1. Remember, you’re connecting with people.
Networking is people connecting with people to contribute to one another in some way. This is true whether you are networking face to face or computer to computer. Remind yourself as you are networking online that there is another person on the other side of that computer screen responding to your emails, websites and online messages.

2. Clarify what you have to give and what you want to gain from your online networking.
Identify your purpose and objectives for joining and participating in an online community. Make sure you are clear about what you have to contribute to the community as well as what you can gain from being part of the community.

3. Become an information center.
Maintain a master file of documents, resources, web links, etc. which have been helpful to you in your work. Not only are these useful resources for you in your daily activities, but they can readily be shared with others. These help you to become a giver, not a taker.

4. Be personally visible on the Internet.
Maintain a personal home page. Drive traffic to your website(s), e.g., by posting useful materials in the resources or links area. Use the signature file in your email to publicize who you are and the nature of your professional activities. Write and publish articles at every opportunity, and be sure that the bylines link to your website.

5. Pick an online community or communites that work for you.
Find online communities where your purpose is in sync with the mission of the online community. Make sure the community provides the types of opportunities and interactions that you desire.

6. Review the online community as a guest before you join.
Once you find an online community that is of interest to you, take time to check out the site to learn more about their purpose, activities and membership criteria. If you were considering joining a networking club or industry association, you would probably visit as a guest to learn more about the organization before you make a commitment to be a member. This same attitude and approach is appropriate for online communities.

7. Be prepared.
Create a master document of your bios, profiles and introductions that contains the following:
• Personal branding statement(s)
• Bios – short & long
• Profiles used on various sites
• E-mail/forum intro template
• URLs of all your online publications
• URLs of all your profiles
Pull information from this document to write your online community profile. Be sure to review other profiles on the site to notice what other community members are including in their profiles. Identify the types of information that are most suitable to include that will help you make the best connections. Take what you learn from reviewing other profiles and clarify your purpose. Make any updates to your profile that will make it most effective. Having a master document will make it easy for you to quickly create online profiles and update multiple sites when you change jobs, write a new article or otherwise change your positioning.

8. Pace yourself.
Get involved in online communities at a pace that you can maintain. It is better to get involved gradually than to make a big splash and then fade away. Let your involvement and presence be a building process that grows in momentum, visibility and value over time. This gives you and others a chance to develop trust and rapport.

9. Manage your email.
Email can stack up just like paperwork on your desk can stack up. The same organizing system that applies to paper, applies to emails. Read it, delete it, file it or send it to the appropriate person for response. Create a “Read” file and an “Action” file so that you can move emails there appropriately and keep your incoming email file box clean and current.

10. Be sensitive to people’s time and email boxes.
Be respectful and appropriate with the use of people’s time. This includes the time it takes for people to read and respond to your emails and online messages. Send succinct, to-the-point messages that can be read and responded to with ease. Do not waste people’s time. Give value and create value.

Company of Friends is the Fast Company Magazine reader’s network. Founded in 1995, Fast Company positioned itself as the “handbook of the business revolution”. Consistent with that position, they launched the Company of Friends in 1997 to bring together like-minded people “to foster creative change in their careers, companies, and communities”. Membership is free, and members even get a substantial discount on the magazine subscription.

While Fast Company can be credited with the idea of launching this community, it has truly taken on a life of its own. The magazine has only provided the online infrastructure and some minimal guidance to the organizers of local cells. And yet it has grown to over 13,000 members around the world, with a thriving mix of both online activity and face-to-face get-togethers.

While the emphasis historically has been on enabling the local groups to form and to stay connected between face-to-face events, earlier this year, Company of Friends added over 30 topical Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to their online community. While the categories are fairly diverse — from Arts & Entertainment to Volunteer Service, the list is clearly indicative of the nature of the magazine and its readers, with topics on Blogging, Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Networking, and more.

Two particularly remarkable things about Company of Friends are the lack of centralized authority and the remarkable adaptibility of the group. It is likely, of course, that these are inter-related.

Fast Company has a dedicated staff member, Social Capitalist Heath Row (great title, eh?), supporting the Company of Friends, but as he says, “The leadership of Company of Friends is horizontal.” He has assembled a handbook from input from the various cells, but the individual cells are completely autonomous in terms of when, where, and how they organize.

This bottom-up approach is what has made the Company of Friends so adaptive to the changing needs of its members. As John Federico, a Coordinator for the New York City Company of Friends, says, “The tone and purpose of the group has changed significantly over the past couple of years. When it was first formed, the emphasis was largely on knowledge sharing, creativity and innovation, and changing the way people think about business.”

Federico continues, “But it’s hard for people to talk about concepts like personal empowerment when they’re out of work or worried about the viability of their company. With the economic downturn, the group has shifted towards more concrete action to help people survive and thrive in their business. However, the core principles touted by the magazine and the community remain strongly in place.”

Company of Friends provides a great balance of online networking and face-to-face get-togethers, and of knowledge, social, and business networking for those who want to be a part of the “business revolution”.

You no longer have to join a picket line (although you may still choose to) to take a stand, make a difference, share your convictions and join with others to represent the power of the group. Today there are numerous ways that you can take a stand and make a difference from your computer and through finding and joining with others online.

• Inspire people to utilize the internet and online communities to bring people together to make a positive difference in our world.

• To give people information on how to access online communities that are focused on social causes.

• To give inspiring examples of people truly making a difference through their online activities.

• To give people direction and encouragement to live their life as a contribution.

• To provide information on specific sites that can be useful for people interested in volunteering.

Online communities provide individuals and organizations an avenue to:
• Increase visibility about a concern or issue
• Make people aware
• Help people generate positive action to further their cause
• Facilitate the sharing of information
• Vehicle for announcing events
• Vehicle for recruiting volunteers
• Connect donors with organization and projects
• Create visibility
• Enhance exposure
• Spread the mission
• Ability to send information throughout the world to other interested parties in an easy, fast and relatively inexpensive manner.
• Share purpose that provides compelling reason to belong to the community.

Rather than selling a product the nonprofit is selling a cause, mission, vision. Rather than having customers they are reaching out to advocates, donors, volunteers. The internet is a vehicle for nonprofits to bring people together to share their interest and concern for particular social causes.

IdeaList.org is an online resource that is making a difference in our world by connecting thousands of people every day with information from over 33,000 organizations from 165 countries. This site serves an online community of people interested to contributing to a greater good and supporting social action that enhances the quality of life for people all around the world.

Whereas many internet sites support individuals in creating communities for social causes, this site helps individuals locate the sites best suited for their particular passion and vision.

IdeaList started in 1995 with the idea of building a network of volunteer opportunities and nonprofit services in communities all around the world. They saw the value in having one directory that would make all the nonprofit resources easily accessible to the millions of people that were already online.

Their stated mission is to “connect people, organizations and resources to help build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives. They are guided by their desire to “find practical solutions to social and environmental problems in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect”.

On IdeaList you can search for resources by topic, geographic location, or the name of an organization. If you’ve always dreamed of making a difference in Africa, now you can by searching IdeaList and finding the perfect organization and opportunity for you.

You may discover that virtual volunteering would suit your lifestyle. With virtual volunteering you get to do your volunteer work from your own computer when you choose. Some of the typical virtual volunteer job opportunities that are available include:
• Web development
• Translations
• Press release
• Proofreading
• Writing
• Graphic design
• Research
• Creating online forums
• Writing emails
• Sponsor support
• Database management

Developing countries have a great need to build strong communities in order to deal with the challenges of poverty, disease, chaotic environment. At the same time, an underdeveloped country may lack the local resource necessary too create strong communities. By searching through IdeaList and becoming a virtual volunteer you will be part of a growing online community of people making a difference in the world.