SEO Pulse » Social Sites

Plurk, Twitter and Pownce—Oh My!

admin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:04:43 +0000

There has been a trend recently in the blogosphere towards so-called micro-blogs. There was even a major news story recently about how a UC Berkeley Graduate used Twitter to free himself and his translator from an Egyptian prison. Twitter has no doubt become a household name in the past year or so and even companies like CNN are beginning to use it to break news from their reporters. Twitter is nice and useful, you can simply use SMS to post to your Twitter account, but is all that?

There have been a number of Twitter clones spring up including Pownce (which is actually better designed and has more features than Twitter). The most recent and perhaps the biggest challenge to Twitterdom is Plurk. At first blush the name just sounds ridiculous. (Of course what is a Twitter?) As it turns out there is actually a reason why the designers chose the word Plurk:
People + Lurk = Plurk
People + Work = Plurk
Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Karma = Plurk

Whatever you decide, Plurk is a really cool service. When asked to review this service I had never actually heard of it (I know, shock!) so I went over and checked it out. Signing up literally took just a few seconds and there was none of that pesky “Verify your email” business. I hate having to wait around for an email to verify that I actually signed up. How many times have I been waiting for an email and simply got bored and never came back. Plurk has given me that sense of “instant gratification”. I was immediately impressed with the way the site was designed. By using a horizontal layout rather than a vertical one, it seemed to me at least, to be the most natural thing in the world. The second thing that really got my attention is the attention to detail that was taken in the design and layout of the page. The colors are very pleasing to the eye and I really love the “prettiness” of the site. It is very inviting and makes full use of the web 2.0 features!
Plurk doesn’t just work on your home computer but now you can even use it on your mobile phone. Granted the layout isn’t as nice (mainly because of the limitations of mobile browsers) but it is still very intuitive and easy to use (http://plurk.com/m). Unlike Twitter though is the current inability to use SMS to post plurks. This is a serious limitation and one that I really hope they address in the near future.
Another very nice feature is the ability to group your friends into cliques with the ability to limit each clique to certain aspects of your timeline. You can send plurks to specific cliques or to your entire friend list. Also the more friends you invite the more appreciation that Plurk shows in the form of stars. If you sing up 10 friends you get a silver star attached to your avatar. 25 friends get you a gold star and 50 friends get you a red star. This is a feature that is lacking in other social networking groups. I have a couple hundred friends in Facebook but no little stars!
If you want to add an image, picture, video, even a YouTube video to your plurk you are able to. The interface determines if you have given a URL to a graphic or video and automatically generates a thumbnail image for you. One feature I’m not sure I will get used to or not is “qualifiers”. When you go to site via your cell phone or your PC and you start to enter your latest plurk you are presented with qualifiers such as “Thinks, Likes, Hates, Loves, Wants, Wishes, Hopes” etc. These are also color-coded to represent moods. This is interesting but what if you don’t want to use a qualifier? Fortunately the “A-Team”, or so they call their designers, thought of that and allow you to “freestyle”. Another feature that I think is a bit outdated is karma. You get more karma by using the site, adding plurks, inviting friends, etc. They have added a twist to karma by “unlocking” various features based upon how high your karma gets. We all start out as “You are in the state of creation” and the people with the most karma get “You have reached Plurk Nirvana!” It might be awhile before I reach Plurk Nirvana, but one thing is certain—I want to plurk more!

Great Facebook applications to help you make money online

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:23:26 +0000

In the past couple of years social networks have made a huge splash in the internet arena. More people than ever are using services such as MySpace, Blogger, or Facebook. With the rise of the social internet the question has been asked? How can I make money and benefit from this surge? Facebook has risen to the occasion! There are a few simple steps you can take to capitalize and begin bringing in the extra dough you need!
First of all take a look at Facebook’s Marketplace. Marketplace is very similar to Craigslist and it allows you to post your odds and ends for sale. As sort of a virtual garage sale, Marketplace lets you put classified ads up to market you unwanted junk! Originally it was easier to find the marketplace but now Facebook has sort of hidden it. To get to the Marketplace simply go to http://facebook.com/marketplace. From there you can list your items and browse for more stuff you probably don’t need!
One great feature of Facebook Marketplace is the more friends you have the more people will see what you have to sell! Marketplace lists your items right on your profile so anyone looking at your latest mugshot will see your slightly new ceramic cats! If you are anything like some of us with hundreds of friends this can become a very lucrative enterprise for you! Start listing and bring in those bucks!
There are a few different applications that you can use to make your Marketplace selling even easier. Let’s take a look at some of them and consider their pros and cons:
CafePress :
CafePress, though not exclusively a Facebook application, is a great tool to design and create items to sell. Say you have a cool logo or saying that you think people might want to buy. By using CafePress you can create t-shirts, mouse pads, baseball caps, coffee mugs, even underwear with your design! The sky is virtually the limit on the number of things you can create and imprint. CafePress will allow you to set your own price and will subtract their cost and send you the rest! So for example if you wanted to sell your latest and greatest designer t-shirt for $29.99 and assuming that CafePress charged $10.00 to create the shirt you would profit the rest! That’s $19.99 profit for each one you sell. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
FlameTunes:
Are you a small band or even a band with a following and would like to sell your music? Even if you are a composer of ringtones and want to market your tones then FlameTunes might be the perfect application for you! With FlameTunes you upload your music, set your price, and rake in the dough! It is sort of an iTunes for Facebook.
Lemonade:
When you were a kid did you have your own lemonade stand? Many of us did, and even if you didn’t then you can have one now! The Lemonade application is based off its parent site Lemonade.com and allows you to select whatever products you want for your store and sell them at a profit. It is really easy to setup and will start making you money right away!

eBay:
Of course there is always the old standby eBay. They have taken advantage of the Facebook craze and developed their own application to sell your eBay merchandise straight from your Facebook profile. I don’t think I need to go into to details about how eBay works as most (if not all) of you have used eBay at some time or another. List your items on eBay and get your Facebook friends to bid!

All of these applications depend highly upon one thing-friends! The more friends you have on Facebook the higher your chances of selling your stuff. With millions of people who regularly visit Facebook your chances of getting hundreds of friends is very easy! Join a few groups that you are interested in and start adding people in those groups to your friends list. Before you know it you could have 500 or 1,000 friends who see you profile on a regular basis and might be interested in buying your stuff! Get started!

Generate Traffic to Your Site from Facebook

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:59:17 +0000

Let’s admit it. Social web sites are here to stay and they generate tremendous amounts of visitors each day. You as a much smaller website would LOVE to have just a smidge of that traffic coming to you. You’re not asking for millions of visits (although millions would be WUNDERBAR!), you would like a few thousand or maybe even just a few hundred. How can you generate enough interest to get people coming to you? Good question! Let’s analyze a few possible strategies and see where they might lead (hopefully to money!).
Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendster, Technorati, and the many other social sites generate tons of traffic. There are some effective strategies that you can begin employing NOW to get them visitors on those sites to your site. This might mean new subscribers and page impressions that you can then turn around and sell to advertisers. Or it might also mean that people purchase your product or service. That can’t be a bad thing!
Let’s take a look specifically at Facebook which happens to be one of the hottest social sites on the internet today. If you have a blog on your site (and you should!) you can take advantage of some free tools to syndicate your blog posts to your profile. Anytime someone sees you profile they will see your blog posts and often times will click through to your site. Depending on the software that runs your blog you will have to use a different tool:
• Wordpress – One of the most used blogging tools is Wordpress and there fortunately is a Facebook application that links directly to your Wordpress site. You’ll need to download the plugin to your own web site to interface directly. It is called Wordbook (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordbook/). Once copied to your plugins folder and activated you’ll click a link that takes you to Facebook. The application on Facebook will give you a code to identify your personal blog which you’ll enter into the plugin. Once this is done your site and Facebook will now communicate! Now whenever anybody sees your profile they’ll also see you “mini-feed”. Notice that the plugin only works with future blog posts and not ones that have already been posted. One limitation is that you can only add one blog. Make sure to add friends and socialize with these friends so they will see your blog posts. Otherwise you’ll sit in obscurity!
• If you use Blogger it is very simple to set up your mini-feed. Just go to the Facebook applications page (http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=13253871830&ref=s) and add the application. Click into settings and provide your blogger login details and voila! You now have added your Blogger blog to your profile!
• TypePad – TypePad has also gotten into the Facebook game with an application of its own! (http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=13253871830&ref=s) This, like the application for blogger, will interface directly with your TypePad account and add feeds to your profile. The nice thing about this tool, called Blog It, is you can post and share your content across multiple platforms with only one click! Whether you blog using TypePad, Vox, Movable Type, LiveJournal, Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress.com or WordPress.org, or micro-blog using Twitter, Pownce or your Facebook status, now you can update everything via one easy-to-create post on Facebook. Plus, when you post using Blog It, you can ensure all your friends and contacts know about your post regardless of where they follow you on the web.
The key to all of these tools is that unless you put a little work into being sociable they really won’t help you much. You need to do some of the legwork and get to know people. You don’t have to be drinking buddies with the hundreds of people you might add as friends on Facebook, but you should at least join some groups or causes to become known. My own Facebook account has over three hundred friends and I know personally about ten of them. I came to know them through various groups that I joined and causes on Facebook that I support. You will never earn a single cent or generate a single visitor to your site unless you are willing to do some extra work. The upside is, however, that once you start you might actually enjoy it. The more sociable you become the better your results! Let’s get to know each other!

How to Benefit from Social Media Marketing

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:23:09 +0000

Before we can even discuss the benefits of social media marketing we first need to understand just what the heck it is! These days terms such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and SMM (Social Media Marketing) are being thrown around and just about nobody knows just exactly what they are. This article won’t get into the whole SEO debate but we will take a look at SMM. SMM in a nutshell is using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, or Blogger to sell your product or to promote your cause! SMM is less of direct advertising in the form of ads and more in the direction of conversational/word of mouth advertising. If you ask traditional marketers about the importance of effectiveness of SMM you will get the old line that it is unproven or untested. SMM does require some effort and if you don’t understand the pros and cons of SMM before using it you could be disappointed.

There are a few essential things you need to do in order to make SMM work for you:

Let your customers do the work – In an older context it was very important for the seller to communicate with the buyer and “sell” the buyer on the benefits of your product. Many hours could easily be wasted trying to convince potential buyers that your product was the best thing since sliced bread. This is no longer the accepted paradigm. Any successful internet marketer will tell you the most effective strategy is to get your existing customers talking to your prospective customers. I can tell you just how effective this is myself. I have several clients who are my biggest evangelists and bring me more business than I can ever find for myself. Just the other day I was at a meeting of local business owners and when the subject of my business came up (not mine specifically) one of my current customers said very vehemently that if they wanted things done right to come to me. I was a little embarrassed by this since the service I had performed wasn’t that substantial but the end result was I gained five new customers. These were customers that I had to do absolutely nothing to get! By doing a good job on your service or product your customers will promote you better than you can! Conversely if you do a bad job you will lose even more prospective customers because bad news spreads faster and further than good news.
Get people talking – Getting people to start talking isn’t all that difficult. Just suggesting a topic to someone can get a whole conversation going. Try it when you get a chance. It is quite simple to do! The hard part is directing that conversation toward your product or cause. This requires a bit more thought but can be done if you are willing to make the investment. So-called content marketing is using relationships to get your message across. Content marketing uses tools that are already around to people who are interested in hearing from you. By using opt-in services such as blogs, podcasts, videos and vlogs you can broadcast your message to thousands of potential customers. The key is the relationship. Make yourself known on these sites and let people become acquainted with you. Then when they need a product that you sell you are the first person they think of.
Discuss your product in a human voice – this might sound odd but it is very important! The best salespeople in the world are ones that can relate to you in a personal way. They have a story to tell and it draws you in, makes you curious, and makes you more eager to buy. You are asking someone to buy your service or product so be human with them! Good writing skills are important here as you want people to relate to you. Some might call this the snake-oil tactic of selling but it does in fact work! Your customer will respond to an amazing and authentic story faster than one that is filled with simple information. Soothe your potential clients ears!

There is no doubt that SMM requires some effort to actually be effective but it can be very effective if you are willing to invest the time necessary. Think back to some of the things you bought. Did you buy the product that simply listed its specs and was written in a very formal style? Or did you select the product that spoke straight to you? It is more likely you chose the latter, and your customers will too!

Delicious now has a new look

admin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:28:46 +0000

del.ici.ous is now dressed in a new design . Now the site is relaunched with a new address www.delicious.com and has a new more friendly and attracking design.

All links will be redirected to the new address and the users can now enjoy faster and more search friendly features added to the site.

Google sites is offically open for public

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:35:00 +0000

Today Google opened Google sites for the public. Google sites is a brilliant move from Google to increase the usability of their Google Apps as many might know that these apps weren’t that hit as Google expected.

The story started when Google acquired JotSpot few months ago and started to integrate their application into Google Apps during this period Google sites were available to only Jotspot subscribers and now when everything is stable , Google officially released Google sites to the public use.

What is Google sites ?

Google sites in simple words is A TOTALLY FREE online tool that enables you to create websites for any use of your choice without having to use any HTML coding to be published over the web or for a specific group of users. Also you can integrate

Google Apps into this site including Gmail , Google Calender , Google Talk ,Google docs and Security and compliance.

Quick facts about Google Sites (copied from Google sites official site)

Single-click page creation Creating a new page for your Google Site just takes the click of a button.

No HTML required Creating a Google Site is as easy as editing a document, which means there’s no markup language for you to learn — just get started.

Make it your own Our customization options let you give your Google Site your own look and feel

Get started with templates We offer a growing list of page types — web page, announcements, file cabinet, dashboard and list– to help you get started with your Google Sites pages.

Upload files and attachments Use the file cabinet to upload files up to 10MB in size. Each Google Apps account receives at least 10GB of storage in Google Sites. Google Apps Premier and Education editions get an additional 500MB for each user account.

Embed rich content Google Sites is integrated with other Google products, so you can insert videos, docs, spreadsheets,presentations, photo slide shows, and calendars directly onto your Google Sites pages.

Work together and share Our permission settings let you designate owners, viewers and collaborators (meaning they can edit pages) for your site. And you can make your Google Sites available to just a few people, your entire organization, or the world.

Search with Google You can search across Google Sites pages and content using powerful Google search technology. You’ll find specific pages and documents instantly, the same way you would on Google.com.

It seems like the Internet Giant is taking a new path in the direction of social networking .First they came up with Google Friends Connect now they are pioneering in their Google sites Application . Will other social media sites stand the competition !!!!!

Facebook connect – Increase traffic by using the new Facebook API

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:10:09 +0000

Facebook connect is another revolution the web 2.0 applications. With Facebook connect you can use your own Facebook profile ,friends and any other information in any third party website that implement the new Facebook API .Facebook connect is considered as a step towards the automation of users profile management through out the web. Now you can easily login to any website and import your Facebook profile information and privacy skipping the long and irritating registration process.

For third party websites Facebook connect is an opportunity to receive all the Facebook traffic generated just by one registered user. Imagine a Facebook user who will register at third party website with a list of 10 friends. Now the third party website has new 10 potential customers coming his way and the cycle goes on. Also these websites will be able to use Facebook features. Brilliant idea Facebook has innovated which will make Facebook indispensable for everyone using the web.

Here are just a few of the coming features of Facebook Connect:

Trusted Authentication
Users will be able to connect their Facebook account with any partner website using a trusted authentication method. Whether at login, or anywhere else a developer would like to add social context, the user will be able to authenticate and connect their account in a trusted environment. The user will have total control of the permissions granted.

Real Identity
Facebook users represent themselves with their real names and real identities. With Facebook Connect, users can bring their real identity information with them wherever they go on the Web, including: basic profile information, profile picture, name, friends, photos, events, groups, and more.

Friends Access
Users count on Facebook to stay connected to their friends and family. With Facebook Connect, users can take their friends with them wherever they go on the Web. Developers will be able to add rich social context to their websites. Developers will even be able to dynamically show which of their Facebook friends already have accounts on their sites.

Dynamic Privacy
As a user moves around the open Web, their privacy settings will follow, ensuring those users’ information and privacy rules are always up-to-date. For example, if a user changes their profile picture, or removes a friend connection, this will be automatically updated in the external website.

Facebook connect will be available for users within the next several weeks. Start enjoying surfing the web taking all your buddies with you everywhere you go.

What is social bookmarking sites ?

admin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 01:12:47 +0000

social bookmarking sites are the new kid in the block . Lately ,you can rarely find anyone that uses the traditional bookmarking instead everyone is starving for information which is exactly the idea behind joining these sites. Social interaction among people having the internet as an intermediate paving the way for a new generation of unimaginable technology.People can now share photos ,music , videos , opinions , comments and news among other social, demographical and geographical groups.

Before we go any further with applications and benefits of the social bookmarking sites to your business you need first to know what is social bookmarking sites.

The idea behind social bookmarking sites are almost the same as using your personal bookmarks and favorites on your explorer.You can save you bookmarks ,organize them in categories,search and restore them using tags.Tags are keywords that you assign to your posts or bookmarks that makes it easier for these sites to categorize the bookmark and much easier for you or other readers to search for relevant information to social preferences.

The similarity between the two concepts of social bookmarking sites and explorer bookmarks made it at the begining a crazy idea for anyone to persue but those crazy people who believed in the idea are now making the millions.

The difference between the two concepts is by using your social bookmarking sites you can :
- Store you bookmarks or favorites online instead of having them hidden in your bookmarks or favorites on your explorer.
- access your bookmarks and favorites from any place , any time where you can have access to a pc and internet connection.
- Share information that you find interesting that was locked away in your explorer bookmarks with your friends, family and also you can find a huge resource of sites by going through your friends’ bookmarks

Today you can find plenty of interesting and useful sites that probably you can never have heard about before you joining these sites. All you need to do is just typing the subject you are searching for , wait for few seconds an d then prepare yourself for hours of joyful reading afterwards.

Now how the system works :
- First you need sign up to the media bookmarking site of your chioce .There are hundreds of them avaliable (there will be a later post with a list these sites updated regularly).Each of these sites has its own pros and cons but the only pro they that all have in common that they all come absolutely free of charge.
- Create your own profile where you can tag your own personal bookmarks or posts.By default these bookmarks or posts are published public so that all the users of the site can view them unless you make a choice of having your bookmarks or posts private.
- Invite your friends and family to join , add their own bookmark and start sharing them.
- You can also join networks (del.icio.us) , comment on some post,rate the posts and add video posts (Digg) .

In the following posts will be exploring the new horizon of opptortunities of FREE BUSINESS .sign up now and follow the upcoming posts.