Probook.ca: Redefining Business Connections!

Head’s up LinkedIn, Zoominfo and you other successful networking sites, a new kid is on the block. He’s upping the ante and ready to run circles around the competition.

Don’t get me wrong. Our new comer is not just throwing off more of the same at us- he has an original angle in mind. He’s offering highly demanded, previously unavailable features and a different networking strategy that will attract serious networkers and help catapult them toward their goals.

This new kid on the block is Jonathan Kleiman. He is the energetic, driven founder of Probook.ca - a must-know start-up on the rise. We’re kicking off this week’s three part interview series with a chat about how Probook.ca helps entrepreneurs ramp up their networking initiatives and how this start-up on the rise promises to revolutionize the industry.

Got your curiosity revved? Then, let’s move on to our chat with Jonathan. But first, click the play button to view a personal hello from this unstoppable entrepreneur.

KTY: Welcome Jonathan. Probook.ca offers exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs back home in your native Canada and as far away as India. Please tell us more.

Jonathan: Probook.ca is a powerful tool for Canadians to network professionally and market themselves and their business to other Canadians. Much more than just a directory of businesses, Probook allows users to make a profile for themselves and their business, to network themselves and make contacts in their field that they didn’t already know, to find and network with potential employees or find jobs on the job board, to list classifieds, start blogs, sell their products, find business partners, and more – all for free.

While on other networking sites, a user may only invite and add friends. Probook users are encouraged to add different people in fields relevant to their career, to network, and leave positive ratings for those businesses and professionals with whom they’ve done business.

We are also developing Probook.in, which is essentially the exact same site, with a totally separate database, exclusively for professionals in India. We believe that professional networking should not happen immediately in a massive global arena. Instead, we envision that domestic networks should form and then they should be networked globally within one vertical web. Probook is an attempt to make that vision a reality, as we hope to form domestic networks world wide, providing locals with what they need to form a strong professional network and then broadening that network globally.

Also, just for fun, we offer daily business news videos on our popular TV channel, http://www.probook.tv/

KTY: What incited you to develop your start-up and embark on the sometimes bumpy start-up road?

Jonathan: I’m a Law student at Queens University in Ontario, Canada. When I graduated a year or so ago from McGill (where I earned a B.A. in Philosophy) I noticed that I was about to part ways with some of the most brilliant people I had ever met. A few of us joked that we should start a little club of professionals and help one another out in the future, but we were really just saying goodbye.

After I left, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was passing up on some great connections that I should maintain. I decided to start a small social networking site, the template for which I bought on ebay for $3. It didn’t take long for me to take that down in disgust, but it was the catalyst for Probook, which evolved into the globally ambitious project that it is today. Truth be told, I still see it as the symbiotic professional club that we envisioned before graduation.

KTY: How are you revolutionizing your industry?

Jonathan: The industry right now is made up of networking sites, blog sites, classified sites, and job boards (the latter of which are insanely expensive and curiously don’t even include the former three in the price). Probook puts all of these features (and much more) under one roof, and is completely free. Furthermore, Probook takes the challenges of global professional networking seriously by establishing domestic networks and then connecting them vertically.

Regardless, I envision Probook as a club of entrepreneurs, professionals, business owners and even students looking to better their careers through professional networking and free marketing for their business or personal professional profile. I’m confident that anybody lucky enough to be blessed with the wherewithal to sign up will reap the benefits of a powerful symbiotic domestic and global professional network.

KTY: What’s the market potential for your product? And, how do you reach your clients?

Jonathan: The list of people who can benefit from Probook is endless. Anybody who has a career, runs a business, or deals globally, or anybody who plans to do those things in the future can count on getting a lot of beneficial use out of Probook. We have been discussing with businesses who want to network with potential and current employees, freelance professionals who would like to market their trade, and even universities who desire a way to network their students with one another and with their alumni. Everybody can benefit from Probook, it’s just a matter of getting the word out.

We have a commercial that we had produced professionally. We’re going to run it online shortly, but I have to keep it a secret for now. You’ll see it featured on http://www.probook.tv/ in a few weeks :)

Come back again this week to learn:

Thursday: What’s brewing in Jonathan’s mind and how he makes it all happen

Friday: What’s coming up next on the horizon for Probook