Biznik: "Going it Alone Together"

Dan McComb

Welcome to an Entrepreneurs Channel Podcast on Total Picture Radio with Peter Clayton reporting. Joining us today from Seattle, Washington is the co-founder of Biznik.com, Dan McComb.

From their Web site: Biznik is an award-winning community of entrepreneurs and small businesses dedicated to helping each other succeed. If you're having any of these problems, and want to do something about it, Biznik is for you:
• You love running your business, but hate feeling isolated.
• You need more clients and customers.
• You need to raise your visibility and credibility.
• You do most things well in your business, but not everything.
• You don't have enough opportunities to meet colleagues and potential partners.
• Your business isn't growing fast enough.
• You have a hard time keeping up with trends that affect your business.
• You aren't sure how to use social media to promote your business.
• You're thinking about starting a business, but aren't sure where to start.

13 Min:

8.9 MB Download Now!

SEO Writing

Questions Peter Clayton asked Dan McComb:

What is Biznik?
What was the motivation for launching Biznik?
What is your background?
Where do you see Biznik fitting into the online social networking sphere and how is it different from existing services such as Linkedin?
What are some of the unique features of Biznik?
What is the demographic? How many people are using Biznik?
Tell us about the documentary film you’re making, called SHINE?
You’ve devised a rather unique way to finance the film?

Dan's Biznik Profile

In my former life, I was a photojournalist whose work appeared in newspapers and magazines like Time and Newsweek. After realizing that journalism was going to change me before I changed the world, I left the profession in 1998 and taught myself how to build websites for a living. I found self-employment hugely rewarding but surprisingly isolating. I was surprised to be turned away when I tried to join a local business networking group because "we only have room for one person from your profession, and your spot has been filled." In 2005, Lara Eve Feltin and I cofounded Biznik (http://biznik.com), with a simple premise: business networking shouldn't suck.

Today Biznik is an award-winning community that connects more than 21,000 forward-thinking business people in 120 countries. And we always have room for one more, no matter what profession you represent (as long as it's legal!). Members connect using Biznik's social network and strengthen relationships at more than 100 member-hosted events every month.

In October 2008, Lara and I were honored to be included in Seattle's top 25 most innovative entrepreneurs list by Seattle Business Monthly, and included in Seattle Magazine's 2008 Power Players list of most influential people. I am approaching my goal of completely forgetting what it was like to be a corporate drone. And I'm on a mission to connect great minds with interesting work. What Dan does best

I'm best at team building and collaboration. I love working on interesting, cool projects with fun, talented people, and don't mind constraints - I enjoy finding ways to do a lot with a little. What does Dan need?

Your small business to be successful. That's what I want right now more than anything else, because it'll be good for the economy, good for me, and good for you.

Resources:

Total Picture Radio Interview with Scott Shane