The Advantages of Social Networking

It's great to have friends but you have to admit that there are certain interests you or they have, which neither is not interested in. When this happens, it is time to expand our circle and that is just one of the advantages of social networking.

Social networking enables people who share the same interests to hang out together and this simply means that you are able to make new friends. If for example you are interested in basketball, no one there will get tired of talking about the players or the game which occurred last night or several years ago.

Since most social networking is done over the web, you get to meet individuals from other countries and learn about their culture. How many people do you know keep in touch with someone across the Atlantic or the Pacific? Given that you share something in common, you get to communicate with that person regularly that is very similar to hooking up with your friends after work or school.

From a business point of view, the first two advantages of social networking enable you to meet new clients and expand your business because most of these sites allow you to customize your webpage and provide links to your personal website.

Just to give you a few examples, there is Multiply, MySpace, Friendster, FaceBook and Classmates. With so many around, you won't have a hard time looking for a social network that you like. You can even post ads here so you can inform other members of an event that you are hosting.

The best part about becoming a member of a social network is that majority of these is free. This means that you don't have to pay any fees. All you have to do is sign up by filling up the form and then activating the link when this is sent to you via email. Now that you are a member, you can invite other friends to join and look at other profiles.

The advantages of social networking will allow you to make new friends, promote your business and best of all, won't cost you a thing. But there are some social networking sites that will require you to pay a fee. Before you sign up, consider if this value for your money.

Will social networking sites ever replace meeting people in social events and other gatherings? Of course not because all this medium does is give you more exposure. It allows you to put your best qualities out there especially when first impressions last.

When you join a social networking site, never post any private information about yourself unless you are ready to have people get in touch with you. You shouldn't also put anything embarrassing about yourself because some people have been denied employment because of the information posted.

If there are "privacy" settings in your social networking site, you are advised to use it so you can control who has access to your personal information.

A lot of experts say that social networking is here to stay so we have to take advantage of it. When you do join a social networking site, keep an open and see if this is exactly what you wanted. If not, cancel your account until you find the one that you like.

Internet and Social Networking is a Buffer

The Internet as a Buffer. I've seen an ad on TV in Canada lately, where individuals with shopping carts bump into each other in a shopping aisle, and yell at each other and "honk" and tell each other to get out of their way and other such behavior that people would never do in real life, but do to each other on the road. Needless to say, it's obvious to say the internet provides the exact same opportunities in our social interaction.

I remember in my time volunteering at a drop-in called The Bridge Youth Centre years ago, and there was an individual who I mistakenly allowed on my MSN chat list, and I would get sucked into way more arguing and debating and fighting than I really had the maturity to cut off and stop back then. But in person this girl was the biggest and most shy coward I still have ever come across. In fact, I hardly know what this person's voice sounds like because I'd never heard it! But on the internet I would get attacked and called all sorts of names by her like she was the boldest lion!

Another time, a friend of mine with the foulest temper I'd ever come across to date, was upset with me for challenging him over MSN about some areas of correction he needed in his bad attitude. He then threatened me and told me not to come to our Bible Study that week, because he would kick the crap out of me if I did (and by thus, proving the very attitudes I was attempting to gently challenge!) Scared of nothing other than wasting my time, I gave little thought to his 'threat', and the very next night, myself and some mutual friends all invited ourselves over to this brother's house to go for a swim on that hot summer's night. I had a bit of a lump in my throat knowing the last interaction I had with the brother who's house we were going to was a less than pleasant one, but I knew I had nothing to be ashamed of. This guy said very little to me. Actually I don't remember if we had any interaction, since there were many 10-12 other people present.

Do you know what happened next time I saw him on instant messenger? He cussed me out and told me I had a lot of nerve coming over to his house. I hope you get the picture by now-that no threat to my physical safety was ever going to happen at this tough guy's hands. He was all talk, and just a coward with a keyboard. I'm sure we've all had incidents where we see people are not afraid to air their opinion on the internet but when you stand in front of them face to face and take the gloves off, there's nothing to show for it. I see it all the time on message boards, forums, comments on peoples' blogs, Facebook wall posts, etc...

I don't mind having conversations sometimes on MSN if that's the level of inhibition some people are at with sharing personal things with me. But other people are flat out wimps and need to come out of their shells and learn to have a normal conversation in real life. Heck, they make programs like Skype if you want to talk verbally to people but still not leave your house, much like a tradition phone.

As for things like Facebook and Myspace: if "social" networking sites are supposed to be revolutionizing the way we socialize and build our friendships, then how come they're doing the opposite and making us more socially retarded than just simple internet blogging and IMing was making us in the first place? Since I've been back in North America, I've run into students of the Bible school I've also attended, who ADDED ME Facebookm but would not even so much as say hello to me; I've had a cashier at the local Wal-Mart who upon making eye contact would not even say hi when I began to extend my hand for an 'almost-handshake'--you know, where you try to say hi/offer a handshake, but see it's not going to be reciprocated so you pretend you were scratching your head or doing something like that with your hand?

I also recently sat cross-aisle on a Greyhound bus from Toronto to Peterborough from another "Facebook friend" I went to high school with who absolutely would not make eye contact with me and I cannot figure for the life in me how to go two hours pretending we didn't see each other. I have a list of examples of daily interatcion like this, but those are the top of the list.

If the internet is supposed to help connect us to each other, then how come so many relationships are suffering in personal human interaction? Facebook and Myspace should not be used as a substitute for human interaction and the way we communicate with one another, but it should be used to enhance already existing relationships in my opinion.

Don't you think?

Steve has been a missionary to Europe for over 2 years, and currently lives in Canada while preparing to move to Peru in early 2009. He is a contributing author on the Fire On Your Head Blog, which can be viewed at http://www.fireonyourhead.org and also co-hosts a bi-weekly podcast with another missionary, Fire On Your Head- The Podcast, at http://www.fireonyourhead.com Both sites dwell richly in Pentecostal/Charismatic themes within Christianity.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Bremner

Focused Marketing, Part 1

Yow! Is this you? You're everwhere: Facebook, Squidoo, EzineArticles, Adzines, Clickbank, Technorati, etc. You've got ten websites. You've got 15 social networks.

Yet the business isn't coming in. Your thoughts: my marketing isn't working!

Is it not?

Have you ever employed someone? Or, have you ever worked for someone? You were given a task - or a set of tasks - and you called that...your job.

What are your marketing method's jobs? What's Facebook supposed to be doing for you?

The universal answer is "make me more money" or "bring in clients" or "spread awareness," but unfortunately, it's just simply not specific enough.

It's no surprise that the number of clients I have has increased dramatically - people looking to really maximize their presence on the web. But the trend with many of them is the same - they're frustrated because "nothing is working," when in fact, they can't know if it's working because they never gave it a job.

Here's an exercise:

1. Ask yourself, "What's my overall goal for my marketing methods?"
2. Ask yourself, "How will I know that I've reached that goal?"

Your ability to really answer those questions will directly impact your marketing's ability to work for you. You can't employ vague marketing techniques and then expect specific results. If you want a bigger list, determine how much bigger is big. Does one additional name count? Does five? What about five hundred?

Example: Heidi's overall goal is to make more money (problem A). Her marketing methods are a newsletter, a blog and some social networking - she can hardly remember which ones she has (problem B). She also wants to increase hits to her website (problem C) and build her list (problem D).

Over the past year, Heidi's business has stagnated. She doesn't ever go on her social networking sites because she doesn't have time. She gets little to no leads from her website. She posts a blog once or twice per month.

"My marketing isn't working!" she said.

"Isn't it, though?" I ask calmly.

"What do you mean? I am getting no business!" Heidi exclaimed.

"Oh. I think it's because your marketing methods didn't know that was the point."

Do you see where I'm going with this? Her marketing methods have no focus. They don't have a job to do. People without jobs are considered unemployed. Marketing tools without jobs are considered unfocused. They don't know what they're supposed to be doing.

Part of focused marketing is deciding what you want your marketing to do and then specifically determining how it should go about doing that.

In Part 2, read about how to give your marketing a job along with how to give it a performance evaluation, so you can know whether or not it is really working for you.

Tia D. Peterson specializes in website maintenance and blog support. She lives in Erie, PA and works with independent professionals and small businesses in the US and abroad. If you have a question about her work or would like to reprint this article, feel free to contact her using the form on the website.

© Tia D. Peterson, tiadpeterson.com. All rights reserved.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tia_Peterson

Review of Web 2.0 and Social Networking

How is Web 2.0 a powerful form of marketing?

As you are online you probably know about most of the social networking systems. Myspace, facebook, and youtube are just a few of the social networking sites. When you set up an account with these sites you will have the options to post your blogs and videos on each of these sites. When you post your links on them you are creating back links to your main site. As you are linking your site you are creating yourself better leverage with the search engine stats. Web 2.0 is nothing more that connecting yourself with others on the internet from all of the social networking sites.

How is youtube considered Web 2.0?

Youtube is going very strong these days with the Web 2.0 system at work. There are actually 58% of all people on the internet that are watching videos. With that a very large percentage of the people why not focus on the video market. What you can do is create a video from a program within your computer and post it to youtube to see if you get anyone watching. When people watch your video and they like what they see they will subscribe to your video blogs and see everything you post. That is where the Web 2.0 comes into play. Social networking is one of the most powerful forms of marketing that is changing from day to day.

In conclusion Web 2.0 and social networking are really one in the same. When you create all of these accounts with myspace, facebook, blip tv, twitter, and metacafe just to name a few you will find that others are doing the same and you will find yourself linking to them and they will be linking to you. Each of you will be creating that chain of friends that others will want to be a part of.

John Fagan is a top internet marketer who works with industry leaders from around the world. He has a passion for helping others achieve their goals, dreams and aspirations. To learn more about John Fagan and his team.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Fagan_Jr.