Indie Website Re-Launch Is Coming Soon!

Hi Everyone!

[This is a duplicate of my original discussion, which was posted in November. Ning deleted it so all of the original comments are gone, but I read them all! Feel free to share your thoughts! I can't wait to launch the new site for you!]

I am pleased to announce that I have engaged the services of a designer to custom-build a brand new Indie social networking site! This one will build on the success of this Ning site, and will be more robust with more features. It will also be easier and more efficient for IBN members to take advantage of the benefits of the organization, and to connect and collaborate with both members and non-members alike to share the products and services you offer!

Here are a few of the main changes you will see when the new site launches.

1. Single Login For Members.

There will be a single username and password combination for IBN members! Currently, we are limited by the Ning format, which is not connected to the IBN member database. The new site will link the social network site database with the IBN member database so members will use only their IBN member username and password to access both the public and the exclusive private areas of the site!

2. Flagship Website Consolidation.

The new website will be hosted at http://www.IndieBusinessNetwork.com.

The http://www.indiebeautynetwork.com site will be absorbed into the new site.

This Ning site will remain open for a period of time during a transition from it to the new website. I will begin to encourage all site users to migrate over to the new site of course, but do not plan to shut this site down since it contains so much useful information. I will, however, close all of the discussions and seek to minimize activity so that everyone can begin to participate at the new site.

3. FaceBook and Twitter Integration, With Real-Time Status and Reply Updates.

The new site will give IBN members the option to interconnect with Twitter and Facebook. It will also facilitate the ability to reply to the status updates that IBN members post. So, for example, if I post a status update that says, "Good Morning!" and Kelly replies to that update, my original update and hers will appear together, along with a stream of following updates. The status updates will rotate on the home page so that at any given time, people who visit the site will be treated to IBN members' latest activity updates and the responses to those updates.

FaceBook and Twitter integration, with featured status updates will be made available to IBN members only as an exclusive member benefit.

4. Featured IBN Member Shopping Area

IBN members will be able to populate a special area designed exclusively to share new products updates, sales and other promotional activities. This area of the site will be accessible to the public, whether they join the site or not. The site itself will not have e-commerce capabilities (at least not at first), but you will be able to link directly to the shopping link at your website.

5. Site Parties

There will be a special area of the site, also accessible to the public, where we will host Online Site Parties where IBN members can share their products at a "home party" hosted on the website. Live video and chat will be an option in that area.

The other features of the Ning site that everyone loves so much will be maintained! This includes blogs, discussion forums, videos and product photos. As it is now, it will be a benefit of IBN membership to post videos and product photos. Everyone will be invited to post and comments on blogs and discussions. As a benefit of IBN membership, the blogs and discussions added by IBN members will be rotated through a "Featured Content" mechanism on the home page.

While the weekly only online newsletter will continue, it will be housed at the new site. It will also be enhanced and complemented by a free online color magazine that users (members and non-members) will be able to download and enjoy at their leisure.

[Semi-disclaimer: While I have every reason to believe that all of the features will operate as stated, with technology, you never know until it's done, right? So bear in mind that changes may have to be made to accommodate the real world once the site launches in beta -- which I hope will be sometime in December. Thanks!]

Question: Well, what do you think? What else would you like to see? How can I serve you better?