Kathie - what a bizarre and annoying situation - I'm so sorry to hear about that.
I agree that there is a difference between the social and professional sites but I think also it's generational (I'm aging myself as I type! )
The VAs who are a good ten years younger than I am are finding clients and utilizing sites like MySpace to their own business advantage. I prefer the more mellow and business-y atmosphere of LinkedIn...Imagine how the VAs in the next generation will market and network (YouTube music videos extolling the value of services from a Virtual Assistant?! )

The internet is amazing and allows us to branch out in so many different directions, experiment with new concepts, and connect with people we'd otherwise never have a chance to meet. Unfortunately, it also allows people with too much time on their hands to muck around...hence, your recently faked profile. Nice that he invited you to join, huh?

__________________

Originally Posted by Tess

The VAs who are a good ten years younger than I am are finding clients and utilizing sites like MySpace to their own business advantage. I prefer the more mellow and business-y atmosphere of LinkedIn...Imagine how the VAs in the next generation will market and network (YouTube music videos extolling the value of services from a Virtual Assistant?! ) ..... Unfortunately, it also allows people with too much time on their hands to muck around...hence, your recently faked profile. Nice that he invited you to join, huh?

Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens in another decade. I doubt I'll ever be doing YouTube for promoting my VA business but I do have a clip where I've been interviewed about my book. And since I posted the last post I've had an email from yahoo indicating their concern over what's happened and it will be investigated. I say 'concern' - it was a standard email response but at least I got a response.

great feedback...I will use these as well..I am already with

myspace
meetup
yuwie..earn extra cash while you make new friends ...check it out

Elaine

Rebecka, Lily, Lisa, and others:

I see you all included Merchant Circle in your lists. I've recently opened an account there also and had considered it a directory listing (more or less) rather than networking...until this morning, when I found a "connection request" in my e-mail.

What is your experience with this? I did not accept the request since it is from a person I've never had the least contact with, and the personal portion of the message is as generic as a form letter...looks like something that randomly gets sent to any number of businesses, reputable or not. But if it WERE someone I knew better, and I accepted, what would happen from there?

As you can see, I am totally social-networking ignorant!!!

__________________
AnnaLisa Michalski, Sunny Words Writing Services

Merchant Circle does have pre-set invite letter that you can edit, so maybe your local merchant simply has not personalized it (not very professional in my opinion). I only have one connection, but I know the merchant very well. I have other merchants that I invited, but they have not formally listed themselves yet.

So at this time I would say, do not reply (but do not reject either) and do a little research about your merchant. Are they in town? You might want to stop over for a visit and introduce yourself and have some marketing materials ready.

If it was a merchant that you knew well and accepted the connection, your profile would show the merchant's link and vice-versa. This is to let other merchants and the general public know that (supposedly, this is why we have a rating system) you are a reputable business.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by amichalski

Rebecka, Lily, Lisa, and others: I see you all included Merchant Circle in your lists. I've recently opened an account there also and had considered it a directory listing (more or less) rather than networking...until this morning, when I found a "connection request" in my e-mail. What is your experience with this? I did not accept the request since it is from a person I've never had the least contact with, and the personal portion of the message is as generic as a form letter...looks like something that randomly gets sent to any number of businesses, reputable or not. But if it WERE someone I knew better, and I accepted, what would happen from there? As you can see, I am totally social-networking ignorant!!!

__________________
Lisa George
Remote Admin Services
Web:http://remoteadminservices.com
Blog:http://remoteadminservices.wordpress.com

Originally Posted by Tess

Imagine how the VAs in the next generation will market and network (YouTube music videos extolling the value of services from a Virtual Assistant?! )

Actually, it's already happening.

I was contacted by a VA yesterday to do a YouTube ad for her. There are presently 4 virtual assistant advertisements on YouTube. I expect we'll see more as the year goes by.

__________________
Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

Originally Posted by shari VA

Actually, it's already happening. I was contacted by a VA yesterday to do a YouTube ad for her. There are presently 4 virtual assistant advertisements on YouTube. I expect we'll see more as the year goes by.

Still trying to figure out how to do a nice video via my webcam on my mac. The still pictures are awesome!

__________________
Lisa George
Remote Admin Services
Web:http://remoteadminservices.com
Blog:http://remoteadminservices.wordpress.com

I think I'd probably have a hard time being taken seriously or actually getting clients on myspace.com. I'm sure there are VA's who got clients this way but I'm with Tess on this one. I prefer the more professional, mellow networks but as the saying goes, to each his own.

__________________
Carlana Charles - Ciboney Virtual Solutions
Web: http://ciboneyvirtual.com Blog:http://ciboneyvirtual.com/blog

Wow, great thread.

I actually stumbled upon LinkedIn yesterday. Now that my business is official, I have been looking for directories and networking sites to join. LinkedIn was one of them, but I wasn't really familiar with it. See, it is great to be here with soo many informative individuals. Thanks.

__________________
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez
The Voice & Vision Behind Your Business

Originally Posted by DarleneG.

Wow, great thread. I actually stumbled upon LinkedIn yesterday. Now that my business is official, I have been looking for directories and networking sites to join. LinkedIn was one of them, but I wasn't really familiar with it. See, it is great to be here with soo many informative individuals. Thanks.

I'm very active at LinkedIn Darlene - do a search and you'll find me there.

Cheers,

Kathie