Social Networking For Business

Adam Eiseman was a big networker long before the Internet came into play. But the CEO of Lloyd Group, a New York-based solution provider, has quickly learned that Web 2.0 networking initiatives can be viable tools for viral marketing, demand generation and recruiting.

Lloyd Group recently closed a deal worth about $100,000 with a start-up hedge fund that the VAR connected with through Facebook. And that deal has led to another opportunity that could be worth $500,000.

Now, Eiseman is a true believer in the power of social networking. Although they are in the same city, he didn't even meet the hedge fund customer in person until after the deal had closed. "For us, Facebook is just an extension of something we've always been doing," Eiseman said.

In the last couple of years, Steve Meek, president of Fulcrum Group Inc., has connected to more than 100 people via the networking site LinkedIn, which he recently used to hire someone to run a new managed services group within his organization. "The toughest thing is to find the right people for a position you have to fill. I've been on LinkedIn for a little while and started to think there might be a way [to find a good candidate]. I went through my notebook of people that I trust and sent out a blast. Within three weeks I had interviewed much better candidates than if I had posted on Monster," Meek said.

Online social networking platforms may have a long way to go before they replace more traditional business tools for making connections. But, clearly, these sites aren't just for Generation Y friends and family members anymore. A growing number of channel players are discovering there can be real-world business benefits to getting connected via these online platforms.

Huddle Up!
"How many people here are on Facebook?" asked Demo 08 executive producer Chris Shipley at January's showcase of new technology. About half of the attendees lifted a hand. "And how many of you conduct actual business on Facebook?" Just a few scattered arms shot up throughout the room.

Huddle, the company Shipley was introducing for its six-minute demo, aims to change that.

The London-based social networking company was at Demo 08 to introduce the integration of its hosted workspace tool with Facebook. On Huddle, users from disparate locales can build or join workspaces—called huddles—for personal or professional projects. With its Facebook-style interface and full integration with the social site itself, Huddle is billed by co-founder Alistair Mitchell as the place "where work and play collide."

Huddle offers four tiers of membership. The first gives users three workspaces and 1 Gbyte of storage for free. The next three tiers—marketed at professionals, small businesses and enterprises—cost between $20 and $98 per month and offer up to 50 workspaces, 25 Gbytes of storage, unlimited users, 128-bit SSL encryption for security and a customizable dashboard.

It's a platform Mitchell insists takes the fun of online social networking and points it in the direction of actually getting some work done. And with big U.K. retailers such as Boots already on board, London-based Huddle has some reason to believe its plan to spice up business communications for the MySpace generation has some legs.

But should solution providers care? Absolutely, say the documentarians of Gen Y. Some 70 million or so Americans born between 1980 and 1995 are entering the workforce with different priorities, social networking needs and relationships with technology than previous generations.

If you're not thinking about meeting these young workers' IT needs, say the Gen Y evangelists, you might be planning for retirement sooner than you'd like.

They Get It
Eiseman networked through traditional networking groups such as Ingram Micro Inc.'s (Santa Ana, Calif.) VentureTech Network and Young Presidents Organization before registering with LinkedIn, his first online networking experience. "The nice thing about [LinkedIn] is everybody is on it. The challenge is everybody's on it," he said.

When MySpace was created, he joined but found it wasn't a great business tool. A former employee invited him to be a friend on Facebook. Eiseman joined and saw more potential for that site. He created two fan pages within Facebook for Lloyd Group, one with information about the company and an alumni page for former employees and interns. "We do marketing tips of the week, we have photos of company events, company newsletters," he said.

Meek also sees sales opportunities through social networking sites. "With the success I've had with LinkedIn, I think if we had a sales person to explore Facebook, we might see some [wins]," he said.

Next: No Line Between Home and Work