Is Viadeo a serious alternative to LinkedIn?

I just joined the professional networking site Viadeo. While it has 35 million members it is strongest in Europe and Asia, which is probably why I didn’t know of the service until recently. I have added a rudimentary profile to http://viadeo.com/en/profile/hakan.soderbom. I expect it will take me some time to explore all the features, however I have to ask myself – how many social sites can I realistically be active on? What is your experience with Viadeo? Is it a real competitor to...

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Facebook or LinkedIn for business networking?

There is a really interesting and active thread in the eMarketing Association Network Group on LinkedIn. The question raised by Marco Schreurs is: “Do you see Facebook groups as a business network? Or should we focus on linkedin?” With over 150 responses he has stated a question that raises a lot of passion and engages analytical minds. In my case, my answer is straight forward and focuses on simplicity. Here is what I said: I do not currently see FB as a strong way of building or engaging my business network, if with business network you mean corporate colleagues, vendors,...

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What you should do instead of spamming your prospects

I just shared some thoughts in a private forum, in response to an article by Ken Varga called Turing Prospects into Customers. Since my comments are broadly applicable I copy them here. I both agree and disagree with Ken Varga’s article. Here is why: The trick is to engage the prospects when they are ready to buy. Here is a typical example: Joe lives in rented accomodation and has no plans to buy a house. At this time he is not open to mortgage deals, which means that advertising to him is a waste of money. However when Joe 6 months later starts looking for a house with his new...

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