MySpace Marketing Riches

Social network marketing is undoubtedly becoming ‘the’ hot topic in Web Marketing. Lately, the Internet has proven to be a very powerful medium and because of its numerous advantages such as its speed, accessibility and the fact that it is simple to use…the internet has started to be used more than just a tool of information dissemination and a mode of entertainment. Today, the internet is synonymous with business!

And here steps in one of the most recent forms of Web Marketing- the social network marketing. Though the makers of these social networking websites, to name a few, Orkut MySpace, Hi5 etc. had developed such sites for the sole purpose of connecting with people and staying in touch with them; but I guess, the masterminds of business had already thought of drawing out more use out of them. Marketing.

The ‘Popularity’ Question

However, even marketing requires intelligence. And thus, a businessman has to be very selective as to which social networking website he is opting for in order to gain the maximum benefit. And when such a decision has to be made, the ‘popularity’ of the website is the most important aspect that has to be taken into account. MySpace definitely wins hands down in this regard.

MySpace all the way

In order to do effective marketing, MySpace proves to be one of the most favorite options. And that is because it is considered to have a pool of more than 100 million members! So, marketing through MySpace can reap you brilliant results because at least some part of this 100 million member pool will eventually be discovered as your prospective customers. The bottom line remains that more the number of people on a social network, the better are your chances of hooking up more customers!

Not only popularity, but the features and the services offered by MySpace to its users also act as an advantage for a person who is looking at MySpace as a business opportunity. Let us here take a look at some of those factors that make My Space the best bet in regard to Social marketing.

Magnifying your business exposure is much easier because the number of members on MySpace is huge. Thus, the probability of getting more customers only increases.

The amount of information that you wish to give through MySpace is unlimited. This is because MySpace does not limit the number of photos, videos or information that you wish to upload.

The features of sending out large scale bulletins or individual private messages (suit your need) makes it really easy for you to send information or the updates across to your customers.

The existence of a number of forums, groups or communities, each catering to a specific interest, helps you to locate your target audience much more easily. It is also believed that navigating through MySpace profiles is much easier than its competitors.

All in all, if you plan to do marketing through a social network, then go for MySpace. You might just end up becoming rich!

Social Networking….Eroding Social Skills And Values?

Social networking is as important to the present generation as reading the morning newspaper. It is a habit for some and addiction for others. You might say that you are not into it, but you can’t deny the fact that it is in you. May be you are not an active member of this vicious circle (or non-vicious for some), but you are its passive observer for sure. Now, since almost everyone is involved in some way in this business of social networking, then the differences of opinions on the same are bound to happen.

Where, on one hand, social networking has a number of positives about it to boast about such as allowing you to meet new people, getting in touch with the old ones…and we all know what I am talking about…so I guess, I don’t need to go there again; but some people also raise questions about social networking eroding social skills and values of the people. How much of this kind of a question is valid is something that we all are seeking an answer to. But who is to decide that? The population in favour of using social networking sites and the number of people voting against it are almost evenly divided. Thus, the dilemma only increases.

However, almost everyone knows the benefits of social networking, so I thought why not use this space just to discuss the ‘social’ factor of social networking. However, by saying this I do not mean that I am talking only negative about this aspect. But, it’s best if we proceed from bad to good.

Because it’s so easy to stay in touch with people using such websites (which is a plus point!), have we started to feel that there is actually no need of face to face meetings now! Has wishing each other on festival times just confined to shooting a scrap or a message to your friends and relatives? Are we forgetting how we should be acting while we are in public because we almost never do that these days and that’s because we don’t get time from sitting on the computer 24×7?

If one section of the people agree to the things said above, then the people wishing to defend it are also ready with their arguments. Because we are spending so much time talking to all kinds of people through these sites, then aren’t we learning social skills? If we are learning to communicate virtually, then aren’t we actually getting ready to communicate with the real world?

Whether social networking is harming the society as a whole or if its harming the social life of an individual…this can’t really be decided despite critically evaluating both sides of the same coin. I guess, it ultimately remains a personal choice and to balance things out remains to be the best viable option. Both, virtual communication and face to face communication have their own charm. It’s not that one can’t survive without the other but it’s just that we can’t survive without the either of them.

Sell Through Social Networks

Is marketing all about connecting with people? Well…times have changed and so has the technology. Today, marketing is all about connecting with people…faster. Time is of essence but it does not mean that marketing has to be done hastily. It should be effective and well-planned at the same time. And this is where social networks come into the picture.

Take one step at a time
Social networking websites such as MySpace, Orkut, Facebook and the others have huge number of members and we can assume that almost each member is a part of at least one community that caters to his or her interests. Now, if you have a product or an idea to sell, the most effective and easy way to do that is by locating your target audience in any such community on a social networking website. But even prior to that one has to also decide upon the website that you wish to use to sell. This has to be done by evaluating the features and their uses that each of these sites have to offer you. The features or the website that serves your maximum purpose should be chosen.

How to sell
Now once you are through with the selection of the website and have become a member of the community or communities made of your target audience, then start by making your presence felt. This can be done by adding yourself in others’ friends list and adding more and more people to your own. Never make it obvious that you are there to sell! Try and build a relationship with the people and in the process try and assess their needs and desires. If you come across a person who you think might be a potential customer, then start by telling about your product, service or idea in a very general way. Make sure that you give your customers what they want.

Your profile on the social networking website will act as a stepping stone. Make sure it is updated from time to time, has links to the various websites and blogs that shall help in the sale process…basically it should be informative in a very simplified manner.

One more very important thing is to interact. Building a relationship is one thing, and maintaining it is another. Make sure that you never lose contact with your ‘friends’ group. If they leave a comment about your blog, then reply to it. Invite more comments. Make them feel that they are important to you. Interaction is like a building block of marketing through social networking sites.

The glitch
The only glitch with marketing through these sites is that it is very time consuming. The results might not be instant but they are sure shot. Your constant involvement is constantly needed. And if you are ready to invest a lot of time, then this medium is very cost effective as compared to the other ones.
If you are still hesitant to start marketing through social networking, then all I have to say is that it is truly worth giving a chance. I am sure you will not regret your decision!

FACEBOOK: FASCINATING FACTS!!

It’s addictive. It’s addictive. And it’s addictive. And if one wishes to list down some more qualities or good things about Facebook, then he/she can say that its simple to use and because it has  such an enormous amount of members, it’s really very easy to find out the whereabouts of people you lost touch with long time ago! If these straight facts make you like Facebook so much, then read on. I am sure that the facts listed ahead in this post will make you fall in love with Facebook all over again!!!

Who had ever thought that the 24 year old Mark Zuckerberg had the potential to create something as big as Facebook (came into existence on February 4,2004) while he was still studying at Harvard! As a matter of fact, it’s actually not hard to believe. Zuckerberg had already built a music system ‘Synapse’ while he was still at high school. Synapse was capable of learning of one’s listening habits by using artificial intelligence. No wonder Microsoft and AOL wanted to buy it and recruit Zuckerberg right after his high school, but he surely had some other plans for his future!

No wonder that Forbes Magazine, in 2008, declared him as the “youngest billionaire on earth and possibly the youngest self-made billionaire ever”. And that too with an estimated net worth of $1.5 Billion USD! Some people are just born to become rich!

Very interestingly, Facebook is famous as “the sticky site”. This is simply because Facebook hooks onto its users in an amazing fashion. A study reveals that almost 65% of its users log into Facebook every single day and that an average Facebook user spends about twenty- one minutes per day social networking through this site. In fact, Canada has witnessed that its Facebook users spend almost thirty minutes every day social networking on Facebook. The height of its addictiveness is that its average user signs in about four times every day!

To add more to this saga, its facts reveal that Facebook’s size gets doubled every six months. This is so huge! With three hundred and fifty thousand new users joining Facebook every day, it does not come to us as a surprise that it’s the top photo sharing website with about 4.1 billion photos already uploaded. This is certainly going beyond my imagination!

Facebook only gets bigger and bigger. So, it does not surprise me that by November 2008, Facebook had more than 700 employees on its pay roll. With the company’s estimated worth of $15 Billion dollars, obviously Friendster, Yahoo and even Google bid for it but all their efforts went in vain.

Moreover, with such a huge pool of people at Facebook, it is an amazing medium for advertising. However, Microsoft is Facebook’s exclusive partner for serving banner advertisements.

On a contrary to its popularity, Syria had banned Facebook because it thought it might lead to propagation of terrorism and also feared Israeli penetration. Iran also followed the ban. Moreover, the Ontario Government blocked access to Facebook for its employees reasoning that it was affecting the productivity of its employees and that it was really not related to work!

I hope you enjoyed reading these facts about Facebook as much as I enjoyed writing them! Kudos!