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

John McCrea: There are a few phases to social networking. The first phase was Friendster, MySpace and clones and it was pretty frivolous. Everyone connected as a friend. Strangers came together online. The second phase was about who you knew, maintaining and enriching your relationships. It was a way not to lose touch with people as you changed jobs or moved. The latest phase is an online representation of real world activity. Small and midsize businesses were always people who spent money on their Rolodexes and then on database software. They survive and thrive based on the power of personal networks.

I’ll point to Plaxo as a network address book and “Pulse” as an online service as examples. Plaxo was a precursor to an Internet-based service and it’s composed of members keeping up their contact information on their “implied profile page.” Even then, many users would share birthdates and would get e-mails about who changed jobs, whose birthday it is, etc. It allowed people to connect and send flowers on a birthday or congratulate someone on a new job. It made networking stuff easier to do and made a smaller businessperson appear well organized and thoughtful. Pulse brings the address book to life. Users can connect up with different services on the Web. They can share postings on Flickr or a blog, where getting an audience can be hard.

Truly it is about starting a relationship first. Nothing is more annoying than the guy (or gal) who upon the first meeting immediately bombards you info about the latest and greatest network marking company etc… Get to know me first is my policy.

Getting to know your customers and/or potential customers is the fiirst step in discovering their needs and how you can best assist them, solve their problem or ease their pain.

The Business Value Of Social Networking – Forbes.com.

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

One of the greatest opportunities you have to market your website online is by using social bookmarking sites to, yes to bookmark your website. There are a lot of choices out there for this and a few rise above the crowd. One of those is Ka-Boom-It.

Ka-Boom-It is a Social Bookmarking site for news and information. They are VERY Internet Marketer Friendly. You can post your News stories, Blog Stories, New Websites, and more. Make Friends (Ka-Boomers) and have fun. Just about the only thing they ask is that you limit your sales page posts but do not discriminate. They don’t allow porn or hardcore adult sites. (They will be deleted, and this is a good thing).

So let me give you a little strategy. You post a compelling article on your blog, full of keyword rich content. (I will talk about this in a later blog post). This blog post (or sales page) gives the now pre-screened reader information about your product or service with a call to action. Now you bookmark this page at Ka-boom-it.com.

Within this bookmark you get the opportunity to add keywords that are relevant, a title (should contain your keywords), a article summary and a link to your website.

This becomes a part of an overall strategy to create relevancy, inbound links, generate traffic and interest as well as ultimately incresing your bottom line.

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

This year saw the emergence of a new buzzword in the digital music space — widgets. Next year, we’ll see if they do any good.

An offshoot of the global social networking trend, widgets are small applications that users can place into their blogs, profiles and Web sites, and thereby extend the functionality of an otherwise separate Web site or service. What’s more, users can simply copy widgets found on friends’ profiles and insert them onto their own, thus enabling a tremendously viral distribution opportunity.

Read the rest of the article:  http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN2849016520071229?sp=true 

Zaadz is an alternative to the usual Social Networking sites. They go so far to have a button on the bottom of every page proclaiming themselves “100% Organic”! You notice the differences immediately between Zaadz and sites like Care2 (another “green” site) and Friendster when you start the process of registering for a Zaadz account.

When you click “you! (join now)” link (there version of register for an account), you must in mind agree to the Zaadz principles. Zaadz principles are: Harmony, Integrity, Peace, Trust, Truth, Unity and Finally, Love. You agree to these principles by clicking each word in a series of circles that resembles a flower.

On this page they explain the reason why. They explain that they are different than most other online communities. They are committed to the principles inside the circles.

They ask tht before you join to take a moment and commit (by clicking the circles), to these principles. Once you do (after all they are all great concepts) you’re in.

So, is there a way to both serve this community and grow your business? You bet there is. Zaadz is the place to take advantage of the emerging green economy. Never has there been a place where so many socially conscious and active individuals meet and hang out in one place. The Green Economy, which I will here officially name Green 2.0, is growing by leaps and bounds. Some experts are predicting that the green economy will overshadow the dot com boom.

Here are 5 things you can do to guide these socially minded people to your business:

1. Create a Meaningful Profile – Just like the other social network sites (Friendster and Myspace for example) you first create a profile. The content you add to this profile is extremely important. Remember this is the first thing other members will see about you and your business. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Make your profile complete. Add a cool title for yourself. Hard to explain but they will give you some examples like (Philosopher or Thinker), just go with it. Add a good description about you and your services in the about me section. Remember be complete.

Add Some Friends – Like the other social networking sites, you can add friends. Click the “Zaadzsters” link and use the search feature to find people with a similar taste in music. By adding friends, you increase your reach. Remember the seven Zaadz principles, you are not here only to benefit yourself, you are here to share. By adding friends on Zaadz, you are connecting with many new people that have like interests, goals and dreams.

3. Add an Event – Debuting your new Service? Build your own events page and invite all your new Zaadz friends. On this page you can add a link to your site and it even add a link to a Google Map. Marketing doesn’t get much easier (or more inexpensive!) than this.

4. Post a Blog – With your Zaadz account, you get a blog. Here is where you get to add really compelling and meaningful content overflowing with brilliant insight for your fellow community members. This doesn’t have to be directly about you or your business but rather about the bigger picture that your business products/services address. For example, if you are a Plummer, don’t write about what you offer, write about the importance of good plumbing and home care.

5. Join a Pod (Zaadz Group) – Browse Pods or use the Pod Tag feature to find a couple of pods that you fit into. Join and share your plans, your goals, your business with the other members. Share consciously, no one wants to be battered with a sales pitch on the first meeting. That’s not the goal here. The goal is to network with a group of like minded individuals, who, once you earn their trust, may very well become some of the best emissaries for you, your message and your products/services.

Since the beginning, Zaadz has been labeled with a “New Age” tag. In my opinion, this is not a bad thing. After all, we are in a New Age of Green and Social Consciousness marketing and business. Go Green 2.0.
———-
Lennie Appelquist is the Owner of FreeMarket Media Group. FreeMarket Media Group is dedicated to helping individuals and small businesses generate leads, convert those leads in customers/clients and build a web presence that works for them. We can show you how to make your online business profitable – IMMEDIATELY. Wanna open a FREE account on Zaadz? Click here to join me on Zaadz!

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.