I late to this particular conversation. But better late than never, right? As the founder of a business social networking site that carried the tagline “business networking that doesn’t suck” for five years, how could I NOT respond?

Biznik.com was founded in 2005 for exactly the reasons Kevin outlined. My husband and I wanted to hang out with other people who were self employed and running small businesses, and the meetings we went to at the old fashioned chambers and the forced referral groups, sucked as much as some of the web sites he mentioned.

Why do most business social networks suck?

I think a large factor is due to the fact that most were founded by and are run by people who’ve never been a micropreneur, a solopreneur, or a company-of-one. They’ve never started a business that became an extension of who they are. They built a tool for referral passing and Rolodex stuffing. They dream of increased site traffic, ad revenue and an acquisition; this is in disconnect with their users who dream of the joy of remaining self-employed.

The only way B2B networking works is when people trust each other. People don’t want to do business with people they don’t like or don’t trust. Pushy or loud “look at me” posts that have no relevance to the conversation do the opposite of establishing trust, they turn people off.

Which is more relevant to you? Your resume or your reputation?

Business social networks have the ability to help their users establish a professional reputation, and in turn build relationships with peers.

Kevin claims that LinkedIn is the only successful business social network. I challenge him on that. The reason you don’t see too much self promotion on LinkedIn is because LinkedIn is a career networking site. It’s dominated by day-jobbers and independent contractors looking for introductions to large companies. It was not designed as a tool for building a reputation. It’s a place to post your resume.

In the words of LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn is a tool for managing your career. Facebook’s a place for your social graph, and LinkedIn’s a place for your professional graph — a place where people can separate their professional lives from their personal ones. By that logic, neither FB nor LinkedIn provide a place for your business graph. I argue that for micropreneurs, solopreneurs, and companies-of-one, mixing business with pleasure is one of our greatest strengths.

So how can a business social networking site manage not to suck?

It could try what Biznik’s done well such as a strictly enforced No-MLM policy; and heavily moderated forums, events calendar, and articles for compliance with our 95/5 Principle (which states that 95% of whatever you contribute should be helpful and relevant; and self-promotional drivel should be limited to 5% of the content.)

We ruthlessly review each new member to see if they’re real. We delete spammers and reprimand those who get flagged for unsolicited mail. And we moderate the forum. If you’re filling posts with link spam, we’ll delete the links. If you chime in with a self promotional plug that’s not even tangentially related to the forum topic, we’ll move your post to the “Member Promotions” forum.

Biznik’s own commitment to 95/5

We follow the 95/5 Principle by keeping the site ad-free. It’s free to join Biznik. A percentage of the membership pays the affordable monthly premium for extra features. This revenue supports a small team comprised of community support, site management and new development. When you subscribe to Biznik Pro you’re not only contributing to the the development of newer and cooler features and benefits, you’re supporting the people keeping your Biznik community running and working overtime to hold the scammers, spammers and self-promotional schlockers at bay.

This is how to do business networking and business social networking that DOESN’T SUCK.

This week I received an email, “From the offices of Gary Baris – Today In America with Terry Bradshaw”. I have to admit, it sounded pretty important. It explained that Biznik was being considered for story on national TV program Today in America, with the co-host of FOX NFL Sunday, Terry Bradshaw.

We are currently working on an upcoming segment on ”21st century networking solutions for small business people,” and it will be included in our, “Taking your business to the next level” Series.

Mr. Baris and his team are responsible for determining the most appropriate content for programming based on our editorial calendar, and he would like to arrange a time to speak with you regarding the upcoming story. The segment relates to industry trends, and takes a look at how organizations are helping to address these developments. He has a particular interest in speaking with you about “Biznik”.

We haven’t been on national TV yet, but it’s not unheard of that we’d be considered for a national news story. Biznik’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine. We’re 5 years old. We jockey for position #1 on Google for the search, “business networking”. More times than not, we outrank both LinkedIn and BNI.

Visions of an afternoon by the pool on an all-expense paid trip to LA – (plus the opportunity to meet some of our hotshot LA Bizniks) – pumped me up. Then the team gathered around one of the large monitors and we Googled it. A search for “Today in America SCAM” pulled up a blog post on CBS Moneywatch. The author, Allan Roth, was able to engage one of Today in America’s Associate Producers in conversation. Check out how he missed out on his few minutes of fame, and what it means to you – (Financial Informercials Cleverly Disguised As News By Allan Roth | Jul 1, 2010). His post, along with another one I found, revealed a “small scheduling fee” in the tune of $19,800.

When one of our teammates took the call from the associate producer, he was told, “You’re welcome to sit in on the call but I’m scheduled to talk to Lara Feltin and I won’t conduct this call without her.” Andrew explained that I had delegated the call to him. Mr. Baris curtly replied, “Never mind then” and hung up on him! (nice.)

I won’t say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. A compelling news story is a win-win-win for the stations broadcasting the content, for the consumers of the story, as well as for the company being profiled. I will say, if it seems fishy it probably is. There was something off about the Today in America web site. (Like the big blank Airings page that reads, “Here you will find news, airdates, and times for the latest airings of Today in American on national networks across the country.” Where is here?) Adding the word “scam” to my search term instantly revealed others who shared a similar experience. Thank you for sharing your story, Allan!

Two years ago, my friend Kristin sat me down and forced me to create a Facebook account. I was horrified. The first two months were awful. Like some quirky pixie dust sprinkled on my computer, I was reunited with scores of high school friends. How annoying!

Lots has been said about where all of this is going. Social. Media. I for one was looking for it to change, with any luck, to go away. I drug my heels on just about everything social and media. And yet…

When my family and I were visiting LA, we connected in-person with a friend whose request I accepted. We met in person after years of separation. Both of our families connected. It was amazing. We had such a great time. I wish I could see he and his family more often. 

I have heard lots of these stories. It is what make Facebook and the rest of social media interesting–when it turns into real life events.

When we draw a real life encounter from an online experience.

A walk on the Santa Barbara promenade.

A lunch.

A hug.

A business meeting.

A hug at a business meeting, with any luck.

How do we do it? We engage.

An illustration of Biznik’s SEO Mojo and what it can do for YOU.

(This video was free to make. Make your own YouTube Search Story at www.youtube.com/searchstory)

We didn’t plan for Biznik’s birthday to fall in the middle of National Small Business Week, so I’d call it an omen. Biznik is a home for the smallest of small businesses. We’re not another referral marketing group or a LinkedIn clone – this is a networking community of indie solopreneurs who are committed to helping each other succeed.

2005 biznik.com banner

In 2005 the Biznik indie revolution began. Dan and I weren’t getting very far bouncing business ideas off our cat. So on May 25, we invited a bunch of friends to get together to discuss our small business projects. We focused on collaborating and sharing resources, and not on passing referrals. We promised that this would be, “business networking that doesn’t suck”.

The concept caught on, the community grew, the development of the site and events soon eclipsed Dan and my former client work, and Biznik was added to the ranks of Seattle startups. In light of SBA’s report that 50% of new businesses fail in the first five years – this birthday is a milestone.

[Any Numerologists out there want to comment on the significance of fives in this story? Our first meeting was on 05/25/05, this year ('10) we're celebrating our 5th birthday, and currently the membership is 50,000-strong.]

biznik.com 2005 vs. 2010

Celebrate with us by sharing your seeds of wisdom.
• Has your business passed the five year mark?
• What was responsible for that accomplishment?
• Can you share a downfall or failure that felt at the time, you could see the end?

I’ll start… Biznik would be nothing but a cool web site on a server in our garage if it weren’t for you and the energy you invest here. If there’s a gem of wisdom in there it’s to listen to your customers and be practice the art of being flexible. You could create a canine culinary experience with the finest ingredients, but if the dogs won’t eat the dog food, you need to take a closer look at the dog food, not the pets you’re catering to.

We dug into our own pockets and bootstrapped Biznik, but whether you’re bootstrapped or funded, don’t lose site of your cash flow. The summer I had to put our employee’s payroll on a credit card is a moment I’ll never forget. I learned the value of getting regular reports from my bookkeeper and staying on top of our cash flow analysis sheet. Numbers may not be the most fun part of the job, but if you don’t stay on top of them, you’ll be out of a job (or in this case – looking for a one!)