ecademy

[webit]

http://www.ecademy.com/

Anyone a member. What are peoples thoughts?

[Rob Holmes]

I cancelled my membership as I neither had the time to 'work' the system nor found that I fitted in to the ecademy groups.

Maybe it's just me...

Rob

[webit]

Did you find it took a lot of time to make it effective? also what membership did you have?

[Direct4All]

Hi Webit, I am a member of BRE Ecademy, I find it very useful and have made many contacts on there.

[Rob Holmes]

I had the £25 per month membership - and I just really did not have the time to use it and network.

I have to say I did find that people were not so interested in networking more just talking about themselves and what they offer - I am a bit of a carrot cruncher so didn't fit in with this so well :)

I know Ecademy works well for some though.

Rob

[Ozzy]

Hi am currently a member on Ecademy, but to be honest it is so much hard work to maximise their system that I do not have time to "work it" myself as Rob mentions.
The problem is taht their structure and groups is so complicated that it is just too much to do when you have a job to do, "offline" networking and easier systems such as forums such as this one, Startups, LIvewire and so on.

I do advertise on Ecademy, and I am one of the Marketplace members. Problem is that I have only received 2 orders this year from their marketplace so it is unlikely I'll pay the couple hundred quid to renew! I have already cancelled the Wordlpay futurepay thing for this year as they automatically took the money off my card last year when I had already decided I wasn't going to renew .. and they didn't tell me my account was due for renewal or that they were going to take the money. They said it was a "glitch" in their system and did offer to refund to be fair though.

If they simplified their system I may consider giving it another try but for now their prices are unrealistic for the service provided in my humble opinion.

[Alpha]

I would have to echo everything that Ozzy says.

I cancelled my paying membership earlier this year as I just didnt have the time to put into making it work alongside working.

It seems to be populated now with 'serial networkers'.

I met with one locally who now sends me invites to every network club that is springing up in the midlands(which seemed like one every week until recently) As he goes to everyone of these meetings it is difficult to see how he will earn any money!

[annethedonn]

I'm a member, I pay £29 for the year and find I get a lot of help and referrals from there. They have just redesigned the website.

Anne

[SillyJokes]

I was a member and worked with a few people from there, but cancelled my subs in August for most of the reasons above.

What it seemed to me was that anyone who actually had work to do and didn't need to tout for business was not on there and when I did ask questions and for help I never got anything really useful back.

As a B2C retailer it did not contribute to my business success. It works better for B2B people.

Plus there were a group of about 6 people doing all the talking which was really annoying. Don't they have anything else to do?

The clubs I joined - ecommerce and website critique (surprise surprise) were not very well attended. I had hoped to meet other ecommerce retailers there but there is hardly one on there.

One final comment is that some people take networking almost as a religion and I wasn't comfortable with the evangelical devotion.

[Steve Colegate]

I found it a little too global and a little too full on.
With a network so large it is easy to get lost in the noise unless you are prepared to spend a significant amount of time working the system.
My own view based on limited experience is that Networking has huge potential if worked well. In My experince most people you get me meet are more interested in getting a new client than learning enough about your business to confidently refer you on.

Steve

[ebonybailey]

I was a member and found it awful. There tends to be the same 50 people their everyday, yet it says they have 50,000 members + . There tends to be bullying tactics by those in the know, and you are ranked by how much you pay for your membership, according to ecademy that is the way you define if your serious about networking. I have got more from UKBF than I would ever get from Ecademy. I think people on their are waiting for that one big deal that will never come. I HATE IT!!

Many people that I used to network on their have also left

[sjbeale]

I find it a useful resource and have gained lots of work from it from across the UK for HR consultancy.

I only pay the £11.75 per month membership and that seems adequate.

[coxadmin]

I was on there as a "Powernetworker" - I think it was £11.75 per month - but as others have already said, it was very time consuming and I found plenty of people who wanted to buy from them but no-one who wanted to buy from me. I've cancelled the payment - I just didn't have time to persist.

[clairemackaness]

I found eCadamey by accident last week and joined on a 15 day free trial. I was inundated from men with personal messages saying how beautiful I was and that they would love to do business with me. What does an artist want with video conferencing I ask you!
The home page looks awful and it just seemed to me to be a place where the bigwigs hang out doing little to no actual work!

Good news is though that I found UKBF from eCademy and I love it here...You guys are sooo nice! LOL

[ebonybailey]

One problem with your statement.

There are NO bigwigs in Ecademy, they all have a " I'm so successful" attitude. which begs the question how can they spend so much time on an online network?

[clairemackaness]

LOL, my thoughts exactly I have to have a careful balance between work and network (or play in their case)

[Belladonna]

I'm afraid I think that the ecademy website is the worst website I have ever come across. It is such hard work.

I also joined BRE and that was a disaster too, compounded by poor customer service afterwards.

So, I'm afraid I have nothing good to say about either of them!

[Whistle Ink]

Hello,

I'm a standard member at the moment, but have not had any sales (wouldn't this be anyones real aim???? you can deny it only for so long!)

One thing I don't like is when people message you they say 'if theres anything I can help you with...', well yeah there is actually:

BUY MY CARTRIDGES!!!! :lol:

What have I got out of it:

I know a fellow indian who lives in Ahmedabad. Erm I think thats it. Oh yeah only one person has enquired about my products.

Ideally I could try listing on their marketplace, but you have to pay to get in! :(

[Whistle Ink]

oh yeah....


and why is everyone writing ecademy in colour?

[clairemackaness]

I logged onto my free account today as it expires tomorrow. I had 20 personal messages all saying, welcome claire, if we can help you dont hesitate to ask....blah,de,blah,de,blah!

Pointless waste of web space

[Eagle]

*
I'm a so-called 'PowerNetworker' there. Ecademy isn't the power network it's cracked up to be and it's claims of success for it's members are exaggerated wildly, I'd say.

It also has a super-inflated sense of the importance of it's own 'brand'.

Brand? Ecademy? It's the least brand-aware site I've ever come across - they wouldn't know what branding was if it smacked them in the face! :roll:

Its over-zealous protection of this alledged 'brand' initiates conflict with its members on an almost daily basis - most of whom post everyday things you'd find on any other business forum. Suffice to say, there's no point posting anything that might challenge thought there - otherwise, you're 'jailed' (how childish) or banned outright.

Not bad, but nowhere near as good as it makes itself out to be. :)

[Abdul]

I have been on ecademy for over 3years and have found it very useful in getting qucik answers to questions just like in UKBF. However it is hard work networking and you get what ou put in.
Abdul

[a-okadmin]

I joined as a Standard member in May. So far I haven't gained much from it. It seems that people only look at your profile while you are online. I also dislike the attitude of some of the other members. If you write something they don't agree with, you can get dogs abuse and I don't think that's a very good environment.
Also it seems that if you're not already "one of the gang" then you're never going to get recommended and nobody is willing to give you a chance. I suppose it must work for those who have been in it since the start, but so far not for me I'm afraid and quite frankly I have better, more productive ways to spend my time.

[daveashton]

Lol EB

the same way we do and for the same reasons.

That’s why I think the core members should all get together and help Ozzy make this place even better

PS went to one of Ecademy’s so called networking meetings and I never new there were so many 1 person "let me heal you" "Let me give you more energy" people in Manchester. Never again and how my home city has changed is v sad.

[Whistle Ink]

Maybe odeniyi could say a few words here...... (if I'm correct in thinking he is who I think he is) :D

[Marvin]

I joined Ecademy on a free membership and have met some interesting people. No real benefits to date but the people I met tell me they have been successful. Read into that what you will.