Why I Am Now Making Honey On BeBee

Over the past year, I had grown extremely frustrated with the mounting disregard that LinkedIn appears has developed for, well, just about everyone.
These actions, for me, mostly in regards to the algorithmic changes that the Mighty Hamsters, as I call them, have made, worked very much to the detriment of any writer who was not designated an Influencer.
At first this really pissed me off. Mainly because I have always been a person of my word and expect the same of others.
When the Pulse platform was established, we were all promised wide access and that anyone who chose to follow us would be notified when we had created a new post.
This was fine, because those were the two most important items that the independent writers on LinkedIn were willing to exchange for the valuable content they provided.
But about a year ago LinkedIn basically reneged on those promises, and in the process undid a lot of the work that the independent writers had done to build their followings, believing that it was all worth the effort.
These activities, coupled with a real lack of communication on LinkedIn’s part other than the odd pronouncement from on high, created a feeling among the independent writers that LinkedIn was either being sadistic or basically had no idea of how to manage a publishing platform.
I suspect it was a little of both, coupled with their primary agenda which was to promote the work of their designated “Influencers”, over the work of the independent writers. Which is ironic since the independent writers’ work is generally of a much higher quality.
Today, LinkedIn is still floundering around trying to figure out how to manage their publishing platform. This is generally what the clueless do.
They are also dealing with a disintegration of groups, the new invasion of unprofessional bozos and the US election year propaganda machines.
But something else is happening. And while you might consider most of the stuff I mentioned to be trivial, this is big.

It’s Called BeBee
BeBee is an international affinity-based social media site that allows its users the freedom to post anything they like and have it be relevant, simply because they can direct their post into any three of a couple hundred ‘hives’ or affinity groups. They can even create their own hive if they want and advertise for bees to join.
As somebody who has been actively blogging and posting on social media site for way more than a decade, BeBee, to me at least, represents the solution that LinkedIn is, or at least appears to be, incapable of creating for its users.
I was invited to join BeBee, by one of my LI followers, John White, who, as it turns out is beBee’s North American ambassador. So I thank him for that.
This invitation, however, came at a time when I was particularly busy with paid work, so I have not had a chance to fully explore and exploit all the nooks and crannies of this site.
But so far, I can report that being here has begun to make a world of difference to me personally. Here are some of the things I have figured out so far:
• The activity level here, unlike on LI, is very high.
• The management is very accessible and responsive.
• Independent writers are treated as VIPs, as there are no corporately promoted “Influencers”.
• The affinity idea is brilliant, as it frees you up to write about anything you want, because you can direct it at an audience or three that will find it relevant to them. Thus your views increase, as does your engagement.
The beBee publisher is still in a beta stage, so it needs some more functionality. But it’s very easy to work with. And the site itself is very responsive.
Is BeBee The New LinkedIn?
No. It is very much its own bee. But having said that, it’s as much like LI as you want it to be. And it’s as much like other social media sites as you want it to be.
I’m not sure it was ever intended to be a head to head competitor to LinkedIn, or even that it cares to be seen as such.
What I do know is that the migration of independent writers from LI to beBee has been massive. And that these writers are a hell of a lot happier here with a level playing field than they were for the past year at the completely controlled environment that LI created for them.
It’s Just A Baby Bee
beBee is, I think, a little more than a year old. It has more than 10 million active members, mostly from the other side of the Atlantic.
It is just now making a push into North America, and is pulling a lot of people from LinkedIn. I also think they should be pushing harder at Facebook as well, especially for those businesses who are bobbing around in the 1% ROI waters over there.
But that’s just me being a marketer.
Bottom Line
If you’re a business blogger, and serious about it, you have probably realized that LinkedIn has become a bag of snakes and that if you really want to build a following you need to be active in more than one place.
Well beBee, at least in my opinion, is a good ‘other place’ to beBee…oops I can’t help it.
If you look around on LinkedIn, you will see that there is a lot of cheerleading going on for BeBee. Some of it is promotional, but a lot of it is just a big sigh of relief expressed in a post.
Like this one.
I will continue to post on LI, mainly because there are several sites and one LI Ambassador who pick up my posts from Pulse.
But right now, I consider beBee My new headquarters. And I am buzzed. LOL.

I am a communications professional, primarily a strategist & writer. I work with B to B clients, large and small, graphic designers, art directors and marketing consultants to create hard working strategically focused communications in all on & offline media. I am a prolific blogger who likes to provoke thought and wake up the comatose.

If you have a marketing or communications challenge you would like to discuss, (no obligation), there are three ways you can contact me
Direct Line: 416 463-3475
Email: onandup3@gmail.com
Skype: jimbobmur61

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All content copyright Jim Murray, Onwords & Upwords Inc 2016

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