MaintenanceNet launches social networking site 11 June, 2008 By Vanessa Ho

PromoPipeline Exclusive Channel Promotions Find Out How You Can Make Money Today! ENROLL FREE! >> Factory Direct Should Not be Cheaper William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels Cloud Ecosystem II: A Candid Conversation with Oracle Beth Vanni - Amazon Consulting Cloud Ecosystem: A Candid Conversation with Rackspace Hosting Beth Vanni - Amazon Consulting Channel Manager Compensation William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels Financial Expertise William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels

"[Social networking] is where the buzz is," said Kelly Crothers, director of marketing for MaintenanceNet. "[And] a lot of customers and partners were interested in getting connected with other customers and partners, so we decided to create this network in order for them communicate with each other on what they were doing in the market."

On the Selling Services site, members will find industry news, event listings and a weekly blog, with all content focused on achieving success in the sale of extended warranties and maintenance services. These blogs are written either by MaintenanceNet staff or by customers, vendors and partners that discuss what is going in the market as well as different solutions and ideas for improving service sales and marketing their service.

Additionally, Crothers said there is a forum for members to discuss issues they are seeing in the market and whitepapers are also available for download at the site.

Members can interact and mentor one another by asking questions and offering helpful advice, as well as posting relevant images and videos. The content is designed to educate members about the many facets of service sales, including the business impact of registering products and services; the importance of taking advantage of the service opportunity lifecycle; and empowering and leveraging channel partners to be a part of the service renewal and technology refresh revenue stream.

Crothers stressed that Selling Services is not about promoting MaintenanceNet but is focused on educating what is going on in the industry.

"It is hosted by MaintenanceNet but is entirely member driven," she added.

The target audience for Selling Services is executives and professionals focused on selling services and the site is by invite only where MaintenanceNet regulates who gets accepted to the group.

Crothers hopes to add a service finder application to the site that is specifically designed for technology manufacturers and their channel partners to look up compatible services for their products and show them the list price. She also has invited industry analysts to join the network to provide some of their insight and is interested in partnering with other professional organizations.

Membership in the Selling Services network is free and since launching earlier this week, Crothers noted that the Selling Services site already has 18 members and an additional 77 members joined via LinkedIn. The group is also available on Facebook and can be added to members' MySpace pages.

By the end of this year, Crothers hopes to have 100 active members join the site and about a 1,000 members joining through LinkedIn in the coming months.