NETWORKS

On Tuesday, it was announced that Bizzingo has engaged the services of IBG, heralding an imminent rollout of Bizzingo's one-of-a-kind 'business-meets-social' networking.

While it may be premature to conclude that the news alone drove the price of the stock up 14%, investors and prospective corporate customers are eagerly awaiting Bizzingo's 'live' network. Utilizing the real-time services of IBG -- as well as putting the call out for charter members -- can be construed as a clear sign that Bizzingo is preparing to launch, perhaps even by the end of the summer.

Bizzingo has been developing a business-oriented social network that avoids the public exposure of more 'friends-and-family' oriented social networking sites such as Facebook. While serving a similar professional sphere as the recently-public LinkedIn, Bizzingo's focus upon the business entities rather than individual profiles allows for undistracted purpose-built networking like no other.

IBG (Internet Business Group) brings market-leading experience with handling the online presence and brand development of more than 150 companies. At the final stages of development, Bizzingo has crafted a robust social networking infrastructure upon which IBG will contribute both internal design and programming input and external drive -- in the form of IBG's award-winning SEO and reputation management capabilities.

"The expertise and services of IBG combined within the Bizzingo Network will tremendously benefit our business social network," states Douglas Toth, Bizzingo CEO and Chairman. "IBG offers an outstanding team that develops high-performance websites, effective e-commerce platforms and engaging social media applications. This collaboration will better enable us to exceed our short term goals and add significant value to our product."

Although personal connections, social interaction, and updates in the business world have been common elements of the Internet for some time, Bizzingo's unique strategy of creating a global network of businesses is something new to the online experience.

The opportunity to leverage and expand brand identity and directly engage marketing targets offers immediate and obvious benefits to businesses -- who for too long have had to make due with the 'bolted-on' online presences (insecure, subject to third-party manipulation, and full of irrelevant distractions) available from earlier attempts at social networking.