Posts Tagged ‘Social Networking’

LinkedIn and Twitter Join Forces

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Earlier this week, social networking mega-sites LinkedIn and Twitter joined forces. Why it didn’t happen sooner is anyone’s guess.

Both companies, now synced, earn ample benefits from their respective partners, such as data exchange and worthwhile business intelligence. LinkedIn users will able to update their statuses more frequently and appeal to a younger demographic. Twitter can gain access to LinkedIn’s influential and growing user base.

In your LinkedIn settings, you can link your account to Twitter to allow for every tweet to be posted as your LinkedIn status, or just the ones that include either the #li or #in hashtag.

Where this ends up is anyones guess, but for now, enjoy the new networking feature.

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Posted in Business Social Networking, Linkedin | No Comments »

Number of Social Networking Users Doubles Since 2007

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

With Facebook and Twitter grabbing national news headlines, it may not be all that surprising to hear the number of users on social networking sites has doubled since 2007. However, the numbers are staggering to look at.

Almost 1/3 of the US population - 55.6 million adults to be specific - visit social networking sites at least monthly. This according to the latest report from Forrester Research. That number was 15% in 2007 and only up to 18% last year in 2008.

This puts the popularity of social networking among adults higher than instant messaging, streaming music, and reading blogs. Here is the complete breakdown from Forrester’s report:

forrester-study

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the tools driving these online activities (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn at the moment) are constantly evolving. It is imperative for companies and their team members to be in position to benefit from these new technologies. If you simply cannot allocate the time and resources within to keep your company in the conversation, look for custom outsourcing options. You do not want to get passed up and left behind in the social conversation on the web.

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Posted in Business Social Networking, Facebook, Linkedin | No Comments »

Facebook Usernames and Vanity URL

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Facebook goes live with their username vanity URLs on Saturday at 12:01am (in your time zone).

So you might have seen a warning about this at the top of your Facebook page within the last couple days. Facebook is calling them “usernames” and people in the industry refer to them as “vanity URLs” but you don’t realize how important this can be!

On a first come, first serve basis, Facebook will be allowing you to customize your profile URL. For instance, if you are the first to claim “facebook.com/johndoe” that URL will point to your Facebook page. This will NOT change your name or anything else within your profile, it simply makes it much easier to point someone to your Facebook page.

Facebook Usernames and Vanity URLs

Why do you NEED this?

Facebook is viewed as extremely important by search engines. Meaning if you can grab “facebook.com/yourname” it will go a long way toward establishing your name on the internet, and within the search engines. For instance if your LinkedIn URL is “linkedin.com/in/yourname” and your Twitter URL is “twitter.com/yourname” and then you can do the same with uber-popular Facebook URL, you will own the search returns for “yourname”

Straight from the Facebook Blog:

We’re planning to offer Facebook usernames to make it easier for people to find and connect with you. When your friends, family members or co-workers visit your profile or Pages on Facebook, they will be able to enter your username as part of the URL in their browser. This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you. We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future.

Your new Facebook URL is like your personal destination, or home, on the Web. People can enter a Facebook username as a search term on Facebook or a popular search engine like Google, for example, which will make it much easier for people to find friends with common names. Your username will have the same privacy setting as your profile name in Search, and you can always edit your search privacy settings.

I promise you this is big new in the social media world, and there will be heavy competition at 12:01am to claim the most lucrative names. There has been lots of buzz about this all week, so don’t hesitate. Make sure you grab yours, and solidify your name and space on the internet.

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Posted in Business Social Networking, Social Harbor News | No Comments »

Insurance Agents Using Social Media

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Independent insurance agents are a great example of a well established industry, uniquely positioned to greatly benefit from Web 2.0 and social media.

Independent Agent Magazine, the official publication of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, is strongly advocating that, “Agents take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies to increase sales.” The cover story of their May issue is titled, “Find Us on Facebook.”

In the article they quote Rick Morgan, the president of Rick Morgan Consulting, an insurance technology consultancy. He is also chairman of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT) committee on Web 2.0. “Social media and other Web 2.0 capabilities are creating new opportunities,” says Morgan, by facilitating communication “inside your agency and extending collaboration beyond agency walls.”

Insurance Agents Using Social Media

IA Magazine went on to make a strong point, “If most young adults use their computers and smart phones to communicate with friends, look for jobs, research products and buy or sell them, shouldn’t insurance agencies be part of the trend?”

Ed Higgins, president of Thousand Islands Agency in Clayton, N.Y., gave the magazine his view, “I think (social media) will be a significant part of our agency’s growth and a way to build customer loyalty,” he says. “The more links you have out there, the more positive it can be.”

As strong advocates ourselves of social media and Web 2.0, it’s great to see industries like this not only taking notice, but realizing the benefits and becoming proactive. It is no longer a secret that well established professionals, like these independent insurance agents, can immediately boost their business through social media on the web. The waiting period is over, this stuff is being proven right now, as you read. Get on board.

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Posted in Business Social Networking | No Comments »

Newspapers are Dying, Where Did the Audience Go?

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Right here. On the Internet. This is where all those eyeballs go.

Ever since newspapers started circulating, they have been an ideal spot to promote your business. Well it’s no secret that medium is being phased out. So what should you do? Where are all of those readers going now? They have migrated to the web, and you need to follow.

Need to hear it from a reputable source? CNN will tell you all about it here. A few excerpts to chew on:

More bad news could be coming this week as newspapers struggle to meet challenges posed by changing reader habits, a shifting advertising market, an anemic economy, and the newspaper industry’s own early strategic errors.

The industry’s advertising revenue in 2008 was $38 billion, a staggering 23 percent drop from $49.5 billion the year before. Print media companies are failing to achieve market expectations each quarter, scaring away investors, venture capitalists and potential buyers in droves.

Newspaper classified ad expenditures tumbled nearly 17 percent in 2007, according to the Newspaper Association of America. The recession is affecting auto dealerships, real estate companies and other local businesses, accelerating the advertising downturn.

Newspaper

If you want to compete and keep your business promotions where the consumer is looking, you need to promote on the web.

There are many ways to do this… many expensive ways. We have an inexpensive solution that is proven to work.

Essentially we create a store front for you and your business, in multiple outlets across the Internet. The result is a strong presence for your company where the audience looking, search engines.

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Posted in Business Social Networking, Social Harbor News | No Comments »