Modern Online Business

Meets Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:26:00 +0000

It's hardly a secret that explosive growth and accelerating popularity have become synonymous with social networking. More than a quarter million people join MySpace every day. In a single day, it has 4.5 billion page views. Facebook has over 200 million members, LinkedIn has nearly 40 million, and Twitter jumped from 4 to 17 million "tweeters" in just 3 months.

But despite this exuberance for connecting with friends, fans, colleagues and even complete strangers, not everyone is embracing this new form of communication with unconditional love. In that vein I wondered how different behavioral styles (D-I-S-C) might affect an individual's response to social networking.

D: Social networking is all about gaining market share and beating the pants off our competition. The change brought about by all this disruptive innovation, ambiguity, and complexity - it's the perfect environment for me to establish myself as the expert. I've got so much to tell people and Twitter is great. What more can I ask for - tell someone what I'm thinking in 140 characters or less!

I: Woohoo! For me, social networking sites keep me on a 24/7 high. They are a dream come true. I know no strangers, just friends I haven't met yet. I can now become friends with people all over the world. I feel like I'm at one continuous party. I love getting invitations to follow other people. That means other people find me interesting. It's such a warm feeling knowing that I never have to feel alone again. I can say whatever is on my mind whenever I want and there is always someone who is ready and willing to talk.

S: I'm overwhelmed. I opened accounts in Linkedin and Facebook but I wasn't sure what to do next. I got to the personal profile and felt uncomfortable sharing my birthday with complete strangers. How do I know that I can trust all these people who send me invitations? I've never even heard of many of them before? How much can I believe about the information people put on their profile? If I'm going to join a site, I'm going to start with just one and feel my way around. But I'm exhausted just thinking about getting started.

C: I'm really squeamish about this whole thing. There's just no research that any of these sites will ever last...and then what happens with all my information. Is it safe? You never can be too careful. Someone needs to prove to me that my privacy will be protected and that I can control who sees my profile. Only a fool would want to share their personal information with a complete stranger. I've got to study this more and evaluate the benefits vs. risk. If I do become a member, you can be assured I will keep my profile protected and only connect with people that I know and trust.

How it Can Benefit You

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Being on Twitter is not just about social networking. Even though that is the main focal point, there is more to this site than just that. If you are looking to sell products, you can do that too. Of course, you cannot be blatant about it. It has to be done in a way where it's subtle and spammy.

Profiting with Twitter can help you bring in extra income. If you use marketing strategies that will benefit your followers, you will be able to make a nice profit. Here are some ways that you can effectively do that.

The first thing you need to do is network with other followers that come to your Twitter site. You need to get to know them and they need to get to know you. Work on establishing a relationship with them. Both parties have to learn to build a level of trust among each other. When you do that, profiting with Twitter will be easier to do.

As you are posting tweets to your Twitter page, they should provide value to your followers. Your posts should be something that they can't wait to read. When you do that, your followers will know that you are serious about establishing a relationship with them. Having that relationship is part of the process in profiting from Twitter. Your followers would rather buy from someone with whom they have a bond with.

Be mindful of the tweets that you post on your Twitter site. You can't engage in profiting from Twitter if you post anything you want on there. Don't make statements that could cause your business to go under. Tweeting about others publicly can get you in hot water. Anyone can look at your twitter site and run with what you've said.

Most of all, be honest with yourself and with your followers. If you are promoting a product, don't do it every day or every week. Do it in spurts where it won't seem like you are heavily marketing it or spamming. People get turned off when it looks like your sole purpose to have a Twitter website is to promote your product. Not everyone will be interested in buying from you.

As long as you are providing great value to your followers, making friends and following others on your Twitter site, profiting from Twitter will be much easier for you. People will glad to purchase products from you and help to support your business.

Stephen Pierce, the #1 Internet Wealth Advocate, has been featured on Fox News, CNN, NBC, ABC, CW, Daystar, MyTV, Daytime and dozens of other shows talking to millions about the power of Twitter and the exact steps on how to generate profits from "Tweeting".

What is Business Networking?

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:15:00 +0000

With a lot of opportunities given to us by new and modern technology, the success of costumer communities has given way the idea that business relationships can be created and developed through the internet. Online business networking has been made famous for the reason that it connects and creates opportunities on the web.

It has no difference from just a simple networking. Online business networking also has its purpose of sales, general marketing, recruiting, job hunting, and knowledge exchange as well as business development. Business development is pertaining to strategic alliances, joint ventures, channel sales and the like.

Online business networking plays an important role in the business world. Most especially in the large companies, since the chances of widening your business globally is big, so one should have to do a significant portion of your work's business development through e-mail and other technologies offered from the internet.

A lot of benefits are brought by the online technologies. There is a survey in 2006 that said: 48% of employees travel for work less nowadays. Businesses have saved a lot on travel but rather take the opportunity of webcasts and videoconferences in which they can save a lot.

On the other hand, online business networking will give your business focus. There is a less opportunity of interacting face to face with a big numbers of decision makers and will consume much of your time. While making use of virtual business networking you make a highlight focused on the on the spot interaction of people. This is because there are unimaginable niche communities that are just about everything. If you want to connect with senior financial executives, source software developers and management experts, you can easily keep in touch with them by using the focused group that will allow you to connect with these right kinds of people who can help your business. It will also give you the opportunity search and locate people in a particular establishment or industry; which are very impossible or will take time when you do it face-to-face.

Online business networking will reduced time and expense. For the reason that it will allow people to be reached effortless but more quickly and will give you all the chances of connecting with people that are the kind of who you are looking for.

Advantage for the online networking is that it will give your business a passive approach. It will create an attractive profile that will attract connections and more business possibilities.

AboutMe

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:14:00 +0000

AboutMe, an online social networking software released in August 2005, allows you to facilitate your own social networking site like Friendster. This software provides users with a fun and safe way to connect directly to individuals in their networks and community. This site has a wide array of features from search tools to profile page. Additionally, you can also put in more features like blogs with the benefit of increasing functionality.

This social networking software works in two important aspects for its users - it offers high quality social networking solution that your budget can afford. How good can it get?

Why use AboutMe?
First, because it is high in quality, budget-friendly, and reliable, it obviously makes the purchase sensible. With its cheap price, you can enjoy fine quality and reliability of the solution in facilitating your networking site.

In addition, the developer, Xceog, provides life-long updates of the product. Xceog and its team of developers and customer support will also assist you in customizing the script to fit and suffice your business needs. However, the assistance only covers using graphics and texts in the script.

Moreover, you can put in functions to this script with ease. This software includes capabilities such as:
• Add Friends - You can add a tool that adds your friends in the network. This tool will immediately add your friends by inviting them through automated emails. With your friends in your site, this allows you to connect to them easier. This software can also allow you to view anyone's profile.
• Search Tool - You can add an easy to use search engine with support over universal criteria.
• Messaging, Post Bulletin Block Sender - The software allows you to put in an inbox and send functionality, which make communicating with friends and other people in your network easier. You can also put in a block sender option.
• Customizable Buttons and Skins - This software allows you to change your account settings. It can also allow you to change your profile skin and many others!
• Bookmarks - You can add a toll that bookmarks your favorites. This way, you and your users don't lose track of the profiles that you frequently visit. Additionally, this gives the user ease when navigating the site.

5 Best Ways to Promote Your Online Business

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:12:00 +0000

It's easy to start up an online business, but how many people actually know the best ways to promote your online business. Usually it consists of setting up your website, and having good products to give to the public. Products can be anywhere from physical to informative. That's where most people, organizations, or companies get you. They offer how great their online business is to you, make you feel real confident about the success you'll have, give you a product to sell or market that seems like anybody and everybody would love to buy and then leave you there all alone once you've joined.

Now the product may be something that everyone wants, but you have to ask yourself one question...how did the marketer get me to come across their business opportunity? The answer is they promoted it very well. Nobody in the world can run a business without visitors. Five of the best ways to promote your online business is by using Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Twitter, and Youtube.

Facebook is a new up and coming and definitely one of the best ways to promote your online business. It is extremely popular now and is still growing. It's a great place to promote your business for free. The biggest thing about Facebook is that it's a social networking site, hence the word networking. Facebook allows you to connect with anybody and everybody, which is a great way to find people that think just like you. Another great reason to use this site to promote is that it allows you to use ads for your business that show up throughout the website and even Google. They have a feature that is called status update. You can update it as much as you want; it's actually very similar to how Twitter works. Everybody that you are associated with will see the update every time it is updated. To find people that think alike, there are groups that you can add yourself to, which gives you a way to network with people just like you.

MySpace is very similar to Facebook whereas it's another social networking site. Yet, it's still another great way to promote your online business. It does not give you the option to fun ads, but it's a lot easier to find people that think like you. The database to find people is much broader than Facebook. Basically, you make a page that can be viewed by everybody and add all your information into your page. MySpace allows you to get creative and make a page that fits you more personally, therefore allowing visitors to feel a kind of connection with you. Once your page has been made, then it's up to you to network with people alike. Just like Facebook, there are groups that you can join. That is probably the easiest way to find people to network with.

Squidoo is by far one of the best ways to promote your online business. Squidoo allows you to get real creative. If it doesn't look interesting, chances are you won't catch many people's attention. The catch to Squidoo is to write quality unique content in your module and disperse your keywords all around your home business lens. This is great place to post your articles along with posting them to other article publishing sites. Squidoo also allows you to use social bookmarking. Once you've added something new to your lens, click on the bookmarking sites that are posted next to your lens. Then there are the forums. You can add your two cents to somebody's lens, and your name will like back to your lens. Forum writing is a great way to get traffic to your lens, and eventually to your online business. You might also learn a couple of things here and there as well. One more option Squidoo allows you to do is post links to anywhere, which is a great thing because if people are interested in learning more about you or your business they can simply click on the link.

Twitter is new and revolutionary. It's easily becoming one of the best ways to promote your online business. You can update your profile all day long if you want to. Refer people to your website, blog, or whatever you want people to see. This is a great way to get people interested in you and your business. Think of each tweet you send out as a headline for people to read. With Twitter you can write anything you want, so it's recommended that if you do use it as a business promoting tool, then use the keywords that you think would best attract link minded Twitterers. People use Twitter for all kinds of things such as asking questions, asking for advice, and even networking with other like-minded people with the intention of creating a business relationship down the road.

Finally, there is YouTube. YouTube is a very easy and cost-efficient way to promote your online business. You can make any kind of video you want to promote your business. Make it attractive enough and you'll have thousands of viewers getting interested in your business. You can also add comments on other people's videos, which in return may get you even more viewers to your video. Be unique, and the result is endless. You can even use your videos to add to a blog of yours that you write on. There are so many possibilities with video marketing.

Now you should feel a little bit better when starting your online business. These are in many cases the best ways to promote your online business. The more you promote the more traffic you get. The more traffic you get, the more successful your business is. It doesn't matter how great your business is, it won't be living long if you don't bring in customers.

Ryan Best is a college graduate from the University of Virginia. He is currently a Internet Network Marketer. Currently resides in Waldorf, MD. Some people may know him as he was a former safety for the University of Virginia Cavaliers. Although he is big into the internet marketing, he is still pursuing his career in the NFL.

Joining in the Craze

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:11:00 +0000

One of the newest forms of internet marketing to appear in the wild is the use of social networks to sell products. Internet marketing is no new feat, but the advent of social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace has brought about a new age for the internet marketer.

• Why start - Given that relatively speaking, social networking technologies are still quite young, there is no better time to start getting involved in pioneering social marketing. It is a highly effective method of building lists, promoting products and even making friends online, and many of the webs best marketers have jumped on to the social marketing train already.

• Opportunity - It is the easiest way to find groups of people that fit specific criteria. After all, you can search by age, gender sexuality and location which essentially means you really can 'niche market' in this new opportunity.

• Just do it - Many people are still neglecting the whole social marketing revolution so it really is time to start taking advantage of the craze before too many people get involved. Social marketing really is the easiest form of online marketing, because you can search for the ideal customer.

• Drawback - Perhaps one of the main drawbacks is that it can be hard to draw people into sales funnel. But, the secret of using social networks is not for the hard and fast sale, but to slowly build contacts that will eventually click through to your site and join your list.

The internet marketing applications for social marketing are absolutely huge! Many people are already experiencing profit purely from this strategy, and the great thing is that most of them are 100% free.

Working From Home Online and Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:10:00 +0000

One problem people face when they start to work from home online is loneliness. This is especially difficult for people who are used to interacting with employees and being out in public.

However social networking is shrinking the World Wide Web and making it possible to work from home on the Internet and interact with people at the same time. Here are a few ways you can do that.

1. Network marketing is a excellent business model that involves working with people. Today you can establish a worldwide network marketing business and interact with your distributors and customers almost as easily as if they were sitting in the same room with you.

Network marketing companies do a great job of training their employees via video, webinars, audio, and so on. You can do the same thing by using Internet tools such as Skype to talk to prospects regardless of where they live in the world.

2. Blogging is another form of social networking the really brings your website visitors closer to you. You can do things to make them feel more a part of your blog such as asking their opinions for things, letting them comment on blog articles, vote in polls, watch videos and so on.

A lively blog becomes a way to make money and much more than a website. It becomes a place to learn about what is going on in your Internet business and a fun place to go on a regular basis. Combining social networking and income opportunities is also fun for you and a great way to work from home online.

3. Whenever you blog you want to social bookmark your blog posts to some of the top social directories. There are website submission sites such as Social Maximizer.com that will bookmark one blog article to multiple directories with one click. This allows you to create backlinks and notify people of updates in some of the most popular directories including Propeller, Stumbleupon, and Technorati.

4. You can also build a list of followers and friends in the top social networking sites such as Twitter, My Space and Facebook. This is easy to do and is smart as well because these are all potential customers for your products when you're working from home online.

These are just a few ideas on the best ways to combine social networking opportunities and working from home online. Making money interacting with people on the Internet in this way is a great way to work from home on the Internet and a have fun.

Is Micro Blogging Becoming the New Mobile Marketing Tactic

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:09:00 +0000

The online marketing world is developing at such a rapid pace that every day we turn on our computers we find that there are new applications and tools within the social networking world.

Trends set around micro blogging, a network service that allows mobile users and other internet connected devices to stay in touch with updates within a network, such as Twitter or Facebook in real time are ever evolving and developing, allowing us to add new tools and information to our mobiles.

Micro blogging is great for those who wish to send out an update in less than 160 characters to either a mobile or web and the spontaneity of capturing information to share and publish easily and this tool can not only be used for social network sites but businesses, who can send out a bullet type message and interact in the same manner as communities do on the internet via their own specifically targeted mobile platform to get user customer and feedback and to make brand awareness.

One other interesting point is that with micro blogging, mobile marketers will have to consider mobile SEO as this will become just as important as internet SEO as how else will consumers find your product or services on the mobile? As finding products on the go will be key to many businesses using this medium to connect with their audience.

With micro blogging becoming the next big thing, how can people monitor this by using platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Stream, Utterli without breaking the rules of mobile marketing?

Is Micro Blogging Becoming the New Mobile Marketing Tactic

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:09:00 +0000

The online marketing world is developing at such a rapid pace that every day we turn on our computers we find that there are new applications and tools within the social networking world.

With micro blogging becoming the next big thing, how can people monitor this by using platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Stream, Utterli without breaking the rules of mobile marketing?

How to Advertise Your Services

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:07:00 +0000

re you a mother who offers daycare services out of your home? Are you a college student who wants to use babysitting as a way to make extra money? If so, there are many ways that you can advertise your childcare service. One of those ways is by posting a free listing on Craigslist.org.

If you have never posted a listing on the Craigslist website before, you may be looking for helpful tips. Continue reading on for tips on how to advertise your babysitting services on the popular classified website.

To get started, visit the Craigslist.org website. From there, select your state and the next closest city. If you live in a small town or city, you are unlikely to find it listed. That is why you should opt for the nearest. Once on that city page, look on the left-hand side at the top of the page. You will see a link titled "post to classifieds." Click on this link.

On the next page, you will see a bunch of options listed. You are offering a service, so click on "services offered." Once again, you will see a number of options posted. Childcare is typically considered a household service, so click there. Next, you will be prompted to create a free Craigslist account. Do this. You can then continue with posting your babysitting advertisement.

When writing your listing, create a heading. This heading should outline your services. A great start includes "Babysitting Services Available Upon Need by Experienced Childcare Provider." A rate is not required, but it can increase your chances of success. As for location, post the areas in which you are wiling to travel to or your town if you do in-home childcare.

The most important part of your babysitting listing on Craigslist is the description. You must sell yourself here. Why would a parent let you watch their children? Be sure to highlight your skills and experience caring for children. If certified in childcare or CPR, list it. Always state that references are available upon request, but don't list them, as anyone can see them. To be professional, leave your phone number, not an email address.

You now know how to advertise your babysitting services on Craigslist.org. Interested parents will contact you. Since anyone can view your listing on the popular website, proceed with caution. Get an address for your babysitting job and a contact number. Give this information to a trusted friend or relative.

The Benefits of Advertising Your Services

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:05:00 +0000

Are you a freelance writer who offers your writing services for an affordable fee? If so, there may come a point in time when you wish to acquire new clients. How can you find these clients? You can find some by using Craigslist.org, a popular online auction website.

As nice as it is to hear that you, as a freelance writer, can use Craigslist to advertise your services, you may wonder why you should.

Craigslist is free to use. When advertising your services on the website, you create a services offered listing. These listings are free to create. You have nothing to lose, but only a few minutes of your time.

You target a wide range of clients. Since Craigslist.org has increased in popularity over the past few years, more Americans use the website. You never know who may come across your listing. By advertising your freelance writing services, you may hear from a business owner who needs content for their website, an aspiring author who needs a proofreader, a doctor looking for a professional to transcribe a lecture, and more.

You can checkout the competition. More freelance writers are using Craigslist to market and sell their services. Before you do the same, you may want to checkout the competition. Although not needed to perform a search, you can download a free Craigslist search tool. One of these software programs enables you to search multiple cities at once! Make sure your rates are inline with the competition and that your listing is more informative than others.

You have a unique opportunity to sell yourself for free. There are thousands of affordable freelance writers online; you need to make potential clients see you are the best choice for the job. Luckily, you can do this and for free with a detailed Craigslist listing. :Post information on your experience and training, provide a short sample of your work, link to websites or blogs you operate, and so forth. Most importantly, list your specialties, such as web content, e-books, or press releases.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using Craigslist.org to advertise your freelance writing services. With free postings and nothing to lose, what are you waiting for? Get new paying clients today!

Write a Good For Sale Listing

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Do you want to make extra money and organize your home? If so, many Americans in your shoes opt for a yard sale, but what if you want to avoid the hassle? You should turn to Craigslist.org. This online classified website has increased in popularity over the years. By listing your for sale products on the website, there is a good chance they will sell.

With quality products and an affordable price, just about anything will sell on the Craigslist website, but there are no guarantees. If you want to quickly sell your unwanted clothes, movies, books, and home decor, you need to write good listings. A good listing will increase the chance of a sale and the speed of one too.

So, how can you write a good for sale listing for the popular online classified website?

Write a good headline. After performing a search, your headline is the first thing buyers see. If your headline is good, they will click the full listing to read more about your for sale product. The key is to be detailed, but also get right to the point. "52-inch Vizio Flat Screen HD TV - Like New - $500," is a good example. Right away, buyers know the size, make, condition, and price.

Write a detailed description of your product. Whether you are selling a used television or a mailbox you made by hand, be detailed in your descriptions. For handmade products, describe the materials use, the measurements of the item, and so forth. For factory made products, include the make, model, and other product details. Most importantly, restate your selling price and the condition of the item for sale. To increase your success, write a detailed description, but include pictures too.

Avoid internet acronyms; talk in plain English. Unfortunately, text messaging and instant messaging programs have allowed us to become dependent on abbreviations and shorthand text. Avoid these in your Craigslist for sale listings. Just because you know that NWT means "new with tags," don't assume other buyers do. If buyers can't understand what you are trying to say, they are likely to move on.

Finally, you may want to compare your for sale listing to others online. You can perform a standard search or download the free Craigslist Reader, offered by MotionT.com, to search multiple cities at once. Comparing your listing to others allows you to determine if your asking price is fair and if your listing is properly formatted.

Video Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:03:00 +0000

I have heard good things about the startup company. 12Seconds is a social networking site structured like Twitter.com only instead of short text updates, users upload short video updates. It is a unique idea in that it does not allow video clips longer than twelve seconds long. You can upload a video longer than twelve seconds but it will only show the first twelve seconds of the video.

You may upload video to 12Seconds.tv in a few ways. One is to upload directly from your computer. You may take a short video with a webcam and upload it very quickly. This video will be immediately posted to your account updates and viewable by the 12Seconds online community if you so choose. The other way to upload video is from your cell phone, if it has video capability. You can take a quick video with your cell phone and send it via email to your 12Seconds.tv account. You receive a unique email address to send to when you create an account with 12seconds.

I setup an account just yesterday with 12seconds and was up and running in just a few minutes. I also immediately uploaded a short video update of my nephew. Total time was less than five minutes from signup process to uploading my first video update.

Time will tell if users find this service to their liking but with the amount of cell phones with video and email capability I think this service will take off in the next year.

LinkedIn Social Networking Business Secret Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:02:00 +0000

LinkedIn social networking business potential is great. LinkedIn has implanted secret tricks to help members from abuse. However, innocent network users must know LinkedIn "secret" tips to avoid locking up network contacting. Exposed here are the LinkedIn networking tips and tricks to speed up social business connections.

When innocently driving your car you do not want to fall victim of a blameless, harmless, guiltless traffic violation trap. In my area there is a 45 mile speed limit coming down a rapidly descending mile long steep hill. Then the pavement abruptly hits level ground, city limits, and a 25 mph speed limit all at the same time. Unless you plan well in advance, you are caught. Then without logic you are held accountable and at fault for speeding and placed in the wrong for reckless driving by the traffic cop ambush.

This is very similar to the secret ambushes encountered when joining this social networking group.

To build up a social network of your own business connections is relatively simple. After free and immediate approval, you are a LinkenIn member. Then you are taken to your own large profile sheet to fill in your credentials, present and past employment, and what you are seeking. There is a lot more information to fill in and revise that is helpful for promoting yourself and for others to see value. After all, making a plentiful amount of quality social networking business connections is the purpose of joining.

LinkedIn then gives you a great tips idea on how to build your personal business network connections quickly. Just click the button on a mail service account like Google, EarthLink, MSN, AOL, etc. that you are currently using. All the hundreds of names of people you know or who emailed you pop up, along with a positive explanation encouraging you to email them Easily select all, or by individual name those you want to bulk email a briefly worded invitation to join your network. This sounds great, and like a quick way to start.

The hidden truth is that there is an internal traffic cop putting the radar on your actions.

Most members will maximize the number of people they send. They figure that if they do not know the person, the person knows them, even if it was an advertising piece not yet read or deleted. New members of course like seeing a suggested process of speeding up connections to business people to start their network. They were never exposed to why this is a very reckless route to take. When the people receive your rubber stamped, brief message invitation, they are asked to connect with you. Three options are available, two very poorly worded.

The options to choose from are accept, I don't know you, and archive. Accept is completely understandable if they are already a member. However you have sent many invites to people who are not even aware of LinkedIn or if any consequences exist for you if they do accept. Others, especially advertisers who have bulk emailed thousands of people off a list do not personally know you. Unless they are a member educated in the rules, there is a chance they could press IDK - the dreaded "I don't know you" button while trying to get through their avalanche of emails. Members are stumped by the option of archive, a way to save but not delete the invitation.

LinkedIn exposes other potential ambushes to you when asking if you want to email the people on other accounts you have set up on Face book, Yahoo, YouTube, and others. Once you enter your educational info on your bio sheet it persistently pesters you to join your college university alumni group, and shoots out names of those attending the same years as you, that are members of LinkedIn. As with your email contacts, you can mail your other social network account members or those you went to college with.

On one aspect, are bold consistent announcements encouraging you to keep inviting people. For protection, like a traffic sign hidden behind a tree, you are told to invite people you know.

Five over, and you get a traffic violation. If for example, you mail out 500 invitations using each of the three heavily promoted methods of building your social business network, this is a very realistic consequence. 10 out of every hundred you emailed, members or not, accept your invitation. You now proudly have a quick 50 person business network of your own. Acceptance exposes the other person's email so you can send personal emails if desired. One in a hundred of the people you sent invites to, respond with "I don't know you".

The traffic system is set up to catch abusers and spammers. Without you seeing a traffic sign, it caught you. Your violation is getting 5 IDK marks. In the meanwhile, you have probably joined and were accepted by the numerous groups full of business prospects and contacts that you would anxiously like in your network. When you send invites to them, you normally do not need to know their email address, which is stored in the system. Because of your violation, you receive a personal notice from LinkedIn.

You are instructed that from now on, you must provide the email address of a person when inviting to join your business network. However, in these groups, you are blocked. How do you do not now know the email addresses? You could send out notices to members, pleading with them to send you an invite, but this is hard to do correctly. Fortunately, LinkedIn allows you to email a request back to them pledging not to abuse the rules and they will review your case. Secret: Do not hit the panic button, as your plea should get you another chance. Nevertheless, remember the secret number of five IDK's.

Here is a super secret that I am going to reveal. The numbers are eventually going to work against you, even when you invite members in a group that you joined.. Many members are new or have not yet been caught in the traffic ambush. This means there are members in groups that do not know the harm they can give you if the push the "I don't know you" button. Members that have had their invites without email rights stripped can take out their revenge on innocent members inviting them to make a connection by hitting IDK. This injustice can also zap you.

I will give you a top tip. The tip is to make your offer to connect very personal, and do not use the pre-worded version. Tell the stranger that you really like what you read about him or her in their bio. Mention that you are looking for a person like him or her to fulfill your connect request, as it would be a good fit. Very importantly request that if they do not want to accept, then to simply hit the archive button. End your email with a thank you. This method can easily be set up as a cut and paste. You will receive more accepts, and less often an IDK.

Now it is only fair I reveal another LinkedIn social networking, business connection secret. As you send out more invites, you can build up a second violation by just having another five "I don't know you" replies be recorded. Look up the correct email address to send a reply back to, as this notice does not personally mention a forgiveness plea. Make the best pledge you ever made to follow proper procedures concerning spamming and bothering people that you do not know. I cannot guarantee it, but you might have another violation on your record, and yet be able to drive for your networking goals the easy way of not knowing email addresses beforehand..

There are few LinkedIn members obtaining 100 contacts or more from people they already know. In fact, 98 of my first 100 connections were with great business contacts I never even knew of before I joined a group.

Well published author, Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't know or what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is.

Make Money Online With Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Making money online with social media and social networking is often looked at with mysticism, confusion, doubt, and misguidance. We will go over the numerous principles to capitalizing on these powerful mediums and why so many other techniques often fail. First we must understand what social media and networking sites are, and what they are not.

According to Wikipedia social media is "activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction"; social networking is very similar stating "facilitates communication between a group of individuals or organizations....shared values." The most obvious word the two share is social; the goal of these websites is to bring people together in a relevant, organized fashion, to better transfer their knowledge and passions. They are not identical but the principles are the same: people sharing knowledge, organization, shared interests. We will use the term social media to represent both fields.

Chances are you have read somewhere to focus on niche marketing. While being in a niche is a solid business plan, understand that people are people, and like people, we all are more alike than dissimilar. Do not miss out on the opportunity to reach new audiences for fear of being different; people have broad interests, personalities, and "light bulbs" that go off when they see something alien to them. If you, like many marketers focus only on niches you will pigeon hole your own growth. Now, if we marketed to our known target market we would have a finite pool (albeit enormous) but we would be missing out on people that did NOT actively know they wanted to try our products/website. The idea works the same way as "impulse buying". Native Americans did not know Columbus came by boats because they did not "see" the boats; it wasn't in their realm of consciousness. It was only after they were exposed to them did they "see them". Marketing works the same way; let your product/service enter the minds of the masses and you will gain new audiences.

Now making money online is not all about you (scary isn't it?). You are in a relationship with the internet, the social media site you are utilizing, and the people within it. How would you like it if your girlfriend made you mow the lawn, cook her dinner and satisfy her needs and told you good night? You would feel used at the very least, and ready to explode (with anger ha). Now on the other hand if she cooked you dinner while you mowed the lawn and gave you a back massage you would both feel pretty good. Mutual benefit is the only way true relationships work. Never make the mistake of trying to get something out of someone for nothing. As Earl nightingale has taught us mutual benefit is the only real way for prosperity. When approaching a social medium, whether a forum, a bookmarking oriented site such as digg or reddit, or a large network such Facebook, MySpace or orkut you must enter with the mindset of contributing positively to the community. In fact, making money online is the last step to becoming successful. You will only make money online once you have become successful and contributing to others success.

Social media is not a place to drop as many links and spam as many people as possible. If you treat it as such you will be wasting your time. Behind social media are real life people like yourself. Just think how you would want to be treated. Keep in mind however this does not mean you can personally connect with each person. I love interacting with people but it is just not possible on a mass scale depending on your niche or product. To counteract this you must be as open and honest about your intentions and what you hope to bring to the community. An example of positively contributing to Digg would be to compile a list of the best of X, and truly taking your time to make it relevant to your product/service, or creating a Facebook group to raise awareness of your business with quality content.

Action. There are thousands of social media websites. To start you should sign up to about 5 of them and contribute your knowledge and add friends. If you contribute to each social medium (daily progress) you will have a great standing within the community in just 30 days. The more active you are the quicker the process becomes. Then after this time you will be able to let your friends know and others within the community about your shiny new red model cars for sale, or whatever you are selling. This isn't a guarantee of success, but if you sign up and tell everyone about your shiny new red model cars before some foreplay you will be kicked out of the metaphorical bed, aka social medium. Remember to utilize niche mediums but not to limit yourself, contribute your knowledge in a relevant way to expose your product, make friends, patience, passion, and determination. Not everyone has the budget to run a huge website but since the advent of blogger and other amazing services all you need is the willingness to share your passions and you can turn a "simple blog" into a powerhouse of informative content that other networks recognize for its professionalism and a trusted website backed by a real person.

Get Free Traffic

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Are you hooked up with the latest social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace? If not you are missing out on a lot of free traffic. In this new frontier of social marketing, you can spike your traffic FAST, and if you do it right, you get LONG TERM search engine traffic too. It's really the best of both worlds. Free traffic and higher search engine rankings!

Plus, higher conversions if you are careful with your targeting - in other words, make sure you are searching for the crowd you want, rather than just anybody that is online. Most social networks allow you to "friend" or connect with like-minded people, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others.

Here's the final key ingredient... and that's the fact that social marketing means that the huge flood of EXTRA traffic you are going to get on your site is already PRE-SOLD. You already have a relationship with them... and they are going to convert into customers at a rate you haven't seen since your grandmother visited your lemonade stand when you were a kid.

It's this simple... people like to buy from people that they already know, like, and trust. And your social marketing campaign will give you the kind of presence so that people already KNOW you, LIKE you, and TRUST you before they even hit your web site. It's not rocket science.

In a recent test performed by a well respected marketing analysis firm MarketingExperiments.com, a site that runs online tests and records the results in their newsletters. They recently concluded a 12-month test where they measured the results of social marketing versus buying paid traffic to a series of 4 sites.

Here is what they found...

Using social marketing, they were able to generate over 93,000 visitors to their sites, paying an employee to do the social marketing work for a total of $3600 during that time, resulting in a total cost per visitor of 4 cents.

Then they ran a one month test driving traffic from Google AdWords. Using that strategy, they obtained 2,057 visitors after investing $1,250 in click costs, resulting in a cost per visitor of 61 cents. Four 4 cents versus 61 cents - social marketing yielded a 1,427% better return on their investment. Not bad!

By now I'm sure that you're foaming at the mouth, wanting to dive in and take advantage of the huge opportunity that Social Marketing presents.

My newest product devoted to applying the techniques of getting traffic from social networking, involves three sites that will get your social marketing off to a great start. They are MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

There are no secrets! It's all about creating a presence on each one, developing friends and a relationship with your friends! The rest (traffic) comes naturally when you use social networking the right way!

The Phenom That is Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Once upon a time, a short while ago, all we talked about was MySpace. It was MySpace this or that, and now in just a short amount of time the current talk and excitement is all about Facebook.

Here is a startling statistic - did you know that nearly 2/3 of everyone online visits MySpace. Hum...that's over 66% of everyone on line going to one particular site. Now this current statistic shows 29% of visitors are visiting Facebook and this number is growing rapidly.

In fact Facebook is currently ranked number 4 on the entire internet...Number 4! According to Alexa (a ranking company for websites) Facebook page views over the past year have grown to the point of surpassing Google page views. Facebook overtaking Google, wow that is what you call incredible growth!

Why am I so impressed with Facebook?

Facebook represents an incredible business opportunity for you to get yourself and your message out in front of the masses. With so many people congregating in one location, you are sure to find a specific target market in this thriving community. Now remember when I say get your message out, I do not mean asking people to look at your opportunity.

Frankly most people view that as spam and are turned off by it. It`s like going to a social event and asking people to view your network marketing opportunity right there. You'll only succeed in one thing by doing that - never getting an invite again to any future social gatherings.

So never ever do this, never ask people to look at your business opportunity, or ask them to check out your site. Your primary role when participating in Facebook or any other social community is to just create and make relationships with people.

Network with people, comment on their status, truly connect with them. Always have the intention of giving and providing value with your messages. As you grow your network, commenting and interacting with people in a positive manner, you become more attractive. A natural attraction begins to develop and those around you see that you are giving to the community without any expectation of getting anything in return.

Now, ensuring your profile is created with a link back to your landing page is a sure fire way to begin growing your list. People and their natural attraction to you will find a way to get in touch with you. Instinctively they will see your posts and think to themselves "I really like this person, let's see what their site is all about."

Presto you potentially now have a new subscriber to your list. If you're looking for a great resource to assist you in developing your Social Marketing strategies with Facebook and MySpace, click on the link in the resource box below.

About the Twitter Traffic Growth

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:57:00 +0000

There were at first Facebook and Myspace that were balancing the idea of fun and that of maintaining a professional appearance. Now, it comes Twitter, a platform for micro blogging that provides you the ability to send short messages of up to 140 characters. The main idea is that you post a message on Twitter and let every person who is following you know what are you doing at a specific moment. Soon after it appeared, Twitter made headlines for the unpredictable twitter traffic explosion. It has grown quickly in the past few months. The traffic doubled from February to April and it currently attracts 1. 2 million people every month.

The twitter traffic around the world shows that it comes from the website itself in the old fashioned online way, but also from Mobile Web, Instant Message or SMS. Although developed in US, the majority of traffic, more than 60% comes from outside the US, mainly from Japan, Spain and United Kingdom.

Twitter was one of the fastest increasing traffic websites in Uk last year an it shown no sign that it's slowing down. The measuring traffic to the main Twitter website only is astonishing. In the period between January 2008 and January 2009 the traffic increased by 974%. This number shows only the classical website traffic.

If we would add the mobile devices traffic, the amount would be considerably increased. The twitter traffic growth is also explainable by the fact that people now spend an average of half an hour daily on the platform, comparable to 10 minutes a day last year.

Twitter is most popular with younger users from the urban areas, but its appeal is broadening together with its growth. It is becoming an extremely important source of traffic for a lot of sites. The amount of traffic that Twitter sends to other websites has increased over thirty times in the past year.

Twitter traffic is not only about big numbers at a large scale. It is also about individual ways of getting it for personal or little businesses marketing growth. Recently there were developed even some software products that help you increase the number of twitter followers and grow traffic.

One of the most recent products existing on the market today is the Twitter Traffic Machine. It totally automates the whole process of getting huge amounts of the Twitter followers. These kinds of products are based on the idea that you can earn money by increasing the traffic on your Twitter profile and pretend to help you getting this.

For example, The Twitter Traffic Machine claims to be a cash making system for people who wants to set up a system one time and after that forget about it. It will make cash by itself. Of course, everything has its price and the program is not free.

There are also other products to buy in order to learn how to increase traffic and make some money. Among the most popular are the Twitter Traffic Gold e-book and Viral Twitter Traffic software.

Many Sales People Think LinkedIn Doesn't Work For Them

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:54:00 +0000

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool that can support us when we want to get in touch with potential customers.

However many sales people tell us LinkedIn doesn't work for them. In this article we talk about the three most important misperceptions.

1. I have made a Profile, now potential customers will contact me one after the other.

• Though crafting a good Profile helps to be found by people who are looking for your expertise, products or services (via Linkedin or via Google or other search engines), this is not where the power of LinkedIn resides.

• LinkedIn is a very powerful tool for sales people who are proactive and don't wait till someone contacts them.

2. I have sent some potential customers an Invitation. However they don't accept the Invitation or don't respond to my messages to buy my products or services.

• LinkedIn is a NETWORK tool and not a SALES tool. LinkedIn helps to build relationships with people. If you use it like a "cold calling machine" the reaction of people will be the same as with a "cold call": no reaction or rejection. Not only this is not effective and not very efficient, but there is also another danger: LinkedIn has some tools that people could use to indicate that you are a spammer. If you get too many of these "flags", your possibilities to connect with other people will be reduced dramatically.

• Always remember it is about building relationships. The golden rule of Bob Burg always applies: "All things being equal people do business with and refer business to people they know, like and trust." LinkedIn offers you the opportunity to increase these 3 factors if done in the right way. Crafting a good Profile, helping others in Discussions and Answers and not pushing your products or services you already helps a lot, just like in "real life".

3. I use the "Get Introduced To" function to get me referred by my network to potential customers.

• Though this approach might get you some results, it is not always the best option. Your own network doesn't always forward your messages and the prospect doesn't always reply. There might be several reasons for that, but the reasons most people don't think of are: your contact doesn't know the prospect well enough, your contact doesn't know you well enough or your contact thinks that your message is too pushy.

• Instead use LinkedIn as a research database to discover the relationships between people and then proceed outside of LinkedIn. Call your contact and explain him the situation. If he responds positively, ask him to write an email to introduce you and the prospect to each other. In this way your prospect receives the message from someone he already knows and trusts. If you use LinkedIn you are the one who takes the initiative, which is much less powerful.

To your success!

The Power Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Currently, there is an immense valuable power that social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook hold for the growth of your business. These tools have made the possibilities limitless when it comes to marketing your business to the world. There are ways you can use these websites to strengthen your network of contacts and clients and to market your business in creative and effective ways online. These two very popular networking sites can act as a gateway to clients that would otherwise be difficult to reach.

Creating a Twitter account for your business will help you relay important concise messages, more commonly known as "Tweets", to a targeted list of prospects. You can start off by searching for people who would be interested in what you have to say about your business. This social networking site allows you to search for people or companies that will help you build a list of followers who have a particular interest in the content you're sharing. Commenting on others in your industry and offering something useful will make their readers latch on and follow you as well.

Twitter will even give you the opportunity to communicate privately or openly to very prominent people who you would not be able reach by phone or email. Many celebrities, CEOs, famous athletes and media gurus use Twitter to communicate with their fans and friends. This could be very effective for your business, especially if someone like this responds to you openly and their extensive list of followers take interest.

Facebook on the other hand used to be a tool used primarily by college students but has evolved into a valuable business marketing tool. Offering a company Facebook page will link you with even more potential clients worldwide as friends and friends of friends take interest in what you have to offer. Keeping your page updated will ensure that your business is featured on the home page of your followers - driving a steadier flow of traffic to your site.

Both of these social networking sites have been proven to drive traffic to websites and increase client numbers. They both enable you to take a personable approach to business with an unlimited number of followers and it only makes sense to take advantage of their incredible power because they're free, easy and fun to use, and produce phenomenal results.

Gayle Ramsey is a business coach and mentor that assists serious entrepreneurs in building a profitable online business with multiple incomes streams. Gayle and her team have assisted hundreds of people in generating profits that exceed $250K or more in their first year.

Is it Better Than SEO?

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Despite all the developments in the realm of science and technology that we have achieved over the years, certain basic facts remain the same. We are social beings and this nature of ours cannot be changed at any cost. We cannot exist in a societal vacuum and need to be a part of a group or institution to remain sane and functional. Like in the real world, this fact is true in "cyberspace" as well. The increasing popularity of social networking groups can be taken as a case in point. With little time to meet friends and acquaintances on a "one on one" basis, most people are taking the support of online social networking to connect with friends and family members in cyberspace. And where does the e-commerce initiatives come in all these? These online ventures can now make the most of the growing popularity of this kind of networking and market their products and services to a wider cross-section of people. The revenue required is nominal and the effects of using the sites to popularize business initiatives are there for all to see.

One can draw attention by creating attractive profiles on the Internet. And this can be done by taking the help of professionals who are into web site design, search engine optimization, and other such Internet marketing initiatives. These web designing firms can help a person create cheerful and interesting profiles which are more likely to draw in visitors.

The web site design initiatives have to be dynamic in nature. The social networking for e-commerce ventures would ideally need to be monitored 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The people - behind such initiatives - need to get involved in discussion forums, create interesting blog posts, and update the profiles regularly. Only then, they can hope to get noticed in the social networking circuit.

Active participation in different site and online communities is just as important for the business owners wanting to promote their e-commerce initiatives. One could use his personal networking site to promote his business interests. This way, he can discover prospective clients and also identify the areas in which his business initiative is currently lacking. This in turn could lead to better services of clients and more content end users. Brand loyalty is also expected to be build up as a result of such initiatives which in turn can help the business owners establish their credibility in the market they are functioning in. Many companies that are into web site design can also help an individual create his or her own social networking sites.

The fact of the matter is that there are quite a few merits of social networking over search engine optimization. Social networking is less expensive when compared to a full fledged SEO campaign. It helps a person build up credibility for his business ventures.

Robert B John Works as a Content Writer in Neoteric UK which Provides excellent and high quality website design, SEO, ecommerce services across UK.

Popularity of internet chat

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:49:00 +0000

Chat software is gaining more and more users everyday. What used to be a trend has now become a mainstream. Employers are now incorporating chat into the office for their employees to communicate with one another. Additionally, at home, people are using chat to connect through social networking sites.

Facebook is a very popular social networking site. It was originally invented as a site to help college students connect with their friends. When it first started several years ago, users had to have a university email to establish an account. However, as the popularity of the site increased, it opened up to the public. Now, all ages can create Facebook pages to connect with their friends.

Recently Facebook launched Facebook Chat, so that people would be able to communicate with their friends in real time. As opposed to waiting for someone to read your message or post, now, you can converse with the person in real time. The chat feature allows the user to see who is online at the time and have conversations with the person. It is perfect for quick dialogues. There is no installation of software necessary. Instead, the chat bar appears in the lower bottom of the browser. In addition, no "buddy list" needs to be created as friends will automatically be shown in chat. If a user wishes to not chat, they have the ability to go "offline" so other users cannot contact them while they browse the site.

The White House has used Facebook chat as a communication tool. The Obama administration has embraced social media as a way to interact with the citizens. They hosted a "Stakeholder Meeting with Physicians" to debate healthcare policy. The White House says to expect similar events in the future as they want the people to be a part of government.

Embraced by the youth of American and the government, online chat is an important communication device. Many companies are now using it to offer information to prospective clients or customer service to current clients. In a fast paced society, value is placed on getting information as quickly as possible. People appreciate being able connect with others in real time. It is safe to say that chat has transcended the trend stage and is here to stay.

It is Easy If You Know How

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:48:00 +0000

Everyone is starting to use Twitter these days and it is very quickly starting to become the biggest social platform on the internet. On Twitter you can post small message about anything you want but they are limited in size so it is not like a blog. However you can post as frequently as you want. If you haven't got round to having a look at Twitter then you ought to get onto it pretty quickly! The popularity of Twitter has created a great opportunity for anyone wanting to make some money online.

The problem at the moment is that there are not many systems around that actually work. The internet is a wash with different people trying to sell you their system which makes money using Twitter but if you actually try and test these things out then you will find that most don't really work that well at all. There are free applications out there for Twitter as well but if you don't know how to use it to make money in the first place then these are not going to help you.

There is no doubt that when more systems and techniques are made public that Twitter will become a fantastic way to make money online. At the moment the people who are making serious money on Twitter just are not sharing the information which makes it all the more difficult for the rest of us. The goal is to get as many Twitter followers as possible who are actually interested in what you have to tweet about. Just following people and hoping they will follow you back really isn't going to help you.

However if you do spend some serous time researching what works and what doesn't work on Twitter then you will find some products that actually work and can help you make good money using your Twitter account. It is finding them that is the problem at the moment!

After spending ages checking out all the systems and apps out there to try and find one that works I would say I made the most money with the make money with Twitter guide.

If you are already making money on Twitter then check out these Twitter apps which should help you.

Social Network Development

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:46:00 +0000

With the coming up of Social Network Development websites, world has changed. It has become more intimate than earlier. Truly speaking, the world is gradually moving from the static to the dynamic one. Social network websites such as FaceBook, Orkut, etc. have become popular in the recent times where people are developing interacting on different themes and finding solutions to their questions. The best part about the social network development is that is that it empowers business. Creation of communities and corporate Networks over the web interface, and creation of wireless and mobile community portals simply lead the way of innovations in the new scale businesses.

Social Network Development has proven a widespread impact in the way a business is run over the Internet. It has given a new path and a ray of hope for opening new avenues in the global businesses. The widespread interactive interface allows the people to discuss about the products belonging to industry domains such as retail, finance, marketing, FMCG and many more.

The very development of social networks over the web interface is the stepping stone to social networking analysis (SNA), which analyses online social relationships based on individuals or nodes, and the relationships that happen between the individuals or ties. Ideally, every node is bound to have many ties with other set of nodes forming the network.

SNA has also become the predominant way of analysis in many organizations, where the higher management has come to known about the secret assets that are playing indispensable role while going for teamwork. By knowing these assets in advance, the management can take important decisions about retaining the best working individuals. A professional environment which is built on quality relationships is essential for developing good and ethical culture in the place of work. In turn development of such cloture ensures increase in the business prospects.

Social Network Development has proved boon to the society in general. It has made the society open, where one can interact without any constraint, and where one can develop relationships which are much more healthier and equivocal.

Web Art Sense a web design company is here for a purpose to make art and design of your imagination alive and real on the web platform.

Top 5 Social Networking Sites

noreply@blogger.com (carboneblog) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Social networking is about communities. But with the freedom of expression, profanity, and pornography rampant on the internet, many Christians are looking for social networking sites to uphold a certain level of standards.

I've compiled a list of the Top Christian Social Networking Sites on the web today.

1. Tangle.com

Tangle is about expression. A place where you can personalize and express what makes you, you. Tangle allows those to share content (albeit first reviewed by the customer care team) including videos, music, photos and other material. It's video portion (formally known as GodTube) was ranked in value at $30 million from GLG Partners (quite a far shy from the $1.6B tag of YouTube)...is a cult favorite.

Find feature artists and receive free mp3's just for joining.

2. Xians.com The myspace equivilent for Christians. This faith based Social Networking Sites mirrors the mega-phenom Myspace by allowing you to make friends, shout out, rank, post blogs, even chat on forum and group listings. Music, videos, and games round out the mix of Godly fun. It's a members only site with free registration.

3. Mychurch.org

When looking at Christian Social Networking sites, you can't leave out those focused on the church. Mychurch.org offers free social networking for Christian Churches. You can create a network for your church, share photos, invite members, even post last Sunday's sermon. Essential for linking this web 2.0 crazed nation we have together.

4. FaithLight.com

FaithLight gets my nod for the prettiest design and easiest to navigate, not only does it contain my essentials to make this list (a way to connect with individuals and share media *photos, video, audio*) there is also a large focus on the Bible and prayer requests. FL has a fully trained Christian staff that is also very dedicated to keeping the act of making new friends, a safe one.

5. Loveandseek.com

I couldn't resist. This premier online dating service is for our Christian singles. We know it's hard to meet people online, and I'm a living proof that Loveandseek.com really works. My husband and I met on that site! Post a profile, browse for free, even interact via live video and chat.

You can initiate contact for free and even communicate anonymously to start.

Dominate Your Industry With Proven Strategies Both ONLINE & OFFLINE Through Referral & Web-based Marketing.