Blog will "Hibernate". Tweets, Forum & News keep chugging!

The Coworkers.com blog has been a helpful way to share product information with our growing community of users. However, we've been so focused on readying Coworkers.com Enterprise Edition - as well as improving our B2C service - that we've grown more accustomed to leveraging Twitter, Facebook, and our own News & Support pages for ongoing communication.

Therefore, we are going to put our Blog into "hibernation mode" for the moment. Instead we ask you to consider staying connected with what's going on at Coworkers.com by keeping an eye on the following:

• Coworkers.com News & Press page
• Coworkers.com on Twitter
• Coworkers.com on Facebook
• Coworkers.com Support Forum

Coworkers.com Announces Enterprise Edition: Making Workplace Feedback And Reviews Work

New York, NY, September 14, 2010 – Coworkers.com (http://www.coworkers.com) has launched into private beta its Coworkers Enterprise (CWE) edition, a new version of its professional feedback and analytics service for businesses that want to make workplace feedback and performance reviews work. The new CWE edition will augment the free, individual-focused product that it released in 2009.

“Businesses spend an enormous amount of time and money on workplace review systems for people, projects, documents, and deliverables - from paper-based reviews to complicated software platforms - and those systems don’t work. We’ve received a loud and clear message that businesses need better ways to let their people interact, using social technologies to facilitate honest, constructive peer review. Today we meet those needs with the Coworkers Enterprise (CWE) edition - a secure, easy to setup, easy to administer and easy to use platform for any business that wants to make workplace feedback and reviews work” said founder Jonathan Clay.

CWE contains many exciting new features tailored to companies, employees and various team-based situations:

• Real-time feedback and in-depth performance review management, so that both employees and companies can manage performance continuously and not just once a year or only after projects are completed.
• Sophisticated work-group functionality, so that businesses can now take advantage of the same feedback and analysis engine that powers the Coworkers.com public site, with the utmost concern for their security and privacy.
• An activity stream-based user interface that is familiar to users of social networks.
• An analytics engine to measure and extract work performance data from the day to day interactions in the activity stream, giving regular insight into how employees and projects are performing.

CWE allows a company to choose a unique URL, such as “MyCompany.coworkers.com”, and gives administrators full control over who has access to the domain. Employees can freely interact and exchange honest feedback, without worrying about sensitive information being exposed to anyone outside the company. Custom review templates can be developed for feedback that is specific to the company, its teams, its projects and any deliverable. In addition to work evaluation, the CWE edition supports new types of collaboration, such as micro-feedback, quick surveys, crowdsourced decision-making, and brainstorming.

Pricing for the Coworkers.com Enterprise Edition will be per user per month, with a free entry level offering. More details can be found at http://www.coworkers.com/b2b

• Read or Download the full press release on Scribd
• Visit our Coworkers.com Press Kit Page for additional media information.

Template Tips: when to use Private vs. Public settings on your feedback forms

Coworkers.com gives you the flexibility to gather feedback in different ways.

• Get quick feedback from others by asking a simple question and asking them to give a rating or yes/no type response
• Get more in-depth feedback by asking people to respond to a lengthier questionnaire-style online form

Coworkers.com Templates are online review forms that help you capture that in-depth feedback. They can be as simple as a few questions, or as complex as a lengthy form combining various input methods such as: ratings; multiple choice; yes/no etc.

One of the great things about Coworkers.com is that we have a growing library of Templates that anyone can use right away. This library is made up of standard templates that Coworkers.com publishes, as well as custom templates created and shared by our users.

How can you take advantage of custom templates?

• Private Templates: You can easily convert or create your own proprietary review and survey templates using our built-in editor. You can also copy an existing template from our library and modify it to suit your needs. When you save these templates, only you can see and use them we keep them safe and secure. We make sure your business intelligence remains confidential.
• Public Templates: Want to share a useful form and gain credibility among your network? As above, you can create your own original forms, or customize existing ones and then make them visible to all Coworkers.com users. The advantage of sharing in this way, is that it grows your reputation as an expert and helps encourage sharing and growth within our Template library.

Now, go take advantage of templates to get and give professional feedback! Browse templates, Read our Template FAQ, or build a custom one today.

Software for Enterprise: "How to get quick and anonymous feedback via a web form"

The website Software for Enterprise has put together a great overview on our service. In this article they very handily "...walk through a simple process on how a Project Manager would ask his subordinates for feedback on the last project he handled using Coworkers."

They go on to say "I think it’s good to use Coworkers to get feedback because:

• It doesn’t force the person to give you an immediate answer.
• He / she has an option on whether or not to give you a feedback.
• He / she can choose to provide a feedback whenever convenient.
• He / she can choose to give a feedback anonymously, if you allow it in the first place.

In addition, they point out:

"Some other ways how you can use Coworkers:

• Get feedback from customers
• As general assessments for interview candidate
• Employees performance management
• Do a self review to compare what others think of us against what we think of ourselves."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves!

Read the entire article, including helpful step by step instructions & screen shots, at wareprise.com

ITworld Looks at Coworkers.com & Online Reputation Management

Dan Tynan was kind enough to speak with us recently regarding his series of articles that explore Online Reputation. Dan focused on some key differences between Coworkers.com and a new site called Unvarnished. Here are highlights from his piece:

Online reputation does matter
(no matter what Michael Arrington says)

"...My point: Of course your online reputation matters. That reputation is formed by a number of things, including what you say in your blog(s) or in comments, what you say and do on social networks and media sharing sites, and what other people say about you on sites like Unvarnished..."

"Jon Clay agrees with me. He’s CEO of Coworkers.com, a site that preceded Unvarnished and has a lot in common with it, but also differs in significant ways. Like Unvarnished, it exists to promote your professional reputation, and people may post anonymous reviews of you. Unlike Unvarnished, you control what others can and can’t see on your profile. So if somebody posts a nasty review of your work performance, you can choose to delete it, keep it but make it private, or show it to the world.

Why, I asked Clay, would anyone ever elect to show a negative review to anyone else? Because, he responded, it could be an excellent way to show how you’ve improved in a particular area over time. Last year, you may have gotten negative marks for your productivity, competence, or interpersonal skills; now your reviews are significantly better.

Another thing I like about Coworkers.com is nobody else can add you to its database. It’s up to you to add yourself. That keeps you from suddenly discovering, years down the road, that somebody has been spreading nasty lies about you on the site. (The downside? It tends to limit the number of people who actually participate -- searching the site for common names like "Smith" or "Jones" produces very few hits.) [*please see our note below]

In other words, it helps you manage your reputation as you see fit, which is how most of us try to operate in the real world. And that’s something we all will need to pay increasingly more attention to – no matter what Michael Arrington tells you."

We appreciate Dan's insight. Regarding profile search and user participation on Coworkers.com: While it's true that searching for people with Public profiles may yield limited results as we continue to grow, it is important to note that there is still a lot of private participation happening among users who do not make their profiles public.

We find that our private users are reaching out to their colleagues, collecting feedback, getting comfortable with using our site as a catalyst for self improvement. These users also share their positive and negative feedback privately and on a limited basis with mentors, coaches, supervisors, prospects etc. We think it's this level of control, on the incoming and outgoing stream, that distinguishes mere "Public ratings" from self-directed Professional Reputation & Career Management.

• Read the full article on ITworld.com

On a related note, we were pleased to recently get some coverage in the New Jersey Business News website NJ.com in their article titled Social networking has its perks

What we're about, and what we're not

So there's an interesting discussion going on over at TechCrunch with the title "Unvarnished: A Clean, Well-Lighted Place For Defamation". It talks about a recently launched service that lets anyone create a profile of another person and review them anonymously.

To be very clear up front: we have several competitors, but we do NOT consider this site one of them. Sure, there are some similarities, but the differences far outweigh them. We actually market tested a similar model early on in our evolution, and decided that it was not viable. Not to mention that we like being able to sleep at night.

It's tempting to take shots at these guys, but frankly it's unnecessary, and the majority of the commenters at TC have already roundly panned the idea. Instead, I will simply reiterate some of our key concepts, and you can draw your own conclusions.

Building up, not tearing down: We believe that everyone can benefit from honest feedback. However, it should be done in a constructive way, and the goal should be to help that person improve his or her work, not to "name and shame" them. Transparency is a good thing, but it must be superseded by an individual's right not be defamed.

Ask and ye shall receive: Coworkers.com is built around the question "how's my work? ®" not the statement "what a jerk". It's for people who want to advance their careers and strengthen their reputations by asking their coworkers for genuine, detailed feedback about their work. Yes, you can also send unsolicited, optionally anonymous feedback. But it is only displayed to the world when the recipient says it should be.

Cherry picking allowed here: on Coworkers.com, nothing is publicly displayed about you unless you confirm it. If you get an unwarranted or irrelevant review, you delete it, it's that simple. Does that mean that some valid, negative feedback will be deleted? Yes, of course. But we believe that's better than the alternative. And many people actually publish not-so-positive reviews of themselves, because they can use it to show how they have improved over time (see http://www.coworkers.com/analytics).

Don't like it? Fine, opt out: We do not try to hoodwink anyone into using our service. It's out there for anyone who derives value from it. If you don't like it, you can make your profile private, or remove your profile altogether, at any time.

Free speech is limited: Finally, and possibly most importantly, we believe that every person has a fundamental right to privacy. If you are a celebrity, different rules apply, which is why we have sites like TMZ. If you hang up a shingle as a lawyer or carpenter or restaurant, different rules apply, which is why services like Yelp are completely legitimate and useful. But if you are just a guy or gal trying to make your way in the workplace, it is simply wrong for someone to be able to spew venom about you for the whole world to see. We have all had bad moments with coworkers, and yes, retribution can be tempting. And to be honest, some people really do deserve it. But is it worth it if even one person's career is destroyed unfairly? We think the answer is no.

Jonathan Clay
Founder and President, Coworkers.com

Twitter Lists and Coworkers.com

In addition to using Twitter to share information and provide updates on Coworkers.com, we have also been building various Twitter "Lists" that follow career and job related users. Take a look, we hope you will find them useful - http://twitter.com/coworkers/lists

Also, please let us know if you have any suggestions for people to add to these lists, or if you'd like us to track additional topics! You can email us via the site, or DM us on Twitter @coworkers.

Request Professional Feedback & Coaching via Google Buzz

Coworkers.com now makes it easy for you to share your feedback requests via Google Buzz (in addition to Twitter & LinkedIn). Our Get Feedback tool helps you quickly configure a request for feedback regarding: your work performance, a document or deliverable, an event or milestone, or even just ask a simple question. With one click, you can share that request any way you want - via email, URL, Twitter, LinkedIn, and now Google Buzz!

To Buzz your request:

• Choose "Get Feedback" from the "Feedback" drop-down menu on the site
• In the "Ask Via..." options, make sure "Web..." is checked
• Finish setting up your request, and you'll be presented with one-click links that let you share your request via Google Buzz & other services (see screen capture below)

Happy buzzing

Coworkers.com introduces affiliate program

Affiliates generate revenue with referrals

Coworkers.com is pleased to introduce a new program that allows affiliates to earn money through referrals. The program is targeted primarily at career and job experts such as consultants, coaches, recruiters, and trainers. By referring paying customers to Coworkers.com, these people can supplement their income with no obligation and little effort.

“Since we launched our Professional (subscription) service in November, we have been approached by many career-focused business people who tell us that our service facilitates exactly the type of interaction they already recommend to their clients: ongoing, constructive, multi-party feedback” said founder Jonathan Clay. “Since these experts are already effectively selling what we offer, we decided to give them a way to profit from it.”

The affiliate program offers a one-time, 15% “bounty” to affiliates when they refer new customers who sign up for Coworkers.com’s Professional Edition. Each affiliate gets a unique “discount code” which is used to tie referrals back to them. Suggested methods of promotion for affiliates include blog entries, podcasts, and e-newsletters.

“This is truly a win-win deal,” said Clay. “With this program, we provide enterprising small businesses a way to generate passive revenue streams. End users get a substantial discount via the affiliate who referred them. And of course, we are happy to have a new distribution channel that will help us spread the word about Coworkers.com and gain new customers.”

Program details can be found at http://www.coworkers.com/affiliates

Use your LinkedIn Account to instantly Sign up for Coworkers.com

We're excited to announce that new website visitors can now use their LinkedIn account information to sign up instantly for a Coworkers.com account. This is made possible thanks to the recently announced LinkedIn API.

How does the sign up process work?

If you have not yet registered with Coworkers.com, you can do so quickly, without a password, by signing in to your LinkedIn account. Simply visit our Free Registration page, and click on the "Connect via LinkedIn" link at the top of the page. We will import some information from your LinkedIn profile, such as your name, location, and work experience - so you won't need to enter it again. After you have registered, you can log back in to Coworkers via LinkedIn.

What about people who already have a Coworkers.com account?

If you have already signed up with Coworkers.com but have not yet filled out your profile, you can do so quickly by clicking on the "Import from LinkedIn" link on the Account page. This will instantly transfer information such as your industry, company, and work experience from LinkedIn.

Over time, we plan to add tighter integration with LinkedIn to include features that will benefit existing Coworkers.com users. We will continue to develop simple and effective tools for analyzing and improving your work, while leveraging the networking and messaging capabilities of LinkedIn, as well as other sites. We will keep you updated as we roll out new integration features, so be sure to login in to your Account Settings and sign up for our newsletter by selecting the "Send me periodic web site announcements" option - if you haven't already done so.

What is the difference between Coworkers and LinkedIn?

We realize that professionals use a portfolio of online services and tools to advance their career. Coworkers.com and LinkedIn work well together. LinkedIn is primarily used for networking – finding and connecting with other professionals, with whom you may or may not have work experience. Coworkers is focused solely on the people you have close working relationships with.

While LinkedIn has the concept of "recommendations" which are focused on personal marketing, Coworkers greatly expands the range of collegial input you can receive and share, giving you privacy control, the option for anonymity, templates, analytics, and other features focused on professional development. Bottom line: LinkedIn and Coworkers have different missions and serve different purposes, and we think you should use both – which is why we've made it incredibly easy for you to do so!