Corporate Alumni
http://www.corporatealumni.com/
A great way to build a contact list and network
with colleagues is to join CorporateAlumni.com. This site maintains alumni
lists of former and current employees of hundreds of companies. When you join,
you have access to the alumni list for your company and you’re notified of
upcoming get-togethers. There are three levels of membership. The basic level
is free and entitles you to a listing in the directory, access to the calendar
of events, member Yellow Pages, and the career center, including job listings.
Full membership is $19.95/yr and provides additional services including full
access to member profiles, ability to email community members and post on
member news, and you can advertise your services in the Yellow Pages section.
For $29.95/yr, you get additional search capabilities. The great thing about
this site is that many of the company alumni lists allow former and existing
contractors to sign up, so if one of these companies is a client of yours, you
can still join.
Fast Company Magazine
http://fastcompany.com
The website for Fast Company magazine is loaded
with excellent articles for independent professionals and small business,
including some that are exclusive to FastCompany.com. For a free membership, you
can join their Company of Friends (CoF) network. CoF maintains local chapters
in the U.S. and throughout the world. These chapters have regular meetings
where you can network with other professionals. Members can also download PDF
versions of articles that appeared in the magazine. Daniel Pink, who wrote the
book Free Agent Nation is a regular contributor and his articles from the
magazine are available at this website.
Free Agent Forum
http://www.FreeAgentForum.com.
This group operates in the New York city area.
They sponsor regular meetings in the NYC area that they call Social
Capitalism™. They describe these meetings as an “innovative method for
structured networking where we match you up with Free Agents that complement
your work and your life.” In addition to networking, members can win prizes at
Social Capitalism meetings. They also sponsor one-day seasonal conferences
where they feature experts on Free Agency, journalists, financial managers, and
marketing and sales gurus. Membership plans range from $125 to $500.
Free Agent Nation
http://www.freeagentnation.com
This site is maintained by Daniel Pink, author
of the book Free Agent Nation. The site contains links to articles by Mr. Pink,
former speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore and free agent evangelist. At
the website you can sign up for his e-newsletter. The newsletter, published
every quarter, contains articles and links of interest to free agents,
contractors, and freelancers. He also uses the website to promote a networking
concept he wrote about in his book, called Free Agent Nation (FAN) clubs. He
defines these as “clusters of free agents who meet regularly to offer support
and exchange business advice.” Subscribers to the website are encouraged to
start and promote their local FAN club through FreeAgentNation.com.
MicroMentor
http://www.micromentor.org
MicroMentor is an innovative mentoring program
that uses the Internet to connect low-income owners of very small businesses,
"microentrepreneurs," to individuals who have successfully navigated business
ownership in the same industry. It’s a project of the Aspen Institute's
Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination
(FIELD), a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. and
dedicated to the expansion of entrepreneurship in low-income communities in the
U.S.
Ryze
http://www.ryze.com
This free networking site is named “Ryze”
because it's about people helping each other 'rise up' through quality
networking. Members get a free networking-oriented home page and can send
messages to other members. They can also join special Ryze networks related to
their industry, interests or location. More than 200 organizations host networks
on Ryze to help their members interact with each other and grow their
organizations. Though their basic membership is free, for a few dollars a
month, they offer paid subscriptions that include advanced features like
searching. They also organize networking events.
Solo-e
http://solo-e.com
Solo-E.com is an open alliance of free agent evangelists
coming together to network and provide resources for Solo Entrepreneurs. Their
goal is to bring together experienced, novice and hopeful Solo Entrepreneurs,
through technology to support the exchange of ideas and services, foster
learning relationships within the alliance, offer educational products and
programs, and to facilitate, promote and celebrate Solo Entrepreneurship. Their
site includes Solo-University, discussion forums, and Solo-E News.
Summit Consulting Group
http://www.summitconsulting.com
Master consultant and author, Alan Weiss
maintains this site. Alan is author of Million Dollar Consulting: The
Professional’s Guide to Growing a Practice (McGraw-Hill, 2003) and many other
books on consulting. In addition to a wealth of free information and articles
available for consultants, Alan maintains the Summit Resource List. He provides
this list for free to those who are seeking subcontractors in consulting,
speaking, training, facilitation, and similar business services. For a one-time
fee of $50, you can add your name to the list. Alan actively markets the list
in his books, newsletters, and articles.
