Social Business Networking and E-Commerce

Social Business Networking And E-Commerce

By: Jacqueline M. Gormley

BUS352: E-Commerce

Instructor: Dr. Caroline Howard

June 23, 2014

Because the Internet has long been touted as an effective, inexpensive, and global way to make any given business grow, in this paper we will discuss the social networking site for business professionals called Biznik. Our text explains exactly what Biznik is: “Biznik is a community of entrepreneurs and small businesses dedicated to helping each other succeed through the premise that collaboration beats competition. The site embraces people who are building real businesses, not looking for their next job. It’s for sharing your ideas, not posting your resume. All Biznik members use their real names, and provide real data. Biznik editors review profiles for compliance with this policy. It’s the place where real conversations about small business and entrepreneurship are taking place. Biznik is not just on-line; it includes face-to-face meetings in order to build real, lasting business relationships”(Turban, et al., 2011). By sharing within this community each business owner is getting recognition. There are many ways to get your name out there and most of them cost money. “Research in marketing is currently in an embryonic state regarding the electronic marketplace, both in terms of how consumers interact with each other online and how firms can utilize the Internet to drive value creation activities”(Brown, et al., 2007). Building relationships with other like-minded individuals that allows for an exchange of ideas to take place. It is a source of resources because social networking sites can be wonderful places to learn and find solutions to problems that you may be experiencing in your business. It is also a source for referrals and this is key to building relationships, and giving and receiving can be seen as key career components.

Some of the characteristics of Biznik are as follows: “It...