You should utilize social networks to get visitors to your web site and bring in a lot more revenue. Check out this report to find out a number of tips with regards to social media marketing.

Build good quality profiles on different social networks. You'll want to prepare thorough descriptions of your respective goods and services as well as share diverse content material, which includes photos, video clips or video games. Make use of your logo and colorations reminiscent of your primary internet site for your layout. Be sure to add your own contact info and links to your site; these links really should be visible. Keep an eye on the number of website visitors you will get as a result of these links and do not hesitate to up-date them with hyperlinks to your latest discounts.

Post up-dates more than once per week. You might present links for the newest content articles on your own internet site or publish brief promotional messages relating to your special discounts. Posting pictures as well as videos is an excellent way of getting your current viewer's attention. Submit different versions while keeping an eye on which ones are the most clicked on and also shared to have a better concept of exactly what the viewers has an interest in. Prepare the up-dates before hand; you may need to post brand new written content two to three times every week at a time when people will tend to be on-line.

Persuade folks to have interaction with you. You can ask your audience to talk about their particular experience or ideas with you. It is wise to always be very considerate as well as professional dealing with your visitors, but social networking sites allow you to get to know men and women personally. This is an excellent opportunity to acquire a better understanding of exactly who your clients are generally and which issues they need to contend with. It is best to keep an eye on just what your friends happen to be sharing and even reward the customers that communicate with you. As an illustration, you could prepare a photo contest and ask individuals to present their own personal photographs of them with your merchandise.

Tell people you have company accounts for social networking sites. Bring it up when you meet with consumers as well as put hyperlinks onto your site. It's also possible to put hyperlinks in the signature of your e-mail. Persuade folks to go to your profiles and stay in touch with you by referring to limited offers and also special discounts. It's also possible to organize contests and require website visitors to connect with you on social networking sites to obtain a chance to win. Once you begin acquiring more connections, ask them to share your site content with their good friends to win prizes.

Monitor exactly what your competition does with social networks. You'll want to offer individuals reasons to select your company. Post up-dates more often as well as offer far better discount rates than what your competitors happen to be promoting. Understand that all you carry out with social networking sites can be viewed through your competitors; try not to be very specific relating to your strategies should you not like them to be public. Remember that you'll be competing for the interest of the same folks with social networks; find a way to stand out.

Always keep these pointers on your mind to develop a very good social media marketing campaign. Allow yourself several months to reach your goals and do not give up on your efforts.

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Looking for new clients for virtually every enterprise, small or big, is the lifeblood of its prosperity and robustness. Without new prospects and making new sales there is no way an enterprise can withstand.

As important as this is and has been, the retention of old clients and seeking those buyers for referrals is becoming way more vital.

Merchants are waking up to exactly how important this is, and are spending more in attempting to keep present consumers at a higher quantity of customer contribution and service. General Motors has put this towards the top of their precedence list, and is hoping for sixty-eight percent.

Independent business marketing specialist and organizer of the Duct Tape Marketing System, John Jantsch, talks about the Seven Actions To Developing a Marketing Procedure. This technique and these procedures are elementary to getting competent customers and then flipping them into referrals. Jantsch defines advertising and marketing as, "Persuading someone who possesses a need to understand, like, and put your trust in you".

Establishing individual references from those who possess a need to love, understand, and have confidence in you should be reasonably effortless and potent, so long as you have a technique and you are routinely building that confidence.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century, where looking into clientele and referrals can at this time result from social media tools and communities, at the same time. That is correct, Facebook, Blogs, LinkedIn, Podcasts, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube pretty much all can be extremely fertile recommendation sources. Our social media sites give people greater opportunity to "understand, love, and depend on" us through whatever we produce and say, and what other folks publish and mention about us.

Are you running all possible worlds to build up recommendations?

The main effect on beauty buyers in every single sector all over the world is assistance from family and friends. With social websites, they're not only capable of getting well timed brand details right from brands, but also all the validation from authorities and good friends.

Listed below are five actions you can take to build up word-of-mouth from your online community and clientele.

1. Construct Associations Instead of Financial Dealings.

If buyers have business dealings with folks that they like, recognize, and trust, then establishing associations in place of having transactions is the means to do that, and obtain recommendations.

2. Use Consumer Reviews

Use the strength of pleased customers and dependable devotees. Keep updating your customer feedback on LinkedIn and put them up on your websites.

3. Be Sure to Ask People

Identify crucial people who you possibly can ask for referrals, a written recommendation, or an online endorsement.

4. Regularly Develop Your Circle

Combine your web and face-to-face social networking technique and get individualized with folks. Connect with folks person and employ the web 2.0 models as a bridge. They are going to remember the way you cause them to truly feel.

5. Acquire the Referral Behavior

Make building and getting individual references a fundamental portion of your own everyday routines.

The conversion efficiency of referrals from pleased clientele is close to 50%. Make use of existing human relationships to change clientele into your sales force.

Always make it a point to ask the correct consumers the following queries:

"Who are you aware of that might reap benefits, like you have, from this community, solution, or service"?

"Might you propose or make an intro to them for me?"

Take more time exploring trusted referrals and observe what happens.

Social media marketing is the perfect way for you to convert existing customers into sales agents for your business. Any business who could benefit from customer referrals should check out social media marketing.

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Twitter Do's and Don'ts

Aaaah, Twitter! How else would we know what the Dalai Lama really thinks or what Richard Branson had for dinner or if Rashida Jones apologized to John Travolta for asking him to come out of the cupboard. Even Barack Obama is tweeting again and thereby joining the crowd of more than 100 million persons, companies and organizations who use the world's most famous Microblogging service.

The whole Twitter-Etiquette in just five points! This sounds great, don't you think?

1. The Twitter Self-Presentation

Your Twitter Account is your digital business card. The possibilities for your electronic self-presentation concentrate on 3 things:

Your Photo

Recommendable is a pic that shows you clearly and ideally gives a hint of your personality. Don't try, come hell or high water, to be funny or original and don't change your pic too often as this might give the impression that you are too ambitious or trying too hard. And I personally would refrain from wearing sunglasses... the eyes are the mirror of the soul, right?

Your Bio

Use your real name; there are already too many anonymous weirdos online. In case your name is already taken because your are really famous or your name is John Smith, adjoin a short and unique addition. The old Greek proverb "keep it simple, stupid" is also has validity for the characterization of your persona.

Your Background

There is nothing to say against the classic Twitter background but if you want to stand apart try and customize your own! It just takes a few minutes and tutorials can be found all over the web.

2. Twitter-Courtesy

Social obligations always result out of the individual circumstances and the contiguousness to your acquaintance and the summa of these two quasi results in a Courtesy-Quotient - The new forms of interactive involvement on social networks of the virtual society have by far the lowest courtesy-quotient. This is also valid for Twitter and at the same time is a blessing and a course. For you this basically means that if somebody you don't know contacts you about something you're not even remotely interested in, you don't have to answer him/her/it... cool, isn't it?

3. Twitter-Arithmetic

Never before it was so easy to precisely calculate the social rank of a person as now in the age of Twitter. After joining, just for a millisecond, we are all the same. After that, every individual will be valued by the conjunction of the following variables (Warning mate, don't take this too serious):

Tweets (t) = the number of your own micro-messages with maximum 140 characters
Following (f) = the number of Twitter-Users who you are following
Followers (F) = the number of Twitter-Users who are following You
Only t and f can be directly influenced
This results in the following formula
t << F ==> prominent
t = f ˜ F ==> in the Media or PR-Business
t >> f >> F ==> thirsty for glory or just plain narcissistic

4. The Twitter-Psychology

Well, it's a known fact that we live in difficult times and many people out there feel already valorized if they receive a virtual fondle. But to brag about the number of followers on Twitter is equally pathetic and awkward as to swank about your eBay-feedback-score or at least as measly as to crawl the search engines on how to tweet to get more followers... The best method to get more followers is still: GET A LIFE, PLEASE!

Twitter is, similar to Amazon's "you might also like... ", giving you suggestions. Only on Twitter they are (mostly) not about products but about people. But never ever forget: Twitter is - despite of the hype - just a machine. So please don't fall in despair if you mostly find profiles on the "Similar to you"-Page that you are absolutely not interest in or even fill you with a slight sense of disgust. But here's a quick advice guys: If this keeps happening you probably should change something - On Twitter and in Real Life.

5. The Twitter-Taboos

Let's face it: 140 Characters are enough for every banality. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to take part in the dumb-game. Tweet regularly, but no trash! And if you really feel the need to tweet trivialities, the at least do it in a witty way.

Be careful - Tweeting is no traditional small talk; the rules are a bit different. Even some "celebrities" had to learn this the hard way.

Basically it is pretty simple: What doesn't belong in public doesn't belong on Twitter - Keep in mind that while the technologies are relatively new, the reactions to breaches in etiquette are still pretty much old-school.

Well, that concludes the 5 points of our twitter etiquette. Liked it? Tweet it! Didn't like it? Tweet it as well!

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With the success of social networking sites most of the business enterprises are using them as a marketing tool. The importance of these sites has increased in the past few years and there has been an increase in the services offered by them to their customers. The introduction of social media management services have proved to be very beneficial for the organizations as they can now manage the activities of their accounts more effectively. They can now schedule social messages directed towards the social platforms of their potential customers. Though the process of scheduling social messages is extremely useful, it also requires proper attention. Some of the most common mistakes done by the business include the following. These mistakes should be avoided in order to promote your business and enhance its productivity.

Sending Same Message across All Social Platforms
In order to make an influencing presence in the world of social media you need to invest some time while crafting messages for different platforms. It is must for a social platform to follow its unique language, etiquette and rules. In order to build a strong clientele you need to understand the working of different social platforms. An attractive message with the use of tags can direct the customers towards your business. It is preferable to craft individual messages for different platform and ensure that they are received by the targeted customers.

Forgetting the schedule
With the use of effective social media management tools it is now possible to schedule updates on Facebook and Twitter. This is a time saving and cost effective method of promoting your business. You can schedule the messages in advance which are updated on the targeted platforms according to the date and time. The most common mistake made by the users of this tool is that they design the schedule in advance and forget to have a check on it. In order to avoid any issue you should always check whether the message is still relevant or not and possess correct information.

Not Responding
When the users forget the schedule it is liable that they might also forget to respond to the customers. It is necessary that you maintain a communication flow and communicate with the social users on your different platforms. In order to deal with this situation effectively you can set alerts for the situation when anyone mentions the name of your organization or you can also use listening tools offered by the management services.

Simply Shouting Out the Messages
Proper attention should be paid while crafting the message to be delivered on different social platforms. You should not simply shout out your message. Make sure that it is attractive, contains relevant information and updates etc. you should also answer the queries of the customers and benefit your organization.

Ignoring Time Zones
A business has its customers all round the world and hence it is necessary that proper attention should be paid while selecting the time zone. The message should be delivered at an appropriate time so that the individuals can view it. You can select the relevant time zones for different countries and shout out your message at an appropriate time.

These are some of the common mistakes mostly done by business organizations. Avoiding these mistakes can help you in promoting your business to a great extent.

Social Networking is a popular tool for promoting your business online. You can find plenty of information on Social Media and Networking on our website.

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Well here we are on this 24th day of October 2012, and we ought to ponder for a minute how much our society has changed in this last decade. In many regards it hasn't necessarily been for the better, and I'd like to cite the example of online social networking, as it seems to have invaded our Internet lives to a large degree, often making a mockery out of the important issues and the challenges of our time. The social networks have caused the over throw of governments, de-stabilized civilization, and changed the outcomes of elections. Our elections in the United States included.

Still, is it a net negative or have these social networks actually brought us closer together in other ways thus, it is a net positive? You see, the reality is there is always good and bad in any new technology - social networks included. Today on this program I will argue that social networks are a big problem for human societies, and if this continues in the current direction we will pay a dear price for it in the future. Currently, we are watching productivity drop as employees are too busy text messaging friends and playing on Facebook while at work to be of any real value to a company's bottom line.

The billions of hours wasted each quarter are hurting companies' profits and revenue, it also causes challenges with workflow, customer service, and mistakes. We are killing people on the road as users attempt to access their social networking sites, send tweets, or text messages while driving. Indeed, as a bicyclist, I am afraid to ride anymore - too many close calls, and it seems those text messages are more important to people than my life or even their own safety. In fact, I saw a bumper sticker the other day, it read; "Honk if you love Jesus, Text if you want to meet him," and that about sums of that problem in a nut shell doesn't it?

Indeed, I can remember when I received my first text message, I thought it was rude, as I'd sent detailed instructions and explanations to a fellow associate, and he sent me back a one-sentence email, I hadn't realized it was a text message sent from his mobile phone to my email address. I was so turned off I cancelled my deal, and called another associate. Only later did I realize that he was just texting me with his new technology - still, the shallowness of his comment was the deal breaker, so I moved on.

It amazes me sometimes the number of people who wish to state their opinions about things they know nothing about. They critique, chastise, and show their ignorance at every turn. They mistake comments made by achieved persons to mean something else because their attention span is so low. Further, any attempt to correct them is just "pearls to swine" as they don't get it or even care to understand. You see, they are so interested in notoriety and self-validation, that they work so very hard to promote the most socially responsible and politically correct argument, even if it is untrue or a white wash of reality.

One of the biggest and scariest things I've seen is how people who've done nothing in the world ever in their lives are busy trying to gain friends and figure that once they get a lot of friends on their social networking page, they have arrived. The problem is very few of those people are actually friends, and some of them are not even real. It becomes even worse as they run around complimenting people hoping to get more friends and followers, and follow others in order to hope to get a reciprocal friend, or join someone else's circle of influence. The whole thing has now become a big, fake, sick joke.

Still, these folks feel they are now something special with lots of pictures of so-called friends and followers, but to what avail? Some who have attained thousands of friends by hook or crook have worked very hard to get folks to "friend" them back by use of false praise. Indeed, they assume everyone needs pre-validation. They read one book such as "how to win friends and influence people" or take one psychology class in college and assume they can complement their way into someone else's life. What they don't understand is the really achieved people don't care what anyone else thinks, actually any sort of trite compliment is a turn-off, and it's immediately seen for what it is and what it is worth; nothing.

That is not to say that there isn't money in social networking, so these players of the game, are not worth nothing as all that data is certainly worth something, and it could be a big revenue machine in the future, so let's discuss the business model and the challenges moving forward shall we?

There was a recent interesting article in the summer of 2012 which noted that over 10% of all the Facebook accounts were fake - wow, so they don't really have a billion users as they announced in mid-October of 2012, they only have 900,000 and yes, while that is still quite a few, it also means that potentially 10% of anyone's listed online "friends" are non-existent, they are not real. Not that anyone who "friends" you on a social network is really your friend anyway - see that point. Please read Bloomberg BusinessWeek article; "The Making of a Billion" by Ashlee Vance (October, 2012).

As I am speaking, today Facebook announced its earnings for Q3 2012 and it beat the street's low-ball estimate by one-cent per share - big whoopy, skippy, but no one seems to be addressing that it only makes $.42 off each user each month in advertising - but is that advertising really pulling for those advertisers? Still Facebook must find more ways to make money and we've heard all sorts of things such as offering gambling online where it is legal in the UK, and we've heard rumors of going into the mobile tech field with their own mobile phone - that would be interesting.

Indeed, Facebook realizes how valuable all that data that they have is, who doesn't right, isn't it all about Big Data these days? There was an interesting article in the LA Times titled; "For Sale: Your Info" by David Lazarus, and I'd also recommend reading; "Facebook Gains Two Big Advertisers' Support" by Shayndi Raice, Mike Ramsey, and Sam Schechner which discussed the auto industry and the GM choice to stop advertising on Facebook because it wasn't pulling for them. On Twitter some users with an abundant number of followers have been paid to talk up a Ford Taurus, or Ford Hybrid Escape earning 10s of thousands of dollars often for only one tweet.

That sounds silly, and somewhat pathetic when you think about it, but if it works for those companies and their Hollywood Starlet of the month gets people into the Ford dealership, well what the heck, if it works; go for it, right? Facebook had was making some $3 billion a year on advertising as of the middle of 2012 (Cite: Wall Street Journal 5-2-2012 "The Big Doubt Over Facebook" by Suzanna Vranica and Shayndi Raice). Still, just last month in September of 2012 an editorial in the WSJ noted "The Facebook Deficit" as the title which also noted that California hoped that the Facebook IPO would be big and cause a $2.5 billion dollar tax revenue windfall helping to shore up the budget, well that didn't happen.

Is Facebook's stock going to collapse? Well, it might as there will be a number of insiders who are now able to sell their shares in late October and November, which could cause the shares to tumble. This could cause an implosion, or if losses subside or revenue guidance continues an upward trend maybe those shares might find a bottom and then climb back upward. No one can say, but do you remember the MySpace collapse? How about the recent Digg debacle (cite: WSJ article; "Once a Social-Media Star, Digg Sells for $500,000) by Joseph Walker and Spencer E. Ante.

Facebook does have advertising potential especially for branding and big brand names, even political ads, but even big advertisers often note that their ads do not be appearing to pull for sales, but they do help keep brand names in the face of the consumers (cite: "Big Brans Like Facebook, But They Don't Like to Pay," by Emily Steel and Geoffrey A Fowler in the WSJ published on 11-12-11). Okay so, if the ads are not pulling, why do advertisers keep playing? Simple, they need exposure and online ads are less expensive per view than per subscriber in the newspaper or on cable TV, thus they often can get a decent bang for their buck for those additional exposures.

Internet ads are outpacing those in newspapers this has been the trend and on December 20, 2010 we noted an article with a chart from eMarketer showing that "for the first time" spending Internet ads exceeded the money spent in print (cite: WSJ article "Online Ads Pull Ahead of Newspapers" by Russell Adams). Well, that seems to be a continuing trend but Facebook has some headwind, namely competition, and the reality that as it grows in user numbers, those overseas users are not worth as much to advertisers as the US users who spend more as consumers, not surprising as they have more to spend.

Facebook and other online companies are now looking to the small business market (cite: WSJ article published on 11-26-11 titled; "Facebook 'Likes' Small Business," by Sarah E. Needleman) and rightfully so, in fact the company started their push by "giving away $10 million in advertising credits. Smart move, but will it work? There are lots of eBooks, and magazine articles about how to use social networking to build your small business, and mobile is all about GPS and location based aps, and Yelp is a help to small businesses, as long as they don't try to stack the reviews with shrill type comments.

Let's not count out Google+ or LinkedIn also going after those Internet ad dollars, and realize they are just as wise when it comes to big data. Please read; "LinkedIn Pushes Ad Tools" by Ian Sheer published on 1-26-11 in the WSJ which reflects the increased competition for this business user base on the social networking scene. Of course, 18-months later LinkedIn had their passwords hacked causing a bit of user angst, but we all know there have been security breaches at Facebook and Google as well. With Facebook, some of what had occurred appeared to be "privacy setting" changes by the company which really upset users.

Of course, anyone who puts things online they don't want others to know about is taking a risk anyway. Even if the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) appears to be all over the social networks for privacy issues, there is just too much money involved in Big Data not to double dip, and really many in the sector say that's where the real money is at (cite: Facebook Looks to Cash in On User Data" by Jessica Guynn, April 17, 2011 Wall Street Journal and "Facebook Says User Data Sold to Broker by Geoffrey Fowler 11-1-2010). Obviously, this isn't new news, but how soon users forget, and all the while Facebook is building bigger and bigger data centers, aren't they all?

So who wants all this data? Well, our government, and also foreign governments, our corporations and also foreign corporations too. It's all about target marketing, and although the current artificial intelligent searching algorithms create far too many false positives to truly help targeting advertising, they aren't getting better.

Perhaps you've watched ads change and follow you around the Internet as you surf for something to buy? Ever wonder how all that works, or how those cookies end up imbedded on your computer? There was a special section in the WSJ's Weekend Journal titled; "The Web's New Gold Mine: Your Secrets" by Julia Angwin (10-1-2010) and you should read this and yes, you ought to be alarmed at what's happening with your information.

Today there are programs, software, and even options at some online social networking sites which allow the user to view all of their activity together; "Seeing All Your Social Networking in One Place," by Katherine Boehret. That's pretty neat isn't it, well, yes until you consider that the advertisers have all that data, so too do these social networking companies, and that means the good old governments of the world do too. Quick question; can you trust your government, how about a foreign government? Well, you might be surprised to learn that our Founding Fathers didn't trust any government, even the one they were creating at the time - why do you think there are so many checks and balances built in to our government structure?

Indeed, there are good reasons for the government checking on the flow of information - surely it makes sense for our intelligence agencies to watch closely the information flow, so we get pre-warnings of potential terrorist attacks around the world right? Yes, and our law enforcement here wants that ability, and we need not cite the realities of intelligence failures on 9-11. Then there are the messages which go viral, those are important, remember the 9-11-2012 riots and protests in 20-countries around over some ridiculous concocted anti-Islamic video? The video from hell more like it, really bizarre, well, you can see why tracking a viral video is important right? Please read; Technology Review article "Graphiti - Information's Social Highway - A Start-up studies the paths taken by viral messages," by Keith Urbahn in the January-February 2012 issue.

Believe me when I tell you the mathematicians and computer scientists know more about you, your social network, and your real and pretend friends online than you do. There is big money in all of this and lots of opportunities too. As I've indicated previously, much of the big data is big dumb data, but the more they learn about you, that is to say the more information online about you whether you are posting incessant personal information or not, the better they are able to track you, predict your behavior, know your friends, and sell you something, or put you on some list of questionables, which kind of goes against our basic freedoms and liberties in the US. Do you remember when the FBI used to keep a dossier on everyone it suspected of being un-American?

Peter Thiel, an expert on the topic had an interesting quote; "Most of Big Data is a fraud, because it is really dumb data," and that quote appeared in an article by Holly Finn in the Wall Street Journal on October 10, 2012 titled; "New Gumshoes Go Deep with Data" and yet, as much as that might be a reality today, don't think it will be tomorrow because there is just too much opportunity for all this in the future. In fact, I'd say that when President Obama once stated "be careful what you put on social networks," it may have been one the few times he's told the whole truth.

Matt Ridley explained this psychological phenomena of people sharing personal information in an article titled; "Internet On, Inhibitions Off: Why We Tell All" in his weekly column on February 18, 2012, which I believe addresses some of my concerns as well. Google tells us that its first rule is to; "Do No Harm" and yes, that is a catchy phrase for a very successful search engine, but who is to say that the information you post, won't be used by others to harm you? If you put all your information online, it is akin to giving confession at a Catholic Church, but not knowing who is on the other side of your personal information, as Ridley so eloquently noted, and realize he's no conspiracy theorist, he's a realist.

Then there is the awards programs, where social networking participants can post for points, or watch their influence score rise as they garner more followers (cite: WSJ article 2-8-11 titled "Wannabe Cool Kids Aim to Game the Web's Social Scorekeepers" by Jessica E. Vascellaro). I find this problematic because it has turned online participation on social networks into a sort of computer game of popularity. Further, it takes them away from the real world and puts them into a fake virtual world while changing their perception of what's important in life - which I guess in a way brings us back full-circle to the productivity issues in our society and businesses, and the reality that the next generation will be even less productive even with their computer tools, technology, and $100,000 student loan degrees. Do you see that point?

Now then, let's get back to how these social networking formats are evolving to the detriment of our society shall we? First, I'd like to point out that people of all ages have modified their life styles to meet their new addiction to these social networks. They seriously cannot be away from their tech toys or social networks for more than a few hours at a time. They go crazy, get anxious, and even throw a fit if they can't access the information or send a message out. They feel as if they are missing something if they are not constantly text messaging or communicating, even if most of the tweets are senseless, wasteful, and just dribble of zero real value.

Not long ago, I talked with an acquaintance that had joined a social network, and immediately tried to friend 100+ people without even learning anything about them. She just wanted friends, modified her picture to look like a hot blonde (maybe a glamor shot or old college photo), and she was off to the races with 100 friends instantly, none of which she actually knows, maybe one or two, but she lives on the other side of the planet from where most anyone else on the site is from. Somehow believing that this is success, or this is how to build "friends" but even after investing all that time, what's to show for it - some idle chit-chat from others attempting to do the same thing, seeking self-validation in their careers - but to what avail?

The other day, I went onto my Google+ page to see what was going on, apparently some folks who I don't know had signed up to follow-me or put me in their circles. There were some folks from very interesting backgrounds, many different places around the planet, none of which I know, nor are they my audience from what I could tell looking at their resumes or what they had on their own page. Further, although I enjoy the diversity, and it did look like the UN when looking at all their names, I don't know them and don't really care if I ever meet them.

Still, I guess if someone has themselves in other people's circles, then that's a good thing - or so they say. I ask why, why is that a good thing, and who cares, where is the value? Those who specialize in social networking marketing tell me that it is good to be an influencer because that means you can market a product or sell something. Personally, I don't sell anything, and if I did, I find it less-than-ethical to run around pretending to care, or have fake "virtual" friends you don't know trying to constantly coax them into buying something from you, voting for a particular candidate, or helping them look good on their own social networking page; why? There is no honor in that, is there?

I'd say those are all fair questions. Also, I'd say that living a pathetic life on Facebook seems rather silly, it's not even real - in essence it is; a diversion from reality, a detraction from productivity, and a waste of ability. Not to mention the fact that, if one gets too into it, they are liable to take information from a "fake person" as real, or use information from those social networking sites to make decisions and join groups whose causes are often questionable or to vote for politicians who are clearly unfit to lead just because a few political operatives had friended them. Are you starting to see what I mean yet?

Basically this whole social networking thing has tricked people, perhaps of lower level intelligence, to put information online which will be used against them either to market them a product, service, or get them to vote a certain way, or maybe rebel against a government or join a cause, all so they can be used by someone else for greed of power or money. Welcome to online social networking, and aren't all you humans so proud of yourselves now? How gullible everyone is, such low self-esteem that they just can't help themselves and so in need for every drop of kudos or praise to make them feel whole. Addicted to the popularity chase, and yet, it's all fake, everyone playing a game, which has nothing to do with anything.

Worse, many people are cheating or gaming the online system of social networking platforms, trying one-ups-manship the next person - and I wonder what happened - did they not get enough of the social clicks in high school, did they long to be popular or notable? Are they missing something in their lives? Sure they are, but I'd submit to you they are missing more if they stay and play too long in the virtual world and allow the real world to pass them by, and really you can't feel sorry for people about this, as it was their choice to spend and/or waste hours on social networks, just as the last generation became fat, dumb, and happy watching TV as couch potatoes.

In that regard these social networks are just trading in the old technology for the new. Personally, I am tired of both of them, so hopefully someone will come along soon and leap-frog the next generation of social networking tools and we can move onto something else, something worthy of the human experience, something that will solve the problems in our society and not create more. When will that time come? It's hard to say, but I will state; it is long overdue at this point.

Many people are worried about a cyber-attack taking out the internet, or worried that an online networking site will deliver them malware to their computer, or that the networking site may go offline. Personally, that might actually be what's needed to help people break their addiction to all this. It's gone on too long, and some of the largest networking sites serve very little purpose for their users, other than to waste their time, productivity, and future options while jading their view of the world, and making real inter-personal relationships nearly impossible.

My thinking is that eventually all this momentum has to end because none of it is real, that things have to come back into a reality check, and thus, these sites need to evolve into a useful tool for the users, they haven't and continue to go the wrong way, while those who own and run them are busy trying to figure out how to maximize them monetarily, and with each incremental rendition they become more of a detriment to the user. This isn't what they signed up for, of course, someone should have told them, or perhaps that voice in their head reminded them that; nothing is free. And yes, that would include these networking sites.

Well now, it appears we are back at the top of the hour and that means my talk time is up, and it's your turn to sound off and state your case. If you'd like to defend this new paradigm of internet communication of tweets, posts, and "friending" online now is your chance. If you are listening to this on the radio pick of the phone, if you are reading this as an online article, a transcript of the show, leave your comment below. Indeed, I am sure there will be quite a bit of controversy in this call-in session, but that's okay, because it's time we had a national dialogue on this topic, it's way overdue and without further ado, let's take your call;

"Caller 7, you are on the air, what do you have to state with regards to this topic?"

Additional reading;

1.) Research paper; "The Relationship Between Depression and Internet Addiction," KS Young and RC Rogers. yberPsychology & Behavior. SPRING 1998, 1(1): 25-28. doi:10.1089/cpb.1998.1.25: January 29, 2009.

2.) Research Paper from the proceedings of the 13th Americas Conference on Information Systems, Keystone, CO. August 09 - 12 2007; "Trust and privacy concern within social networking sites: A comparison of Facebook and MySpace, by Catherine Dwyer, et al.

3.) Research Paper from the International Journal of Media & Culture Politics; Volume 6, Number 1, 1 January 2010, pp. 81-101(21). "Disclosure of personal and contact information by young people in social networking sites: An analysis using Facebook profiles as an example," by Taraszow, et al.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Serious Internet Issues. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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Facebook is availed by many firms in various ways to build their brand image, generate traffic to blogs and websites, receive comments on new goods, attract employees, manage online reputation and to intercept potential prospects. To benefit from Facebook in your business you must start by creating an account. From here, you should build a profile describing information about yourself. According to the Facebook policies, you can build one profile and it should be tied to the human name, like your original name and not in the business name. This social networking site contains a friend finder function which lets the users look for other individuals by school, organization or industry. To be found by others, you should list all of the schools you've studied at, employers and the company in the profile. The about me section, should hold information explaining your company, products and services you offer.

There is also an information box on the profile page where you should add links to the websites newsletter, address, blog and other business details such as your firms contact address, photo, logo etc. The profile page must be regarded as the branding page. Facebook was made according to the principle of connecting with friends. So you can send and get friend requests and after accepted, you can see your friend views and your friends can see your profile. You can also have the facility to see the friends list of every individual with whom you are linked. You can also develop your friend list through inviting all the customers, clients, business associates, co-workers, friends, school alumni, family and any people you consider will be interested in connecting with you. Every Facebook member contains a wall, in which friends can publish messages. In the business networking market, it is equivalent of inviting your friends on the phone.

You can also send a complement, product offerings, and comments on the new service or convey any networking opportunity or upcoming training to your company colleagues. On the top of the Facebook page you can see a status box. If you post a status update, your friends will be able to view your update on the home page. The business owners use Facebook to promote events, share tips, release information about new items, post blog updates, link to audio or video presentations, articles, websites and newsletters, and link to the affiliate programs. Online communities let you network virtually with prospective customers. You can join communities on Facebook which are associated to the business work.

There are many groups for every possible profession including coaches and teachers. You can join and study much more information from the professional in the field. You can also browse numerous communities by the area of interest, market, business and location. Networking works effectively if there is two way sharing.

Facebook also contains an online marketplace which lets you list products and services. It is the best method for you to obtain good exposure.

To get more information for marketing on Facebook go to my website Business on Facebook at http://facebook.makingmoneyfastfree.com/blog/ to learn how to apply the best strategies to attract new prospects

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The groups that gravitate to social networking for business success are usually the businesses that deal with entertainment. In fact, if the client has the right amount of fame, then it is very easy to build up a client base. However, most entertainment companies love to use social media because their product fits right into the platform. Social media is mostly about entertainment and there are no better experts at entertainment than those who work in the industry.

Word of mouth is the driving force of a lot of businesses. This is especially true in the entertainment business. Entertainment relies on this form of marketing once the original push of advertisements has run their course. Entertainment relies on the strength of the product to drive higher revenues and more viewership. This, of course, can be greatly enhanced by the use of social media. Companies will pay people to talk about their products and they will spend money to give things away to get more people talking about their product on the social media platforms.

These businesses may also encourage their clients to use the social media systems themselves. This is because the actors and actresses in the entertainment business generate fans who want to hear more from their favorite actress or actor. The ability of the client to use the social media platform gives the movie further advertising. This is all pluses for an entertainment company that looks to grab whatever advertising it can especially when it is cheap advertising (or free in this case).

These businesses may also petition for new actresses or actors to work with them through the social media profiles. It is not unusual for an agent to try to convince a person to leave their current representation for another competitor through a direct message or social media post. This allows a company to gauge the interest of an actress or actor before they commit man-hours or money into swaying the mind of that prospective client.

Another underused resource that entertainment companies are good at using is the testing a movie's trailer before releasing the movie. This lets the company know if they are spending their money in the right place before needing to spend the money. Market research is always important in any business. This is especially true when the amount of investment needed to make the asset can be over 4 million dollars.

In closing, most entertainment companies are on social media outlets. These outlets allow them to work quickly and find new prospects to work with on a daily basis. They can also see what is hot in the market and make plans to monetize those trends quickly. They also use their employees existing networks of fans and followers to advertise their products (movies).

Every business can learn a lot from the practices of entertainment companies. There are many uses far beyond what the normal businesses use them to do. A business could recruit new employees through the system, they could also test new products before allocating funds for those products, and they could also pitch their services or products there (this is a standard practice). Every business needs to look at the way entertainment businesses use social media and implement it into their own practices.

Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.

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The social networks are not only tracking your movements on the social networks they are doing their best to track movements you make outside of their social media systems. They do this by allowing you to use your profile to log into other sites. This may be one of secret ways that a social media site gets more information about a person and their habits.

The social media systems have become so popular that they allow a person's profile to be used to log into other sites. This is much closer to the internet's dream of having one profile and one password to log into everything. The internet becomes much simpler when a person only has to worry about one thing at a time. Therefore, this is a massive plus to most people who want to use only one log in to access everything.

However, this one profile makes it much easier for other parties to take advantage of a person and all their financials and whatever accounts are also associated with the account. This means that a person loses a great amount of privacy when they use their social media profile for everything. If a person loses control of their social media profile, then they potentially lose control of their identity everywhere.

This opens the person up to identity theft. This means that a person can have problems for the rest of their life if they do not handle the problem soon enough. Identity theft is a major problem that people must be ready to deal with and protect themselves against in the future. Therefore, a plan to make sure that a person protects their identity now and in the future is the best defense.

The best defense in this case is not to use the social media profile everywhere it is allowed. This means that the user will have a lot of different profiles and log ins; however, it makes it harder for an identity thief to take over their life in one fell swoop. This is well worth the headaches and the pain of managing all the accounts. Even though a person thinks that they would like the comfort of using one profile, in most cases, it is the wrong feeling. A person should always strive to keep their financial information private, and therefore, they cannot and should not use their social media log in to access this data.

Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.

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The number of hours Americans have spent on the internet has increased by 121% from 2005, as revealed in a study by North American Technographics Benchmark Surveys from 2005 to 2010. Most of this time is spent connecting with people, sharing one's life and experiences, finding out the most updated information on any topic of interest - all using social media. As a publisher, this is an important tool in understanding your readers better, garner more fans and followers. Here's the 'what' and 'how' of social media for publishers who want to start engaging readers using the latest technology available.

What is Social Media?

Authors of "A Complete Guide to Social Media" - Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as follows: "A group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content."

Social media can take many different forms including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, micro-blogging, wikis, podcasts, pictures, videos and social bookmarking. Social media creates a platform on the internet to enable people to communicate and share information and resources.

What are the different types of social media options and who is using them?

Based on readers' usage we have three of the popular social media networks, which are creating an interactive awareness for various magazine publications.

Twitter is a micro-blogging and social networking site, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140-character limit. These broadcasts are also known as tweets and are not just limited to text sharing but also picture sharing through yFrog. By 2012, Twitter has gained over 500 million active users generating over 175 million tweets daily. Approximately 52% of all magazines have a Twitter account in the US and Canada alone.

It is one of the top 10 visited websites and is known as the 'SMS' of the internet. Tweets with web links are also used to drive traffic to the main site of the magazine.

Twitter has over a 100 magazines listed globally out of which the top 11 magazines have over 1 million followers each. People and Time are on the top of the list with over 2 million followers.

Facebook is the world's largest social networking site with more than 900 million users in 2012. It enables its users to connect with friends and colleagues by sharing ideas, pictures, videos, web sites, blogs and any other web-related content. It is also the most popular way to make new friends and keep in touch with friends and relatives.

Facebook offers a more engaging option for magazine publishers with daily posts and sharing of links to their magazine page. This triggers 'likes' and discussions in the form of 'comments' among the readers, simultaneously letting the publishers know the readers' perspectives. Playboy (4.4 million likes), Readers Digest (1.1million likes) and Parents (0.8 million likes) are the top three popular magazines on Facebook.

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social media services in the world. Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo-sharing website where a user can create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies and more. The mission is to connect users through the 'things' they find interesting via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing.

According to Mashable.com, Pinterest is becoming the top traffic driver for women's magazines. Style, home décor, food and weddings are amongst the most popular pinning categories among the site's more than 10 million registered users, majority of who are women. Pinterest users turn to the website of lifestyle magazines early on for material, and many publishers moved quickly to harness Pinterest's potential as a traffic driver by creating their own branded accounts.

How you can get started?

Brian E. Boyd, a social media expert and consultant, in his speech to the class of ORU, has presented four start-up tips to get started on social media networking:

1) Know what they already know

First, know what people are saying about your brand by using Twitter alerts. Magazines have used tweets to interact with their readers - tweets with questions can trigger a response from readers.

2) Create strategies for interactions

Start by creating strategies for interactions with people by using Facebook pages or video links. Organising any event to interact with the potential readers and your editorial staff also can be very informative in strategising for future projects.

3) Create a sharp message

Craft an effective and sharp message to get across to people. Many magazines on Facebook have their own pages containing posts that are very informative in letting the audiences know what the publication is focused upon. Facebook's timeline has a new added feature - Cover Picture. A few magazines have used this feature to sum up the essence of their magazine in the form of a simple picture or a note.

4) Create interaction with readers

Interact with your readers to answer their concerns or create groups sharing a common interest. Twitter and Facebook receive amazing feedback in the form of retweets or comments. This helps a magazine to engage with their readers and stay updated on their growing expectations.

Social media is time consuming, so a steady investment in research on growing trends, well-planned strategies and learning interactions, social media can prove a fertile approach for Independent publishers with strong relevant content.

Magazine Software - The Magazine Manager is the World's leading magazine management software from Mirabel Technologies and is the comprehensive magazine management software platform designed for publishers.

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Social networking for business purposes gives a business a multitude of options that they would not have in traditional advertising mediums. First, any content generated for social networking purposes can be recycled into another format. In fact, the smartest businesses do this often. This allows the business greater flexibility than businesses who do solo shots of content in one format. Why not do the work once and then reuse the product or article in another format?

Social networking can drive traffic straight from the platform. This is how most people use social networking and usually the only way they use the web sites. This can be a good strategy especially when a business has a cause driving its existence or the business has a known enemy. This business can also have a strong opinion about a subject. This opinion can be used to generate traffic and followers. What is important is developing an affinity with a community of users on the market. This affinity is what will allow a business to drive traffic and make sales from the social media platform.

Social media is also a wealth of marketing information. This is one of the most important functions that social media is best for in marketing or sales. This medium is a source of truthful reviews of products and services. This is also the place where people will directly tell you what products and services they would like to see developed. A business would only have to develop those products and services to get those sales. They also have a market of people to sell because they know how to access those buyers immediately.

Social networking posts can also tell a business what topics are hot and may generate news coverage. Anything that trends on the social networking system is a strong indication that it is a hot news item that can be piggybacked on and easily used for press release generation. The fact about generating successful press releases is that it is a numbers game. It is best to find a hot topic and keep making press releases until a business gets the coverage they desire. If a business keeps making press releases then it is a matter of time before they get coverage instead of being a matter of odds.

In conclusion, social media is a platform that every business needs to be involved in today. The businesses that do not have a social networking presence will be left behind by those businesses that do have a presence on the social media systems. A business on the social media platforms has the advantage of seeing trends and developing press releases and content about those trends. These trends are far more likely to have readership because they are hot topics that everyone wants to read about, and as a corollary, news reporters want to report about in their newscasts or stories. This will generate buzz about a company and let reports find out that a business and the business owner is a resource on a topic. This means that the reporter will be far more likely to call the business owner when they need an expert about that subject. All this can be generated by listening to the social networks and generating content about what they want to hear.

Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.

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There have been countless trends popping up and subsiding on the Internet since it first broke out in a big way during the mid 1990s. Truthfully, it's hard to recall everything that didn't quite pan out. We're just so inundated with viral and digital these days that it's really hard to believe anything else existed before, and social networking has been the new king for a few years.

Social networking is used by millions upon millions of people around the world. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, HubPages and hundreds more have made it so everyone, whether a regular Joe looking to connect with other people or a businessperson looking for customers, can use these sites to market themselves.

The advantages are numerous. It would take a full length novel to fully describe just how essential social networking can be to your Internet business. So, to keep it short, we'll just cover a few of the genre's most flattering aspects and how they can relate to big business on your end.

One of the largest advantages is that it is extremely cost effective. If you were to run an ad in a popular newspaper or shoot a television commercial, you may get a lot of business, but you'd also be forking over a lot of money to compete. With social networking, the lion's share of it can be done for free.

If you were to join a site like Twitter or YouTube to branch out and brand your business, the only thing you'd really need to invest is time. Even if you were looking to make some flashy videos to lure people to your site, a webcam or other type of small camera is dirt cheap these days, and any type of editing software can be downloaded via the web for free.

This means that, if you feel like putting the time in, you can build up a customer base without having to spend money to do so. Businesses are always risky ventures, and they're always prone to failure, but eliminating most of the start-up costs means that you're eliminating much of the risk associated with a business.

Then there's the market of social networking. Even if you were only trying to tap into a niche, the market is not only incredibly easy to find with the right keywords and user groups and the like, but they're also large. Practically everyone has and uses a computer these days, so we're talking about a gigantic marketplace.

The web is also a universal location. There's no traveling involved here. When you market to a customer, they can simply click and arrive at your site. By using social networking to advertise, you can put your business in countless locations on the web where it will be noticed.

These are just a few of the many advantages of social networking. If you're working in the Internet industry, then social networking is a must-do.

For more information on how to grown your business online and how to use effective internet marketing, please visit us at http://www.ladyluckmedia.co.uk/

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A business should always have social networking on hand wherever they go because social media will allow them to grow their business no matter where they are physically. Social networking is a fast and easy way to keep in touch with business associates and the customer base. A business can quickly release a sales message by targeting their employees or customers using the social media platform. This speed is exactly why a business needs to have social media at their finger tips at all times. A message can be thought and delivered to those who should hear it in almost the same breath. Social networking can be the tipping point for a business and can help a business stream line its methods of communication.

Social media also allows a business owner to rally the troops via the network. This, of course, is dependent on the managers who the business relies on to be on the social network for work purposes. However, if all managers are on board, they can have the message within seconds and mobilize themselves to carry out that specific order. This speed can be overwhelming for any business that is not on the social networks. These companies are not as well prepared to handle the swiftly changing landscape and are not ready to change directions at the change of a hat. The business that is on the social networks can make changes and leave their opposition in the dust.

Social media platforms that are built for business are also known for their ability to share files across the platform. This allows a business to make even finer adjustments to their marketing messages and their presentations. This is all on the fly and while they are on the stage or presenting to a company. This can help a business close a sale because they will be able to tailor the presentation to the audience and make the presentation feel very personalized for them.

Social networking also allows the business owner to have a pulse on the heartbeat of their business. They can monitor the chat and messages passing between their workers. This allows them to encourage those workers who need a little help and give further instructions to those workers who need more advice on what they are doing. It also gives a business owner a good sense of what is really happening inside their business even when they are thousands of miles away in a business meeting. This is information that may not be available with any other form of communication available.

There are numerous reasons why social networking should be available for a business owner 24 7. A business owner will be able to manage their workers and get a feel for the morale of the business by using the social networking platform. They will also be able to change directions if the business gets off track on a project, and they will be able to help their sales representatives make better presentations and pitches. Social media or social networking is a medium that every business needs to get involved with today.

Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.

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The most famous person who used social networking for business is President Obama himself. This man developed a revolutionary method for generating votes and buzz for himself through the social media systems. What was truly impressive was his ability to embrace the technology and run with it before any of his peer group could. He truly is a pioneer in the use of social media to get new voters.

Most of President Obama's success can be contributed to his ability to use mediums that his opponents had not thought about using. For example, it has long been known that the Republican side of the ticket has used direct mail to generate money to run their campaigns. However, the Democratic side has not been known for doing this. It was very surprising for both parties when President Obama incorporated this into his campaign. It definitely had an effect on voting and campaign funds alike. This effect became a major advantage when it became time to vote, and the President made best use of his advantage.

Another area that the President incorporated was e-mail marketing. E-mail marketing is somewhere between copy writing and social networking. This is because it is the inner sanctum of most people's online experience (as one major marketing guru would call it). Those who by pass the spam filter and hit the inbox are some of the most trusted people that the email owner has in their network. The President found great success in getting his message out by using e-mail marketing to let people know what was happening next.

Lastly was the President's use of social media. During his run at becoming President, social media was still new. It was an upcoming technology that most people were still trying to figure out how to incorporate into their lives. This lead to the President harnessing its power before any of his opponents could on either side of the ticket. He effectively grabbed all the voters that were sympathetic to his cause on either side of the ticket and made sure they all voted for him. This is all because he was not afraid to try something new and was not afraid of expressing his opinions over the social networking platforms. This allowed him to dominate not only his party, but also the Presidential voting as well.

In conclusion, President Obama is the most famous person to use social media successfully because he used the technology long before it was in vogue for his competitors to do so. It would not too much of a venture to say President Obama is famous because he used different mediums of social media effectively. He was the first candidate to use all the forms successfully, but he will not be the last to use them. Social media is a platform for business, causes, and services that no business should ignore. Every business should find out to run a successful social networking campaign to help them get to the income goals they desire every month.

Scott Buendia consults for Bizbuilt.com. All the views and tactics in this article are tactics and ideas of the author; they do not necessarily represent the ideals, beliefs, or trademarks of Bizbuilt.com. Visit his card on Bizbuilt here, https://www.bizbuilt.com/socialmediaprivacy.

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Humboldt County draws a lot of traffic, physically and digitally. We have a new crop of students moving in every year to attend HSU and CR, with a lot of them settling in locally after graduation. You better call ahead to get a table at Lost Coast Brewery during the touristy travel months of June through August, and in 2011 persons under the age of 18 represented over 20 percent of the Humboldt County population. And they are all sharing.

With some help of a good friend, we compiled a list of businesses in Humboldt County that are using Facebook. This list shows the current number of fans for each. For a numbers-in-marketing geek like me it was exciting to see where everyone ranks. But I was also a little disheartened. I believe technology and communications can be one of Humboldt County's biggest assets. But from what I can tell from the FB, we have some more work ahead of us.

The good news is the fix isn't a difficult one, and many of you have already found it.
Facebook is very specific in their terms of service that businesses sign up as "Pages" and not as "Profiles." They can nix your account for violating those terms at any time. The major differences between a Profile and a Page are people use Profiles, businesses use Pages. Businesses do not go to Humboldt State University, live in Eureka or have relationships that are "it's complicated." As it turns out, there are also a lot of Humboldt businesses in "open relationships," however I must assume those owners are just being funny. It was funny.

Profiles also top out at 5,000 friends while a Page supports unlimited fans. More than a few popular local businesses have exceeded 5,000 fans and dominate the top of the list, but we also have a number of local businesses stuck at 4,999 friends because of this error. They could be one of the top contenders but there is no way for their fans to support them. Facebook has set up a tool that will convert your Profile into a Page and you get to keep all of your friends! You may lose some posts and uploaded photos but you will be spared the daunting task of trying to individually convince each and every one of your current followers to "like" you a second time. Just do a quick Google search for "convert profile to page."

Now you have your business Page converted and ready to go, let's get to posting and let all of your fans know how great you are and what you have on sale! Please don't, for two reasons. As a fan I know you are great, that is why I am following you but please do not cover my Wall with your advertisements. I support local business and I "like" a lot of things, do not compete with my nieces for Wall space, you will lose. That means limiting the amount of posts you make as well as what you are saying and how you are saying it. A general rule of thumb is to not post more than a couple times a day, maybe less. More than three and that third one better be something your fans can't live without.

When you do post, be you. Do not talk like a salesman on Facebook, there is a place for that on the right hand side of the screen. On your Wall post things that your fans are interested in, Facebook is not for selling your product; it is for selling you, your brand and building a closer relationship with your fans. I was sharing a local beer with the owner of a popular local insurance company. She had good reason to think she didn't need a Facebook page because people do not want to hear about boring insurance stuff. She is right, they don't and I would "unlike" her business if that showed up on my Wall any time of day. But check this out, she represents a large number of Harley Davidson motorcycles in Humboldt County, think Harley riders don't FB? As of this writing they are playing host to 3.2 million fans on Facebook. So what should she be posting? Post about Sturgis, the Redwood Run and Sons of Anarchy. Post about the new bikes that come out every year and new technology. When they catch a glimpse from your post and check out that bike, they already have you in mind when they make the purchase; add another bike to the account. Facebook for business is not about what you are selling, it is about who you are and what you represent but most importantly it is about your fans.

That being said, this stuff is always evolving. A great place for information is mashable.com. They have a plethora of information to help businesses of all sizes succeed in social media. Below you will see the businesses that topped the list. If we missed you, get with the social.

Lost Coast Brewery: 29,003 fans; Humboldt State: 10,484 fans; Pacific Outfitters: 13,413; and Los Bagels: 7,893

T. Aaron Carter is the marketing director at Pacific Outfitters, founder of Spiderboldt New Media Advisors and board of director at North Coast SBDC. http://www.spiderboldt.com/

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What is the value of a friend on Facebook? Did you know there are some companies that will provide you with fake virtual online friends for price? I'm not sure what they are charging these days, maybe it's 10 for $10, and you get the 11th one free? That seems pretty silly doesn't it? Okay so let's talk about all these topics for second shall we?

Not long ago, someone mentioned to me after reading an article I'd written on this topic that he'd noticed an interesting trend in our society with regards to online "friends" on social networks. He stated; "The more acquaintances you can amass, the greater the chance you will have someone to turn to in need."

Now then, I understand the concept of amassing "friends" online to network and improve the chances of getting help in time of need. Maybe that's why so many people wish to be my friend? I hate to think that everyone contacting me "wants something" but alas that is the mentality of so many folks - they want a stimulus, food stamps, a new job, or some gift from the gods, such as the old fat mean-spirited lady who reads romance novels where an ultra-rich, good looking, muscular hunk rescues them from mundaneness. I just see this sort of nonsense as counter-productive and much akin to playing the lottery, after all if one amasses enough lottery tickets they are bound to eventually win? I see it all as petty, and quite telling of society's mentality.

Okay so, you might indeed see it differently, in fact, you might be all in when it comes to getting friends on Facebook or your other social networking websites. If that's your goal to amass the highest number of friends to surpass your other friends (real or imaginary), and therefore find self-validation, then go for it. Who am I to tell you what your life's goals should be? To each his own I say. Nevertheless, one could ask the question; is this even healthy for human societies, not just here the United States, but everywhere else in the world as well.

There are over 1 billion people on Facebook alone, and even if 10% of those people are make believe and bogus profiles that still leaves 900 million people and that is a large percentage of the Earth's population. Not only that, but Facebook is hardly the only social networking website online. Why not do a self-study, why not ask all your friends on your social networking site to help you with some important project that you have or to send you money. How many of those friends that you have would be so inclined to help you?

You probably haven't asked anyone for help so far on your social networking site, so this would be a new thing. Indeed, many individuals believe that amassing friends is a smart way to go in case these individual users are ever in need. Of course, accumulating friends in advance to ask them for something is not a very friendly thing to do, is it? What happened to self-reliance? I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Internet Social Networking. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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