It's just what you've all been waiting for. Below are my picks for best dog gifts of 2009. If you have additional ideas, please post below. I don't want to miss out on anything great.

Something Snazzy - At the dog park or around the neighborhood, a new leash & collar set is guaranteed to make a statement. Afterall, what dog wants to wear the same thing day in and out? There are leashes and collars for every mood and occasion. Check out these great stores: My Dog Collars, Big Dog Boutique, Trendy Puppy.

Something Healthy - I love to go out for walks and bike rides with Tina and Brandon, but my leash sometimes gets in the way. I've included this Dog Bike Leash on my Christmas list this year. Exercise is so important, and I love it. Also, if you travel a lot like I do, check out The Container Store's "On the Go Pet Hydration System".

Something Warm - A new sweater is great for any dog who knows the meaning of "wind chill" and jumps out into the early winter snow only to recall how cold it is on those paws. Sure jackets are a nice idea, but dogs aren't really into bulky clothing. Here are some of my favorite dog clothing sites: Unique Dog Clothing, Little Pampered Pets, Five Star Fido. You can even make your own custom designed pet clothing at Zazzle. Since we're on the topic of warm, a new dog bed probably won't fit in a sock, but it's definitely worth a mention.

Something Fun - Toys, Toys, Toys... ropes, bones, squeaky stuffed animals... even rocks We love them all, and a new toy is always a winner. I'm not even going to mention where to find these since I believe that you can figure it out on your own. At the least, check out your local grocery store's dog food aisle.

Something Tasty - What dog hasn't stopped a time or two to drool over the gourmet dog biscuits in their local dog bakery? Many local communities have a dog treat bakery, and we always encourage supporting local businesses. If you don't find one nearby, there are many talented dog treat bakers online. Here are a few to get you started: Paws Gourmet, Barkley Square, Kool Dog Kafe.

Are you looking to add a little twist to your traditional Thanksgiving feast?  I'm not a big fan of cranberry sauce, but I love whole cranberries.  This stuffing is delicious with a Thanksgiving turkey. Don't forget to come back and let me know how much your family loved it.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg Stuffing Mix (seasoned)
• 1 cup Apples chopped
• 1/2 cup Cranberries (dried)
• 1/2 cup Walnuts chopped
• 2 eggd Whites only
• 1 stick Butter
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/2 tsp Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix together stuffing mix,apples, cranberries and walnuts. Melt 3/4 stick of butter mix with egg whites (yoke may be used if preferred). Add the salt and pepper if preferred. Mix well. You can stuff a turkey with it or put in to muffin pans or even in casserole dish, use last of the melted butter to top of muffins or on top of casserole dish. Otherwise, use all of the butter in the mix to put in turkey.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Carving a turkey can be simple.  
If you spend your time watching Rachael Ray, then you probably already know the proper way to carve a turkey.  It's actually very simple.

1. Let it cool.  Turkeys take hours too cook so we're all excited about carving into it as soon as the thermometer indicates it's time.  However, your turkey will retain juice for flavoring if you let it cool down for a few minutes before you carve in.
2. Find a sharp knife and remove the leg/thigh section entirely
3. Cut straight down into the middle of the turkey along the breast bone to remove the whole breasts one at a time.  Place the breast on a plate and cut into slices for a great presentation.  

Here's a great video example of how to carve your turkey.  Click here to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GCdkuQoLrY

Make a wishbone.
The wishbone custom dates back to the late 1600s.  One person stands on each of the two sides of the wishbone, holding it by the tip with only two fingers.  They pull the wishbone until it breaks and the person left with the larger side will have a wish come true.

The wishbone of a turkey lies between the neck and breast.  Get in there, and you'll find it. You must let it dry out before attempting to break it.  It will take a few hours.

Don't forget about leftovers.
One of the best things about Thanksgiving feast is a weeks worth of leftovers afterward.  Here's a list of some of our favorite things to do with leftover turkey:

1. Turkey Sandwiches (obviously, right?) - Get creative.  Add some mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce to kick this up a notch.
   
2. Turkey and Fruit Salad
3. Turkey Chili
4. Turkey Stroganoff
5. Turkey Breakfast Pizza

Freeze it.  Worried about having too much turkey?  It's true. By the third day of Thanksgiving, there's a good chance your turkied out.  Not to mention, leftover turkey in the refrigerator only lasts for 3-4 days at most.  Why not take half of your leftover turkey and freeze it?

Here's the proper procedure:  Two hours after the turkey comes out of the oven, put it in shallow containers in your freezer.  Turkey will stay good in your freezer for about three months, and it's a great option to have on hand during the cold months for soup.

I think Peter (Office Space) said it best when he said, "It's a problem of motivation... The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."  What are you doing to keep your employees motivated?

With possibly one of the toughest market years in history behind us, many employees have had more than their fill of added responsibility, hard work and stress.  Younger employees are less driven by job security, and they don't think twice before jumping on an opportunity with your competitor.  Now that we're seeing an increase in job openings, ask yourself this, Why will your employees choose to work with you over the next opportunity that comes their way?  Each year, we find some common threads of innovation in Fortune's 100 Best Company's To Work For list.  These are just a few of the ways that America's favorite employers are retaining their valuable talent:


1. Work Life Balance - Yes, this is a big one.  We're living in a time where mom's are able to hold down a full time management position while taking care of her family and her personal health and fitness goals.  While some people are more effective in the morning... early in the morning, others are more productive or creative at 11PM.  We're not all the same yet corporate America still embraces this 9-5 mentality (8 - 7ish if you're working in New York City).  Small things can improve your employees productivity.  Here are a few options:

• Half day Fridays during the Summer months
• Work from home options... even only one day per week can be a huge boost for employees
• Flexible hours
  
• Allow Employees to work out during business hours as long as they put in a full day's work
• Personal Time - Allow employees to have an hour to themselves each day to work on personal projects - This is straight from the Google handbook.  It encourages personal projects.
  

2. The Extra Benefits - Although employees love healthcare, retirement and so on.  It's going to take a little more than the norm to set yourself apart from the competition.

• Free Yoga Passes / Gym Membership - Healthy employees are more productive.
  
• On-site Child Care
• On-site Fitness Facility
• Loans or incentives toward a computer, vehicles or real estate
• Employee Referral Rewards
• Dry Cleaning Services
• Transit benefits such as TransitChek or commuter vehicles for employees

3.  Team Building Events and Outings - They say that couples who play together, stay together.  That goes for teams too.  In many companies, employees go to work and go home without learning about all of the interesting things that their co-workers do on the side.  I once sat across the hall from a blues musician who played gigs in the local area for about a year before it spontaneously came into conversation one day.  The more you know and like the people you work with, the more productive you can be as a team. 

• Winery Visit - Most states have a wine region these days.  See if you can locate a day trip where interested employees can go wine tasting and/or learn how to make wine.
• Food Class - Find a local chef who will conduct a one-night cooking class for the group
• Take the team out for lunch once per month
• Lunch & Learns - Employees take turns learning about something of interest to them such as a new software program or social networking website and presenting it to the rest of the team.  You provide the lunch, the employees bond as they learn all sorts of new things.
• Corporate Parties - Many companies schedule a corporate party around the holidays, but what about a costume party at the local pub, a summer beach bash or a treasure hunt around town.  If your company is very laid back, you may opt for a bar crawl.  There's a good chance your employees are hanging out at the bar for happy hour anyhow. 

4. Take an interest in your employees. - When was the last time you asked your employees how they were doing?  Take him or her out for an afternoon cup of coffee just to chat.   When employees feel appreciated, they will work harder for you and they will stay longer.  Find out what makes each of them tick.  Are they motivated by money, by personal time, by gifts, by appreciation?  Figure it out, and mark it in your calendar to tend to their needs on a regular basis.  Knowing you care may be all they need.

5. Company Image - Employees want to work for a company that they can respect.  They want to work with a manager who portrays enthusiasm and integrity.  How many of the following are you currently doing?

• Greener Office - Look around.  How many printers are sitting around your office at this moment?  How many of them have printed paper sitting on them that never got picked up? There are many things you can do to show employees that you're being environmentally responsible.  Doing something good each day (even if it's recycling once piece of paper) makes that person feel that they've contributed to the greater good.  For tips on making your office greener, visit Go Green.
  
• Internal Social Network - Encourage employee communication and openness of new ideas for the company through an internal social network.  This will give each employee a level playing field for suggestions.  Some of them may be so small yet so powerful that you can even implement them today.
  
• Personal Emails - Send out enthusiastic weekly emails to your employees updating them on company successes.  Forget the newsletter system, this one should come straight from your email account.  Give a semi-public shout out to those employees who really excelled during the week.  Again, this bridges the gap between upper management and the bottom floor.  If you don't have a direct relationship with the bottom floor, get feedback from their managers on who deserves mention in your weekly shout out.
  

What works for your company?  Leave us a comment with your innovative ideas for boosting employee morale!

Economically, last year's winter season was a bit gloomier than usual.  Smart companies will take this opportunity to get themselves noticed and remembered with a thoughtful gesture or seasonal gift for their clients!

Rather than heading straight to your favorite promo company, give this one some thought.  What would you like to receive as a gift... a personal gesture of thanks may go further than a key chain with your logo on it?  Afterall, it is the thought that counts.  These are our picks for the Top 5 clients gifts for this season!  Remember: creativity will get you far.




1. The Client Gift Basket - A themed gift basket is always welcomed with open arms.  If you're looking to hit all of your clients with one general gift idea, a gift basket is usually the way to go.   Potential themes are as follows: Fall, Halloween, Environment (Green), Breast Cancer Awareness, Wine, New Years, Coffee, Sports, Animals, Winter Wonderland.  Consider implementing a theme that goes well with your brand and incorporate your corporate colors if possible.

Contents:

• Something permanent - Add something permanent that can potentially be kept in your client's office as a reminder of you. 
• Something handmade or baked - This will always pull on their heart strings. Adding your company colors into cookies or baked goods is a great way to bring your brand into the basket without being over the top.
  
• Something that reminds them of your company - As mentioned above, cookies with your brand colors work.  In addition, maybe you add a coffee mug or a planter with your logo for their desk (again, this is dependent upon theme).  Try to keep the logos to a minimum, but it's a good idea to have it in there somewhere.
• Thoughtful Card - Handwritten cards are few and far between in this digital world.  A handwritten note will always be noticed.
• Donation Certificate - In the case of a foundation or organization theme, a donation may be a necessary addition.  Organizations are usually able to print multiple certificates for use in client gifts or to provide you with a digital certificate that may be printed or reproduced.
  

2. Tickets To A Show or Sporting Event - Put your relationship building efforts to good use.  Have you learned over the years that your client loves the NY Giants or Broadway?  They're surely to be impressed that you were listening.

3. Baked Goods / Handwritten Card - If you're looking for a budget option that still gets you noticed, maybe your time is a good investment.  This may also depend upon where your clients are located in proximity to your office.  Keep in mind, some baked goods are shippable.  Try not to choose items which will melt or crumble easily when shaken around a bit.  As mentioned above, a handwritten card will get you noticed.  It adds that humanistic element that many companies are lacking today.

4. A Unique Must-Have - If you're better at shopping than baking, and you still want to be remembered, go with something unique.  There are always new innovations like travel mugs that plug into a car lighter.  If you find something that your clients don't already have and will want to use, that's a great gift.  At the sake of sounding repetitive, I have to mention... if you're purchasing a gift, you must put a handwritten card with it to be effective.  You need to lend a personal aspect to this gift.

5. Gift Certificates - If you're working with clients all over the country, consider checking Yelp.com for a highly rated wine bar or restaurant in your client's area.  Everyone loves to be taken out to dinner (and/or drinks), and they'll be thinking of your during (and in remeberance of) this experience.  Therefore, be sure to pick out a nice place, and send a note to let them know how much you appreciate them.  Also, gift certificates are a great way to save on shipping if you're dealing with numerous clients in multiple locations.

Online Social Networking is a necessity in staying competitive in today's marketplace.  On-going maintenance can be very demanding, and many executives are left wondering about the best option for their company.  Here, we've uncovered some pros and cons to help you decide.

click on image to enlarge

Internal Employee
Sometimes an internal employee is interested in taking on the challenge of learning and maintaining their company’s online social network.  This was the case for Dunkin Dave who now manages the Dunkin Donuts social network full time.  You can find him each day drifting from conversation to conversation with internal employees, those who just finished their morning DD coffee or even MC Hammer.  (See twitter.com/dunkindonuts)  To many companies, hiring an internal employee to manage their campaign seems like an obvious choice, but adding the OSN campaign to a current list of responsibilities can many times be too overwhelming and unsustainable.  When hiring an internal employee to handle your OSN campaign, find a dependable individual who can understand the technology, be trusted as your company’s online representative and can actively focus on maintenance.  If you’re spending time and resources to build a community online, you don’t want to lose your identity.  This is the main reason why interns are not the ideal choice for this position.

Freelancer
With the number of unemployed holding strong, there are plenty of self-proclaimed social networking “experts” out there who would be happy to maintain your network.  Although this can be a cost-effective option, hiring a freelancer can be risky if he or she will only be available until they find another job.  You may not even be informed of this situation.  Your community will develop a relationship with your freelancer.  Your twitters will follow his or her tweets for months and then all of a sudden, he or she is gone.  So, the community you've spent time and resources building begins to slowly unfollow you as they don't identify with the new freelancer.  Basically, with freelancers and interns, you don't have the reliability you'd have when outsourcing to an established company.

PR Firm
By hiring a PR firm, you will most likely get the reliability, the professionalism and a significant price tag to go with it.  This may seem like the best option if you're a large corporation with a considerable budget for PR services.  Keep in mind, not all PR firms handle online social networking maintenance.  They may set up a strategy for your OSN and expect that you’ll find a solution for on-going maintenance.  In many cases, PR firms may enlist the assistance of freelancers or social networking firms to manage the client’s account.

Java Social Networking (JSN) is a Social Networking Firm.
JSN was built with small to mid-sized businesses in mind.   Social Networking demands a considerable amount of time, yet maintaining appearances online is necessary in today’s competitive marketplace.  JSN saw a void in the current options for Social Networking maintenance, and therefore developed a system that incorporates everything necessary in OSN management while providing an approachable and cost-effective solution ideal for small to mid-sized businesses.  At the end of the day, JSN sets itself apart from the competition by providing personal attention, competitive strategies, low pricing and physical results.  This ensures each client is drawing more traffic to their websites and ultimately profiting from their Social Networking campaign.

For more information: http://www.javasocialnetworking.com or email info@jsncafe.com

Some would say a difficult economy is a horrible thing to waste. When the special-needs students of LESA Pathway School in Livingston County, MI were given the obstacle of obtaining starter jobs in a down market, they thought of no better way to utilize the school's stimulus money than to invest in a profitable company where they can better themselves and the community.

"Roughly 25 to 30 of Pathway's 18- to 26-year-old special needs students are running Lacey's Love Dog Biscuit Company, a fully inspected and licensed business that hopefully will lead them toward a career." MILive.com

Lacey's was named after the school therapy dog, Lacey, who receives much love from the students of Pathway. The biscuit recipe has been approved by the Federal Drug & Food Administration, the business passed their first surprise inspection and each biscuit is made with love.

"I love Lacey's Love Dog Biscuits, and I'd recommend them to all of my dog friends." - Baxter

The pathway students have been working double-time to get ready for the holiday season. Lacey's biscuits would be a great addition to:

• Halloween treat bags (for festive canines)
• Client gift baskets for dog lovers
  
• Holiday gifts for dogs
  

How To Order:

Lacey's Love Dog Biscuits:
$3 per bag of 15 biscuits.
Call the office at 517-546-3030.

Made by Pathway School students.
Let them know that Baxter sent you.

Give this dog a bone!
Baxter's Top 10 Best Dog Blogs are (drumroll please):





1. Celebrity Dog Watcher - It looks like the puparazzi has been busy at work on this site. These celebdogs are living large in Louis Vuitton. We should all be so lucky. There's a place for everyday dogs too; check out the Top Dog Of The Day feature.

2. Once Upon A Dog Blog
Meet PeachPops. He loves Art, Johnny Cash and sleeping under his Wisteria tree. Then again, who doesn't? Straight out of SoCal, his blogs are always eclectic and interesting.

3. Tibby Tales "A Dog-Gone Blog"

6. Eduardo The Snuggle Puggle
Eduardo enjoys donating his time for a good cause. You can find him walking for cancer care or spending time with his girlfriend, Roxy. We commend Eduardo for always looking out for his fellow dog... and people friends.

7. Frankie The Walk N Roll Dog
Our Top 10 list would not be complete without this well-known and much loved roller dog. This weiner dog has one of the most popular dog blogs. Frankie's disability doesn't detour him from participating in fundraisers for the Humane Society. Keep up the good work, Frankie.

8. Owned By Pugs
This dogblog is very clean and well designed. Plus, it's owned by pugs! These dogs sleep, tweet, and blog. That's a lot of work for one dog, but when they share these tasks it makes for entertainment and lots of updates. We love that.

9. New York Dog Blog
We just can't get enough pugblogs. It's true, Pugs love blogging, but New York Dog Blog includes a group of four dogs on the town. New York City, Times Square, Chelsea piers... it's a dog playground out there.

10. Dogster's "for the love of dog" blog
Every dog should have this site in their blogroll. With insightful and refreshing content, a nice array of dog photos from all over the net, and an easy to navigate design, Dogster's is showing blog pups how a dogblog should be. Register to win a photo contest or "bark back" to the dogster blog. You can even get Dogster's delivered to your inbox. We give this one two paws up.

Did we miss your favorite? Let us know...

For those who didn't have a chance to make it to Starbucks this weekend to experience the Starbucks Challenge, here are my thoughts...

First of all, finding a store which had the Challenge in full operation was somewhat challenging in itself. On my second attempt, at the Short Hills mall in New Jersey, I found a table set up with a barista pouring instant brew and Pikes Place into Dixie cups. There are two options for the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew: Columbia (Medium) and Italian Roast (Bold). Click here to learn more about the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew: http://www.starbucks.com/VIA/.

For this particular Challenge, Starbucks was comparing the freshly brewed Pikes Place with the VIA Ready Brew Columbia. In my experience, the Pikes Place is quite a bit milder than the VIA Ready Brew Columbia, and the barista at Starbucks Short Hills told us that many of the tasters between Friday and Saturday had similar feedback. He told us that his store statistics showed the majority of tasters choosing incorrectly... good news for Starbucks.

My boyfriend guessed correctly. He claims that he can smell the difference between a freeze dried coffee and a freshly ground bean. You can always leave it to a wine conniseur to detect the faintest scent nuances in everything. With that said, most tasters would undoubtedly assume that the instant coffee would have a weaker taste than a fresh brew. The Columbia VIA Ready Brew (even considering that it's the medium option) was still bolder than the Pikes Place.

I give props to Starbucks as I believe this is the best instant coffee I have had. However, I'm lucky enough to live in the New York City area where Starbucks is never more than a few blocks away. When given the choice, I will always choose a fresh cup. Next time I head cross country or plan my next camping trip, I may add some Starbucks VIA to my packing list.

How did you do? What was your initial reaction to the instant coffee?

Many companies are interested in utilizing Facebook as a marketing tool and communication forum for their customers and clients. Follow these steps to easily set up a Facebook Fan Page.

Account Setup

1. Set up a personal Facebook account if you don't already have one. www.facebook.com

2. While logged in, click on this link to begin setting up your fan page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

3. Fill out the form

• Choose a category
• Name your fan page. It's best to use the name of your business or organization here.
• Place a check in the authorization box, and type your name
• Click "create page"

4. Update your fan page with information about your business or organization. Each editable section has a pencil graphic in the upper right corner that you can click on to edit that section. Insert a photo or logo.

5. Invite Your Friends. In the right column under your photo or logo, click on "more". The full menu of options will appear which includes "Suggest to My Friends". You can choose which friends you'd like to suggest this fan page to.

6. Marketing. Facebook has an advertising option with Fan Pages which can be accessed in the upper right corner of your fan page screen. "Create an Ad". There is cost involved with this option.

7. Status update. Post an update in the "What on your mind?" box. This status will be posted for all Fans to see and will remain on your "wall" unless you delete it later. Fans are also able to update their status on your "wall". Some examples of what companies post on their wall are as follows:

• Job openings
  
• Award Announcements
  
• Articles or Blog entries that feature their company or industry
• Helpful tips for consumers
  
• Event Announcements and Reminders

How do I get back to my Fan Page once I've logged out?
This is easy. Log back into your personal account and type the name of your fan page into the search bar in the upper right corner of your screen. Click on your fan page. Once you get to your fan page, you'll have full editing access.

What if I want one of my friends or employees to manage the updates?
You can give any of your fans administrative access. In the left column fan box, click on "see all". A box will open which displays all of your fans. By clicking on the "make admin" button next to a fan's photo, you'll allow them to have administrator access in addition to yourself.

How do I add a Facebook Fan Page button to my website or blog?
Facebook has many options for promoting your fan page on your personal website. These options (widgets) range from a simple fan page button to an entire status box which shows who your fans are and what they're saying about your business at all times. Click here to visit the Facebook Widgets page.

Do you have a question? Let me know.

Online Social Networking (OSN) is in the news a lot lately. Never fear, business owners, executives and marketing departments, I'm here to introduce you to the options one site at a time.

Let's start out with The Big Three! No, I'm not talking about automobile companies. If your business currently does not maintain an online presence, I recommend you start with familiarizing yourself with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (in that order).


LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site which currently has over 40 million users. I like to think of LinkedIn as your online business card. In addition, your past college friends, colleagues and clients can locate you through past employment and college information you've provided. LinkedIn users are thought to be in an average executive salary bracket and well into their careers. This is most likely why staffing recruiters regularly view LinkedIn candidates more experienced. Over the years, LinkedIn has added many features to enable a fuller business communication between employer/employee and colleagues, such as:

• Mobile Capability (Smart Phones - iPhone and Blackberry)
• Project Status Updates
• Apps (Amazon reading list and SlideShare)
• Jobs (Paid posting throughout or Free posting through groups)
  
• Groups (organizations of individuals who share similar interests and goals)

^[update]Facebook is used by pretty much everyone at this point. Therefore, Facebook can be a great resource for learning about your demographic, staying in touch with clients, customers, employees, friends and family. What started out at Harvard as a communication tool for students has propelled itself as the largest and most utilized social networking website in the United States. As of October 2009, Facebook has more than 300 Million users. For Businesses, Facebook can be utlized for the following:

• Facebook Fan Pages - these can be set up by any Facebook user. They need to be connected to an actual person, preferably the business owner. However, that business owner can designate any one or more of his or her "fans" as the administrator. Updating company fan page status will send a message to all fans about the business. Examples of updates are job postings, press releases, blog articles, and customer reviews. Fans are also able to comment and add photos on the company's fan page. A company's fan page is a community forum for communication between a business and it's customers, clients and employees.
• Connect and stay up to date with your friends, family and customers. Business and pleasure meet in the world of Facebook.
  

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.

Think of Twitter as a news feed about your company, your personal whereabouts and, generally, anything you want to say to the general public. Regular Twitter users post micro-messages multiple times throughout the day. These messages range from what the user is doing during happy hour, links to an interesting blog article they're reading, advertisement for a product sale, link to their company blog and so on. Twitter is a great way to build a community of customers, clients, friends and family who find interest in your company and, ultimately, your tweets. One quick tip, do not get on Twitter and sell, sell, sell. Think about what you find valuable in someone you follow. Successful Twitter accounts (business and personal) possess a humanistic element that appeals to followers and encourages conversation within the community.
Twitter 101 by Twitter - This is a great resource for learning about Twitter for Business. You can find great case studies here, as well.
Twitter Guide Book by Mashable - This is extremely for learning about Twitter terminology that may seem foreign to you in the beginning.
Don't be scared. All you need to do to get started is set up an account. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Try to keep your username short as it counts in the 140 characters on each of your tweets. Sign up for a Twitter site here: www.twitter.com. Once you're signed up, just type in what you're doing. You're sure to be astonished at how many followers will be attracted to you right away.



Other Noteworthy OSN Websites for Business:


www.biznik.com
Biznik is an award-winning community of entrepreneurs and small businesses dedicated to helping each other succeed.



www.ecademy.com


http://econnect.entrepreneur.com/
By Entrepreneur.com, a meeting place for entrepreneurs. This is also a great place to check in daily for helpful resources and articles.


www.FastPitchNetworking.com
Market your company and connect with others.





www.plaxo.com
An enhanced address book.



www.ryze.com
Business Networking



www.spoke.com
This site is very similar to LinkedIn. I find it to be very useful, and it's gaining popularity everyday.


www.startupnation.com
By entrepreneurs. For entrepreneurs. Over 175,000 pages of award-winning business advice and networking.



www.upspring.com
Local Marketing and Networking Services for Businesses.



www.youngentrepreneur.com
Networking and Resources for Entrepreneurs


I hope you found this introduction to Online Social Networking for Business helpful. I'd love to hear your comments. What networks do you find most effective? Did I miss any of your favorites?