Creating a Fan Page that engages your audience.

Why are Some Facebook Pages So Successful?

There is a little more to a successful Facebook page than enthusiasm for the product and enthusiasm for communicating through the social network. There has to be just a bit more and the most successful Facebook pages provide that extra “something”, in the form of interactivity. While not all successful Facebook pages have games or uploaded videos or photos, all of them give the visitor and fan alike something to do.

For instance, Red Bull has a highly successful Facebook page and one of the top reasons they do is because they understand their target audience, they know their likes and they know what makes them react. Red Bull features a series of games on their Facebook pages all helping brand the product and geared toward their target audience. As well as the games, Red Bull sponsors a web program and this program is highlighted on Facebook. It involves sponsored athletes and interviews which help give Red Bull the right image and engage their fans further by providing more interactivity.

Their presentation is slick, and their Facebook fan page is extraordinarily easy to use. It is a good idea to consider professional design for Facebook pages because that tends to make a great impression on first time visitors and recruit more fans.

Burt’s Bees takes another tack entirely than Red Bull and yet their Facebook presence is interactive and popular. They provide a close up look at what goes on in the production line and their company in making their products.  Their updates utilize videos and photos and help personalize the company and emphasize what they feel are their prime selling points. The results of this type of page are easy to see by the number of comments from fans and thus, for them it works well.

Most small businesses don’t have a fortune to spend on marketing but even with minimal expenditures any business can create a Facebook page fans are sure to enjoy and interact with.

Got any brilliant ideas? Please share your ideas and comments below.

Leveraging the Power of a Facebook Business Account

Facebook limits the individual user to a single account on the other hand it does not limit business pages and there are also a few perks that go with that as well. An individual can only have a single account so Joe Blow’s Garage registered under Joe Blow’s name would be limited to that one page. However, a Facebook business registration could include Joe Blow’s Garage, Joe’s oil changing service, and Joe Blow’s Wrecking service.  That is a lot of specific exposure for the business and a lot more targeted followers.

Naturally not every business will use multiple pages but some will and put them to good use, just like Joe Blow’s Garage. Large corporations as well as small businesses which offer many services and products may find this an attractive and that targets a specific user and consumer. In business and especially social networking platforms such as Facebook, the wider the net the more effective the coverage is likely to be.

One of the other perks for business accounts over personal accounts is that while Joe Blow could not send updates to every single one of their “likes” or fans at one time, the business account can. That makes offering special discounts on Joe Blow’s oil changes or wrecker services much easier. Using such deals, coupons, and giveaways for fans or followers is becoming common with those running social networking pages such as Facebook or Twitter. Sometimes the promotions are coordinated and Twitter promotions are automatically updated to Facebook and other times they are separate. The idea however is to provide personalized and individual offers to fans and likes based on their interest in a specific product. It certainly seems to work for those in the social networking “know” and this tip is not size dependent, as Joe Blow’s Garage may be a business with one or two or three employees or could be a chain of garages.

Use your Facebook Fan Page to Drive People into your Business – The Sprinkles Effect

It is no news now that social networking sites like Facebook are a great tool for the small and large business if used the right way. What most businesses are doing right now, is finding their footing and their voice. A few pioneers however made it on the first try and did what others only dream of: they established a strong and active fan base on Facebook which has positively impacted their sales.

What did these pioneers have that others didn’t have? Well two things are relatively consistent between large and small companies who succeed using social media. The first is a passion for the platform whether it is Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin. Understanding and enjoying the value of the social networking experience brings life to their posts and tweets and shouts. The second factor is a passion for their product. If a company builds wonderful cars but the social media representative doesn’t care that much about cars, it is unlikely they can produce a campaign or even carry a conversation that is engaging enough to gather followers or fans, much less impact sales.(Get it?!)

When you put those two factors together, you have the basics and all the rest follows.  A company called Sprinkles used just that credo. Although the owner has no time for taking a breath during the day his account is logged on to Facebook constantly. As early as 2009 this company had 70,000 followers on Facebook (a lot for that early in the social networking history).

Why? Well partially because his product is wonderful according to his fans. However a wonderful product doesn’t always ensure a good fan base on Facebook. Instead, it is because at random times during the week a word will be posted on the Facebook wall and the first of their customers to appear at any of their stores and whisper that word will win a free cupcake.

It is not the cupcake so much that these upscale customers enjoy, but the fun of the game and the race to be first. This is just one more example of small business getting it and being successful on Facebook.

Are you passionate about your business? Your message? Are you equally passionate about social networking to promote?

Visit Sprinkes Web Site

What are some ways that you can engage your customers using your Facebook Fan Page?

Please comment and share below. What are you doing that is working and where can you use help?

It’s always great to acknowledge outstanding achievers. And I must say that Time magazine’s recognition of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as its “Person of the Year” is well deserved. In a single day, Zuckerberg said, “about a billion new pieces of content are posted on Facebook. It is the connective tissue for nearly a tenth of the planet.” The online network could now be called the “third largest country on earth and surely has more information about its citizens than any government does.” He went on to tell Time that “the next five years for Facebook would be about ‘building out this social platform’ and the “widespread acknowledgment by other industries that this is the way that stuff should be and will be better.”

Zuckerberg’s outlook on Facebook and the future of Facebook is quite fascinating and in a way rather refreshing. When asked about the sale of Facebook, Zuckerberg stated that Facebook would stay independent as that has always been the plan. “As a company we’re very focused on what we’re building and not as focused on the exit. We just believe that we’re adding a certain amount of value to people’s lives if we build a very good product. That’s the reason why more than half of our users use the product every day — it’s a more efficient way for them to communicate with their friends and get information about the people around them than anything else they can do. We’re not really looking to sell the company. We’re not looking to IPO [Initial Public Offering] anytime soon. It’s just not the core focus of the company.”

Pretty amazing to be 26 and named “Person of the Year” (the second youngest to win this title. Charles Lindbergh was the youngest at 25), let alone running a successful corporation such as Facebook. Since it began naming a “Man of the Year” in 1927, Time has selected individuals not necessarily for their good works or intentions but for their impact on the news. Time Editor Rick Stengel said Zuckerberg was chosen “for connecting more than half-a-billion people and mapping the social relations among them (something that has never been done before); for creating a new system of exchanging information that has become both indispensable and sometimes a little scary; and finally, for changing how we all live our lives in ways that are innovative and even optimistic.”

And how does Mark Zuckerberg respond to the pressures that come along with running a hyper-fast paced, high-profile technology company? Here is his simple, yet quite wise response: “I was watching an interview with Steve Jobs the other day, in which he said that ‘In order to be doing something like this, you have to really, really like what you’re doing, because otherwise it just doesn’t make sense.’ The demands and the amount of work that it takes to put something like [Facebook] into place; it’s just so much that if you weren’t completely into what you were doing and you didn’t think it was an important thing, then it would be irrational to spend that much time on it. Part of the reason why this is fun is because we’ve managed to build a team of really smart people who come from different backgrounds and have different experiences and think in different ways. People constantly try to put us in a bucket: are we trying to sell the company? What are we trying to do? What is the business strategy? People are often more interested in why we’re hiring a stock-options administrator. Whereas for me and a lot of people around me, that’s not really what we focus on. We’re just focused on building things.”

Inspirational stuff. He gets my vote!

If you want to read more of his interview with TIme, check out this link.

Facebook's new layout give more prominence to a users' biographical information and recent photos. Facebook engineer Josh Wiseman, revealed the new look in a blog post on Sunday. Here's FMMG's Lennie Appelquist's New Profile

Facebook’s decision to redesign its users profile pages has some wishing its engineers had created a “dislike” button, so says an article on the New York Daily News site.

The revamp, announced Sunday afternoon in a blog post by Facebook engineer Josh Wiseman and touted in a “60 Minutes” interview hours later by founder Mark Zuckerberg, is receiving mixed reviews from users who appear anxious about having their photos and personal information more prominently displayed on the site.

I think change is simply hard for some people. We are very resistant to it. We like the familiar. As a designer, and marketer, I find the new look both pleasing and efficient.

Lots of people felt different. Wiseman’s blog was flooded with comments on Monday pleading to change back…

One user aimed to capture the overinflated spirit of panic in a seemingly tongue-in-cheek response to the blog post.

“AAAGGGHHH!!! I FEAR CHANGE!!!” wrote user Kurt Morris. “Even though it’s an improvement over the previous profile page I HATE IT because it’s different!!!”

Wiseman wrote that the changes would make it easier “for you to tell your story and learn about your friends,” and in the “60 Minutes” interview, reporter Lesley Stahl said the new design offers the experience of having a barroom chat with someone.

In the new layout, a short summary of the users’ personal information, such as his or her job or college, and a small collection photos appear at the top of the wall, underneath the users name and profile picture.

Previously, personal information and photos were kept on separate tabs.

Here are some of the new features in the new layout.

Refer to the image above. Right below my name at the top of my profile, there’s a Wikipedia-like mini-biography of my life.

I’ve already entered that information into my profile page before — under the various fields for employment, hometown, birthday and so on — and Facebook used it to automatically create a mini-biography out of that information to put at the very top of your profile page. Personally, I think this is cool!

The navigation menu has moved from the top-center position to the space on the left column right below your profile picture.

Photos of the user are given prominence now. Right under the bio are photos of me. In addition, the photos page itself has been given an overhaul, looking cleaner. It also sports an “infinite scroll” feature of all the photos a user is tagged in, reminiscent of Twitter’s infinite scroll for tweets.

Your Friends Page gets a big update too. Rather than showing up as a pop-up window, the Friends page now gets a dedicated section, where you can see them all displayed in a grid-like fashion. At the top of this page is the Friend search feature, making searching and sorting through your friends more accessible now.

Also promoted more on the new profile page are the Friendship Page and your Groups. In the upper-right-hand side of the profile, you can see “You and Lennie” (or the name of whichever friend you are viewing), with a link to the main Friendship Page, but also a summary there of your mutual friends and common favorite artists.

So take some time and explore your new-look Facebook page. Please share your thoughts and comments below.

Here’s a very interesting interview with Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerburg that aired (12/5/10) on 60 Minutes.

Sources: NY Daily News & Forbes.com

Welcome to this brand new weekly feature here in the FMMG blog:

Facebook Friday!

Stardate 2010 – Facebook is here folks, your future boss is on it and so is your future spouse (and future inlaws). It’s time to use common sense – don’t put pictures on Facebook that reflect or (worse yet) brand you badly.

Every day, 4 billion messages are sent via Facebook, and next to those 4 billion messages is something that could make or break the legitimacy of your message (or your brand) —  at the very least, amuse or horrify your friends – at the very worst – get you fired or cost you money: your profile picture.

Your Facebook profile is, in a lot of respects, your first impression to the world at large. First impressions don’t come with a mulligan (a do over). Really – you usually only get one shot at a first impression. Second impressions count too. Adding that picture of you beer bonging at a party might be cool when you show it to your friends (and your in your 20′s) but it doesn’t ever belong on Facebook. Your image can become your life’s blood – especially if you are an entrepreneur – your image matters! As an employee – your image or better yet, your boss’ perception of your image could get you fired (or get you a raise).

So, what kind of photos should you avoid?

Read this article over on CNN.com for your answer.

5 Facebook profile pics that make you look like a tool

Seriously, no one wants to look like a tool…

If you have questions or suggestions or would just like to add to the conversation, please comment and share below. You can also add links to some horrible examples of Facebook Profile pics…

Facebook has just finished sharing its new messaging system with the world. And while the social networking site says that “it’s not e-mail” or designed to be what many pundits wanted to call an “e-mail killer,” it represents a big overhaul of a system that’s being used by more than 350 million people to send more than 4 billion messages daily.

In the above video, Facebook provides a brief overview of how the system will work. It might be a while until you get to try it out for yourself though. For now, the Facebook Messages is invite-only and the company says the will “be launching [it] and email addresses gradually and making it available to everyone over the next few months.”

Here is a gallery of screenshots that was originally posted by Mashable… They have access already…

1. Facebook Messages Splash Screen

2. @facebook.com Email

3. Your New Facebook Inbox

4. Facebook Messages Invites

5. The Other Messages Inbox

6. Archiving Messages and Conversations

7.  Receiving a Message

8. Texting in Facebook Messages

9. Sending a Facebook Message

It’s true, what happens in Vegas stays on Facebook, Twitter and many other potential outlets these days. In the Facebook age, every image and utterance a person makes can be documented online. Anonymity is quickly becoming a thing of the past – get used to it. Social Media is not going anywhere, instead, it’s up to us to learn how to cope with it. And coping really isn’t enough – it is completely up to us to police our image online and make sure that we present to the world exactly the image we want or at least within an acceptable range within our marketplace. A lot of what we do online is image marketing. Now I’m not talking about anything phony or fake here, simply that if we are doing business or in the job market we want to be very careful about what ends up online. (That’s why I wrote this a year and a half ago: What NOT to put on Your Facebook Profile).

If you are alive right now, you have probably had moments and/or experiences in your past that might now become embarrassing. If you went to college, there is some multiplier in existence for your potential embarrassment quotient. Again, the question is, how do you handle it.

Case in point:

What happens when those social media mavens run for political office? Krystal Ball, a Virginia Democrat running for Congress, found out this week when racy pictures of her wound up on line.

How did she handle it and should we expect more of these sorts of issues in future campaigns?

Watch the 2 videos below and take note on her response. As a politician she has the ability to play a bit of a deflection game – but for us as business owners, or employees, how do we respond if something a little embarrassing from our past shows up? Please share your comments and opinions below.

Her full response is here:

For a couple of weeks now, the social media world has been abuzz with the release of Facebook’s “Like” button that has spread across the web like a (dare I say) virus.

After the first week, Facebook announced it’s “Like” button, the powerful social network says 50,000 websites have adopted the change.

“Already, just one week since launch, more than 50,000 sites across the Web have implemented the new plugins,” Sandra Liu Huang writes today on Facebook’s blog for application developers.

“We are thrilled by the strong adoption so far as developers realize how easy social plugins are to use and how powerful they are in engaging users in a frictionless experience without requiring them to share any personal information.”

People use the “Like” button to recommend websites, news stories, blog posts and music to friends.

Facebook announced the change at its f8 conference on April 21. At the time, only 75 sites had signed up to use the feature, which is Facebook’s way of making the entire web a more social experience.

In a keynote address at f8, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that by the end of the 1st day, there would be 1 billion “Like” buttons scattered all over the web, making the Facebook like button a “must have” social button for serious bloggers. (Remember that “virus” comment above?)

To my surprise Facebook chose to launch this new feature upon Typepad, all the while ignoring one of the world’s most popular blogging platform, WordPress. That’s right, the sweetheart of the blogging world – and my fave!

So we WordPressers could take the Facebook Plugin code and work over a grueling hot stove… I mean gruel over figuring out how to get this to work with WordPress – as our heads nearly explode…

But wait, there’s a better solution: A Facebook “Like” button plugin for WordPress! Yippee!!

Now there is no need to worry about dealing with Facebook’s upgraded JavaScript SDK (HUH?) or anything else. You can simply install the new WordPress Like plugin and get up and running in only a couple of clicks. The new plugin works with both XFBML and as an iFrame. While there are some challenges of using Like button’s with the old Facebook Connect library, this new plugin should make implementing the Like button easy for WordPress site administrators.

Whatever… Try it it, Like it… (Get it?) Once I have used it for a bit, I will update my feelings – but for now, here we go.

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the plugin – go give it a try yourself!

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/like

What did Facebook Change?

So here’s the scoop – The top navigation has changed. One big change (some may say RADICAL!) is that Facebook’s search bar is on the left – “Oh no! Say it isn’t so! On every site I visit, the search is on the right, what will I do?!”, I can hear the cries already… Sometimes change is good.

Top Right Navigation

Now on the right you’ll see your “Home”, “Profile” and “Account” links:

The “Account” link opens a dropdown menu so you can easily navigate to all your account needs:

On first glance, I wasn’t really sure about any of the new features, but now I feel tht it does make it a little simpler to navigate and a bit more intuitive.

Top Left Navigation

Here’s the top left side of your new Facebook:

There’s that search bar hanging out on the left. Starting on the left, the Facebook logo still links to your home page. Next is the feature that I really like on this redesign: 3 icons for:

1. Friend Requests
2. Messages in your Inbox
3. Notifications

Remember on the “old” Facebook, your notifications were on the bottom right of the screen, your messages were up top on the left (close to where it is now) and friend requests were only found on your home page. I really like that these 3 are all together now. Anything that makes my time spent on Facebook more efficient!

See? Instant Notification Gratification!

Left Menu Bar

This is pretty similar to how it was but here  is a list of features here:

1. Your News Feed, Messages and your Friends – are at the top, this way it’s easier to keep up with what’s new.
2. Applications you’ve bookmarked are now higher up the page for easier/quicker access.

Here’s the part I both like and dislike: The next feature, “Chat with Friends” and “Go Online”. Once you click “Go Online” you are connect to all your friends also online – this can be cool if you like to use the Facebook Chat Feature. Here’s my beef: Once you click “Go Online”, there is no link in the Left Bar to “Go Offline”! Instead, you have to navigate to the bottom right where the chat feature still lives and go to Options –> Go Offline. That’s kind of lame if you ask me.

And Finally

Not much really, except that the new layout increases the amount of clicks I need to take care of some simple tasks like logging out and accessing settings.

All in all, I like  the changes – I am always helping my clients reduce the amount of time needed to maintain efficient and personal contact on Facebook (and other Social Media sites), so any good intuitive simplifying works for me.

How many times in an email, Facebook, Twitter or other sites have you seen a web address like this: www.govisitmysite.com and the damn thing isn’t clickable? A little annoying, right?

How many times have you copied and pasted the link?

My guess… very few. By adding these 7 simple characters, you unleash the mad, straight up power that is the INTERNET! You are leaving money, leads, customers, clients (and did I mention MONEY) on the table by not making your link clickable everywhere and anywhere you can!

NEWS FLASH —–> No one is going to take the time to copy and paste your link, EVER! (almost)

Err on the side of good business – use the http:// and your link  becomes live: http://www.govisitmysite.com (this is an example only). Don’t leave prospective clients, customers and/or cash hanging on Facebook, Twitter and even in your email.

The other bonus is that you get those important backlinks to your site – without the http:// all you get is some text on another site…

Here’s a little experiment for you. Pay attention to all the non-working links you see, just on Facebook (especially on the person’s profile and their own link) and report back here. I would love and appreciate the feedback. If you found this post helpful, Please leave a comment!

Thanks and happy linking, Facebooking and Twittering…

Ok – here’s the deal. Don’t put anything on your social network pages that you don’t want the ENTIRE world to know about. You on Facebook is a window to your life – or so is the perception of people who read what you post on Facebook, what you tweet about on Twitter… get the picture?

I ran across this story of a 16 year old girl who wrote on her Facebook that her first day at her new job was “boring” and that she hated the menial tasks. Guess what? A co-worker who was her “Facebook friend” read the comment and told their boss… Bummer.

So again, back to the rule. It’s really simple: Don’t put anything on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network that you don’t want you boss, your husband/wife, kids, friends, teachers… to know. Period. You mold the way you interact through speech in situations, e.g you (hopefully) don’t cuss in front of your kids or priest… so intelligently mold yourself in social media. Cultivate your persona. Be real, but be smart. Choose your words carefully. We really don’t need to know everything. Somethings are better kept to yourself.

So when the girl’s boss learned of the comments on Facebook:

Kimberley Swann was called into her boss’ office where she was told, “‘I have seen your comments on Facebook, and I don’t want my company being in the news.” She was told it was not good for the company, fired, and escorted from the premises in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

So if you decide to write about your job and get fired, or complain about your wife and she’s not happy, that’s your choice. Just don’t complain afterward. You made your bed.

Read the rest of the story here.

Swann is upset and, as only a 16 year old can, complained: “I just put that my job was boring. They were just being nosy, going through everything. I think it is really sad; it makes them look stupid that they are going to be so petty.

Maybe they are being petty, but here’s the deal: it’s their prerogative. Check the consequences before you write.

So with a new age of promotion among us, is it any wonder that Barak Obama’s administration would lead the way for government to find a beter way of keeping us informed allowing for simple feedback?

Taking a cue from the updated WhiteHouse.gov Web site, the federal government has gone Web 2.0 with is own site.

“Using these Web 2.0 tools is a huge opportunity for government to be transparent and save valuable tax dollars,” said Beverly Godwin, director of USA.gov, in a statement. “Tools such as RSS feeds and gadgets allow the public to directly access content from the original source, no matter which Web site they’re on. It reduces duplication across government, because an agency creates content once and makes it available for reuse by others.”

By using social media, and by this I mean truthful and honest interaction witth your existing and potential customer/client base, you create familiarity which breeds trust.

I am a total proponent of the power of social networking, but never the less this is very funny.

Think social networking sites are fun and useful? See what happens when things get a little out of control for one social networker who might just be over the whole social network thing. Let the social networking wars begin!

For more go to: Current

1. To set up an event, just go to your Facebook profile and click the link in the left hand navigation area that says “Events” (it’s just below the search bar in the “Applications” area). Next, look for the button on the right that reads, “Create an Event”. Click it and your good to go.
2. On this next page you get to name your event. This is probably your most important step. You want to make the name of your event create curiosity and interest. Be clever but not too clever. The name of your event should leverage your  expertise. People want to go to an event lead by an expert! Here’s your chance to be recognized as an expert which, in turn, breeds credibility amongst your Facebook peers. **One important note: Once you name an event, IT CANNOT BE CHANGED!

   If you are using a Facebook Event to introduce your Business, Small Business, product or service, you want to make  sure that you open your event to the entire Facebook community, you never want to limit the potential attendance.

3. List your Event Tagline, your Host’s name (that’s  you or one of your groups) and the type of event planned (you have choices like “Party”, “Causes”, “Education”  and “Meetings”). I like Education and/or Meetings.
4. Next you’re going to add the description of your event.The Event description is  also a very valuable bit  of real estate. You want to make it brief but full of the reasons why this event MUST BE ATTENDED! List the benefits for the attendees. There are 2 things you must accomplish in this brief event description:

   1. ETR – Stands for Earn The Right – who are you and why should I listen to you.
   2. WIIFM – “What’s In It For Me” – List the benefits for the attendees. You need to provide them  with all the compelling evidence needed for  them to attend YOUR event.

5. Make sure to fill out the rest of the required info on this page and click  the “Create Event” button.Note: If your event is a tele-class, tele-seminar or webinar, list that in the Location Field.
6. On the next page, you will (yes, WILL) add a picture for your Event. No one is going to take you seriously and attend your event if you don’t bother to add a picture. Ask yourself: Would you?”
7. You are given a lot of other options on this page. Most of the defaults are fine but I would disable “Photos” and “Videos”. There is no reason that I can think of to allow others to post pics or videos on your event page. We want to limit distractions.Do however, allow posted items. If you can get people engaged and talking on your Event page, you mission is nearly accomplished!
8. Once you have uploaded your Event Picture and selected the rest of the event settings, you are ready to “Save and Continue”. (The blue button on the bottom…)
9. The Final step is to invite ALL your friends. Make sure you send along a message and invite them to share this event with others.

That’s all there is to it. Now go have a successful event!

There is a great article in the new Fast Company Magazine all about the do it yourself social network “”Ning”.

The article begins by letting us in on a little secret:

Here’s something you probably don’t know about the Internet: Simply by designing your product the right way, you can build a billion-dollar business from scratch. No advertising or marketing budget, no need for a sales force, and venture capitalists will kill for the chance to throw money at you.

The secret is what’s called a “viral expansion loop,” a concept little known outside of Silicon Valley (go ahead, Google it — you won’t find much). It’s a type of engineering alchemy that, done right, almost guarantees a self-replicating, borglike growth: One user becomes two, then four, eight, to a million and beyond. It’s not unlike taking a penny and doubling it daily for 30 days. By the end of a week, you’d have 64 cents; within two weeks, $81.92; by day 30, about $5.4 million.

Yeah we all remember that little game, “I’ll give you $1 Million today or one single penny and double everyday for a month, which would you rather have?

Me? I’ll take the “Viral expansion loop” – but I want to call it the “Viral Spiral”.

This article goes on to explain how the viral loops (spirals) work as an accelerant for internet businesses – take Google, PayPal, YouTube, eBay, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Flickr as good examples.

So where does Ning fit in?

Well they use this concept on steroids! What they’ve got going is a “double viral loop”.

Only Ning, Andreessen declares, benefits from a “double viral loop,” which spreads two ways, because every network creator is a user and any user can become a network creator. Say someone sets up an Angelina Jolie net with 10 members, which grows as each person draws in others. Then an adoption site breaks off, a Jon Voight hate group rises up, and a Brad Pitt love club forms. Meanwhile, a Lara Croft nostalgia net launches, spawning a legion of soft-core cyberporn spin-offs. Soon you have 2, 3, 10 networks — all expanding simultaneously. Meanwhile, the original group is attracting even more users. Ning swells like a river fed from an ever-growing number of tributaries.

You can read the rest of the article here

Enjoy, explore, good night, good luck

TECHNOLOGY:

Slashdot
Dzone – Developers
CSS Globe
DNHour – Domain Name News

Pixel Groovy – Web design
Design Float – Web design
Leet Daily
DevelopersNiche

INTERNET MARKETING:

PlugIM
Sphinn

NEWS:

Digg
Netscape
Reddit
Newsvine
News Heat – Politics
Sk*rt
Shoutwire

Wobblog
Content Pop
Blogg-Buzz

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING:

del.icio.us
Ma.gnolia
Furl
AllMyFavorites

Blinklist
Blogmarks
Blummy
BuddyMarks
BookmarkTracker
Chipmark
Connectedy
De.lirio.us
Dogear

Favoritoo
FeedMeLinks
Foxmarks
Fungow
Linkatopia
Livemarks
Mobilicio.us
Mylinkvault
Socializer

SHOPPING:

AgentB
Dealigg
Yub
BiddingBuddies – For Ebay members
ThisNext
Zebo
Judy’s Book

Deal Comet

MUSIC:

Purevolume – Music
Last.fm
Buzznet
MOG
Soundpedia

IM/MOBILE:

Twitter
Pownce
FlickIM
IMified
Radar
Zannel

PHOTO SHARING:

Flickr
Photbucket

Fotolog
Fotki
My Opera
Zoomr
Text America
Picli

VIDEO SHARING:

YouTube
Broadcaster

Panjea
Revver
Viddler
Video Bomb
Video Sift

EDUCATION AND LIBRARIES:

Shelfari
LibraryThing
BookCrossing

Good Reads
Book Tribes
Connect via Books
qoolsqool

ART:

Humble Voice – Art, music, video, photography
Virb – Music, art, fashion, film and more

imeem – Music, videos, photos
deviantART

SOCIAL ACTION:

TakingITGlobal
Care2 – Social Issues/Humanities
Hugg – Environmental

Planet Change – Environmental

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE:

Amina – Chechen Republic
Wamba – Spanish social network
Black Planet – African American

Hyves – Dutch
IRC Galleria – Finland
iWiW – Hungary
LunarStorm – Sweden
Playahead – Sweden

MiGente – Latino
Mixi – Japan
Nexopia – Canada
ClubGh – Ghana
Acelerame – Spanish (cars)

Scoopeo – French
Yigg – German
StudiVZ – German students

LINK/WEBSITE:

StumbleUpon
Blue Dot

Trailfire
Ensiting

CARS:

CarDomain
AutoSpies
Boompa
Motorpulse

TRAVEL:

TravBuddy

WAYN
Gusto
Couch Surfing
Travellerspoint
Woophy
EveryTrail – GPS
Trip Advisor
TripUp

REAL ESTATE:

Trulia
Zillow

FOOD, WINE AND THE GOOD LIFE:

RateItAll
Yelp
Cork’d – Wine reviews
Chowhound – Food

Epinions

PROFESSIONAL:

LinkedIn
MeetIn
Ryze
Xing
Biznik
Cofoundr – Entrepreneurial

Fast Pitch
Konnects
StartupNation – Entrepreneurial
Startupping – Internet entrepreneurs
Tapped In – Educational professionals
Ecademy

DATING:

Flirtomatic
OkCupid
Chemistry

SCHOOL RELATED:

Classmates
Friends Reunited
Dodgeball
Graduates

Meetup
MyYearbook
Reunion
ConnectU

MEDICAL RELATED:

Sermo – Doctors
Disect Medicine
Walker Tracker

Who is Sick?

TEENS:

eCRUSH
eSpintheBottle
Piczo
Profile Heaven
Sconex
Student.com
Stardoll

KIDS:

imbee

PARENTING/FAMILY:

Babbiz
Moxie Moms
GreatSchools – Parents review schools

FAMILY:

Geni

WebBiographies

CHRISTIAN:

MyChurch
Blogs4God
Xianz
GodTube – Video sharing

SPORTS:

Joga – Soccer (Football)

Sportsvite
Ballhype – Sports
ScoreGuru
SportsCast
SportsFlip

GAMES:

Gaia – Games and anime

Game Diggity
GuildCafe
WeeWorld

ANIMALS:

Dogster – Dog lovers
Catster – Cat lovers
Fuzzster

Pikapet

THE BIG ONES:

MySpace
Facebook
Trig
Friendster
Orkut
Bebo
CyWorld

LiveJournal
Grono
Tribe
Hi5
Jaiku
Multiply
Netlog
Passado
Skyrock

Tagged
AIM Pages
Yahoo! 360
Everyone’s Connected
Windows Live Spaces
Zaadz

9rules
Beautiful Society – List and vote for your favorite things

43 Things – Goal sharing
Consumating
Dandelife – A social biography network
DontStayIn – Clubbing
Experience Project – Share Life Experiences

Faceparty – “The biggest party on Earth”
Gather
Recruiting.com
Ning – Create your own network
Searchles
Vampire Freaks
Faqqly – Community of questions and answers

Ficlets – Collaborative writing
Global Voices
Spout – Films
Prosper – People to people lending
DigStock – Financial

Clipmarks
Listible

I have been using Facebook for the past two years, and it is an outstanding tool to add to your marketing arsenal. Following are 10 steps you can use on Facebook to introduce new people to your for FREE!

1. Build an Excellent Profile: This is absolutely the FIRST thing that you must do to make an impact on Facebook . Think of your Facebook profile as part of your branding strategy. A effective profile will include a picture of you. Don’t use the one of you doing shots at the local bar, unless that’s what your selling. Make sure your new Facebook profile is complete. You should include your contact information, your website address (this is very important), education, work history and your personal interests. A complete profile is the only way to go.

2. Add Friends: This is what sets Facebook apart – the ability meet new people, build relationships and sustain them. The more friends you have, the more profitable your marketing efforts will be. You can use Facebook’s own tools to find friends that already belong to Facebook. Once you add your friends, you can search for kindred spirits. Make their acquaintance, become their friend, build a relationship. One unique feature on Facebook is that you can see friends of your friends. This will help you build a monstrous network in no time.

3. Join Groups: You can join online groups on Facebook that are associated with what you do. There are groups for filmmakers, musicians, and experts of all kinds. Almost every supposable kind of professional service provider has some kind of group on Facebook. I belong to many Facebook groups and have made tons of new contacts this way.

4. Create your Own Facebook Group: Can’t find a group that really fits? Create your own! You can add members, publish articles, initiate some great discussions, and surely find quite a few new people. And even if you find good group to belong to, start your own. This gives you the chance to be the trendsetter!

5. Syndicate your Blog Using RSS: You can syndicate your own blog on your personal profile page. This essentially means that every time you make a post, it will automatically show up on your profile page. More Exposure = More Readers = More Leads = More Business. And the bonus is the back links to your site. I syndicate headlines from three of my blogs on Facebook.

6. Comment on Other Peoples Profiles: Are you a follower or admirer of someone’s work? Reach out to them on Facebook! Lots of my business contacts check their Facebook messages more repeatedly than their email. They are also more likely to respond to Facebook messages. Don’t feel quite right sending out a message to someone you don’t know? Don’t worry! Leave them a “just saying hi!” or “Your cool!” comment on their wall. All profiles come with “virtual walls” where visitors can leave a comment. The more messages you leave on your friend’s Facebook profiles the more exposure you get!

7. List your Events: Launching a New Service? Create an events page and invite everyone you want. You can even see who RSVPed and get feedback from your guests. Marketing doesn’t get much simpler (or cheaper!) than this.

8. Send Virtual Gifts: Want to show your appreciation for someone? Send them a virtual gift. You can choose from a bunch of Flowers to a potted plant that actually sits on the your friends profile and grows over time (plus hundreds of others). With all the third party applications for gift giving available, what are you waiting for. This is a proven way to build strong relationships!

9. Use Some Cool Apps: Facebook has literally tons of applications that were built just for the site. Event planners, testimonial gatherers, News and more. When you use an application, you get to invite your friends to use these interesting mini applications (Apps). So just like number 8 above, this allows you another way to interact with your friends on Facebook. Again, this helps you build strong relationships.

10. Create a Community: More than likely Facebook’s greatest benefit is that it allows you to build a community. It intoduces you to a group of people who are constantly connected to you, and your Facebook friends are open to hearing your message. Write on people’s walls, give them feedback, and introduce them to each other. Start building your brand and leveraging Facebook for business building!

Facebook is a wonderful place to introduce yourself to a bunch of new people who may also become customers and/or clients. Just remember one thing: don’t get too carried away and spend all your time there. Facebook is a tool, part of your business strategy. Use the tips above, use them wisely and have a little fun at the same time.

As The Article explains, Facebook started in a Harvard University dorm room less than four years ago, and first spread like wildfire among college students. Last year, it opened membership to the world, and the wildfire is still raging. Facebook now has more than 54 million users, second among social networking sites behind only Beverly Hills-based MySpace. And it’s sucking up Web traffic and Silicon Valley engineering talent.

Facebook is taking some of the attention away from Silicon Valley darling Google. And why is it gettting all this attention? The social networking site’s rocketing growth, cheeky business strategies and staggering valuation. Speaking of valuation, Facebook’s 23-year-old co-founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, suddenly finds himself in a position to one day replace Google co-founder Sergey Brin as the technology industry’s youngest self-made billionaire. This thanks a $15 billion market valuation.

Pretty amazing stuff considering that not long ago everyone sat slack-jawed at the $500 million+ pricetag that MySpace commanded.

Read the LA Times Article here.

MySpace and Six Apart will announce that they are joining Google’s OpenSocial initiative. Silicon Alley Insider reported the MySpace rumor earlier today. We’ve confirmed that from an independent source, as well as the fact that Six Apart is joining. Per the update below, Google has also confirmed Bebo is joining.

This according to Tech Crunch

Facebook is publicly saying they have not officially talked to Google about OpenSocial. Although sources say that that Facebook and Google have been talking about OpenSocial…including today. So pleading ignorance won’t last as a strategy for dealing with the OpenSocial movement.

You gotta love it. . . intrigue running rampant. Personally, I think it’s so cool that Google is developing this platform! Remember my previous post and my theory about Google’s bid attempt (?) for that coveted piece of Facebook. . .

I’m gonna have to learn how to build apps!

Principally, any wise business person puts the importance of hungry demand (and not just any demand) in front of the product. In other words, there is no product if there is no demand! And a mailing list represents the demand or your business if you would like to call it.

If you frequent the Joint Venture forums and membership sites of any kind, you will find that product and service owners need mailing list owners more than the other way round. This is because the mailing list owners have the prospects that the other type of partner is looking for to sell to.

And if you are a mailing list owner, you do not have to necessarily make money from selling your own product. You can sell advertising space or craft a Joint Venture with product owners in return of commissions, recurring or not.

Most of the biggest success web businesses on the Internet today often establish the mailing list (or subscribers) first before the product. One fine example is Facebook.

Facebook, in the nutshell, is a website that connects friends and potential friends from around the world through a free membership access.

While Facebook does not make money from the number of members who join the site, the business makes money from selling advertising space and partnering with other big time merchants and businesses, owing to the established number of members Facebook has recruited.

This business is perfect example that demonstrates why every business should establish a need or demand before the product itself, and why you should do the same, whether you run a friends site or not.

From “podcast” to “poke”, “wiki” to “weblog”, the internet generation has a language all of its own. But since web guru Tim O’Reilly popularised the phrase “Web 2.0″ in 2004, even those who never considered themselves internet-literate have worked the new technology into their daily lives. Facebook, the social networking phenomenon, dominates water cooler conversations everywhere, having gained a staggering 42 million users since its worldwide launch in 2006. YouTube, which was founded as recently as 2005, attracts some 100 million page views a day.

Thus begins a great article in the London Times on the 23rd (October). The numbers are astonishing, yes, but the question still remains, “How do we utilize the possibilities of Web 2.0 for business?

Facebook, which I call a grown up MySpace is pretty cool. Yet it still isn’t easy to reach your target audience, or is it. Creativity is the name of the game. Facebook apps (a product of the web 2.0 consciousness) are beacons of hope in the sometimes confusing new world of web 2.0. Yeah, even though the term was invented in ’04, no one knew what the hell it meant until yesterday (or so it seems). With the ability to use these mini applications built just for faceboook to do things like show rss feeds of your blogs right on your profile page, connecting with a chosen demographic just got a little easier. No blatent selling, unlike the old MySpace, but be honest and deliver compelling content and suddenly Facebook becomes a great lead generating tool.

To be continued. . .