Business and Social Networking Resources

Online Networking

Ryze -- helping you expand your business network.

LinkedIn -- Your professional relationships are key to your professional success. LinkedIn's mission is to help you be more effective in your daily work and open doors to opportunities using the professional relationships you already have.

Xing -- XING powers relationships for the world’s business professionals. No two people are more than six degrees apart. Put theory into practice and benefit from your XING network.

Plaxo -- Connect to your family, friends, and business network. We make it easy to find who you know.

Tribe.net -- believes in the power of connecting to other people to get things done. Whether it's for finding the right job, a killer apartment, a good restaurant, a gentle dentist, or a hiking buddy, we think those tasks are best done by connecting with other local people for advice and sharing.

In Person Networking Opportunities

Business Network International -- BNI is the largest business networking group in the world. They offer members the opportunity to share new ideas, contacts and business referrals.

LeTip International -- LeTip International, Inc. is a structured, highly professional, business-to-business networking organization built on the understanding that people are most comfortable doing business with people they know and trust. Since 1978 LeTip has been teaching members how to generate more leads by forming trustworthy and strategic alliances that are mutually beneficial. Currently over 500 LeTip Chapters throughout the United States and Canada meet weekly. During chapter meetings members pass qualified leads known as "Tips", present their own 30-second commercials and develop rapport with other professionals. The result is an increase in business from truly productive word-of-mouth relationships.

Leads Club -- The purpose of Leads Club is to assist you in getting good business referrals that will expand your business success.

Biznik -- Biznik is an award-winning business networking community that connects independent business people. Biznik can help you grow your small business faster and make it more profitable through relationships.

Social Networking

Facebook -- Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.

MySpace -- MySpace is for anyone including business people and co-workers interested in networking and you can create a community, share photos, journals and interests with your network.

Ning -- Where you can create your own personal social network.

Gather -- designed to encourage interaction through various social, political and cultural topics.

MeetUp -- portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies.

Leveraging Social Networking - article from About.com

Virtual Assistant Networking

Virtual Assistant Revolution -- group of professional virtual assistants dedicated to growing their businesses beyond with innovation and creativity.

Virtual Assistants International Group (VAIG) -- open to all virtual assistants who want to learn more about the industry, share ideas and experiences and learn from each other. This chat forum, started for members of "A Clayton's Secretary" in 1998, was opened to all VAs and homebased operators in 2004.

Virtual Assistant Forums -- a community of professional virtual assistants interested in sharing information and experience as well as a whole host of resources including exclusive 'members only' sections.

Virtual Assistant Networking Association -- a friendly, informative, educational and resourceful online community for Virtual Assistants and business entrepreneurs to network together.

Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce -- the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce is a professional association of Virtual Assistants networking worldwide to promote shared business interests, opportunities and advancement of the Virtual Assistance profession.

Virtual Assistants YahooGroup -- This is a discussion group for Virtual Assistants who work from home, providing professional secretarial/administrative support to individuals and/or small businesses!

ABSSI -- this forum is for experienced business support service owners. This online community is a place where you can network with your colleagues and exchange information and ideas concerning all aspects of owning and operating a business support service.