Cape Town - Who’s Who of Southern Africa, one of the youngest online business ventures in the Naspers stable, has seen good growth since its re-launch in early 2010, says Minette Havemann, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Naspers Labs.

Today, the platform boasts an extensive database of professional biographies across various industries and has seen growth in registrations since opening up membership to a larger audience.

Naspers Labs, the division responsible for taking the 100 year old Who’s Who brand from an information resource about noteworthy individuals to a sophisticated social media platform, is focusing all efforts on user acquisition and positioning the brand as the leading personal branding platform for professionals in Southern Africa. During the development of the Who’s Who platform, Naspers Labs identified personal branding, reputation management and professional networking as key trends fuelling the adoption of social media.

Tech-savvy trendsetters have all realised the value of social media to build their personal brands and this is fast becoming a prerequisite for all who are serious about their professional and social reputation in an online environment.

“There is an ongoing debate that social media has reached a saturation point, but what remains evident is that different social media platforms each have a distinct role to fulfil, given most people have different personas for their social and professional life. With Facebook you can share your life stories with friends, LinkedIn displays your professional background, and Who’s Who provides a local user-friendly platform which empowers you to distinguish yourself from competitors by building and managing a personal brand online,” says Havemann. 

By creating a Who’s Who profile, you determine how others see you in the professional arena, and you can showcase your professional history, skills and achievements. The rankings assigned to each profile allow you to see how you rank against other professionals in the network and serve as a yardstick for measuring areas of progress and development.

“Networking is key in the world of business and we are all familiar with the saying it’s not what you know it’s who you know. The platform is also a powerful business tool which allows you to message, befriend, interact and connect with like-minded professionals and build a meaningful professional network,” says Havemann.