Imagine going to a networking event, walking up to each person there and asking him or her, “Do you want to buy my product?” That’s what would happen if we didn’t have small talk. Without conversation and personal interaction, every discussion we had at a business function would be a raw sales pitch. Ugh, I can’t imagine anything worse or more off-putting.

Yet many business people scoff at this form of conversation, look down their nose, or avoid networking because they don’t like what they think is idle talk. They’ve fallen for the misconception that small talk is not important and has no purpose. Or, they’ve encountered people who treat small talk as a way to kill time or butter people up until they find an opening for their sales pitch. That’s worse than opening up with the pitch and moving on, because now you’ve wasted my time.

Socializing is an important skill that will have a big impact on your networking success. It is the means by which people establish, grow, and maintain relationships. One reason business people discount the value of it is the name: small talk, which makes it sound important. It should be called “discovery talk” or “friend-making talk” or “relationship building conversations.”

If you find that your conversations are just chit-chat or mindless gab, rethink the purpose of time you spend conversing with people.

Small talk:

• Gives us the opportunity to discover positive qualities and inspiring experiences that other people have had
• Helps other people feel more comfortable with us
• Lets us win friends and influence people
• Demonstrates the skills and abilities that we can use to help people
• Increases our enjoyment of time spent with other people
• Allows us to hone our interpersonal communication skills
• Is how we find out what we have in common
• Tells us if there’s a starting point to build a business relationship.

If you find yourself avoiding networking people you don’t like “small talk,” find a way to make it purposeful talk. Have the intention to discover more about other people and how you can help them. When you have purpose behind your conversations, your small talk with have big results.

Are you making one of these five networking mistakes that even experienced sales and business people make? Visit Beth’s business networking site to find out (without cost or obligation) if you are.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Networking is like exercising. We all know it’s good for us, but most of us don’t like it. Even the excuses are similar: ” I don’t have enough time, I’m not good at it, I don’t get anything out of it, it’s just not for me, I’m doing fine without it, everyone else is judging me, I don’t know how to get started, and I don’t like getting all sweaty (for those who get nervous talking to strangers).”

And yet, because even if one of our excuses is that “it’s not good for ME”, secretly we know that networking would be good for us, so we feel guilty about not doing it and develop even greater excuses to avoid it. If something is voluntary, we’ll avoid it if it makes us feel bad.

In our defense, modern life really does make it difficult. We are extremely time-crunched. We’re saturated with too much information – much of it junk. Our companies and our businesses demand more out of us sometimes just to keep the doors open, and we have an expectation of adults in our society that we won’t have a learning curve. We’re supposed to be an expert at whatever we try right away. This last constraint has caused many people an awkward experience – and serious pain when applied to exercise.

For those few who love exercise, it’s as easy for them as lacing up a pair of running shoes and heading out the door. They make the time, they have a goal and it becomes part of their routine. And for maybe the even fewer who love to networking, it’s as easy for them as grabbing a handful of business cards. They work it into their schedule, they know it’s going to be beneficial, and it becomes a habit for them.

Do these people have a leg up on the rest of us because they are naturally athletic, naturally sociable, etc? Sometimes. But just because you’re lean and have endurance doesn’t mean you go out, buy a racing bike, and become Lance Armstrong. And just because you like people and enjoy socializing doesn’t mean you go out, join the chamber, and become Harvey Mackay. It takes some planning, strategy, and even a few ways of tricking yourself into doing what you know you want to do.

How do you plan for success with an environment like this? It takes three steps:

Discover any mindsets, misconceptions, or false beliefs that are holding you back.

With networking, this may mean that you have a negative mindset about it which means you look for (and of course find) what you dread. Events are boring, people try to sell you, and you never get any benefit. Of course you don’t benefit when you attend with dread in your heart. Imagine what an ideal networking experience would be like. If you hold that image, keep that vision in front of your mind, and expect a positive result, you’ll be amazed at the difference in your experience.

Remove the obstacles

Make it as easy as possible to do what it takes to be successful in networking. With exercise, this may mean purchasing a treadmill so you can run when it’s cold and laying out your shoes and running clothes ON the treadmill to reduce any resistance. For networking, this may include writing it on your calendar in ink, inviting a friend, and clearing your calendar so that all excuses are eliminated, reduced, and avoided.

Keep at it long enough to see results

As with exercise, we usually don’t give networking enough time to see results. One exercise session is like to only make you stiff the next day. It certainly won’t create any lasting effects. Fortunately, networking CAN have an immediate effect – you might get lucky and find someone who happens to need your product or service. But for a regular stream of connections and referrals, you’ll need to make regular appearances and keep in touch with your contacts.

Conclusion

Networking is like any other activity: first we have to get over our mental resistance and any ways that we are avoiding it through negative thinking. Next, we have to make it as easy as possible for ourselves to do it by removing as many obstacles as possible. Finally, we have to be patient; results take time. With this three-step plan, we can become successful at networking.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Networking is promoted as one of the best ways to get more business, but few people who tell you this will explain exactly how that happens. In a previous article titled “How Networking Helps You Get More Business,” we learned that networking builds your reputation, creates trust, gives you information and provides referrals. Here are three more ways that networking can build your client base and grow your business.

New or Better Ideas

While Einstein’s theories were developed inside his head at the patent office, almost everyone else’s great ideas come from working with other people. Most small businesses aren’t here to invent the newest, greatest thing. You aren’t selling quantum physics. You just need a few good ideas on how to serve your customers better. Other people’s ideas about your business are going to be the best ones you ever had. They’ll have a perspective that you may be too close to see. You’ll benefit from other people with similar or greater experience level than you have.

Finding Resources

In business management, resources include capital (i.e. money), equipment, and human resources. While the halcyon days of zero down, no income, no job, nothing-down home loans are gone, small business loans are still given based on the banker’s confidence in the future of your enterprise. Your network is also going to help you find the right people to grow your business. If you’re looking to hire, what better resource than the knowledge and recommendations of others. You’ll also learn about marketing opportunities and other ways to promote your business that might not be widely known.

Marketing

If you don’t have a budget for advertising, PR, sales promotions, or communications, there’s not much left to do. Networking is the only way you are going to get their name, product and service out there. You might even end up financially ahead because so many events feature free food. A business without marketing is… out of business. If you don’t have money for any other marketing and you don’t network, your business is going to fail.

If you have access to great ideas for improving your business, more resources and the ability to market without great expense, you’ll find that your company will grow from your networking efforts. It may seem hard to believe at first that something non-physical such as new ideas can be beneficial, but it doesn’t take too many new clients or a lot of savings to help you believe. Start now and you’ll find out that networking will help your business grow for the long term.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Do you see people at networking events who seem to know everyone? They’re comfortable with everyone they meet, laughing and charming them. They don’t even have to introduce themselves to new people – others do it for them, bringing the new person to the networker. Would you love to be that person? You could be, but you have to be willing to pay the price.

As much as we all would love being immediately successful at whatever we try to do without practice or effort, it simply isn’t going to happen in the real world. The true masters have spent hours rehearsing, training, and building their skills. That networker you envy has worked on their people skills, invested the time in the community, and made the sacrifices necessary to build their network of relationships.

Michelangelo once said, “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” The pro bicyclers who are on the Amgen Tour of California spend an average of two to six hours a day riding their bikes and up to an hour in the gym. They sacrifice their time and pay the price in bodily paid for the reward and goal of competing at the elite level.

While you may not be ready to lay on your back for years painting the Sistine Chapel, or burn every ounce of fat off your body like Lance Armstrong, you must be willing to make sacrifices and take risks in order to build a strong, healthy network that will carry you through good and bad business times.

Are you willing to be patient and work towards a bigger picture?

Networking can sometimes provide immediate positive feedback when you stumble across someone who needs your product, but that’s not usually the case. You have to stay focused on your long-term goal of creating relationships.

Are you willing to spend time after-hours, before work, and during your lunch hours?

Events will take place outside of your usual hours, cutting into what you’ve always thought of your “personal time.” You may need to give up unproductive television watching or morning sleep-ins to be part of networking activities.

Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone?

If you feel perfectly comfortable at every event you attend, then you’re not challenging yourself to expand your range of contacts. The weak ties, instead of the close contacts, are more likely to get you the referrals and insights you need.

Are you willing to GIVE without the expectation of immediate, quid pro quo returns?

You cannot expect that giving someone something of value should be paid for with something of equivalent value. That is called selling; networking is not selling.

Are you willing to risk meeting a few people along the way who might take as much as they can without giving in return?

Not everyone has an excellent give-and-take networking philosophy. Don’t let the very few bad apples chase you away from the many wonderful business people you could meet.

Are you willing to work on growing your business without doing business right away?

By chasing the immediate sale, you may be sacrificing your reputation and future referrals from people you meet. Think of networking as a long-term investment.

Are you willing to focus on developing something without hard and immediate results?

It’s hard to put an immediate value on a new contact or a budding relationship. In an ROI-driven business environment, networking events may be a zero now, but will return tremendous benefits down the road.

Are you willing to spend money to attend events, join organizations, buy lunches, and buy thoughtful meaningful gifts for your contacts?

There is an investment required beyond the grace of your presence. Events require tickets, organizations have dues, and once in a while you should pick up the tab. If you are looking to network with executives, be willing to spend even more for golf tournaments, club fees, and major event appearances.

Are you willing to create a culture of information sharing within your peer group?

Don’t be tempted to keep that new networking group or trade show to yourself. Networks grow stronger when information is disseminated, not when secrets are kept.

Are you willing to risk that time spent at an event might be wasted because it was the wrong group, wrong time, wrong organization?

Finding out where your best business partners are will take some trial and error. Many people have gone to one event, found it to be uncomfortable or the wrong fit, and decided that networking was not for them.

Are you willing to take extra time to follow up?

Networking requires reminding and follow up. A seed is planted, but can you sustain the relationship. And, each contact you make, each relationship that you begin, will take more time in following up. As your network gets bigger, you’ll need to become more efficient in order to become more effective.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Networking, that vital business activity of building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships should be considered part of your marketing activities. It has something in common with advertising because it takes repeated exposures for someone to remember and become familiar with us. A previous article talked about becoming a memorable networker by being interested in the other person, by remembering them and by helping them remember you. Now that you are memorable, you want to move forward and become remarkable. Here are three ways to stand out in their mind.

Be Enthusiastic

There are few things more attractive than enthusiasm. It adds life to your features and makes other people want to share in that enthusiasm. They’ll remember you as the guy or gal who really enjoys life. Enthusiasm is contagious. Because you feel good when you’re with them, they’ll feel good about spending time with you. People remember those that really stand out and the positive association with your enthusiasm will be memorable. When people talk about you, they will comment on your enthusiasm. It is especially appreciated in an economy when so many people are down. Your energy will lift them up and that can be very remarkable.

Tell Stories

Don’t describe what you do in a dry, bullet-list format. Tell stories about the results you’ve created for your clients. Include the emotions they experienced and how you made them feel better or solved a problem for them. This goes back to people remembering how you made them feel. If you provide a story that makes them feel good, they’ll remember that they enjoyed hearing about your business instead of feeling bored. People love to tell their own stories, but they’ll pass along your remarkable stories, too. The more emotion you can put into a story, the more memorable it will be and the more likely it will be shared.

Be Remarkable

It’s not enough to simply be remembered when someone meets you for the second or third time. You want to be so memorable that you come to their mind regularly. You can help this with regular connections via phone, email or seeing them in person at networking events. You can also do this by being remarkable meaning you are so out of the ordinary in a positive way that they will talk about and think about you when you’re not reminding them. For business people this translates into referrals and a great reputation. To become remarkable, you’ll want to make them feel great, you’ll want to prove your value and trustworthiness to them and you’ll want to treat them as if they are remarkable to you.

If they remember you, they might think of you for referrals that fall into their lap. But if you become remarkable, they’ll talk about you and the experience they have when they are with you. Your reputation will build and you’ll find yourself with more business.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

There are location-based dating apps, but what about meeting new contacts, clients or customers on the fly?

MeetingWave.com helps members arrange targeted networking meetings with the exact type of people they want to meet… new clients, customers, business contacts or fellow alumni – while traveling or near home or work.

Why useful? Allows members to meet new clients, customers, new business or social contacts or fellow alumni where ever they are.

We decided to make it even easier to meet new people and launched location-based iPhone and Android applications to allow business networking on the fly based on your real-time location.

Simply: (1) download; (2) create profile with some background information and meeting interests; and (3) click “Available”. We do not disclose specific location, name or contact information. Others may send “meeting requests” if interested in meeting. You can ignore, decline or say approve (and use double-blind messaging thereafter to arrange the meeting).

Or, click “Who’s Nearby?” If you see someone nearby you’d like to meet, you can send the other user a meeting request. If the other user agrees to meet, you’ll be charged only 99 cents. This fee helps monetize the platform and reduce “spam” meeting requests.

Verified Profiles

Since our focus is face-to-face meetings with new people, the background information in a user’s profile is important. The apps and website include a patent pending verification feature to make profile information more reliable. Members can have their work or alumni email addresses “verified” by MeetingWave and display an indication of that verification (e.g., @ibm.com or @brown.edu) on their profile. This allows members to verify to other members where they work and went to school. Verified email domains are an important addition to a user’s profile since can help other users decide who to meet.

On MeetingWave.com, users can search for invites posted by users having specific “Verified Email Domains” (e.g., @ibm.com or @alumni.harvard.edu). Registered users can click “meeting alert” to receive notifications in the future of new invites based on the search criteria.

Geolocation Functionality

And we’ve added “Geolocation” to the website using Google Latitude for those without an iPhone or Android. Google Latitude is a feature of Google Maps for mobile on these phones:

* Android-powered devices, such as the T-Mobile G1
* iPhone and iPod touch devices
* most color BlackBerry devices
* most Windows Mobile 5.0+ devices
* most Symbian S60 devices (Nokia smartphones)

Your proposed meeting invites will be associated with your updated current location rather than a specific location. For example, when visiting a city, your geolocation-enabled invites will be updated when you click “Refresh Geolocation” and show up in other member’s searches in that city. They can accept your invite, but you can still decide whether to approve, decline or ignore. A meeting is only confirmed if you approve and you can then facilitate meeting planning after approving the other member’s acceptance using double-blind messaging.

And for any Meeting Alerts, you’ll be notified of invites that might interest you based on your updated current location.

MeetingWave never discloses your specific location and you can turn your geolocation On or Off (Enable or Disable).

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

For many in the tech industry, they lost an enormous hero and mentor when Steve Jobs recently passed away. Or, as a developer friend said “there is no one else in the world who did so much for tech guys like me”.

However, for non-techies who simply fell in love with Apple’s products – iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc., I think it’s sort of like losing Santa. While Jobs was alive, we were always comforted in knowing Santa was driving hard all year and obsessed with delivery the next breathtaking product to knock our socks off.

I heard yesterday that Steve Jobs left Apple with a five year plan so I’m looking forward to seeing their future products and services. Moreover, he and his team members built an incredible organization that thrived when the rest of the economy seem to fall apart around us. Sure, there’s a bit of uncertainty about Apple’s long term future, but there are likely a few of his elves prepped to step into Santa’s shoes to move the company forward.

Tim Cook has a tough act follow as did Jeff Immelt at GE and Jay Leno at the Tonight Show.

We wish him and his team the best and offer them and Steve Job’s family and friends our condolences.

Tonight, we lost an extraordinary leader, innovator, inventor, CEO, marketing gurus and much more. I was saddened by the news and offer my condolences to his family and friends.

Like many, I am grateful for Apple’s breathtakingly innovative products. They’ve always left me speechless.

And I’m grateful for all the Pixar movies he helped create. Without a doubt saved my sanity as a parent since replaced dozens of Barbie movies I would have otherwise suffered through with movies I enjoyed with my girls – Toy Story, Up, Cars, The Incredibles, Memo, Ratatouille, Monsters, Inc., a Bug’s life…These are great innovative movies the entire family can enjoy together.

But what’s also extraordinary is the clear display of someone having the courage to pursue and focus on his passion or Arete. As Wikipedia.org explains:

Arete ( /ˈærətiː/; Greek: ἀρετή), in its basic sense, means excellence of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential. Arete in ancient Greek culture was courage and strength in the face of adversity and it was to what all people aspired.

“The most articulated value in Greek culture is Areté. Translated as “virtue,” the word actually means something closer to “being the best you can be,” or “reaching your highest human potential.”

See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arete

We should be grateful Jobs pursued his passion rather than likely safer paths. During his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech, he wisely advised:

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life… Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

And also:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Socrates once said: “It is the greatest good for an individual to discuss virtue (aka areté) every day…for the unexamined life is not worth living.” I think Plato suggested nearly everyone has their own Arete.

There have likely been others like Jobs around us but not as visible or recognized. Bill Gates with Microsoft. Jeff Duke Ellington and music. Larry Bird and three pointers. Laird Hamilton and monster waves. Steve Irwin and wildlife. These are all people who each had enormous skills and the courage and conviction to pursue their passion.

There are many people from all works of life who do this. Doctors, researchers, educators, etc.

But many who don’t but it’s never to late to change paths.

When growing up, my father would tell me to do what I enjoyed doing and success will follow. I enjoy learning new things so becoming a patent attorney was a perfect fit. I also enjoy meeting new people, but running a website was not my passion.

As Job’s also stated in his Stanford commencement speech:

You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

The greatest gift is that simple lesson. The best way to honor Steve Jobs is not necessarily buying Apple’s next new product, but instead spending time thinking about what is your Arete and pursue it if not already doing so.

What do you enjoy doing? What is your greatest skill or passion?

Don’t settle for anything else.

You’ll be helping yourself, likely those around you and, quite possibly, change the world.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

What’s the difference? Isn’t all networking the same, strategic or otherwise? Not really and if you want to get the most benefit out of the time you spend networking, you’ll want to look at it strategically.

Networking is the simple process of building mutually beneficial, long-term relationships by sharing ideas, information and resources. If you add in sharing experiences, it sounds a great deal like making and keeping friends. Friendship isn’t a strategic process, it just happens, right? For most people it does. We make friends with those we went to school with, work with and who know our families. But there are some people have developed strategic friendships. For example, someone trying to leave a gang or trying to avoid that environment will be very selective and strategic about the friends they make. You can do the same with your networking.

Most people network randomly. They attend events that appeal to them or fit their schedule without thinking about whether or not that event fits their long-term goals. Being strategic about your networking means that you will begin with a very clear description of who you need to meet. Is it your target market? Is it people who influence your target market? Do you need to meet people you can learn from in your industry? If you haven’t thought about whom you want to meet, the rest of your efforts will be wasted.

Strategic business networking means that you will look at every event you attend with a goal in mind, whether it’s a large mixer-type of event or a one on one coffee meeting. That goal may be to meet a specific person. It might be to be seen as supporting the organization. In a coffee meeting, you might have a specific proposal for the other person or you just want to build a foundation for the relationship. If you do not have a specific goal, you may find yourself drifting through the event and wasting your time.

The final, most important strategic move is to make sure that you follow up with every contact. This creates trust and you’ll definitely stand out in the crowd since so few people do it. Networking gives you the opportunity to make promises and then show people that you can keep them. If you don’t follow up on your new connections or with people you know, your networking efforts will be wasted.

Strategic networking requires just a little bit more effort to plan ahead and decide what your goals and actions will be for each time you connect with people. It also includes a careful plan to make sure that everyone who is expecting something from you gets it. If you’re ready to make these few simple commitments, then strategic networking is right for you.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator ™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

There have been some recent discussions about this tension on various blogs. Fred Wilson posted a short blog on Sept. 20, 2011 entitled “Real Names” discussing the identity of his blog commenters and the use of on-line aliases.

Mark Shuster followed up the next day with a blog entitled “Why Pseudonymity Is Such an Important Concept” in which he stated:

“As I did a deeper dive reflection on the topic I started thinking I wanted: Anonymity + Authority. In other words, it’s fine to not use your real name but I wanted to know that you were an honorable person and not a troll. I was thinking it would be awesome to have systems that could help track this so more authoritative people who were anonymous could rise to the top.”

And this week TechCrunch posted an article entitled “For Those Who Don’t Want To Believe” concluding: “But it means the ability to remain pseudonymous online will only become more and more important in the years to come.”

A Ubiquitous Pain Point

Who hasn’t struggled with this tension and wanted something more. I’ve used online rental sites (VRBO and Airbnb) and always feel much more comfortable and secure when someone responds to a VRBO posting with an @company.com email address or later provides an @company email later in the Airbnb transaction. Why? It tells me at least where they work, which is more than what an @gmail, @yahoo, or @hotmail email address provides.

However, I understand why many want to use @gmail, @yahoo or @hotmail email address in online transactions.

First, they don’t necessary want to disclose their identity until ready to do so (e.g., when closer to confirming the transaction).

Second, they often have no idea who’s at the other end of the online transaction and are concerned about disclosing their work email address to strangers.

Finally, they often don’t want to use a work email for personal matters such as arranging a family vacation.

This problem occurs on rental sites, sharing sites, Craigslist, dating websites, sites for meeting new people and social networks.

A problem on social networks?

Yes. Anyone can create fake LinkedIn profiles or Facebook profiles.

So just because someone has a LinkedIn or Facebook profile, does not necessarily make them real or their profiles reliable.

Pseudonymous- Bearing or Using a Fictitious Name

Pseudonymity is a word derived from pseudonym (meaning ‘false name’) and anonymity
(meaning unknown or undeclared source) describing a state of disguised identity or the use of a pseudonym.

It doesn’t provide much help in that the individual remains anonymous and reveals virtually nothing about their identity, background or whether they are real or fake.

Another Solution

Vrfy.me helps people leverage their @company.com or @alumni.university.edu email without disclosing their email address.

A user can verify they “own” either a work or alumni email address by clicking through the verification email sent to their email address and the verified email domain (e.g., @ibm.com or @alumni.stanford.edu) gets displayed on their vrfy.me profile.

They can then share that profile url with others (and ask others to share the same) when using LinkedIn, Craigslist, VRBO/Airbnb, social network, dating sites, blog comments, etc.

Vrfy.me is a compromise. Just one part of the solution. A simple tool slightly safer surfing.

Wouldn’t you feel safer meeting new people or renting out your home when you know at least where the person works?

Or, wouldn’t a comment to a blog article about Apple or Oracle hold more water if made by someone having an @apple.com or @oracle.com email address indicating they work there?

Let us know what you think.

Would you use a vrfy.me/username when doing online transactions and ask others to provide the same?

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).