openBC has recently added a detailed “Help” feature on their portal. Earlier on, this was conspicuously missing. Most users of online business networking portals, use the portal probably once a week or even less and because of that, the learning is slower and hence features are not fully exploited. One of the ways to increase the speed of learning so that usage increases, is to provide a comprehensive “Help” section where users not only find out the various functionalities on the portal but also get tips on best practices and general networking advice.
Although the HELP section on openBC isn’t a fully mature and comprehensive one [ more details need to be added to make it a truly comprehensive set of documentation ], it’s a great start.
November 29th, 2005
Well, I finally took the plunge and signed up for Personal Plus on LinkedIn. 60 USD is about 3000 INR.
My immediate thought was to check/search how many other logo designers had signed up for the same. There were none except me – I found two other profiles but they were experts in other design areas. So does that mean that if someone searches for a “logo designer” on the OpenLink network on LinkedIn, they will see my profile first? If so, Yay!
I also subsequently took off my e-mail id from my profile [ main reason being that most of the connection invitations I get are from the various LinkedIn forums that I am part of - on my Gmail id and not on the one I had listed on my LinkedIn profile ].
The “One-Click Reference” feature has also been made available to me as a Personal Plus account holder. [ When you are on a person's profile, someone who isn't on your network, One-click reference allows you to see who all have worked/are currently working with that person and then that can help you carry out a reference-check if you so desire ]. This is an awesome feature on LinkedIn but I’m not sure how useful it will be for me personally/professionally – I believe recruiters will use it more rather than logo designers like myself who are looking for clients. Although I recently did do a check on one of my potential clients!
Two little icons are visible next to my name on my profile and on searches to visually show that I am a premium member and that I am also a member of the OpenLink network. 
and 
The second icon is not visible to you if you’re not on the OpenLink network.
Also, on my “dashboard” – the main page when you log into LinkedIn – has a small box on the bottom right with three more options that were not available on the free account. I still do not know the utility of two of the three:
Also, earlier, when someone who was not in my network searched for “logo designer” they only saw a summary of my profile and I had to use the LinkedIn power tip to give them my name and more profile details. Now, since I am on OpenLink, they can see my complete profile along with name and can “Contact Directly”.
I also noticed one more thing – if you are a premium member [ not sure which premium account ] but not on OpenLink, then your name/detailed profile are not visible to someone who is not on your network.
Like I’d thought, honestly, I don’t see much utility for marketing my services – it just allows others to “see” me – which is cool but if they don’t specifically look for me or the services that aside provides, they will never know of me!
So I basically paid for having my name listed in a “database” in the hope that “someday, someone looking for services that I provide, searches for the same on LinkedIn and finds me“.
It’s a good database for sure, but I’m not quite sure how I can use this service from LinkedIn – will keep you in the loop if I have a light-bulb moment!
UPDATE
I completely forgot to mention that the number of introductions available to a free account holder is five. With a Personal Plus account, the number of introductions goes upto ten. And I’ve utilized all the ten within one day! [ hopefully, I will receive positive replies too! ]
November 29th, 2005
Couple of months back I had submitted my details to the International Who’s Who website.
The website is quite basic and does not provide details like:
- How much the membership costs?
- What are the direct benefits?
- How many members do they have?
- How many and which countries are represented?
Basically all the stuff that would help me decide whether or not to become a member of the association, was missing. Nonetheless, I submitted my details, eager to find out more about their association and how it would benefit me.
Last week, I got a call from their US office and was told that my submission had been “pre-approved” [ whatever that means ] and that someone from their office will be calling me on a certain day and they also gave me a time for the interview [ they did not tell me what the interview was for so I assumed they just want to find out more about me ]. I was thrilled – how cool would it be to be listed in the International Who’s Who! I waited anxiously for the call and last night a lady from their US office called me up.
I spoke with the lady [ or rather she spoke with me ] for 20 minutes – and she spent the last two minutes trying hard to sell me the membership. The other eighteen minutes were spent talking back and forth – she trying to find out more about me and me sharing the same information. Only in the last 2 minutes when I insisted she tell me some more about the association and how it would benefit me as a member did she give me generic reasons like:
- You will be part of an international community
- You will have the ability to send messages to all our members – great advertising opportunity
- Only top CEO’s and senior management people are invited [ considering the fact that I am not a CEO and neither qualify as Senior Management ]
- It will be fantastic exposure for you and your business, etc.
No specifics.
Then she told me I had two options to join – one a “Regular” membership where I paid 600 USD for the first year and the other a “Premium” membership where I paid 700 USD for the first year. She told me that the “Regular” membership option would be best suited.
Once again I asked her why I should join. This time she let me on to the number of members and the number of countries represented – apparently International Who’s Who has 90,000 members from 154 countries. My immediate thought was – “I am already on LinkedIn with over 4.2 million members and even openBC has many more members than this association – why am I wasting my time?”
I told her that I would need some time to find out more about the association – maybe dig deeper into their website and get in touch with current members – so that I know what I’m getting into. With that I was informed that “Our website won’t give you too many details and if you don’t decide on a membership option during this call, you won’t be considered for membership.”
How do they expect potential members to sign up for their membership when they cannot even put up an informational website? And how can they expect a potential member to take a decision in twenty minutes of air-time when they don’t even share basic membership benefits – what is their USP – why should I become a member of International Who’s Who?
I politely told the lady that if I was expected to make a decision during the phone call, I’d just have to pass-up the “opportunity” this time around and with that I hung up.
I wonder what would happen if LinkedIn and openBC got down to spending even 10 minutes on the phone with people who’d signed up saying they’re interested in hearing more – they’d be flooded with membership requests because these two platforms have successfully been able to differentiate themselves from other networking platforms and also send a clear message what those differentiating factors and benefits are.
Phew!
November 29th, 2005
