Congratulations to 'eatderby' who has won the ipod today! Their name was picked out of the hat as one of the top five 'most popular members'! Please continue networking- and we'll have more competions in the future!

Stu

Not really a blog, but I wanted to remind everyone that the 5 people who appear in the 'Most popular members' window  at midday on 30th May (tomorrow!) on the network home page will be entered into a prize draw for an ipod! At the time of writing this you have 18 hours left and counting to get in the window and a chance for the ipod!

There are a fair number of new groups forming so if you have any comments or wisdom you would like to share make sure you join the appropriate group. For example, there is a networking group in Northern Ireland so you can chat and share ideas, or a Business Plan Tips group to share ideas on how to create the perfect plan. If you have comments about the network of forum you can leave them in that group as well!

Just a quick note on using the keyword facility and entering information in general to help people find new contacts. When updating your personal info make sure you add keywords and tags in the approriate section. This way when people perform an advanced search they can get hold of the right people! So in keywords- make sure you include any word you want to be searched on. You can also search on other bits of info, and info combined. For example go in to the seach page by clicking the 'social network' tab at the top, click on advanced search to bring the page up. If you wanted to look for a graphic designer in Newcastle- enter those search terms in the boxes and you will find who you are looking for!

It is vital you make sure you have the right keywords entered in your personal info/ business info section- or you will not be found!

Hi Everyone

Its great to see more faces joining up on the network- we are contining to work to make this a place to digitaly meet and share ideas, and help each other out when starting a business. We have had some teething trouble with the forum, but these are being ironed out along the way. Its great to put names to faces at last and see pictures of peoples services and products.

Have a look at the Groups that people have started- you can browse them by clicking on 'Groups' in your homepage, then 'browse groups'. Click on 'other' on the page and it will give you a list of what people have set up. I have set a few up for any comments regarding the forum and Network, a place for past LIvewire winners to share memories and a place for people to share business plan tips. If you don't see what you like- then just start your own!

As you are browsing on the network- get in touch with each other and offer help and advice- and keep checking back for updates!

Well, the social network is now up and running! We hope that entrepreneurs around the world will join up and make contacts and support each other in any way they can to help each other in the journey to become entrepreneurs. We would also love to see advisers joining up and using the network as a tool to support their clients as well. We would love to see blogs from people on their journey in starting a business- share your experiences, mistakes and successes etc. If you know of friends who are interested in starting a business why not invite them to join the network as well?

Remember aside from the forum and network the UK livewire site has 1000s of pages on how to start a business, from business planning to finance!

This is the first of a few new developments on the Shell Livewire site. Shortly we will be integrating the UK website forum into the network as well so people can get all the interactive advice in one place.

as news happens- we'll keep you posted!

Stu