Penny Power is the founder of Ecademy , an online business network. “Joining Ecademy is essentially about being among a group of like-minded people - some of whom are further along the line than you in terms of experience and some of whom are behind,” she said. “It’s about giving as well as taking. You mentor others as well as ask for advice.”
Power also believes that social networks can provide vital emotional support.
“In the corporate world you have other people to bounce ideas off and encourage you. If you are on your own, getting started can be very lonely. Ecademy provides a place to share your worries with others. I often hear of members talking through business problems with other members. They would rather do this than burden their families with it,” she said.
Fay Olinsky founded her business, Personal Chef, in 1994 and has since built from scratch a clientele for her private catering services. Social networking has played an important role in the process.
“When I launched the company I had to get Personal Chef established as a household name, but I didn’t have a big budget for advertising,” she said. “Networking with Ecademy was a godsend. I was able to blog daily about what I did and discuss my business online with the people I was getting to know. I have never needed to pay for advertising and my business has grown steadily.”
Olinsky is logged on to Ecademy for most of the day, but estimates that she spends about two hours updating and reading items. She particularly focuses on writing her blog; her topical comments have resulted in her being interviewed on television and radio.
“I tend to be a little robust and controversial and have views you either love or hate. I attract a lot of comments on my articles,” she said. “This is all good publicity because it makes Personal Chef prominent.”
Along with advertising, Olinsky has discovered many other benefits that being a part of an online community brings – some more unusual than others.
“I can’t be grateful enough for all the free technical advice I have been given,” she said. “Things like having forms designed specifically for my business built for free. I’ve even had advice on how to change a light bulb in a BMW. I put a note up in the online forum and about five minutes later someone had told me how to do it.”
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