Google Friend Connect — Connecting is getting easier
Simon Ford’s Google Friend Connect video is amazing. I’m beginning to understand the power of this new tool. I’ll be adding it to some of my own and some clients sites to test it out.
Doug
Seth Godin, Social Clutter and Obama
Seth Godin really struck a cord for me this morning with today’s post. I have clients who are asking me how how they can “do what Obama did” but don’t understand the differences between social marketing and traditional marketin
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When I explain that using social media to market an idea or drive a movement can work very well, but to use the medium correctly they will need to change their way of thinking and make a commitment to social media.
This is what Seth was touching on in today’s post that too many businesses are creating a meatball sundae by trying to use social media like it’s another TV commercial or magazine ad. It’s not, with social media we want to be educated and entertained and if we like what you share with us THEN we will buy from you. This is a very tough thing for most organizations to get their hands around. I know I struggled with it for a while myself.
Most of my clients are offline businesses or inventors introducing new products and we are using social media in a limited way for their campaigns, but I have one client who I believe is extremely well suited for excelling at social media. They are an 18,000 member nonprofit and if they leverage their current member base and freely share information about their members causes they will attract new members, grow the relationship with their current members and increase donations. I’ll keep everyone posted on their progress.
Gary Vaynerchuk delivers
List of Social Networking Sites
When you think of social networking sites, there are some obvious candidates that may immediately come to mind. It may be surprising to know how many different social networking sites are actually out there. Here is a basic list of social networking sites online, but this list is by no means exhaustive.
Blogging – These are social networking sites that either center completely around communicating through blogging, or put a large emphasis on the concept of blogging.
– Blogger, http://www.blogger.com
– Livejournal, http://www.livejournal.com
– Twitter, http://www.twitter.com
– Windows Live Spaces, http://www.spaces.live.com/
– WordPress, http://www.wordpress.com
– Vox, http://www.vox.com
– Xanga, http://www.xanga.com
General Social Networking – These are the core of the social networking concept, with names like MySpace, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook leading the pack.
– ClassMates, http://www.classmates.com
– Bebo, http://www.bebo.com
– Deviant Art, http://www.deviantart.com
– Facebook, http://www.facebook.com
– Flickr, http://www.flickr.com
– LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com
– Meetup, http://www.meetup.com
– MySpace, http://www.myspace.com
– YouTube, http://www.youtube.com
– Gather, http://www.gather.com
– imeem, http://www.imeem.com
– Itsmy, http://www.itsmy.com
– My Yearbook, http://www.myyearbook.com
– Webshots, http://www.webshots.com
International Social Networking – These sites are especially popular in international countries, or are intended to cater to residents of a specific country. Friendster, for example, is a worldwide social networking site but it is especially popular in countries other than the United States. Biip, on the other hand, is a social networking site designed for the Norwegian community.
– Friendster, http://www.friendster.com
– Face Party, http://www.faceparty.com
– Friends Reunited, http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/
– Biip, http://www.biip.no/
– Cloob, http://www.cloob.com/
– Cyworld, http://us.cyworld.com/
– Fotolog, http://www.fotolog.com/
– Frühstückstreff, http://www.fruehstueckstreff.org/
– Grono, http://www.grono.net
– Habbo, http://www.habbo.com
– hi5, http://www.hi5.com
– Hyves, http://www.hyves.nl
– IRC Galleria, http://www.irc-galleria.net/index.php
– iWiW, http://www.iwiw.hu/
– Profile Heaven, http://www.profileheaven.com/
Niche Interests – These are social networking sites that are geared toward certain interests like music lovers, bibliophiles, coffee enthusiasts or pop culture.
– Advogato, http://www.advogato.org/
– Amie Street, http://www.amiestreet.com/
– ANobii, http://www.anobii.com/
– CafeMom, http://www.cafemom.com
– Buzznet, http://www.buzznet.com
– Broadcaster, http://www.broadcaster.com
– Cake Financial, https://www.cakefinancial.com/
– Care2, http://www.care2.com/
– Eons, http://www.eons.com
– TravBuddy, http://www.travbuddy.com/
– Travellerspoint Travel Community, http://www.travellerspoint.com/
– BlackPlanet, http://www.blackplanet.com
– Elftown, http://www.elftown.com
– Flixster, http://www.flixster.com
– Geni, http://www.geni.com
– Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com
– Gossip Report, http://www.gossipreport.com
– Guild Café, http://www.gamerDNA.com
– Hospitality club, http://www.hospitalityclub.org
– Last.fm, http://www.last.fm
– Library Thing, http://www.librarything.com/
– Lifeknot, http://www.lifeknot.com/
– Live Mocha, http://www.livemocha.com
– One World TV, http://tv.oneworld.net/
– Plaxo, http://www.plaxo.com
– Ravelry, http://www.ravelry.com
– Sci Space, http://www.scispace.net/
– WAYN, http://www.wayn.com/
Social Media – These sites specialize in sharing media and news with other members of the community.
– Digg, http://www.digg.com
– StumbleUpon, http://www.stumbleupon.com
– Del.icio.us, http://del.icio.us
– Reddit, http://www.reddit.com
– Fark, http://www.fark.com
Younger Generation – These are social networking sites that are best suited for younger generations and students.
– College Tonight, http://thequad.com/
– Gaia Online, http://www.gaiaonline.com
– NeoPets, http://www.neopets.com
– Student.com, http://www.student.com
– Reunion, http://www.reunion.com
Each one of these sites can be a good solid way to drive targeted traffic to your articles or your website. Before you ask, yes, you have to be careful not to do and outright sales pitch on your post. But with a little thinking on your part you will be able to make a useful post that is directed to your target market, without coming across as spam.
Some of the sites will not lend themselves to this marketing strategy, unless you are very creative in your post. Consequently you will find yourself being banned and your post being deleted if you violate the terms of service of those and others reflected on this list of social networking sites.
StumbleUpon
Some great reasons to use StumbleUpon. I’ve received more traffic from SU than any other social bookmarking site. I just checked one of my clients sites. She’s received 4 times as much traffic from SU than she’s received from all of the other social bookmarking and they are sticking better as well 2.3 pages per visit versus 1.2 pages per visit.
Doug
7 Reasons StumbleUpon is a New Blogger’s Best Friend from Traffikd by Steven Snell
New bloggers have a lot of resources at their disposal and they have a need to determine which ones are worth their time and which ones aren’t. Many new bloggers get caught up in spending their time on activities that they think will be productive only to find later that they’ve been wasting their time.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Tags: stumbleupon, social media, social bookmarking, social marketing