Here at Network Solutions, we are thrilled to share with everyone that LinkTogether™ was recently recognized as the 2009 Best Portal Website for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development by the Web Marketing Association! The Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward Competition has been setting the standard of excellence for Website development since 1997.

Many of you are familiar with LinkTogether, but if you are not, it is a great resource center and community for Web designers, developers and marketers. Its mission is to help Web professionals save time, save money, and grow their businesses. It’s free to join and there is something for everyone. The site was judged on the following seven criteria:

1. Design
2. Innovation
3. Content
4. Technology
5. Interactivity
6. Copywriting
7. Ease of use

LinkTogether received the highest score in the Portal category; therefore winning this prestigious award. Please join me in congratulating the LinkTogether team for their outstanding work. The team included:

For more information on this recognition and LinkTogether, check out the WebAwards site and the LinkTogether site.

Guest post from Bonnie Williams – Bonnie is the marketing maestro for LinkTogether™. Over the past year she has turned LinkTogether into a growing community with thousands of Web Developers and Designers. Bonnie has been with Network Solutions for a year and a half and when she’s not working you can find her biking, hiking, swimming or just hanging around soaking up the sun.

Last month as part of LinkTogether we launched a cool new tool that has gotten some really great feedback from the community. It’s the Statement of Work Builder you can check it out from the LinkTogether Jobs page http://www.linktogether.com/web-developer-jobs/ - just scroll down a bit to see the link. It’s a FREE tool that anyone can use. It’s helpful for kicking off web related projects, especially for someone who’s never written a statement of work before.

Thoughts about the Statement of Work Builder from the community…

“I’d have a clear first contact with the potential client.” -Alisa Cognard
“It would answer a lot of questions about expectations right up front.” – William Wilkens

How do you create or manage your SOWs? Appreciate any comments and feedback on the Statement of Work Builder or on the LinkTogether site. Looking forward to your comments!

LinkTogether main screen

How LinkTogether Works
The theory of it is pretty simple — designers and developers have stuff that they’ve created but never used, and usually it’s just lying around. Instead of simply taking up storage space, why not create a marketplace for it?

The nuts and bolts of it are straightforward: register for a free membership (there’s also a premium Pro account available), and have a PayPal account. Once you’re registered with a seller’s account, you can upload items, list them, and assign your own prices (you can also share items for free.)

More importantly, you determine your own licensing terms, and can choose from a variety of license types (including Creative Commons licenses). For all this, NetSol collects a 15 percent sellers’ fee.

A marketplace for digital assets raises a lot of questions:

* Pricing decisions: After all, there is no better feedback mechanism than the free market: If you post an asset and it doesn’t sell, either you’ve got the wrong price, or the wrong product. You also have to factor in the value of demonstrated provenance and seller-determined licensing terms. And from the behavioral economics side, we know that “free” has some value (and baggage), as do certain price points. What ratio of free to paid assets should you use?

* Leveraging existing assets vs. Creating original content for sale: We’re assuming that people will start out showcasing stuff they’ve already created — the “your trash is someone’s treasure” concept. (Okay, “trash” is the wrong word.) By uploading and sharing what you’ve already created, you’re showcasing your work, putting it in front of people who are specifically looking for stuff to use. And since it’s already created, there’s no additional cost to you. So the question on building inventory is: If you ever get to the point where you’ve mined out your previous work, do you let your pile o’ previously built stuff grow organically, or do you start creating original assets specifically for sale?

* Tangible benefits from your work: We know that giving away content for free is a way to help build credibility, prestige, and peer recognition — building credit in an attention economy. The question LinkTogether  and similar marketplaces ask is – is it possible to also get actual monetary value from the direct selling of assets, on top of any indirect value from reputation or referrals, etc? We know of a few examples — SecondLife objects among them, or the secondary markets in MMORPGs. How about for things more (dare I say it) useful?

Since I’m not a designer or developer, and since I’m a poor-to-mediocre photographer, I’m not sure that I have any assets I’d put up on LinkTogether. So I’d like to see what other people think — for those people who create original digital assets (excluding commissioned works), have you ever tried selling them? Have you had any success?

In addition to the downloads, LinkTogether also has community forums, downloadable white papers, jobs listings, and more, so take a look and let us know what you think.

Give it a Try! (Limited Time Offer)
Because you might want to learn more and give it a try, here’s an added bonus for blog readers: For the next 24 hours from when this post goes live at 8AM EDT on 4/20/2009, you can get a PRO account for two months free!

Sign up HERE and use Coupon Code: PCXXX02884

You can subscribe to the feed on iTunes or RSS.

In this episode we talk about the upcoming inauguration (as of the recording of this episode) and all the parties here in the District. We also talk about a new women entrepreneurship blog that Network Solutions has launched called “Women Grow Business“, the launch of our new developer community, LinkTogether and we throw in a few business tips for you this week.

Here are the details:

What’s New Segment
Jill Foster:
a) The soft launching of a new Network Solutions blog — Women In Business — at www.womengrowbusiness.com
Exciting news! … Network Solutions is supporting a new blog dedicated to women in business. So the team is launching exactly that: a community blog called ‘Women In Business’. Women’s experience will drive conversation here plus stories on success, failure, leadership, economic trends & strategic decisions, entrepreneurship, and more.

Week in Review Segment
Joe Loong:
Last week’s highlight: Talking about the “If You Build It, Will They Come?” event, with a focus on using different tools for different tasks.

Jill Foster:
Last week on Solutions Are Power – post: 2009 Predictions Revisited: 4 metrics tools for social media (and competing with Steve!)

Touching base again on our Solutions Out Loud ‘Predictions Show’, I wanted to share more about my one ‘double down’ prediction for 2009 i.e. metrics tools will increase this year. So in light of that forecast, I shared a few measurement services and tools that could help small business measure data & results for their social media campaigns.

Steve Fisher:
Launch of LinkTogether and my “5 Reasons Web Developers Have a Great Community” post

Business Tips Segment
Joe Loong:
Business Tip: Keeping a topic slushpile — have a reserve of things you can blog about, that you can reach into when you find a topical hook, or need something to write about.

Network Solutions® is unveiling our newest community, LinkTogether™, created specifically for Web designers and developers. Our goal is to create a place to grow business, leverage tools to increase productivity, and even save some money.

We got some great coverage here and here.

It’s free to join and there’s so much to take advantage of.  As a Web professional myself, I thought about the five (5) reasons web developers need a great community:

1.) Showcase your portfolio to peers and potential clients – LinkTogether™  allows you to create a profile and display a portfolio through the member directory.

2.) Central marketplace for apps and templates – LinkTogether™  offers the ability to download apps, Web site templates and fun stuff shared by members then post your own original content to be rated and reviewed.

3.) Ability to connect with your peers for help and networking – LinkTogether™  has a platform to connect with other developers and designers for discussions, advice and tips.

4.) Learn relevant best practices – LinkTogether™  increases your knowledge and ability to find answers with a variety of educational resources such as original whitepapers, and video tutorials.

5.) Understand how to manage your clients better – LinkTogether™  helps you improve client conversations using Smart Guides and educational videos.

So, what’s the catch? Nothing. It’s free to sign up and become a member and get started.

We have created LinkTogether™  to help you spend more time doing what you love to do. We are offering a community where you can network with others like you & share ideas about your business & make business connections. Rarely is someone an expert in everything. It’s easier to specialize in what you’re good at. So when a job requires expertise beyond your own, LinkTogether™ provides you an opportunity to connect with others seeking work.

Once you are a member, if you decide that you want to dive deeper and access additional resources, a Pro Membership is available for a monthly subscription of $19.99 where members can access over 7,000 Web site templates, over 40 customizable legal and business documents, and receive exclusive discounts on services from Network Solutions®.

This is just the beginning of LinkTogether™, so check it out and tell us what you think. We would love to know where you think we should take this site and other great ideas you might have.

• Building your Brand 101 Series
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 1 – Listening
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 2 – Responding
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 3 – Analytics
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 3 second half – Analytics

In working with those tools you’ve probably found places where your customers are interacting. You should be participating there too.

I have written about opportunities to network on social network sites like Facebook, LinkedIn & Xing (Europe’s version of LinkedIn). There are also specialty networks like Konnects. Network Solutions offer MySolutionSpot & now offers LinkTogether.

Your profile is probably the key thing. If you don’t fill it out how will people know what your company offers?

Get involved – this will help people notice you. And it also allows you to present yourself as an expert in the area. Being a leader is also a good way to position yourself. How can you help others?

How much time should you spend doing this? It can be as little as 15 minutes per day. Or if you’d prefer to do a half hour a couple of times a week, that works too. The secret is to be consistent.

Get involved in groups, meet new people & grow your network. It will pay off. At first it seems like a waste of time, but after awhile it gets easier & you’ll find that you enjoy it!

What social networks do you participate in?

LinkTogether™ is a community rich with tools, resources and people that will help you work faster and deliver better results for your clients. Created in partnership with designers, developers and other Web professionals LinkTogether is built for you, by you. Check it out at www.linktogether.com.