Access to affordable high-speed Internet and mobile phone service are key to economic growth and job creation in developing countries according to a latest report by the World Bank. The report, Information and Communications for Development 2009, found that for every 10 percentage-point increase in high-speed Internet connections there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points. Internet users in developing countries increased tenfold from 2000 to 2007 and there are now over four billion mobile phone subscribers in developing countries. These technologies offer tremendous opportunities.

The report identified the mobile platform as the most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world. Broadband provides the basis for local information technology services industries which create youth employment, increase productivity and exports, and promote social inclusion.

In the advent of the report being true, it would be great for India as the growth of telecom industry has been phenomenal in the past decade. The growth is still set to explode due to the huge potential in the rural areas of India. The same is the case with the broadband access, internet broadband service being mostly used in the corporate sector, there is huge untapped potential when it comes to exploring broadband service options for individual households. As theses two industries will grow and so will the Indian economy. For more such interesting articles and discussions join ZaaBiz Business Groups.

Being single in India is more like social outcast. Every person may it be your mom, relatives or friends would ask the most important question and that is when are you getting married? At times, it feels as if being single is a crime.

But the Generation Y is breaking this jinx and enjoying their single status to the fullest. Few reasons stated by them are enjoying freedom, no additional bagage of relationships and unlimited flirting.

We at ZaaBiz wish all singles a great “World Singles Day”.

We would like to congratulate the new president of the US Barack Obama for his amazing win at today’s election in the United States. Do not take us wrong: we are not a political blog and we stay out of politics whenever possible, but this day is an amazing one: Obama becomes the 44th president and the first African-American leader - this in its own right is worth a congratulation.

What has become clear in these past weeks is that the internet has played a significant role in how the candidates approached the masses; both candidates using blogs, social networks and other digital media to get their messages across to Americans voting for them. And therefore this election is also a proof of the importance of sites such as ZaaBiz as a tool to communicate and network on a global scale.

ZaaBiz CEO Michael Brecht has been interviewed again, this time UsP age brought an article on the networking patterns of Indians in its print edition on Thursday the 18th of September. Here is an excerpt explaining what Indians do while networking online:

“With networking gaining importance in India, ZaaBiz.com, a business networking portal based out of Australia, decided to have a discussion on networking patterns with special focus to Indian Networker. In India, business networks are utilized not only in terms of gaining business but also to find jobs and gain better access to solutions and solution providers. ZaaBiz, a platform aimed at bringing the serious business networkers together and facilitating more profitable business decisions, looks to exploit this potential in the country.”

Priyanka

One of India’s leading online IT publishers Express Computer Online interviewed a series of IT professionals in India about the use and importance of the right storage strategy in their businesses.

The requirements for the ‘right’ storage is certainly a major point of interest because of the enormous growth in digital media and user-generated content. Web service providers may face increasing challenges and costs when tackling today’s necessary global performance and its pressures with an increasing product depths of the platforms.

ZaaBiz CEO Michael Brecht brought this subject to the point: “Companies based on a Web 2.0 model depend mainly on UGC (user generated content). Storage therefore is crucial in today’s world of mainly free Web services. Users aim to use additional functions such as uploading images, groups, videos or comments. Therefore, any service provider of Web 2.0 services needs to prepare for a constant increase of disk space. A lack of storage space would be interpreted as user-unfriendly.”

Michael added that future investments of ZaaBiz are conditioned by the requirements that the business will face in terms of the strong growth of ZaaBiz members, new functionalities offered or possible diversifications implemented.

In previous articles you have read a lot about the official launch of ZaaBiz in India last week. The huge response in the media is actually based on hard work, everyone who has experience in working with a group of media representatives knows what we are talking about.

We think that this is the right time to say a big thank you to Blue Lotus Communications team in Chennai under the guidance of Ajay for helping us make www.zaabiz.com so well known in Indian’s press community. Many of them can be found in our Group on ZaaBiz called ‘Public Relations India‘. Next week we’ll approach the media in another city in India, as this country hosts such a vast variety of print and online media, that we had to split the news up in two press conferences.

Our PR team in Chennai

So far we have had 20 different articles launched and a whole series of interviews in print and TV are still outstanding. Three cheers to Ajay and the team in Chennai, especially as we celebrate Independence Day in India today.

On August 12, 2008 we have officially launched our networking platform. Please find below the press release which went out to the local media and was discussed with about 20 journalists at a media roundtable in Chennai:

ZaaBiz PR roundtable in Chennai

Networking has been around since the dawn of civilization, but new technology has brought it into the internet age. Companies and individuals have realized that networks can be created, traversed, searched and analyzed for unlimited and unknown benefits. A roundtable discussing the need for understanding networking patterns in India saw the launch of ZaaBiz, a business networking portal created to empower businesses.

Addressing to the media Mr. Michael Brecht, CEO & Founder, ZaaBiz.com said, “through ZaaBiz we intend to provide the Indian communities with a credible business networking platform that connects people and facilitates quick solutions to complex problems. A unique platform ZaaBiz offers an innovative way to market and promote brands. India has one of the highest numbers of networkers and almost half the members on the platform are Indians. ZaaBiz has entered the Indian market because we see a great opportunity, the challenge however is to bring out the true efficacies and benefits of our platform which can then be optimized to achieve greater benefits”.

Speaking at the event, Mr. T R Gopalan, Regional Director, Indo German Chamber of Commerce, said, “Networking today is an industry that has become a fiber of our being as far as accessing information is concerned. Businesses depend on Networking to garner better efficacies and find the right fit. Business networking is fast catching up among serious networkers who are looking to leverage these platforms to seek and provide jobs, to gain better access to solutions and solution providers and to gain an edge over competitors”.

With the launch of ZaaBiz India is now becoming a hub for networking and there are a lot of sites which will be waiting to tap its true potential. This discussion has thrown up some interesting facts about the need for networking and the networking patterns of Indians. Observing these patterns Mr. Michael Brecht added “Our perception is that Indians are the best networkers and the ones who use networks most efficiently.

There is an interesting discussion going on in India about whether the current economic cycle and its inherent problems lead advertisement spent to go down. Interestingly PR agencies in India have recently surged in terms of revenues and new clients that signed up with them.

The appointment of Blue Lotus Communications as its PR agency is a rational step for ZaaBiz as it just shows how important the Indian market is for the business networking platform. ZaaBiz CEO Michael was therefore happy to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the use of PR agencies by Indian businesses. This is what Michael said:

“Driving home the point, Michael Brecht, CEO, ZaaBiz, a business net­working site that has signed up Blue Lotus for its public relations exercises in India says, “India is our most im­portant market outside Aus­tralia and we are here to spurt our al­ready significant membership base. I believe that PR would be a much better way to go about making inroads into the Indian market.”" The quote appeared in DNA, a publication focusing on news for Advertisers and PR companies.

ZaaBiz in the media: we are becoming a respected player in the Indian business marketplace!

Social networking has become a trend over the past months and many employees and business owners have been asking themselves how to participate in this online phenomenon. Networking is all about opening up the communication lines with someone you have just met. You want to let others know about you and your business while also finding out details about them and their business. Online networking expands these contacts thousandfold – exploring the unlimited contact possibilities on the web makes this the perfect marketing opportunity for businesses.

There is always going to be a debate over which one is better: online social networking or online business networking. While social networking platforms such as facebook and myspace present millions of contact possibilities, business networking platforms are much smaller with ZaaBiz being the local market leader here throughout AsiaPac.

So let’s define the differences between the two: online social networking is more of an escape from the business world and a glimpse into the life of the social person outside the professional arena. Chat with friends about the weekend and upcoming events or simply try to connect with old mates. Social networking has a casual feel. Here you find any kind of connection and even the platforms themselves boast about their huge variety of distracting activities. The risk for a business is the proximity to private news and the lack of professional understanding of most of the users.

Online Business networking is just as easy to categorise. It’s an integral part of today’s everyday business and an ever- expanding network of connections. Building up connections starts with useful business contacts that you trust as someone you potentially want to do business with. The different platforms show you to which degree you are connected to a new business contact: ZaaBiz actually is able to visualise the six degrees of separation theory, so each member is connected to everyone on the network at the most by six degrees.

There is a clear business reason to connect and increase your own network/business on a business platform, which makes these environments more valuable if you are strictly aiming for business contacts. There’s no better way to promote your business for free than on a business networking site; find a new employee or a new employer, a new customer or a new client. Business networking is free advertising. It’s essential for every business!

Michael Brecht, founder and CEO of ZaaBiz, states that, “We have found that there is a clear need for small and medium business owners to self promote on a networking platform to enhance their business presence.” Michael’s experience is based on thousands of Indian and also international business owners, who have chosen ZaaBiz and given the feedback that, “Social networks work well too, however that a dedicated business networking site has major advantages, as members can connect quickly and easily to other members, plus they can “see” the six degrees of separation” theory in action.”

The industry is currently finding a trend towards amalgamating face-to-face networking and online networking - the smart business person today spends equal time doing both and actively integrates both networks. Michael calls them the ‘integrated networker’.