NETWORKING WAHM

Archive for December, 2008

Finding an Online Community for Women in Business

As a businesswoman, it’s very important to have a good support network.  You need fellow businesswomen to share experiences and tips with.  You need women who are in fields related to yours to ask questions.  The sense of community provided by a group of businesswomen can help see you through the tough times.

But finding a group in your area isn’t always practical.  Maybe there are networking groups that you could join, but they might meet at times that are not convenient for you.  Or if you’re not in a metropolitan area, there may not be any groups that are especially for women in your area.  That doesn’t mean that you’re left out in the cold, though.

There are plenty of online communities designed for businesswomen and female entrepreneurs.  These communities offer such features as profile pages, forums, chat rooms and classified ads.  They give women a place to connect with like-minded women from their own homes and offices.

With all of the online communities for businesswomen out there, it can be tempting to join and participate in them all.  But by doing so, you limit your opportunity for meaningful connections.  Keeping up with so many different communities takes a lot of time, and there’s little possibility for reward.  By finding one or two good communities and sticking with them, you can better reap the benefits they have to offer.

Here are some tips for finding the right online community for you.

* Keep your objectives in mind.  If you are looking for referrals, a group that consists completely of women in your field is probably not the best choice for you.  That doesn’t mean you can’t join for the opportunity to learn from others in your business, but if referrals are what you want, you may not want to limit yourself.

* Ask colleagues for recommendations.  Those who are experienced in online networking often know the best places to do so.

* Take the groups that interest you for a test drive.  Many communities offer a free trial, and some are completely free.  So if you find one you like, join up and network with the members for a week or so.  This will give you a feel for how everything works and how supportive the other members are.  If you decide it’s not for you, move on and find something else.

* Read the rules of such communities carefully.  Most have restrictions on blatant advertising.  While it is rarely banned outright, there is often a designated time or place for it.  Disobeying these rules could get you booted, and at the very least it will turn off the other members.

Online networking is a great way to find business partners and generate referrals.  Communities designed specifically for women are also valuable sources of business advice, and can result in lasting friendships.  Even if you have the opportunity to network locally, networking with fellow businesswomen online offers lots of rewards.

Some great places to check out are:
My WAHM Space
Mom Masterminds

Are you using Facebook? This is a great new way to keep in touch with others on the Web. It provides real time updates on what people are talking about, what they’re sharing, including images and stories. If you are on other social networking sites like MySpace or if you blog, you can link your sites to Facebook and keep everyone up to date. One of the unique features of Facebook that a lot of network marketing people use the list of feeds available to the public. This lists the most popular topics and pictures that people are posting online. Marketing gurus can use this list to promote their opportunities and get a better response based on the trends online. With the millions of people using Facebook every day, you can take advantage of this growing network and increase traffic to your own website.

Free Download: Marketing to Moms Online Guide

Billions of dollars are spent each year by a certain group of people…and that group is everywhere we look. Yep, you guessed it – I’m talking about moms. Mothers are responsible for much of the household spending and influence the buying decisions of family members across generations.

If you’re looking to market more effectively to this group of savvy online consumers, download Wendy Wood & Alice Seba’s free 9-page report:

“Quick & Easy Ways to Market to the Powerful Multi-Billion Dollar Market of Mothers Online”

This report shows you:

- Just how big and influential the mom market is
- Why moms use the Internet & what they do there
- How to reach moms and gain their confidence – all on a shoestring budget.

Your download is completely free and comes without any type of obligation. No registering your email address and waiting for the download to be delivered. Simply click the link and save it to your computer. Please feel free to share this report with your fellow mom-to-mom marketing friends.

Click here to get yours.

It is a PDF document and you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view it. If you don’t have this software, you can get it here.

Do you Twitter? It’s the great new way to increase traffic to your website by providing a way for you to find out who’s talking about you!

This network marketing tool was invented to allow companies to monitor others in the Internet who are talking about their products and services in real time. That means, if you have a company, you can set up targeting tracking of how and where people are talking about you by using Twitter. Some highly respected companies like Dell and Comcast are using Twitter to monitor Internet “chatter” to find send out responses to consumers who may be interested in what they’re doing.

Twitter tracks keywords and phrases that the companies set up and can change as needed. If you own a personal website or blog, you can use Twitter to stay connected to the people who read your blogs, family and friends who may be responding to your posts and pictures on various other social networking sites.