20 Social Networking Sites for Business Professionals

By | August 28, 2012 | Business

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Many of us actively use sites like Twitter and Facebook to promote our businesses. And those of us looking to connect with more business-related contacts may turn to sites like LinkedIn to develop relationships with people we have worked with or may want to work with.

With the growing use of social networking by business professionals, there is a growing number of social networking sites focused on business users and meeting their needs. Here is a list of 20 social networking sites for entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals that are worth a look.

Biznik – A community of entrepreneurs and small businesses dedicated to helping each other succeed.

biznik

cmypitch.com – A business website for UK entrepreneurs to get quotes, advice and more.

cmypitch

Cofoundr – A community for entrepreneurs, programmers, designers, investors, and other individuals involved with starting new ventures.

cofoundr

E.Factor – An online community and virtual marketplace designed for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.

efactor

Ecademy –A business network for creating contacts and sharing knowledge.

ecademy

Entrepreneur Connect – A community by Entrepreneur.com where professionals can network, communicate, and collaborate with others.

entrepreneur connect

Fast Pitch – A business network where professionals can market their business and make connections.

fast pitch

Focus – A community focused on helping business decision makers and IT professionals make decisions.

focus

JASEzone – A professional community where you can find potential clients and business partners.

jasezone

LinkedIn – A professional network that allows you to be introduced to and collaborate with other professionals.

linkedin

Networking for Professionals – A business network that combines online business networking and real-life events.

networkingforprofessionals

PartnerUp – A community connecting small business owners and entrepreneurs.

partnerup

PerfectBusiness – A network of entrepreneurs, investors and business experts that encourages entrepreneurship and mutual success.

perfectbusiness

Plaxo – An enhanced address book tool for networking and staying in contact.

plaxo

Ryze – A business networking community that allows users to organize themselves by interests, location, and current and past employers.

ryze

StartupNation – A community focused on the exchange of ideas between entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners.

startupnation

Upspring – A social networking site for promotion and social networking.

upspring

XING – A European business network with more than 7 million members.

xing

Young Entrepreneur – A forum-based site for entrepreneurs and small business owners who are passionate about promoting business for themselves and others.

young-entrepreneur

Ziggs – A professional connection portal founded on the principles of professionalism and respect.

ziggs

Do you have any other social networking sites for business that you use? Which one has worked the best for your business?

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Alyssa Gregory

Alyssa Gregory is a small business collaborator and the founder of the Small Business Bonfire, a social, educational and collaborative community for entrepreneurs.

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{ 38 comments }

Hector Feliciano November 23, 2011 at 11:27 am

I use Splatbiz.com a site for Professionals Worldwide. This site is a beautiful, clutter free, no ads, no nonsense site, where a member can promote themselves as well as their business. Its a must see a must sign up, and best of all the site is free.

Socius Capital Group November 23, 2011 at 6:46 pm

Socius Capital Group LLC

– Family office located in Los Angeles and New York.

– Provides capital in U. S., European, Australian and Asian markets directly to small-cap public companies with market capitalizations below $2 billion.

– Since its 2009 inception, Socius has completed approximately 35 transactions committing in excess of $300 Million in capital. Transactions range from $5 Million to $50 Million.

– Many portfolio companies have been cited by leading financial publications(Reuters, Bloomberg etc.).

– Passive investor – does not seek Board seats or control positions.

– Socius is not a hedge fund and does not accept capital from outside parties; captive capital.

– Socius is focused on life sciences, healthcare, energy, natural resources, media, social media, technology and special situations.

– Majority of our portfolio companies do their follow-on financing with Socius.

Thapelo Maleke November 17, 2011 at 7:21 am

Kindly add the new way for Young Entrepreneurs to network called BIZJAM – http://www.bizjam.co.za. Thanx for the list.

Gensan November 3, 2011 at 11:03 am

Great valuable of information. All I need are here! Very much thank you!

Dave Bevan October 23, 2011 at 12:03 pm

LinkedIn has changed its business model and enables people to spam. If you are a linkein memeber you will start getting numerous daily invitations from people trying to sell you services such as consulting, marketing and more. this is encouraged by Linkedin to their paying subscribers. It is very annoying and LinkedIn will not allow you to prevent this from happening. I have tried contacting LinkeIn customer service – and discovered there is no such thing. they refuse to assist and address the problem that they have created. If someone is willing to pay them, he can spam anyone.

James October 15, 2011 at 11:11 am

Social network for teachers in Spain: http://www.tiching.com

Seems to be growing and expanding fast…

Ragesh October 10, 2011 at 12:52 am

This is was a useful information and loved the post…..!!

Steven September 21, 2011 at 8:36 pm

I realize this post is a little dated, but it looks like it’s still active. Our company recently launched ReferralSmart.com, a site that helps small, local businesses form personal business referral networks. It’s a great alternative, or addition, to weekly networking groups, chambers of commerce, etc. The site is non-exclusive, focused on helping members pass qualified referrals and also requires members to abide by our Ethical Standards Policy. We’d love you to sign-up free at http://www.referralsmart.com and let us help you to grow your business by referral!
-Steven Boorstein, CEO
ReferralSmart.com (a division of NomadRx L.L.C.)

Andrew September 19, 2011 at 10:40 am

Nice list, thanks for sharing. Another one I use is: http://www.ibcontact.com

Dave August 16, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Great way to connect with like minded professionals online and then meet in person at events is http://www.vivastream.com/.

39articles June 18, 2011 at 3:11 pm

thanks for info i link very much

Mark August 19, 2009 at 6:25 pm

SHWBIZ is an entertainment industry oriented social networking site. The site connects working professionals from across all fields and levels within the entertainment industry.

http://www.shwbiz.com

Business Network August 17, 2009 at 6:54 pm

Nice List of social networking site. I found another one http://www.wapr.com

Manuela August 16, 2009 at 6:42 am

Awesome list ! Another one is directmatches.com/xangobiz

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Ventego August 13, 2009 at 5:56 am

Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.

Debt Settlement Program August 10, 2009 at 2:46 pm

complex post. simply one detail where I contest with it. I am emailing you in detail.

Sharon Weshler August 7, 2009 at 10:25 pm

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Mark August 5, 2009 at 4:18 am

Thanks for the information, I recently joined http://www.loopdesk.com. It is strictly business to business networking without all of the personal information. They have members worldwide but just launched a few months ago I think. I like it because they do not limit who I can connect with or contact. Plus has a very appealing look to it.

They are offering FREE membership for a limited time if anyone wants to look!

Anonymous August 5, 2009 at 2:45 am

How about Viadeo. A professional social network (and a client of mine at Edelman PR in London) – they’ve just upgraded the service and have a series of new features going live over the next few months including a real-time chat function and open social boxes on members’ profiles.

Anna Stuart

Anonymous August 4, 2009 at 8:48 pm

thanks for posting, very useful

Jason August 3, 2009 at 12:34 am

A couple more worth mentioning: Facebook’s Visa Business Netowork (http://apps.facebook.com/visabusiness/sign_up) This is a different program from Facebook’s personal profiles and should be used instead if you are setting up a profile for your business. Also, Adviatech’s business social network (http://connect.adviatech.com) doesn’t have advertisements. One of my other favorites is Fast Company’s social network of entrepreneurs and creatives (http://www.fastcompany.com/). You can actually login to Fast Company’s network with your Facebook login.

Hunter White July 31, 2009 at 6:22 am

Some good social networks listed here. I like http://www.incompany.com also. I am surprised Facebook didn’t make the list though.

octaviopitaluga July 30, 2009 at 8:17 am

Please pay attention to TEN – Top Executives Net. Up runner.

The networker July 30, 2009 at 4:09 am

Try http://www.thenetworklounge.co.uk , a fantastic site but you need to be invited

QuaffAPint July 30, 2009 at 2:14 am

Appreciate the links – but a lot just list a bunch of ads disguised as other things. The one that seemed promising – biznik – seems to have mostly Seattle based stuff, even though I changed cities. Oh well :p.

bayli July 29, 2009 at 9:34 am

hmmm…posting link didn’t seem to work. Try again.

http://www.weebiz.com/

bayli July 29, 2009 at 9:33 am

Also check out

mark.

Jeffk1 July 29, 2009 at 8:57 am

Nice list of Social Networks!

I did’nt see Wooxie.com?

Jeff
http://Wooxie.com

Niubi July 29, 2009 at 2:02 am

http://DubLinetwork.com looks really interesting too.

loganathan July 28, 2009 at 6:24 pm

Nice article,

What about FaceBook?

rayan_es July 28, 2009 at 4:55 pm

Nice article ………….

Very good collection of social networking sites. Before i checked some of them but now i found some more interesting sites.

thanks……
.
.

Deshi Boi – Online Bangla Library – The Biggest Archive For Bangla Newspaper, Magazine & Book.

rayan_es July 28, 2009 at 4:55 pm

Nice article ………….

Very good collection of So social networking sites. Before i checked some of them but now i found some more interesting sites.

thanks……
.
.

Deshi Boi – Online Bangla Library – The Biggest Archive For Bangla Newspaper, Magazine & Book.

RonD July 28, 2009 at 2:21 pm

This is quite a list you have put together and it is of value for any entrepreneur who reads it–thank you. We have found that particularly in this down cycle that entrepreneurs are desperate to communicate with others who are experiencing the same struggles that they are. Besides joining these sites, it can be of great value to join a business association in one’s area of expertise or experience–many have breakfast, lunch or dinner events. It is extremely helpful and even therapeutic to sit around at a table to discuss the current month’s threats and opportunities. One CEO, who spent five days at an educational event, came back not only with a higher business IQ but also several new-found friends in similar positions. He said that he needed to bounce some of his decisions off of people outside his company but people who were also highly experienced at a similar level, and most importantly, people he felt he could trust.

Thanks

RonD
http://www.start-a-business-faq.com

Peter Sparks July 28, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Nice list – looking forward to building a few more profiles tonight. Seems odd not to http://www.manta.com on the list? I’ve integrated some of my other business social profiles & my twitter feed into my Manta profile – and I’m showing up all over their site in the recent visitors sections of the companies I want to sell into. It’s pretty cool.

Vantrix July 28, 2009 at 4:37 am

Biznik is simply awesome! I have been using it since September 2007 and have not found a better business networking site till to date. No ads, no MLM policy and no shady practices. It really helped my business grow bigtime and helped in finding some great friends at the same time…

Anita CM

http://www.tweetrsvp.com

Donagh July 28, 2009 at 2:11 am

Nice list of sites. I’ve been on to most of them but one or two are new. The newest business social network is http://www.loopthing.com

Steve July 28, 2009 at 1:35 am

This one looks interesting. http://www.businessnetwork.co.uk/community/

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