WomenCo.

What are the top 5 social networks you should belong to if you have a website and/or want to network? Which are the most beneficial?

For me and not in any particular order:

1.  ActiveRain:  For Real Estate people only.  Fantastic networking and great advice.

2.  I suppose LinkedIn but I'd like to see it take off more.  The concept is good.

3.  BNI: I am just now joining but it seems like a great idea and I'm hoping it will payoff big time.  It isn't a social network but a specific business network but I threw it in anyway. 

4.  WomenCo and WisdomWomen:  For the advice and potential business for some.

5:  Any local meetup groups in your local area that relates to your business or who you want as clients.

I hope more respond to this, I'd love to see other sites that I may not be aware of.

I think Facebook and MySpace at this point are more for socializing than business networking...but we'll see if anything comes from them.

AnnEvanston says ...

I'm quoting Ann here and agreeing on most counts!

"

1 - Entrepreneurial Women Now - www.ewnsfo.ning.com - it is $5.95 a month to join, members are serious and the help support, leads and press that comes out of the site too cool!

(my two cents - this is an amazing site whose members are amazing women!  Take a look! )

2 - Wisdom Woman - www.wisdomwomen.ning.com - Lisa has done a fabulous job with this site - it is a great place for women born before 1977 - let’s face it our issues are different. Average age on the site: 43.

(yippee, now if more of us join who are ten years older.... ) ;)

3 - Linkedin - www.linkedin.com - I have gotten business and a book deal from this site!

(I like LinkedIn too.  The profile setup is different and much more business focussed, but also a HUGE contact base)

Right now cannot say womenco, sorry - the election has done some damage to how great this site once was. Hopefully we can bring it back!"

- and I have to agree with Ann here too, sadly enough.

Come on now, there's still good stuff on WomenCo, you just have to look a little harder right now through the political and heavy threads.  There are great tips and good articles still being posted.

Hello there ladies! These are some great links! Thanks for sharing. :)

I want to put a word in about the political discussions & political news going on at WomenCo. currently. I sympathize with those of you who think it clouds the water a bit and moves away from WomenCo.'s main goals of being a career resource and a community for professional women. But I also thought I'd mention that I think it's only natural that political discussions will arise in a community of truly passionate, intelligent women. We may not share each others' views, but I think it's only healthy to openly talk about issues that are important to our lives and our families and that are at the front of our minds.

I hope that those of you who want to participate in such discussions will continue to do so, and for those of you who would rather not, I hope you can still find that WomenCo. has plenty of valuable, non-political content for you to enjoy and amazing women with whom to connect.

As always, feel free to contact Daniela or me and let us know what type of content you'd rather be seeing! We're always here to listen.

Ann,

I am with you on a few of yours- Twitter, linkedin and meetup. I also really like selfgrowth.com since one of our websites promotes vision boards, goals boards and motivation and my husband will be a speaker in a motivational movie next year.

I like the emarketing group on linkedin and have received several jobs for seo and web work from that group. Lastly, I really like ning for creating your own unique group. It is so easy to use and has incredible gadgets to add. I set one up in less than 30 minutes the other day for my hubbie. I really would like to learn more about networks from other countries. I belong to a couple international ones, but I am sure there are many more!

bigorb at www.bigorb.com it seems a little weird at first but theres tons of ways you can really advertise

The evolution of any public site endures growing pains, but the good ones find equilibrium. I feel that WomenCo. creates a safe niche for women to speak their minds. With that in mind, many posters do express their opinions freely. I believe that the diversity on board helps to educate all of us about our differences. Where else can women discuss business, careers, family, and girly stuff in one place?  I have faith that WomenCo. will endure and continue to improve like the additions that Anna mentioned in another post. Personally, I am impressed by the respectful tone that posters display. I feel honored to be a part of a site that lauds women and their accomplishments.

I am curious how much WomenCo. has grown since its inception.

I've recently broadened my horizon and think that Meetup.com is awesome! I love the whole concept of finding people in your area and meeting up and getting off the computer. So far I have joined a book group and a full time working mothers group in my area. I've met people who have common interests...it's wonderful. I also think it forces me to do something for myself that is recreational. I love it so much I am thinking of creating a meetup / group of my own.