Having Trouble Picking a Social Network?

Are you having trouble picking the social network that is right for you?  Does it keep you up at night deciding which platform will best fit your goals, needs or personality?

Well the people of CW6 in San Diego (I have to put a photo of Ron Burgundy…news, San Diego, had to be done) have done the grunt work for you in laying out the intricacies and specific appliations of MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, while providing highlights to other networks like Twitter, Bebo and Dogster.  The article details demographics of the network along with what the network is primarily used for.

Now, with the information at your fingertips, there is no reason you can’t make an educated decision regarding your social networking choice.

-Mike

Is Al Gore on Your Twitter List?

As Twitter’s popularity grows, so does the clientele.  You can now follow Al Gore on his Twitter page, @algore.  He’s continuing to spread his message of sustainable capitalism.

-Mike

How Social Media Rocked the Vote

Fast Company has a cool blog post today by Lynne Johnson on how social media played a part in getting people to the polls.  From a voting playlist created by Questlove on MySpace, to YouTube hosting personal voting experiences in their Video the Vote campaign, to Facebook totaling the number of its users who voted, social media has been truly utilized to spread the word to get out and vote.

-Mike

More Small Businesses Using Social Networks

Access Markets International (AMI) recently conducted a study stating that over the next 12 months, 600,000 small businesses in the U.S. will use a social networking site to promote their business.  This number is up from the 300,000 U.S. small businesses currently using social networks.

You can see the full release here.

-Mike

Inc. Magazine Joins Twitter

You can now follow Inc. magazine on Twitter.  The Fresh Inc. blog has the full story. 

You can follow Inc. at @IncMagazine.

-Mike

Stores Getting on the Social Networking Bandwagon

Barnes & Noble entered the social networking Thunderdome this week by announcing My B&N.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, My B&N allows users to create free personal profiles around their preferences for books, music and movies.

Users can customize their profile pages with a pen name, avatar, virtual library, reviews and ratings. B&N has also improved its list-making tools, and expanded its customer review and ratings features.

The article goes on to highlight unique book and music list making applications that users can add to Facebook and other social media sites.

It would be interesting to see if other stores follow suit…

- Mike

Photo History of NYTimes Endorsements

The New York Times posted a photo history today of its endorsements and the winners of the Presidency since the paper’s first endorsement in 1860 of Abraham Lincoln.  The paper’s bump doesn’t always guarantee the Oval Office though.  The last two Times-endorsed Presidents that won were Clinton and Carter.

It’s also interesting to see how Presidents age in office.  Take a look at Lincoln running for his first term in 1860 vs. 1864.  Or Woodrow Wilson in 1912 vs. 1916.

-Mike

Social Networking is Good for Business, Says Study

A new study by SurePayroll states that social networking adds value to businesses.  One out of every five respondents of the study stated that they added a new customer by connecting on a social network.

-Mike

Targeting Social Networks by Swing States

Interesting post by The Wall Street Journal Business Technology blog regarding new research on what social networking sites are most used in swing states.  Blogger Ben Worthen sites new research from RapLeaf on what sites the candidates should be targeting in this election year’s biggest swing states.

Hi5 and Bebo were thrown into the mix as well; the former is popular among Latino voters in New Mexico and the latter is king of the mountain in Wisconsin.

It would be interesting to see if the ads on these sites for each candidate increase over the next three weeks.

-Mike

Viral Video on the Decline?

Inc.com posted an interesting question today on The Browser, regarding if viral video has overstayed its welcome.

What do you think?  Does viral video still have legs as a marketing medium, or is it just an overplayed card?

-Mike

Entrepreneurs Using YouTube to Increase Marketing

US News & World Report small business blogger Matt Bandyk called attention to a recent Forbes article regarding how a small commercial blender maker, Blendtec, started posting YouTube videos of the product called “Will it Blend?” and started winning over the market that was once monopolized by longtime rival Vita-Mix.  The short videos show a demonstration on whether the Blendtec blender can blend such items as a Wii remote or an Apple iPhone.  Naturally, the videos are great and gained the attention of Jay Leno.

In true copycat fashion, Vita-Mix, which had no Web presence, is now using the Web to host videos of their blenders. Just goes to show how important having a Web presence, no matter how small, can be in marketing.

-Mike

Tips To Promote Your Blog

Wall Street Journal small business reporter Kelly Spors provides tips from blogger Darren Rowse on how to effectively promote a blog.  Rowse has 13 tips himself on his blog at ProBlogger.net.

-Mike

Profnet Queries Through Twitter

You are no longer at the mercy of when the next ProfNet e-mail will appear in your inbox with a fresh set of new queries from reporters..

You have the opportunity to get up-to-the-second ProfNet queries on Twitter!  ProfNet has just set up a Twitter account at http://twitter.com/profnet.

-Mike

Not Happy With The New Facebook Design?

Newsday strongly dislikes the new Facebook layout and offers ways to revert back to the old design.

The Fast Company magazine message board allows people to voice their opinions on whether or not Facebook made a big mistake by changing the design.

-Mike