FAQ

Getting Started on 5050BIZ

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  1. How do I get started?

    From the Join Now page at www.5050BIZ.com, sign up as a new member and create your password. You will be sent an email with a link designed to validate your account. Once you validate, enter the site using your new username and password, then select your membership type and continue on to create your professional profile.

    Some browsers have settings that disable live links. If your link is not live, please copy and paste the URL into your internet browser and click enter. This link may be disabled after 48 hours.

  2. How do I return to the site once I become a member?

    Simply return to www.5050BIZ.com, click Sign-in and enter your username and password and you will be taken directly to your MY OFFICE page. Be sure and click the 'Make 5050 my Homepage' link to make returning to the site simple.

  3. What is MY PROFILE? How do I complete MY PROFILE and add pictures?

    Your profile is like a simplified online resume and provides professional information about you and your business to other members of 5050BIZ.

    Professional Information

    • From the MY OFFICE page, hover over MY PROFILE and click on 'Professional Information'. Click Edit on the lower right side and begin to complete the form. Click "Save" to review your newly entered data.

    Contact Information

    • Using the menu bar directly above Professional Information, click "Contact Information". Click Edit on the lower right side and begin to complete the form. Click Save to review your newly entered data.

    About Me

    • Continue on by clicking 'About Me' in the menu bar above. Click Edit on the lower right side and begin to complete the form. Click Save to review your newly entered data.
    • You might want to click on MY PROFILE at the top of the page to view your assembled professional Profile! Now it's time to enter your picture.

    Pictures

    • From the MY PROFILE tab, click on 'Pictures.' Click upload to browse your computer's hard drive and locate your picture. We recommend pictures about 2MB in size for the best upload performance and can accept .jpg, .tiff, .png. Crop the picture as directed by stretching sides and corners. Center the picture by clicking to move the picture viewer around and continue to stretch the corners until you have cropped to fit our window. Click Upload now and decide if that is the primary picture for your Profile, if so click "Use as Profile". Continue uploading up to three additional pictures.
  4. What is MY OFFICE, where do I find it?

    You're OFFICE page is the control center of your 5050BIZ account. Every time you log in to 5050BIZ you will be taken to your OFFICE page. Be sure and click the "Make 5050 my Homepage" link to make returning to the site simple. Watch the "Welcome to MY OFFICE Video" on this page for more insight into the use of 5050BIZ.

    To customize your OFFICE with a photo, click 'Edit my Office' , to the left of your Welcome message. Select the image you would like and click Save.

  5. What are BIZTips, can I share them with others?

    BIZTips are motivational business tips provided to you by the 5050BIZ staff and ProTeam members. BIZTips are designed so that you can forward them to friends, family and business associates as a way to promote good will.

    To forward a BizTip to a friend, click the link below the BizTip on your OFFICE page. Simply add your friend's name, email address and a personal note. You can also forward a BizTip to new contacts from the My Contacts section of your MESSAGE BOX.

  6. What are My Bookmarks, how do I manage them?

    Your Bookmarks are your favorite websites and these sites can be accessed through your 5050BIZ account. You can set a bookmark for your accounting software, your contact database software, favorite news site, email, or search engines. Simply click 'Manage my Bookmarks', select Add, Edit or Delete. When you select Add it acts much like a search engine to help you find the website of choice.

  7. What are Blue Pages, how do I create mine?

    5050BIZ enables GOLD and BIZ group moderators the ability to create an online advertisement for your business, similar to a Yellow Pages ad in your local phone book. These Blue Page ads are available on your professional Profile and searchable within the 5050BIZ, as well as on the internet through the various search engines.

    From your OFFICE page, hover over BLUE PAGES on the menu bar and click ‘Create Blue Page’.  Follow the instructions to upload your company logo and resize it as necessary.  Enter your company data as required and when you are finished click MY BLUE PAGE  to view your assembled advertisement.

  8. What are Networks, where do I find them, how do I join?

    Networks are industry, professional, corporate or special interest groups available for you to join. When you join 5050BIZ and enter your company, industry and profession, you will have the opportunity to join your industry and professional networks, as well as a company network created for your business.

    You can find all available networks by clicking the NETWORKS icon in the upper right hand side of you're OFFICE. This is also where you request to join, add and enter a network bulletin to post a topic or participate in a discussion.

  9. What are Bulletins, how do I post a topic or participate in a discussion?

    Bulletin boards are the specific company, industry, professional and special interest group discussions where you can post an interesting topic, a question or participate in a discussion. Existing topics may benefit from your expertise and perspective and you can just have fun connecting with other members to share opinions.

  10. What is my Conference Room, how do I manage from my conference room?

    The Conference Room is a secure intranet site for you to manage your business and your team. This secure company Bulletin board is your 24x7 lifeline to monitor daily activities, results, customer service issues, etc. You can use the pre-posted topics or customize the Bulletin board with your industry specific topics to keep your team focused. Inside the Conference Room you also have the ability to chat as a group and track group goals, company events, etc.

    How do I post a topic?

    • We have created topics that you can use or feel free to customize the topics to the needs of your business. Hover over and click the topic; from here you can post a comment, edit or delete the topic. You can also click "Show This Bulletin" on the left and view all topics or add/submit a new topic. Posts to topics in the Conference Room are filed most recent on top with replies just slightly to the right and below the post.

    How do I post a comment or reply?

    • To post a comment to an existing Topic, click the Topic, then click Add New Post or click Reply to comment on someone else's post. Posts to topics in the Conference Room are filed most recent on top with replies just slightly to the right and below the post.

    How do I use Group Chat?

    • You can see all your Business connections below the group chat feature. To initiate a chat, simply type your message inside the Compose box and click Submit. Remember everyone can see and read messages using group chat. Your team can respond to your message the same way, type a message inside the compose area and click Submit.

    How do I update the Calendar?

    • To add an event, simply click a date inside the calendar, enter information as needed, click Save.
    • Can I invite other 5050BIZ members into my CONFERENCE ROOM?
      Yes, BIZ group leaders can invite Gold members and other BIZ group members to join a secure Conference Room. A BIZ group leader will find a link 'Invite to this Conference Room' near the top of the Conference Room page. The member will need to be an active connection with the BIZ group leader in order to be accessible for the Conference Room.
    • Can I remove a user from my CONFERENCE ROOM?
      Yes, BIZ group leaders can remove users from the Conference Room by clicking 'Manage Conference Room users'.
  11. How do I communicate with other 5050BIZ members, how do I use Chat?

    5050BIZ allows members to send messages to each other within the site. Simply hover over the COMMUNICATE tab and then click 'My Messages' or click the MESSAGES icon from your OFFICE.

    If you know someone's email address you can go directly to 'Send Message' or you can click on "My Contacts" to select your recipient and click Send Message. You can view your sent messages in your "Outbox" or view new messages in your "Inbox".

    You can CHAT with your connections by clicking the CHAT icon. Look to the lower right hand side of the screen to view all your connections that are online and available to chat. Click the name of the person you would like to chat with and compose your discussion, click send. If someone is attempting to chat with you, the Chat icon in the website header will flash green. Additionally, that person will flash between a person icon and an envelope icon in the lower right hand side of your screen. If you would like to disable chat while you have 5050BIZ open to focus on your tasks at hand, click the Status icon and go offline.

  12. What is the Message Box?

    The message box is much like your INBOX on your computer's email system. From your Message Box you can create emails inside the 5050BIZ site to members. You can view your sent messages in the OUTBOX and view your Connections in the My Contacts area. You can upload your contacts from your computer's hard drive through a .csv file and accept invitations to connect with others.

  13. What are connections, how do I request to connect, accept a connection?

    You have three types of Connections, your Business Connections, Industry Connections and All Other Connections. Business Connections are fellow BIZ Group members. Industry Connections are accepted partnerships with those members sharing your same industry and All Other Connections are those combined into a single contacts database.

    When you search a name or a company and you would like to make contact with someone you can request to make a connection with them through their Profile page. Simply click "Request to Connect with..." and the 5050BIZ site sends that person a message.

    To accept requests to connect with you, go to your OFFICE page. You will see that you have a message(s) because the MESSAGE icon indicates new messages. If you have one or more invitations to connect with someone you can open the message in your INBOX and elect to accept the invitation(s).

    Once accepted, those persons with whom you accept connections will appear under the Connections portion of the site discussed above.

  14. How do I remove a connection from My Contacts?

    To remove a connection from your contact list, hover over COMMUNICATE and click on 'My Contacts'. Locate the member and insert a check into the box to the left of the avatar (picture). Scroll down towards the bottom of the screen and click Delete Checked.

  15. How do I get more people to connect with me?

    Completing your Profile and inviting others to the 5050BIZ site are great ways to start connecting online. By thoroughly completing your Profile and posting a Blue Page ad you become accessible to others. Participating in Bulletin boards is also a great way to begin new business relationships.

  16. Can I import my contacts from my email accounts into 5050BIZ?

    Yes, from the OFFICE page, hover over COMMUNICATE and click 'Upload Contacts'.

    1. Select your email provider from the list and add the username and password for that email account. Click 'Import Contacts'. 5050BIZ imports your database and you have the ability to select individual names, select all, or deselect all contacts to import.
    2. To import your Outlook contacts you must export them to a .csv file first.
      1. Open Outlook.
      2. Select 'Import and 'Export' from the file menu.
      3. Next select 'Export to a file' and click 'Next'.
      4. Select 'Comma separated values (Windows)' and click 'Next'.
      5. Select the Contacts folder you would like to export and click 'Next'.
      6. Type a filename and a place to save the file (we recommend 'Contactsout.csv' and save on the Desktop, click 'Next'.
      7. 7. Confirm your export, confirm the checkbox next to 'Export:' is checked and click 'Finish'.
      8. To upload your .csv file to 5050BIZ, click 'Import Contacts' from the Invite tab found in 'My Contacts' inside the MESSAGE BOX. Click 'Browse' and browse to your Desktop and select the file you named 'Contactsout.csv'. Then click 'Upload'.
    3. Once your new contacts are added or imported you have the option to forward BIZTips, your Blue Page ad, and invite to join 5050BIZ.

  17. How do I invite a friend to 5050BIZ?

    From your OFFICE page click the 'Invite a Friend' link which you will find on the left side of your page. You will be taken to the 'Invite' tab on you're my Contacts page inside the MESSAGE BOX. Click Add New. You can create your contact by entering an email address and first and last name. Once added you can select your desired action: send invitation to 5050BIZ, send Blue Pages ad or send BizTip.

  18. What is the ProTeam, how do I contact a ProTeam member?

    The ProTeam is a team of working professionals available to 5050BIZ members. These experts in their fields are dedicated to sharing their knowledge, resources, and experiences with you. You can read about them and the knowledge they feel will benefit business owners and potential business owners the most. You can request to connect with them directly for further information.

  19. What are BIZ Groups?

    BIZ groups are discounted group memberships for companies or associations. The BIZ group members are assigned a secure company Bulletin inside the Conference Room. Every BIZ group member has complete access to 5050BIZ including a professional profile and a virtual office.

  20. How do I add a Biz Group Member?

    To add a member to your Biz group hover over MY PROFILE and click 'Membership Information'. Click 'Update My Membership' then click Add. From here you will type in first name, last name and email address. Enter email address again to confirm. 5050BIZ sends a welcome email to the new member which will include a link that will need to be validated to complete the registration process.

  21. How do I remove/delete a Biz Group Member?

    To delete a member of your Biz group hover over MY PROFILE and click 'Membership Information'. Click 'Update My Membership' then select the member and click Delete.

    To delete the member from your Contacts list, hover over COMMUNICATE and click on 'My Contacts'. Locate the member and insert a check into the box to the left of the avatar (picture). Scroll down towards the bottom of the screen and click Delete Checked.

  22. What is a leader/moderator?

    A leader or moderator might be your CEO, executive assistant or office manager. This person has control over office account and membership information, posting the leader bulletin topics and managing the Blue Page advertising.

  23. What are Business Advising Workshops?

    Business Advising Workshops are classes, workshops and seminars offered by ProTeam members. You can access workshops from any ProTeam member's ProTeam page or by clicking the Business Advising Workshops button located in your OFFICE.

  24. How do I request HELP on 5050BIZ?

    You can request assistance or report problems by clicking the HELP tab in the menu at the top of your screen. Write a brief message, select a subject and validate it by typing the code you see. We will get back to you promptly. You can also email us at support@5050biz.com.