I recently experienced a phenomenon I call a “networking feedback loop”. You’ve undoubtedly been in a presentation in which the presenter pointed a microphone the wrong way (usually towards the P.A. system), and an overwhelming screech was emitted. This is what’s known as “feedback” - a situation in which the input is amplified, and the amplified output is fed back into the input, eventually overloading the system. The same thing can occur with networking.

While this is usually not a problem with face-to-face networking, it is common with online networking because of the increased speed and volume. Consider this example:

Monday - You initiate three new networking contacts.
Tuesday - You haven’t heard back from any of them, and you initiate three more networking contacts.
Wednesday - You hear back from one of Monday’s contacts in the morning, who refers you to three other people, who you contact. Later in the day, you hear back from the other two Monday contacts. You reply to all three.
Thursday - You hear back from Tuesday’s contacts, each of whom introduces you to two other contacts, whom you contact. Plus replying to all of Tuesday’s contacts.
Friday - You hear back from Wednesday’s three referrals, whom you reply to, plus you’re still carrying on a conversation with the three contacts from Monday, whom you reply to.
Saturday - Everyone you’ve reached so far plays catch-up and replies to you.
Following Monday - You start your day with thirty messages in your inbox, all expecting a reply!

As you can see, those conversations can quickly grow exponentially. That may sound great at first, but when it gets to the point that you can’t handle the appropriate responses in a timely manner, it’s really not so great. In fact, you will actually hurt your reputation by being unresponsive. You have to pace yourself - don’t initiate new networking contacts any faster than you let existing ones slip into “passive mode”. Keep track of your active conversations, and every time one comes to a conclusion or tapers off, then you can initiate a brand new contact.

Classmates.com started out in 1995 with the simple premise of helping people reconnect with old school friends. Its phenomenal growth to over 35 million members is a testament to the power of the internet to connect people on a large scale and of their desire to do so. And while the stories coming out of Classmates.com have been predominantly about people hooking up with childhood best friends and sweethearts, it’s also an exceptional resource for business networking. Alumni organizations have always been a great networking resource because of the strong underlying personal ties. Also, Classmates.com has recently added workplace alumni groups and topical interest groups to their system, which increases its value as a business networking tool significantly. Expect to see this area grow rapidly.

Their years of experience hooking up schoolmates really pay off in the business networking arena. Classmates.com supports exceptionally robust profiles and bios, broken out by aspects of your life, e.g., life (general), work, college, school, and military service. They also offer a global search, allowing you to hook up with other people with similar interests or backgrounds, even who you may not have had any prior contact with. And their integration with e-mail is particularly impressive, in that they will automatically send you announcements of new members or newly updated profiles of your classmates and former co-workers.

The only limitation we really see with Classmates.com as a business networking resource is that the vast majority of users have not filled out their profiles very extensively - a common problem on all networking sites. Until that changes, it will be of limited usefulness in terms of meeting new people individually simply based on similar interests or background. However, the new interest groups provide that opportunity to an extent, and given the feature-richness of the platform and the growing importance of online networking, we expect that to change quickly. And it continues to be the primary (U.S.) resource for people to reconnect with old friends and business associates online.

One of the key benefits of online networking is that even people who don’t know you can find you based on your profile and connect with you if you meet their current needs or interests. In order to have that be effective, you want to build a profile that’s written in the way people will be looking for you, not necessarily in the way you want to promote yourself. It’s essential to understand that in the online world, traditional “personal branding” rules don’t necessarily apply.

The key difference is that in the real world, your visibility is predominantly controlled by your physical presence, but in the online world, it’s largely determined by search and matching engines. If you want to be visible on the web, you have to “give the people what they want”. Your profile keywords is the place to do this, not to put whatever clever, catchy name you’ve come up with for what you do — save that for the free-form part of your profile. For example, you may call yourself a “sanitation technician”, but if the rest of the world thinks of you as a “janitor”, then “janitor” is what you need to put in your profile keywords. You don’t sell “pre-owned automobiles”, you sell “used cars”. You may also want to include several common variations or broader terms in there so you catch everyone. For example, you may want to list yourself as both a “journalist” and a “writer”, or as both an “athlete” and “figure skater”.

When you’re out there fishing for connections, you can’t just put a hook in front of them — you have to use the right bait.

Ecademy’s self-proclaimed cause is “to build the world’s largest Trusted Business Network by connecting people to each other - enabling knowledge, contacts and opportunities to be shared for World Wide Wealth.” Started as an online extension of Thomas Power’s face-to-face networking meetings in London, it has since grown to over 14,000 members in 120 countries, although the membership is still predominantly British (over 11,000 of those 14,000 members). But if you’re interested in global networking, this is a great place to start.

The user interface will be very familiar to those tech-savvy users who are experienced with Slashdot and similar portals, but may be a bit daunting at first to the general business user. However, overcoming any initial learning curve will really pay off - Ecademy has a rich array of features, even at the free membership level. Three of the strongest features are the integrated blogging, clubs (user-formed discussion groups), and “50 Words”, a simple way members profile themselves using 50 descriptive words. Members can then find other members most like themselves based on that profile - a great way to meet interesting people — assuming you’re an interesting person!

The purpose of networking is to connect with people. One of the key differences between traditional networking and online networking is the ability to have a robust personal profile that is publicly accessible. That profile is a 24/7/365 invitation for other people to connect to you, and you want to do everything you can to make yourself “attractive” online. So before you sign up for any online networking site that has user profiles, be prepared with your profile and photo. Many sites heavily favor those with photos, and all heavily favor those with well-built profiles.

Your profile doesn’t have to be long or complex, but it should include your basic information - current and recent employers, industry, interests/hobbies, a brief bio, and links to your websites or anything else you’ve published online - blogs, articles, etc. Also, be sure to have your photo handy, both online somewhere and on your hard drive, and in a variety of sizes, so you can make it appropriate to the site’s profile layout.

Whatever you do, do not set up an essentially empty profile. Most sites will let you poke around as a guest without setting up a profile first, and an empty profile isn’t helping you, so there’s nothing gained by doing it. On the other hand, most sites have some way of showcasing new members, so if you set up an empty profile, you’re missing out completely on the additional exposure you get as a new member, not to mention whatever damage you may do to your reputation. If you’ve already done this, don’t sweat it too much - people are also pretty forgiving. Just get in there and get it done.

Ryze is a general-purpose business networking site. Since its launch in October 2001 as an extension of founder Adrian Scott’s Web of Finance mixers, it has grown to several thousand members all over the world, although the heaviest concentration of membership seems to be from Silicon Valley and New York City. The membership is very diverse, with everything from job hunters to consultants to high-tech executives. There is a heavy social flair to the site, owing largely to its excellent use of member photos, but don’t be fooled - there’s also a wealth of real business being created here.

Basic membership is free and will allow you to set up a profile, explore other people’s profiles, and participate in networks (sub-groups centered around topics, interests, or geography). Various levels of paid membership are available, but for less than $10 a month (less than the cost of most networking events), you can get the Gold membership and have access to all the features. Ryze’s advanced features offer power networkers a variety of tools for proactive networking, but Ryze’s simple and highly intuitive user interface make it very accessible even to novices.