A new touch to the realm of professional networking has been provided by Zerply that works around the sharable profiles and fast connecting you to other users through tags and a rather easy system for endorsements. In a matter of few minutes, you can go through the process of creating a profile on it with a custom URL, which makes it convenient to share.
What separates it from other niche networking sites is probably the manner in which it utilizes the tags you assign yourself while signing up. For instance, they can be reporter/ writer/ editor for a content person. Zerply would then use them to guide you to others who share skills with you apart from to those in your area.
Companies can also work as tags, so it is easier to find all people who have worked there. Clicking on them in one’s profile gives an option of endorsing them for that paricular skill. A button on each profile makes it easy to save a contact.
While LinkedIn essentially emphasizes on personal connections, Zerply tends to be more open. Profiles on it are public. They are easily shareable. The California-based startup, co-founded by Taaniel Jakobs from Estonia and Christofer Karltorp from Sweden aims to be a user-friendly platform to facilitate a professional identity for users. There are stylish profile pages that integrate to other online services in a relatively seamless way. There’s much more in store, according to its founders.
A bit similar to About.me, the platform is directed at the hardcore professional market. You are able to jot down specific jobs and other aspects apart from information pulled in from other services. A brief introductory note mentions:
“Zerply is a professional network built around people who love what they do. We believe that professional networking can be done differently – to set up a professional profile that can be used anywhere and tell people who you are and what sites you use. It’s a great way to Discover & Connect – to find other professionals. Search and endorse people through tags.”
In spite an intense competition, the professional networking site has managed to gain a good traction, according to Christofer Karltorp, who has been quoted as saying that the profiles was a way of giving initial value to its users, though it’s just one part of what they are trying to build. The co-founder explains that Zerply basically positions itself as a more open, visual and social LinkedIn. It comes in three major parts: one professional presentation, secondly networking and next, communication, according to him.
Some of the things Zerply has on its agenda for future growth and development is to add more premium features like custom domains, advanced statistics, premium themes etc.
