Referral Pix...gone?

Hi Brian,

If you're looking for your referrals, check under the tab marked "Network." That's where mine are (http://biznik.com/members/rachel-whalley-ma-mfa/network)

No worries. It's not necessarily intuitive. I just have +10 website and techie skill. ;)

Hmmm, I found referrals hard to find as well and personally think that having them on the main profile page would be better. In addition, is it just me or there no way to see the actual comments of the referral?

In the early stages of development we discussed getting rid of the referral network all together, but Biznik is about business and there's so many benefits to getting a sense of who people are sharing business with.

We downplayed the significance of the referral network, and moved it from the main profile page, because it's not the most accurate form of reputation management. We offered suggestions on how the referral tool should be used, but there's no way to police it and make sure that the referrals people send through the tool really lead to business. Already this week a member told me of another member who has sent her 14 referrals - yet only 4 of them led to business. Could the message tool been used in a couple of the other cases? Probably.

So it's up to each member to develop their own scale upon which they judge referrals they accept and which ones they decline. Just as each person will choose who they include in their network and who they don't. Everyone's scales are different.

I feel the best way to use the referral network is not only to get a visual trust clue, but also to see if there's someone who's used a person's services whom you can contact for a reference.

Great points, I'm converted.
Also, an embarassing confession: someone sent me a referall that was actual a compliment and my brain confused the two because her 'compliment' was not showing up on my page. I had thought of it as "so and so is refering me" to the public. Oops. (:

I'd like to share my two cents.

I want to add gently, that I am a bit put off by the referral system. I just wonder if people are authentically impressed with their all of their referrals? I notice that many folks don't have a compliment/testimony on the page of the person they are referring to. And I don't find value in knowing who might be getting biz from who.

I do enjoy the networking feature. I like to see how we all connect to one another. And, it's helpful to know that I can contact a member for possible feedback about a member of their network.

I absolutely understand how valuable it can be to review associations. Our circles can say much about our professional image, yes.

But, I try to keep in mind that it's my personal experience of others' that matter most. So I review networks with a healthy dose of curiosity and try to remain conscious of myself streamlining folks into a category.

I guess the point I want to make is to keep our technology as simple as possible. Because being human can be difficult enough, especially in biz.

Thanks all.

Is there a way to put a link on my web site for people to click on and sign up under my profile?

Bob

That's a great suggestion, Bob. We haven't got a way for the link to give you credit for the invitation at this time, but we do have some standard code and badges for a link to Biznik that you can add to your site if you want.

(http://biznik.com/about/badges)