Benefits and Features for Business Organizations

1. What is vKoopia?

vKoopia enables membership-based business organizations to offer significant additional value to their members by creating a powerful networking and interactive environment through a cost effective B2B social media capable platform.

With the ever expanding and accessible social media enabled web where businesses are increasingly networking, marketing, selling and collaborating online, Business Organizations have significant opportunities to keep members satisfied and engaged and attract new members. They can easily and effectively use social media tools to bridge the gaps between their physical events and increase interaction with, and amongst, their members. The powerful and often low cost social media tools can be leveraged to identify and offer value added services, enable ongoing knowledge sharing and collaboration amongst members, and to provide members far more networking and business promotion opportunities than ever before.

Popular social networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, have introduced new features for business networking and idea sharing, but they are mostly based on “personal” profiles and interactions. While Facebook could be useful for Business-to-Consumer engagement and marketing, and LinkedIn offers an environment optimized for connecting professionals and career development, vKoopia has been designed for Business-to-Business interactions and the specific requirements of business assistance organizations. vKoopia enables:

√ ongoing networking & collaboration amongst members:

• linking businesses to businesses; customers, suppliers and sources of help
• strong peer interaction and collaboration capabilities

√ facilitating communication & interaction with members:

• discussions on various topics, including events
• providing easier access to resources, help and allow member’s contribution to these
• link to members’ business profile (current information and interests as made public)

√ extending the reach of members & the organization:

• member networking & collaboration with businesses outside the organization
• increased visibility and recognition for the organization and collaboration with other business organizations

Through vKoopia, business organizations can quickly and easily gain substantial social media capabilities to engage and assist their members, promote their services and attract new members at a very affordable cost.

Most business assistance organizations operate with a small management team, fractional-time volunteers and tight budgets. Hence the marketing and technical challenges of keeping members satisfied and engaged, promoting services and attracting new members are becoming greater in today’s online environment. vKoopia supports business organizations with marketing, community management and technical expertise to effectively leverage and harmonize their social media activities on vKoopia and on any other social media network also used by the organization such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

2. How vKoopia Works?

A business organization would set up own branded micro-site on vKoopia to work as the “social media extension” of its existing website (bolt on platform), or as its sole “social media capable website”. In the first case, there will be a two way link between the organization’s website and its micro-site. In the second case, the organization’s URL will be redirected to its micro-site on vKoopia.

There are two ways for an organization to create its micro-site on vKoopia. A standard, self-service option which is easy and quick to set up, or a custom micro-site that vKoopia’s team will help with in the design and implementation.

The Standard micro-site offers:

√ areas for the organization’s profile, logo and links to external websites , easily editable by the admin(s)
√ membership control for access to members only areas,
√ a list of the member’s businesses and links to members’ profiles
√ forum areas with privacy and group membership control
√ resources area with knowledge sharing capability
√ an announcement area for events and news
√ privacy control of all micro-site areas
√ multiple admin and admin change control

See details and configuring your Standard micro-site

Once an organization sets up its micro-site, Individual members request to join after registering on vKoopia. The members can create their business profile and upon micro-site membership approval, they can interact with the organization and network and collaborate amongst each other. The micro-site will be administered and managed as designated by the organization.

3. Why vKoopia?

In comparison with setting up a “fan page” on Facebook, a “company profile” on LinkedIn, or having a social website hosted on a multi-purpose platform such as Ning, a micro-site on vKoopia provides business organizations a B2B environment with specialized and much richer social media capabilities including:

• organization’s profile & members’ business profiles
• linking to members’ businesses, and linking members’ businesses to each other
• private networking groups ntegrated within the micro-site
• admin control

Alternatively, Business Organizations may opt to invest in their own, custom social media platform using open source systems such as Joomla or Buddypress. However, this approach will require substantial initial and on-going investment both financially and in time.

vKoopia is not just where organizations can go to get social media capabilities. vKoopia supports its customers with every step, from setting up their profile and tools and linking these to their website and other social networks, to marketing their new capabilities and building excitement amongst members, to managing and engaging their on-line community.

In addition to the values for the business organizations, vKoopia offers significant direct benefits to the individual business members of these organizations by facilitating networking and collaboration to help them with:

√increasing revenues from existing and new business customers:

• leverage and expand their business network
• promote their business
• receive feedback and referrals from existing customers
• form/join partnerships
• showcase business relationships
• be recognitized for their subject matter expertise

√ offering new products, services and managing costs:

• find new suppliers by leveraging and expanding their business network
• interact with suppliers
• view feedback, referrals and business relationships
• form/join co-operatives

√ receiving trusted help:

• get feedback and opinions from multiple & diverse sources (experts and peers)
• access shared, accumulated knowledge
• view experts’ and contributors’ credentials

The members of business organizations can use the networking and collaboration tools available on vKoopia free of charge including setting up rich business profiles and interacting with other businesses across organizational and geographical boundaries.

4. vKoopia Options & Prices

vKoopia offers the following options and prices to business organizations for setting up, operating and managing their micro-site:

Micro-site Set up fee:
 Standard Micro-site (click & fill by the customer): – Free of charge
 Set up and customization by vKoopia as required by customers: - hourly rate, or fixed price Custom Packages (custom page design/layout, additional pages, editable by micro-site admin, can include custom graphics and custom HTML, such as Paypal buttons)

Micro-site Subscription fee:
 organizations who charge membership fees: - $5 / member/ year; includes free Extended Business Profile for members, discounts offered to organizations with more than 200 members
 organizations who do not charge membership fees: - $240 / year

Micro-site Support services (as required):
 Set-up & Ongoing Enhancements - hourly rate, or fixed cost as per negotiated contract
 Marketing & Community Management – hourly rate, or fixed cost as per negotiated contract

The business model for the organization would be to provide the platform to members as a small part of their membership fee to gain a large benefit in networking, learning and collaboration through social media.

vKoopia is all about assisting business organizations to greatly increase benefits to their members, quickly, easily and at a low cost through effective social media capabilities.

For further questions, assistance,rates and packages, please contact us

Visit the Business Organization Directory to set up your organization's micro-site


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